Locus of control and attitudes to working in virtual teams

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Abstract

Global projects using new computing and communication technologies for at-distance communication and coordination are increasingly popular. As a result, team members are often located geographically and temporally apart, while working towards a common project goal. This paper takes a micro-level look at those actively involved in distributed team working. For the first time within the project team context, this paper uses the locus of control (LOC) construct to examine the influence of individual workers’ general control expectancies on their attitudes towards distributed working. Decisions and actions of management and team colleagues are perceived and interpreted by team individuals as either enabling or constraining their own performance. This in turn, can affect their behaviour towards others. With its basis in reinforcement or learning theory, LOC offers a robust theoretical framework to research the virtual project team and inform business practice.

The paper first reports the results of a prior survey of project professionals’ LOC affect on perceived role conflict and job satisfaction. A subsequent case-study provides a deeper understanding of the issues that individuals face when working in this extended environment, which could not be fully explored by the scope of the original quantitative study. Findings from both the survey and case study demonstrate LOC attitudinal differences. The survey results signal the important relationship between workers’ locus of control and job satisfaction; in particular, contrary to conventional team findings, those with a sense of internal control appear directly affected by role conflict. In the case study, this may be explained by internals’ willingness to take ownership of their surroundings and actions. This study’s integrative approach highlights the importance of understanding workers’ locus of control orientations and their implications for distributed team member motivation and development.

Introduction

Rapid advances in information and communication technologies (ICT) means that we now live in an electronically-connected world that is seldom ‘asleep’. Organisations and their staff work to satisfy rising consumer and shareholder demands. The 24/7 workplace is increasing, demonstrated by cross-boundary relationships, emphasis on immediacy in everyday transactions, and growing adoption of at-distance cooperative team working. The need for flexibility, supported by a technology platform that allows asynchronous and synchronous communication, has resulted in the growing use of a combination of multi-location and multi-cultural project teams – now commonly known as ‘virtual’ or ‘distributed’ or ‘dispersed’ teams [1], [2]. For the purpose of this paper, the terms distributed teams and virtual teams are used interchangeably.

Current research on distributed working is centred mainly on systems infrastructure, management control and performance measurement [3], [4]. The operational focus is driven largely by the adoption speed and spread of telecommuting across industries [5], [6]. As technology-enabled remote working matures to include virtual teamworking, there is a need to look beyond operational issues to understand the psychological and emotional drivers underpinning the way individual workers make sense of their environment. Kraut et al. [7] have already cautioned that while electronic networks have made it easier to work virtually, personal linkages remain crucial to mitigate any perceived negative consequences. In addition, Ahuja [8] and Rennecker [9] both call for research to be focused on the place of community within the virtual team and to examine social relations between individual. Hence studying the individual will give us a valuable insight into the personal motivations of virtual team workers and should lead to more effective ways of selecting, motivating and managing them.

Katzenbach and Smith [10] propose that virtual teams require different rules of engagement than conventional teams. This suggests that the virtual workers appreciate the reasons for them and will interpret and react to the rules and protocols in a uniform way. Human variability is a recognised phenomenon in psychology and social-psychology, and people have a tendency to react or perceive the world around them differently. How individuals see the world (whether enabling or constraining) will influence their general expectations of whether their own actions would produce the desired outcomes [11], [12]. In addition, human behaviour is guided by “reinforcements” (rewards and punishments) and through reinforcements individuals come to attribute their actions or others to cause events that happen to themselves and others. Therefore, in order to understand how team members react and behave when working in distributed project teams, this paper uses the locus of control (LOC) construct to explain the different attribution tendencies underlining virtual workers’ attitudes.

Researchers have recently begun to apply locus of control (LOC) in the technology-related domains. Some examples are: Potosky and Bobko [13] studied the relationship between LOC and computer experience; Bellman [14] used the same construct to examine home technology adoption and Sohn and Lekenby [15] investigated the perceived interactivity of the Web. Despite its wide-ranging application in a variety of social and business contexts, using LOC to understand professionals engaged in project-work is unknown. Since job satisfaction is a perception of the stress outcomes from the individual’s appraisal of his/her immediate environment, LOC has been theorised as a good stress moderator [15]. With its basis in reinforcement or learning theory, LOC directly affects behaviour and performance, and offers a robust theoretical framework to research and inform business practice on distributed teamworking.

