Where Global and Virtual Meet: The Value of Examining the Intersection of These Elements in Twenty-First-Century Teams

Abstract

We review prior research that has examined virtuality in teams (e.g., pertaining to the use of electronic media) or the global nature of teams (e.g., national and cultural differences), demonstrating that very few scholars have examined both simultaneously. Given that the global and virtual elements often coincide in the same team, this is a critical gap in research, particularly because these two features may interact in important ways, amplifying or mitigating the effects of each other. After elaborating on potential interactions, we set forth future research directions, which incorporate both global and virtual elements of teams and in doing so, better address the complexity of working in these increasingly common collaborative forms.