IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/palcom/v11y2024i1d10.1057_s41599-024-03678-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Who benefits from virtual collaboration? The interplay of team member expertness and Big Five personality traits

Author

Listed:
  • Mengxiao Zhu

    (University of Science and Technology of China
    Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Science Education and Communication)

  • Chunke Su

    (University of Texas at Arlington)

  • Jiangang Hao

    (Educational Testing Service)

  • Lei Liu

    (Educational Testing Service)

  • Patrick Kyllonen

    (Educational Testing Service)

  • Alina von Davier

    (Duolingo Inc.)

Abstract

This research applies and integrates transactive memory systems (TMS) theory and the Big Five personality traits model to investigate the performance dynamics of dyadic teams engaged in virtual collaborative problem-solving (CPS). Specifically, this study examines how the personal attributes of team members, including their expertness and Big Five personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism), as well as the resultant diversity in expertness and Big Five personality traits within teams, influence both team-level and individual-level performance gain from virtual collaboration. Studying 377 dyadic teams composed of 754 individuals working on an online collaborative intellective task, this research found that dyads with high expertness diversity had greater performance gain from virtual collaboration than dyads with low expertness diversity. Further, dyads, where both members scored low on agreeableness, showed the most significant improvement in team performance. At the individual level, a team member who had a low expertness level but was paired with a high-expertness teammate demonstrated the greatest performance gain from virtual collaboration. The integration of TMS theory and the Big Five personality traits model provides a richer and more nuanced understanding of how individual attributes and team dynamics contribute to successful virtual CPS outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Mengxiao Zhu & Chunke Su & Jiangang Hao & Lei Liu & Patrick Kyllonen & Alina von Davier, 2024. "Who benefits from virtual collaboration? The interplay of team member expertness and Big Five personality traits," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:11:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-024-03678-y
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-024-03678-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-024-03678-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41599-024-03678-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zheng, Sijing & Zeng, Xiaohua & Zhang, Cheng, 2016. "The effects of role variety and ability disparity on virtual group performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 3468-3477.
    2. Longqi Yang & David Holtz & Sonia Jaffe & Siddharth Suri & Shilpi Sinha & Jeffrey Weston & Connor Joyce & Neha Shah & Kevin Sherman & Brent Hecht & Jaime Teevan, 2022. "The effects of remote work on collaboration among information workers," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 43-54, January.
    3. Svea Luebstorf & Joseph A. Allen & Emilee Eden & William S. Kramer & Roni Reiter-Palmon & Nale Lehmann-Willenbrock, 2023. "Digging into “Zoom Fatigue”: A Qualitative Exploration of Remote Work Challenges and Virtual Meeting Stressors," Merits, MDPI, vol. 3(1), pages 1-16, February.
    4. Luis Martins & L. Schilpzand & C. Marieke & Bradley Kirkman & Silvester Ivanaj & Vera Ivanaj, 2013. "A Contingency View of the Effects of Cognitive Diversity on Team Performance: The Moderating Roles of Team Psychological Safety and Relationship Conflict," Post-Print hal-01514582, HAL.
    5. Ruolian Fang & Blaine Landis & Zhen Zhang & Marc H. Anderson & Jason D. Shaw & Martin Kilduff, 2015. "Integrating Personality and Social Networks: A Meta-Analysis of Personality, Network Position, and Work Outcomes in Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(4), pages 1243-1260, August.
    6. Martine R. Haas & Morten T. Hansen, 2007. "Different knowledge, different benefits: toward a productivity perspective on knowledge sharing in organizations," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(11), pages 1133-1153, November.
    7. McCord, Mallory A. & Joseph, Dana L. & Grijalva, Emily, 2014. "Blinded By the Light: The Dark Side of Traditionally Desirable Personality Traits," Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(1), pages 130-137, March.
    8. Wei Shi & Matthew S. Weber, 2018. "Rethinking the complexity of virtual work and knowledge sharing," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 69(11), pages 1318-1329, November.
    9. Paul M. Di Gangi & Molly M. Wasko & Xinlin Tang, 2012. "Would You Share?: Examining Knowledge Type and Communication Channel for Knowledge Sharing Within and Across the Organizational Boundary," International Journal of Knowledge Management (IJKM), IGI Global, vol. 8(1), pages 1-21, January.
    10. Kyle Lewis & Benjamin Herndon, 2011. "Transactive Memory Systems: Current Issues and Future Research Directions," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1254-1265, October.
