The effects of reward structure, media richness and gender on virtual teams

Stephanie M. Bryant, Susan M. Albring, Uday Murthy

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

38 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study explores the dynamics of virtual teams. We hypothesize that the use of a mixed-incentive reward structure will increase team member satisfaction, affect group cohesion and decrease perceived social loafing in a virtual team environment. We also hypothesize that team member satisfaction and team cohesion will increase and perceived social loafing will decrease with the use of a richer technology medium in a virtual team environment. In addition, we hypothesize that in a virtual team environment, team member satisfaction, group cohesion and perceived social loafing will differ between males and females. Using eighty-nine MBA students at a large southeastern university as participant's for our study, we find that perceived social loafing decreases with the use of a mixed-incentive reward structure in a virtual team environment. We also find that perceived social loafing decreases with the use of a richer technology medium in a virtual team environment. Finally, we find that perceived social loafing differs between males and females and that females perceive more social loafing when there is not a mixed-incentive scheme. The results shed light on the role of gender in virtual teams.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)190-213
Number of pages24
JournalInternational Journal of Accounting Information Systems
Volume10
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2009

Keywords

  • Gender
  • Informal leadership
  • Social loafing
  • Sociometric structure
  • Team cohesiveness
  • Team member satisfaction
  • Virtual teams

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Management Information Systems
  • Accounting
  • Finance
  • Information Systems and Management

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