Virtual teams: managerial behavior control's impact on team effectiveness

Virtual teams, enabled by information technology, represent a new organizational form that has the potential to change the workplace and provide organizations with increased levels of flexibility and responsiveness. A gap exists in the current information systems literature. Previous studies seem to implicitly assume that virtual teams will be self-directed—i.e., that managerial control mechanisms are not required in this setting. This study makes this assumption explicit and tests it. Propositions are developed and tested based on an extension of team effectiveness research in a colocated environment. The contribution of managerial behavior control practices to virtual team effectiveness is also evaluated by juxtaposing self-directed teams with virtual teams where managerial behavior control is enforced.