The remainder of the paper is organised as follows: The next section defines the virtual or distributed team and highlights some of the issues facing these teams and their possible impact on worker satisfaction. A review of the LOC literature is then conducted to derive this paper’s theory on at-distance team working. This is followed by a description of the hypotheses and research methodology. The findings of a prior exploratory survey conducted to locate the theory in practice are reported. The survey results are then compared with the findings of a case-study using in-depth interviews to gain further insights. The paper concludes with a discussion of the project’s relevance to management practice and suggests a research agenda for further exploration.

Section snippets

Distributed teams

Early writers on virtual or distributed teams indicate a competency-based model whereby groups of individuals and/or organisations envisage economic benefits in using modern computing and communication technologies to ‘team’ together to work on a set of common goals and deliverables, but without having to be sited in close-proximity of one another [2], [17], [18], [19]. Lee-Kelley [20] provides a comprehensive description of what is a virtual team: it is an effective form for delivering large

Locus of control

Rotter’s [11] internal–external locus of control personality dimension is a result of his earlier work on social learning theory. LOC has been described as a dimension with two opposing differentiates: ‘internal’ LOC individuals interpret reinforcements they receive from their surroundings as contingent upon their own actions, while ‘external’ individuals perceive their actions to be externally determined by say luck, fate or unpredictable factors. The former exhibits a belief in personal

Role conflict and job satisfaction

The Magerison McCann Types of Work Model identifies eight main types of work in any job role and relates them to individual work preferences, and the actual time spent on each activity type [30]. By showing any mismatch between individual preference and actual work performed, it can act as an indicator of possible role stress. The linking skills index may then be used to encourage companies and teams to better match skills and highlights areas for personal development [30]. However, the

Hypotheses

Hypotheses 1

Relationship between control expectancies and role conflict perception

  • H10: There is no difference between internals and externals’ perceived role conflict.

  • H11: There is a difference between internals and externals’ perceived role conflict.

The second hypothesis below seeks to ascertain whether role conflict or locus of control exhibits the stronger relationship with job satisfaction.

Hypotheses 2

Relationship between control expectancies, role conflict and job satisfaction

  • H20: There is no difference in the

Methodology

The research is two-staged: a prior survey of professional workers involved in defence projects tested the effects of locus of control on team member perceptions of role conflict and job satisfaction. The quantitative results were then compared with the findings of a case-study of IT professionals using in-depth interviews to elicit a deeper understanding of issues facing individuals that was initially indicated in the first study.

Survey

Of the 108 complete respondents, 84 (78%) described themselves as working in a project management role with the remainder occupying some line management function within the teams. An independent t-test on locus of control and managerial position did not indicate a significant difference between the two means. In addition, although the gender split was male predominant (95 males, 13 females), ANOVA results showed no significant difference between the two groups. Therefore, it was established

Discussion

The prevailing theme from the interviews is that there is a difference in attitudes towards distributed working. On the one hand, the responses were generally positive, even up-beat: ‘I’m not worried’, ‘I like being my own boss’, ‘I welcome it… working this way can be fun’. On the other, while accepting that working with others who are not in close proximity and who may not be part of the same organisation has become a business necessity, there is a distinct feeling of discomfort and unease: ‘

Managerial implications

From the findings of the survey and case-study, the moderating role of LOC on distributed team worker outlook is demonstrated and should not be overlooked. Although role conflict appears to be an accepted by-product for distributed projects, it does exert pressure on internal-LOC professionals; the reasons of which are still not entirely clear, although previous experience is a possible influencing factor. The case-study lends support to the sources of conflict identified by Thamhain and

Limitations and future research

The survey was of a cross-sectional self-report design relying on honesty of individuals. The case study’s interview participants, although drawn from the same corporate membership listing of the APM, were not part of the original survey. Accordingly, the project’s findings and conclusions can only be indicative and may not be generalisable across other project personnel or other project-based contexts. However, logical extrapolation is feasible, given that both Company A and Company B projects

Acknowledgements

This paper would not have been possible without the input and assistance of A. Gilbert who had collected the survey data and K.L. Loong whose access to Company B provided the data necessary for the case study. I also thank the two anonymous reviewers who had generously given their time and whose helpful comments and additional references have shaped the final paper.

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