The mechanism of trust affecting collaboration in virtual teams and the moderating roles of the culture of autonomy and task complexity

The effect of shared ecological value on buyer-supplier relationship within mountaineering tourism

Shared values play an important role in attracting new tourists, retaining existing ones and gaining an important competitive advantage. Building upon the Commitment-Trust model, this study tested the role of shared ecological values in the creation of tourist trust and relationship commitment, and finally tourist behavioral intention. To test the hypotheses, a sample consisting of 480 mountaineering tourists of two representative travel agencies were surveyed, and a mixed-method approach based on a quantitative survey (n = 436) and qualitative interviews (n = 60) was also adopted to examine their relationships. Results revealed that shared ecological values between tourists and travel agencies were significantly negative predictors of credibility, while credibility and benevolence emerged as significantly positive predictors of relationship commitment. Moreover, credibility and relationship commitment were partially positively predictors of tourist's behavioral intentions. The findings enrich the extant knowledge on mountaineering tourist relationship marketing and human-nature relationships and provide implications for destination management and wildlife protection.

When Chinese Employees Speak Up: The Experience of Organizational Trust and Authenticity Enhances Employees' Voice Behavior

Voice behavior is important for innovation, mistake prevention and organizational performance. Because organizational trust increases employees' possibility of disclosing their real inner ideas, we examined the relationships between organizational trust and voice behavior, focusing especially on the avenue of impelling people to feel a higher level of authenticity. We used multiple methods to analyze the relationship. First, we used two separate surveys (Studies 1a and 1b) with different questionnaires and populations to analyze the mediation relationship and generalize the results. Then, to test the causal path, an experiment (Study 2a) in which organizational trust was manipulated was designed. The results showed that employees' authenticity mediated the relation between organizational trust and voice behavior. To further test the causal effect of authenticity in the above mediation, authenticity was manipulated in another experiment (Study 2b). The results illustrated that higher levels of authenticity directly led to higher levels of voice behavior. These results support the hypothesis and expound on the psychological mechanism of how organizational trust increases voice behavior. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Paradoxical Leadership and Involvement in Creative Task via Creative Self-Efficacy: A Moderated Mediation Role of Task Complexity

Modern organizational environments encounter serious competition and paradoxical situations. This study discusses the effect of paradoxical leadership on overcoming competitive and paradoxical situations happening in the Korean workplace. More specifically, it investigates the dynamic relationship between paradoxical leadership and involvement in creative tasks in a Korean context and examines whether creative self-efficacy positively mediates this relationship. Our research design addresses the moderating role and moderated mediating role of task complexity in the relationship between paradoxical leadership and the involvement in creative tasks via creative self-efficacy. The main hypotheses were tested by using a cross-sectional design and administering questionnaires to 268 employees working in Korean firms. Empirical analysis revealed that paradoxical leadership is positively related to involvement in creative tasks and creative self-efficacy and that creative self-efficacy positively mediated the relationship between paradoxical leadership and involvement in creative tasks. Importantly, as the relationship between paradoxical leadership and creative self-efficacy depends on task complexity, the mediated relationship was effective under high task complexity. Uncovering the relationship between paradoxical leadership and involvement in creative tasks with the mediating role of creative self-efficacy and the moderated mediating role of task complexity can provide useful theoretical and managerial implications.

Influencing factors on knowledge sharing in virtual teams

BACKGROUND: The importance of virtual work is growing. Especially in knowledge-intensive, dynamic and international sectors, virtual teams have become an ubiquitous work form, promising more flexibility and higher performance. To solve complex problems they have to share and assimilate knowledge, but it is difficult in virtual contexts to overcome social distance and to avoid communication issues. Knowledge sharing in virtual teams may be more prone to errors and take more time. OBJECTIVE: Current studies mainly consider a one-sided perspective, either focusing on technical or human influencing factors for effective knowledge sharing in virtual teams, but not on the interaction between these. This study addresses that gap by exploring success-critical factors for knowledge sharing by using the socio-technical systems-approach. METHODS: The database of the study consists of 26 in-depth interviews. The interviews were partially structured and based on the Critical Incident Technique. Using a deductive categorization scheme consisting of four main categories and 21 subcategories, the frequencies and overlaps of influencing factors on successful knowledge sharing in virtual teams were examined. RESULTS: Each critical incident reported included factors from all four main categories (technology, structure, people and task) with specific frequencies and connections. Structural influencing factors as well as technological factors are mentioned particularly frequently together. CONCLUSION: The results of the study underline the importance of an integrated socio-technical view on knowledge sharing in virtual teams. Technical and social factors need to be considered simultaneously. The findings can be used for designing and optimizing knowledge sharing processes in virtual teams.

