Moderating Effects of Technology Experience and Cultural Distance on Global Virtual Team Coordination

2010. The BRC Academy Journal of Business. Vol. 1, N° 1, Pp 125- 144

Erich Spencer R, Ronald Rivas , Paul Sauer

Abstract:

Often the adoption of web platforms is driven by a need to achieve managerial goals. Given globalization and advancements in information technologies, an increasingly relevant managerial goal is the coordination of global virtual teams. This paper addresses the interaction of international team members with an information technology platform to facilitate coordination of team effort directed toward project management. In particular, this paper studies the relationship between self-efficacy, behavioral intent to use the technology, and ease of virtual team coordination. We modeled the relationship between self-efficacy and ease of coordination as mediated by behavioral intent to use the technology. We further included the moderating effects of technology experience and cultural distance. A combination of US and Chilean students grouped in teams were assigned to develop an international business plan using an information technology platform as a vehicle for communication. We tested the model using Partial Least Squares (PLS). The results support both a direct and mediated effect of self-efficacy on ease of international coordination. In addition, technology experience was found to moderate the relationship between intention to use the technology and ease of international coordination using the technology mandated for the international project. Technology experience moderated the relationship between self-efficacy and international coordination using an alternative technology. We discuss the implications of this model for Coordination of Global Virtual Teams. 

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