DocumentCode :
1110155
Title :
A Balancing Act: The Interplay of Status Effects on Dominance in Virtual Teams
Author :
Ocker, Rosalie J.
Author_Institution :
Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park
Volume :
50
Issue :
3
fYear :
2007
Firstpage :
204
Lastpage :
218
Abstract :
Findings from a previous study indicate that dominance was a key inhibitor of creativity in virtual teams. This study extends understanding of dominance through an in-depth, qualitative analysis of eight virtual teams. Two research questions are addressed: (1) how is dominance manifested in virtual teams? and (2) why does dominance occur in some teams, and not others? Findings indicate that dominance occurred in three different patterns. Although both males and females dominated, a commonality across patterns was that the dominant individual belonged to the majority sex in each team. Furthermore, dominance was driven by a combination of a few team member status traits. When one or more status markers belonged to a single person - the dominant member - and were absent in other team members, dominance was pronounced. In teams that did not experience dominance, these status indicators were spread across multiple members. Additionally, even though all teams communicated strictly via asynchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC), equalization was not evidenced in the majority of teams. Status characteristics theory and proportional representation theory provide a basis to explain the prevalence, as well as the absence, of dominance in these virtual teams.
Keywords :
groupware; social aspects of automation; social sciences; team working; Status characteristics theory; asynchronous computer-mediated communication; distributed work; dominant member; group interaction; proportional representation theory; qualitative analysis; status effects; virtual team dominance; Communication system control; Computer mediated communication; Inhibitors; Organizing; Sociology; Virtual groups; Computer-mediated communication (CMC); distributed teams; distributed work; dominance; equalization; group interaction process; status effects; team composition; virtual teams;
fLanguage :
English
Journal_Title :
Professional Communication, IEEE Transactions on
Publisher :
ieee
ISSN :
0361-1434
Type :
jour
DOI :
10.1109/TPC.2007.902656
Filename :
4295232
Link To Document :
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