    11. Longqi Yang & David Holtz & Sonia Jaffe & Siddharth Suri & Shilpi Sinha & Jeffrey Weston & Connor Joyce & Neha Shah & Kevin Sherman & Brent Hecht & Jaime Teevan, 2022. "Author Correction: The effects of remote work on collaboration among information workers," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 164-164, January.
    12. Enwei Xu & Wei Wang & Qingxia Wang, 2023. "The effectiveness of collaborative problem solving in promoting students’ critical thinking: A meta-analysis based on empirical literature," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jean-Marc Bourgeon & José de Sousa & Alexis Noir-Luhalwe, 2022. "Social Distancing and Risk Taking: Evidence from a Team Game Show [Distanciation sociale et prise de risque : Les résultats d'un jeu d'équipe]," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03792423, HAL.
    2. Vij, Akshay & Souza, Flavio F. & Barrie, Helen & Anilan, V. & Sarmiento, Sergio & Washington, Lynette, 2023. "Employee preferences for working from home in Australia," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 782-800.
    3. Luca, Davide & Özgüzel, Cem & Wei, Zhiwu, 2024. "The spatially uneven diffusion of remote jobs in Europe," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 122651, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Wang, Richard & Ye, Zhongnan & Lu, Miaojia & Hsu, Shu-Chien, 2022. "Understanding post-pandemic work-from-home behaviours and community level energy reduction via agent-based modelling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    5. Becker, Kai & Ebbers, Joris J. & Engel, Yuval, 2024. "Going online: Peer entrepreneur networks in a startup accelerator before and during the COVID-19 pandemic," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    6. Reunamäki, Riku & Fey, Carl F., 2023. "Remote agile: Problems, solutions, and pitfalls to avoid," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 66(4), pages 505-516.
    7. Oltean Ovidiu & Taylor Andrew, 2023. "Back to the Future: How the Convergence of Globalization and Technology is Changing Labour and Mobility," Social Change Review, Sciendo, vol. 20(1), pages 19-44, December.
    8. Cevat Giray Aksoy & Jose Maria Barrero & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis & Mathias Dolls & Pablo Zarate, 2022. "Working from Home Around the World," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 53(2 (Fall)), pages 281-360.
    9. Berliant, Marcus & Fujita, Masahisa, 2023. "Knowledge creation through multimodal communication," MPRA Paper 117452, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Battisti, Enrico & Alfiero, Simona & Leonidou, Erasmia, 2022. "Remote working and digital transformation during the COVID-19 pandemic: Economic–financial impacts and psychological drivers for employees," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 38-50.
    11. Deole, Sumit S. & Deter, Max & Huang, Yue, 2023. "Home sweet home: Working from home and employee performance during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    12. Julia Lanzl, 2023. "Social Support as Technostress Inhibitor," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 65(3), pages 329-343, June.
    13. Yiling Lin & Carl Benedikt Frey & Lingfei Wu, 2022. "Remote Collaboration Fuses Fewer Breakthrough Ideas," Papers 2206.01878, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2023.
    14. Duanyi Yang & Erin L. Kelly & Laura D. Kubzansky & Lisa Berkman, 2023. "Working from Home and Worker Well-being: New Evidence from Germany," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 76(3), pages 504-531, May.
    15. Konstantin Flassak & Julia Haag & Christian Hofmann & Christopher Lechner & Nina Schwaiger & Rafael Zacherl, 2023. "Working from home and management controls," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 193-228, January.
    16. Ms. Faiza Amir & Zaheer Ahmed Khan, 2021. "Moderating Effect of Employee Engagement on the Relationship between Personality Traits and Team Performance: A Study of Employees in Private Colleges in Oman," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 15(3), pages 1-67, July.
    17. Yuejun Lawrance Cai, 2023. "Strengthening perceptions of virtual team cohesiveness and effectiveness in new normal: A hyperpersonal communication theory perspective," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(4), pages 1649-1682, September.
    18. Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, 2023. "The remote work revolution: Impact on real estate values and the urban environment: 2023 AREUEA Presidential Address," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 51(1), pages 7-48, January.
    19. van der Wouden, Frank & Youn, Hyejin, 2023. "The impact of geographical distance on learning through collaboration," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(2).
    20. Divyakant Tahlyan & Hani Mahmassani & Amanda Stathopoulos & Maher Said & Susan Shaheen & Joan Walker & Breton Johnson, 2024. "In-Person, Hybrid or Remote? Employers' Perspectives on the Future of Work Post-Pandemic," Papers 2402.18459, arXiv.org.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:11:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-024-03678-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.nature.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.