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Can You Hear Me Now? Communication in Virtual Product Development Teams *
Author(s) -
Montoya Mitzi M.,
Massey Anne P.,
Hung YuTing Caisy,
Crisp C. Brad
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of product innovation management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1540-5885
pISSN - 0737-6782
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-5885.2009.00342.x
Subject(s) - virtual team , information and communications technology , knowledge management , context (archaeology) , icts , contingency theory , new product development , business , globalization , product (mathematics) , social media , exploratory research , computer science , marketing , sociology , world wide web , market economy , paleontology , geometry , mathematics , economics , anthropology , biology
Globalization and technological advances are driving organizations to extend the boundaries of new product development (NPD) teams from traditional colocated settings to dispersed or virtual settings. Virtual NPD teams have a wide array of information and communication technologies (ICTs) at their disposal. ICTs allow team members to communicate and collaborate as they cope with the opportunities and challenges of cross‐boundary work. The purpose of this paper is to explore ICT use by members of virtual NPD teams. This study presents an exploratory test and integration of two competing perspectives of media use in virtual teams: media capacity theories and social dynamic media theories. Specifically, this paper examines the role of task type, organizational context, and ICT type as critical contingency variables affecting ICT use. It also examines how different patterns of ICT use relate to individual perceptions of team performance. The findings from this study of 184 members of virtual NPD teams in three global firms suggest that communication via ICTs in virtual NPD teams is contingent on a range of factors.