Trabajo colaborativo en entornos virtualesDiseño y evaluación de una intervención para la mejora de la eficacia y el bienestar

Resumen

The combination of teams in organizations, technology and globalization fostered the popularization of collaborative virtual environments (CVE) (virtual teams and virtual communities). CVE have advantages and opportunities for members and organizations. Consequently, its adoption is growing. Yet, CVE presents challenges that are a threat to its sustainability, effectiveness, and well-being (management of diversity (faultlines and subgroups); expression of affect; lack of competencies of relational computer-mediated communication). Thus, there is a need to conduct research that helps to overcome these challenges. Considering this, we study effectiveness and well-being in CVE; and we design and evaluate a team emotional management training (TEM training) for virtual teams with and without subgroups. For this purpose, this thesis presents four published articles. Article (Art.) 1 studies the relation between sense of virtual community and intention to continue, mediated by commitment. We also study the moderating role of 3 types of virtual communities: communities of interest, learning communities and communities of practice. To do so, a correlational design is used with a sample of real virtual community. Art. 2 studies the effect of emotional intelligence composition on individual hedonic well-being (positive affective states, negative affective states and satisfaction with the team) in virtual teams and the moderating role of TEM training on the relationship above stated. Art. 3 studies the effect of TEM training on perceived performance in virtual teams with faultlines. Moreover, we study the mediating effect of Team Collaboration Capability; a construct composed of trust, commitment, and communication. Art. 4 studies the effect of TEM training on eudaimonic well-being (team engagement) in virtual teams with faultlines. Moreover, we study the moderating role of personality composition. Specifically, we test under which configuration(s) (team level and heterogeneity) of openness to experience trait the training will be more effective. For Art. 2,3 and 4 we did a quasi-experimental study (randomized controlled trial). Results show (1) that sense of community, partially mediated by commitment, relates to intention to continue and that the type of community moderates the relationship. (2) That emotional intelligence composition positively influences individual satisfaction with the team and negatively influences negative affect; and TEM training moderates these effects. (3) That TEM training has an indirect positive effect on performance through trust and commitment, and that both mediators and communication positively affect performance. (4) That TEM training has a positive effect on engagement and openness to experience configurations moderate the effect. We discuss results, implications, limitations, and applicability that help to create sustainable, effective and happy CVE.