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Virtual Communities and Collaborations

Abstract

In this paper we focus on the relationships among cultural diversity, perceived work atmosphere, and intra-groupconflict in global virtual teams. We report the findings of a laboratory experiment that was conducted involving thesubjects who were geographically dispersed. The participants used IBM’s Lotus Sametime to perform a group task.The findings of the study reveal that in virtual teams, task conflict overshadows relationship conflict; the culturalheterogeneity of the team members influences their perception of the work atmosphere, which in its turn aggravatestask conflict in the teams. We also find that Intra-group conflict adversely affects team members’ satisfaction andcollaborative conflict management style has a moderating effect on this relationship.

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