Microsoft Teams and team performance in the COVID-19 pandemic within an NHS Trust Community Service in North-West England

Purpose

This study aims to evaluate the impact the introduction of Microsoft Teams has had on team performance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic within a National Health Service (NHS) Community Service.

Design/methodology/approach

Microsoft Teams was rolled out across the NHS over a period of four days, partly in response to the need for social distancing. This case study reviews how becoming a virtual team affected team performance, the role Microsoft Teams had played in supporting staff to work in higher virtuality, understand what elements underpin a successful virtual team and how these results correlate to the technology acceptance model (Davis, 1985).

Findings

The findings indicate that Teams made a positive impact to the team at a time of heightened clinical pressures and working in unfamiliar environments without the supportive benefits of face-to-face contact with colleagues in terms of incidental knowledge sharing and health and well-being.

Originality/value

Further developments were needed to make virtual meetings more accessible for introverted colleagues, support asynchronous communication, address training needs and support leaders to adapt and operate in higher virtuality.

Exploring the remote work challenges in the era of COVID-19 pandemic: review and application model

Purpose

Remote work (RW) literature is a megatrend in HRM literature, and the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of RW as a concept and an organisational practice. Given the large number of papers being published on remote work, there is a need for a critical review of the extant literature using bibliometric analysis. This paper examines the literature on remote working to identify the factors crucial for managing a remote workforce. This study uses the complex adaptive systems theory as a foundation to build a framework that organisations can use to manage their remote workforce, focusing on three outcomes: employee engagement, collaboration and organisational agility.

Design/methodology/approach

Bibliometric analysis was conducted on the research published in Scopus journal in the area of remote work, followed by critical literature analysis.

Findings

The bibliometric analysis identified five clusters that reflect five organisational factors which the management can align to achieve the desired outcomes of engagement, collaboration and agility: technology orientation, leadership, HRM practices, external processes and organisational culture. The present findings have important implications for managing the remote workforce.

Originality/value

The five factors were mapped to propose a conceptual model on engaging individual employees, fostering team collaboration and building organisational agility while working remotely. We also propose an application model for using technology to achieve the outcomes of engagement, collaboration and agility in the organisation. Practitioners could use this framework to focus on the factors that can create a conducive environment to improve work efficiency in a remote workforce.

The influence of organizational commitment on the perceived effectiveness of virtual meetings by filipino professionals during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A structural equation modeling approach

BACKGROUND

Virtual meetings have been widely utilized during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of organizational commitment on the perceived effectiveness of virtual meeting by Filipino professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

A total of 513 Filipino professionals answered an online questionnaire which covered four latent variables: organizational commitment to virtual meetings, attitude toward virtual meetings, perceived effectiveness of virtual meeting as collaboration tool, and perceived effectiveness of virtual meeting as a social tool. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was utilized to analyze the causal relationships between the latent variables construct.

RESULTS

SEM showed that organizational commitment to virtual meeting during the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the positive attitude of the employees which subsequently led to the perceived effectiveness of virtual meeting as a collaboration and social tool.

CONCLUSIONS

This study is the first study that analyzed the influence of organizational commitment on the perceived effectiveness of virtual meeting during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. Our SEM construct can be applied and extended further, particularly in analyzing factors influencing the perceived effectiveness of virtual meeting during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Remote leadership in health care: a scoping review

Purpose

The degree of remote working has increased in the health-care sector, but remote leadership in health-care contexts has not been systematically studied. Thus, the purpose of this review was to map existing literature and research themes of remote leadership in health care and identify potential research gaps to guide future studies.

