Interpersonal Relationships in Transnational, Virtual Teams: Towards a Configurational Perspective - Coursework Example

Interpersonal Relationships in Transnational, Virtual Teams: Towards a Configurational Perspective By Student’s Name Course + Code Class Institution Date Introduction Interpersonal relationships in translational, virtual teams is an article by Angelika Zimmermann. It is about reviewing the literature on the transnational virtual teams (TNTs). The article analyses the interrelationship between the behavioral, affective and cognitive relationship aspects. 1. A synthesis of the main argument The article employs the use of a literature review as a way to come up with a configurational analysis of the relationships in the TNTs. The analysis sets its foundations on the assumption that one-dimensional relationships between singled out variables cannot explain the organizational realty, but only in the use of variable configurations. These variables are multidimensional aspects of conceptually prominent or separate characteristics that usually happen simultaneously. The single variables’ effect depends on their relationship and interaction with the other variables in a configuration. TNTs are groups comprised of people from different countries, who come together to accomplish a given task. The research done previously on TNTs showed that the in order for the teams to work at their best there is the element of strong interpersonal relationships, which are very hard to achieve. Many studies conducted have pin pointed specific processes and termed as aspects of relationships in this article. This article first combines the virtual team and transnational team literature to give a brief summary of the aspects of relationships examined. The article points out the relationship aspects termed as cognitive, which entails shared understanding, team identity, trust, and subgroup formation. Behavioral aspects are creation of knowledge, conflicts and communication. Interpersonal affect is the affective part of the relationship aspect. A complex relationship configuration is the general term that encompasses all these relationship aspects mentioned above (Zimmermann, 2011). Therefore, this article explains the effect of every aspect on the other aspects of relationships; this is the initial step in the configurational analysis. The article goes ahead to review different features of the team structure, socio-political environment and the organizational context that may help or stop different relationship aspects. Major attention is on the effect of cultural variety and virtuality as the characteristic elements of TNTs and the frequently discussed things in the article. Through the formation of the research done before, this article comes up with a brief summary of mutual influences suggested in the relationship aspects. This brings about the suggestion of examples of configuration in the relationships and the factors that drive them. The features of these configurations are characterized by the themes of tight coupling and commitment and loose coupling and commitment in that order. The article concludes by suggesting the ways for future research on TNTs and the relationships involved. The argument is that there are many things to add in research regarding relationship aspects. The complex phenomenon of the TNTs needs a thorough qualitative case research to explore this complex phenomenon. 2. A discussion how the author(s) of the paper ensured that they developed a rigorous framework for identifying and analyzing the literature they used in the paper. The author of the article followed the research done previously critically in order to draw the conclusion that there was a need to review the literature to analyze the literature. The research done previously was inconclusive and used a one-dimensional approach to explain the organizational reality of the TNTs. In the process, the author strives to develop a configurational analysis to help shed light on the matter. The previous research focused on the interpersonal relationship, which the author tried to integrate the virtual tem with the transnational team. The systematic review is a brief summary of the most appropriate proof available to explain the theoretical questions. The review employs open and thorough methods to point out, critically evaluate and synthesize the studies on a topic. The review contains the research process and the methods followed then documentation follows so as other people can critically evaluate and copy the review. The paper is in seven different papers as a reference, which means that the review was ready for replication and evaluation. In any form of literature review undertaken, the researchers have to give a current understanding of the issue, also identify the important themes. In the process, help future researchers in comprehending the reason for the research, also copy the research process. The literature review summarizes the findings before getting to the main topic then after that expound on it with judgment. The author followed the previous researcher’s views and facts then built on them. The configurational ananlysis proved that the author was comprehensive and saw the need to recover. The author analyzed the literature and brought out the key themes in the paper like behavioral aspects and the interpersonal relationships between the different aspects. 3. A consideration of how this paper is in subsequent empirical studies by checking the citations within Google Scholar for the assigned article The article is in seven articles as a reference. I choose to work with four of these articles, to analyze the usage of the article within these cited documents. The sampled articles are as follows Nurit Zaidman, Ayala Malach-Pines, Stereotypes in bicultural global teams, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 2014, 40, 99 M. Reza Hosseini, Nicholas Chileshe, Global virtual engineering teams (GVETs): A fertile ground for research in Australian construction projects context, International Journal of Project Management, 2013, 31, 8, 1101 Sample 1 Stereotypes in bicultural global teams By Nurit Zaidman and Ayala Malach-Pines This journal focused on examining the stereotypes that influenced the complex working environments that is a key feature within international teams. The study focused on 120 Israelis working alongside 80 Indians within a high technology industrial setting. The findings they came up with indicated the occurrence of cross-vergence and in-group preferences within these global teams, two key stereotypes that govern working relationships within such settings. Our focus article citation within this journal critically looks at behavioral attributes that govern the co-existence of international working teams and how they relate within their subgroups in terms of sharing information, resolving conflicts and cohesive working. Sample two Global virtual engineering teams (GVETs): A fertile ground for research in Australian construction projects context By M. Reza Hosseini and Nicholas Chileshe This journal focuses on the global virtual engineering teams within the Australian construction industry. This paper looks at the GVETs as an entity on its own and goes ahead to link this to the Australian construction sector. In my opinion, our focus article has a substantial amount of influence within this journal because it contributes in establishing behavioral patterns within the GVETs that are the key focus here. Sample 3 Leading virtual teams: how do social, cognitive, and behavioral capabilities matter? By Debmalya Mukherjee (Department of Management, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio, USA) Somnath Lahiri (Department of Management and Quantitative Methods, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois, USA) Deepraj Mukherjee (Department of Business, Waldorf College, Forest City, Iowa, USA) Tejinder K. Billing (Department of Management and Entrepreneurship, Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey, USA) This article aimed at coming up with a framework that establishes a connection between vital leadership capabilities in relation to the various growth stages in a virtual team. The use of the framework is to identify and expound on the role of behavioral abilities, cognitive and social aspects that are important in determining the efficiency of the vital team leadership. Our focus article, deals with the behavioral patterns within the transnational teams and virtual teams and aims to define what effect these behaviors have on the overall performance of these teams. Therefore, its citation within this journal was of vital necessity. Sample 4 E-leadership effectiveness in virtual teams: motivating language perspective By Kai-Tang Fan (Department of Business Administration, Lunghwa University of Science and Technology, Taoyuan, Taiwan) Yuan-Ho Chen (College of Management – Graduate School of Business and Management, Lunghwa University of Science and Technology, Taoyuan, Taiwan) Ching-Wen Wang (Department of Business Administration, National Chung Shin University, Taichung, Taiwan) Minder Chen (Martin V. Smith School of Business and Economics, California State University Channel Islands, Camarillo, California, USA) This article focuses on the popularity of the virtual teams and the effectiveness of motivating language in the performance of the team. Our focus article highlights on the relationships within these teams. In addition, it also focuses on how the members relate to each other in light of their overall performance. Citation within this article was therefore relevant. Conclusion The article was precise in following the systematic literature review theory, starting from planning the review, which is pointing the need for the review by showing the gaps in the previous research. The review underwent quality assessment, the data synthesis. Documentation followed which helped the subsequent researchers understand the common principles and the areas left for further research in the topic. Bibliography Zimmermann, A., 2011. Interpersonal Relationships in Virtual Teams: Towards aConfigurational Perspective. International Journal of Management Reviews, 13(1), pp.59-78. Read More