Virtual teams processes: A conceptualization and application

Abstract

Nowadays decision makers are, exceptionally, facing complex problems that generally oblige collaboration between individuals with different expertise from different areas. The use of virtual teams is an effective tool to solve these problems, but this is still a relatively new field for academic research. Also, information technology offers an infrastructure for communication and teamwork tools for virtual teams. Small sample approach, in terms of case study, is still used when virtual teams are empirically researched. The objectives of this paper are: firstly, to identify the virtual teams and their life cycle in Egyptian Travel Agents (ETAs); secondly, to define the variables which present the inputs, process and outputs of the life cycle of virtual teams; and finally, to explore the key factors influencing the performance of virtual teams in ETAs. The paper attempts to examine the concept of virtual teams and its application applied to a larger sample of data. Furthermore, it describes the relationships between variables of the suggested model of the life cycle of virtual teams in ETAs. A total of 239 companies in Egypt are used in this paper using an on-line survey. Results so far reveal that there is a direct correlation between the inputs and the outputs of the life cycle of virtual teams. Moreover, using multi-level analysis and interactions between the life cycle of virtual teams’ inputs and both Socio-Emotional and Task processes, we reveal a clear effect on the performance satisfaction of the virtual teams’ life cycle.