Cultural diversity in virtual teams: effects on international project success

• Ano de defesa: 2022
• Autor(a) principal: Chang, Rachel Xênia
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: eng
• Instituição de defesa: Biblioteca Digitais de Teses e Dissertações da USP
• Palavras-chave em Português: Communication; Comunicação; Diversidade; Diversity; Equipes virtuais; Facilitadores de tecnologia; Gender diversity; Project success; Sucesso do projeto; Technology enablers; Virtual teams
• Link de acesso: https://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/12/12139/tde-01022023-174855/

In 2020, we observed a drastic change in work dynamics. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has affected almost all countries with social isolation, quarantine, and lockdown measures, companies worldwide have been forced to quickly change their routines to protect their workforce. Thus, the virtualization of work gained prominence and many companies quickly changed their way of working. Virtual teams have become the new normal and this scenario has further spurred companies even more in hiring talents worldwide for their projects, not being restricted to a specific geographic area. This Ph.D. dissertation aims to understand how the cultural diversities of virtual teams impact the success of projects in an international context. Success in projects is concerned not only with the project itself but also with its project team and the people involved in the activities. Virtuality plays an important role in this scenario when considering facilitating aspects of the technology of a geographically dispersed team. Virtual teamwork in international projects is promoted by effective communication and conflict resolution, as well as attention to the dynamics of formation, performing and adjourning of virtual teams. For this, a mixed method approach was applied, based on a systematic literature review (SRL), with the selection of 130 articles published in high-impact academic journals, to understand the current scenario. Then, a quantitative survey with 273 respondents was developed to confirm the hypothesis. Finally, a qualitative approach was carried out through semi-structured interviews with 12 respondents to explore how diversity impacts the dynamics of virtual project teams. As result, cultural diversity has a negative effect on project success. On the other hand, it is an element of attention, especially in the formation and progress of virtual teams. Other forms of diversity are also important in virtual teams and should be further explored in conjunction with cultural diversity, which are gender and generational diversities, aiming at a better performance not only of the project team but also of the project manager. The academic contributions of this study consist of complementing current studies in International Business (IB) and Project Management (PM) with the influence of different shades of diversity in international projects. In addition, as practical contributions, this study aims to promote inclusion through cultural diversification in virtual teams, aligning the project\'s objectives with the efficient interaction of the virtual team.