Date of Conferral

2016

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)

School

Business Administration

Advisor

Marilyn K. Simon

Abstract

Many virtual team leaders lack strategies to build and maintain trust among virtual team members, which affects performance and productivity. The purpose of this exploratory single case study was to provide organizational leaders with information about the strategies that virtual team leaders use to build and maintain trust among virtual team members to enhance job performance. Cognition-based and affect-based theories of interpersonal relationships were used as a conceptual framework. In-depth, semistructured electronic interviews were conducted with 10 virtual team leaders of a multinational global organization specializing in management consulting and technology services that has headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. Interview data and documents from virtual team memos and progress reports were content analyzed with NVivo software, and member checking was used to validate transcribed data. Two major thematic categories emerged from data analysis (a) the need for effective organizational and leadership skills and (b) strategies for building and maintaining trust among virtual team members. Recommendations include reevaluating the hiring processes of virtual team leaders and members, providing adequate cross-cultural training to virtual team leaders and members, creating effective strategies for interpersonal relationships, and investing in communication technologies that foster face-to-face collaboration. Building and maintaining trust among virtual team members helps increase team performance and productivity. Implications for social change include promoting social stability, reducing projects' failure, and improving the bottom line.

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