Design/methodology/approach

A scoping review with narrative synthesis was conducted, covering all published literature addressing remote, virtual, online or distance leadership practices. The ABI/INFORM Collection, CINALH, PsycArticles, Scopus and Web of Science, MedNar, Open Grey and PQDT Open databases were searched electronically, and Finnish Journal of eHealth and eWelfare was searched manually.

Findings

In total 15 articles were included in the review. Most literature concerning remote leadership in health care has been published during the past three decades. The main themes discerned in this research stream are related to interactions, work environments, leadership in practice, use of technology and needs for more study of remote leadership and guidance for remote leaders.

Research limitations/implications

Research on remote leadership in health care is limited, patchy and associated concepts vary substantially. More comprehensive research on the phenomenon is needed, with more systematic attention to, and coverage of, relevant populations, concepts, contexts and the identified themes.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this appears to be the first review to map research on remote leadership in health care and identify research gaps, which is important as its prevalence has rapidly increased.

Critical Factors Affecting Team Work Efficiency in BIM-Based Collaborative Design: An Empirical Study in China

Building information modeling (BIM) can theoretically facilitate collaboration among diverse design participants in construction projects, but in practice, its implementation tends to prolong the design period. Existing literature has examined some technical and managerial causes of this problem but still lacks an overall coverage of related factors. This study aims to identify the comprehensive factors affecting the teamwork efficiency in China’s BIM-based collaborative design, and to investigate the critical factors and their interactions. Based on the input-process-output theory, this study initially established a hypothetical model. Potential factors were further identified through the literature review and semi-structured interviews. Questionnaire survey was conducted, and structural equation modeling was used for analysis. The results indicated that the team cooperation atmosphere is the most significant factor, followed by the collaborators’ learning ability, comfort of the working environment, BIM software function, and the characteristics and arrangement of the design task (CADT). Besides, the CADT negatively affects the teamwork efficiency through the human interaction process, while other factors exert positive impacts by affecting both the personal work process and the human interaction process. The findings can help design units to determine the management focus of BIM-based collaborative design and prioritize the allocation of limited resources accordingly to maximize teamwork efficiency.

The Use of a Formative Pedagogy Lens to Enhance and Maintain Virtual Supervisory Relationships: Appreciative Inquiry and Critical Review

BACKGROUND

Virtual supervisory relationships provide an infrastructure for flexible learning, global accessibility, and outreach, connecting individuals worldwide. The surge in web-based educational activities in recent years provides an opportunity to understand the attributes of an effective supervisor-student or mentor-student relationship.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to compare the published literature (through a critical review) with our collective experiences (using small-scale appreciative inquiry [AI]) in an effort to structure and identify the dilemmas and opportunities for virtual supervisory and mentoring relationships, both in terms of stakeholder attributes and skills as well as providing instructional recommendations to enhance virtual learning.

METHODS

A critical review of the literature was conducted followed by an AI of reflections by the authors. The AI questions were derived from the 4D AI framework.

RESULTS

Despite the multitude of differences between face-to-face and web-based supervision and mentoring, four key dilemmas seem to influence the experiences of stakeholders involved in virtual learning: informal discourses and approachability of mentors; effective virtual communication strategies; authenticity, trust, and work ethics; and sense of self and cultural considerations.

CONCLUSIONS

Virtual mentorship or supervision can be as equally rewarding as an in-person relationship. However, its successful implementation requires active acknowledgment of learners' needs and careful consideration to develop effective and mutually beneficial student-educator relationships.

Virtual Collaboration in Academia

More nurses and nurse educators today are working distantly in different geographic locations from others, and this includes working from home or satellite locations (Poulsen & Ipsen, 2017). Can we work collaboratively in a purely distance relationship? In academia, collaboration between colleagues is common and often mandated. Being able to engage with others in a collegial manner is necessary, and in some instances the relationship may be purely virtual. This revolution in cognitive capability uses long-distance interactive technology and the structure of professional learning communities. Successful group collaboration is driven by high expectations, shared goals, professionalism, and peer accountability. Such collaboration may be viewed as involving a nonlinear theory of change, with multiple factors influencing processes and outcomes. Factors impacting success include academic considerations (professional goals, disciplinary expertise), nonacademic issues (personal preferences, financial factors), and the development of a culture of trust and collective leadership. Practical strategies to implement such virtual collaboration are discussed.