Hosseini, M R; Chileshe, N; Baroudi, B; Zuo, J and Mills, A (2016) Factors affecting perceived level of virtuality in hybrid construction project teams: A qualitative study. Construction Innovation, 16(4), pp. 460-482. ISSN 1471-4175
Abstract
Purpose Deploying hybrid construction project teams (HCPTs) in which the common pattern of interactions is a blend of face-to-face and virtual communications has been increasingly gaining momentum in the construction context. Evidence has demonstrated that effectiveness of HCPTs is affected by a perceived level of virtuality, i.e. the perception of distance and boundaries between members where teams shift towards working virtually as opposed to purely collocated teams. This study aims to provide an integrated model of the factors affecting perceived virtuality in HCPTs, to address the conspicuous absence of studies on virtuality in the construction context. Design/methodology/approach An a priori list of factors extracted from existing literature on virtuality was subjected to the scrutiny of 17 experts with experiences of working in HCPTs through semi-structured interviews. Nvivo 10 was deployed for analysing the interview transcripts. Findings The findings outline the factors affecting virtuality in HCPTs and map the patterns of their associations as an integrated model. This leads to discovering a number of novel factors, which exert moderating impacts upon perceived virtuality in HCPTs. Practical implications The findings assist managers and practitioners dealing with any form of HCPTs (including building information modelling-based networks and distributed design teams) in identifying the variables manipulating the effectiveness of their teams. This enables them of designing more effective team arrangements. Originality/value As the first empirical study on virtuality in the construction context, this paper contributes to the sphere by conceptualising and contextualising the concept of virtuality in the construction industry. The study presents a new typology for the factors affecting perceived virtuality by categorising them into predictors and moderators.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | virtual teams,construction projects,predictors,hybrid teams,moderators,virtuality |
| Index terms: | construction industry, interaction, empirical study, effectiveness, qualitative study, building information modelling, integrated model, virtual team, construction project team, hybrid team, boundaries, construction project, methodology, evidence, practitioner, face, design team, interview, manager, virtuality |
| Subjects: | performance management, research methods, management, production management, behavioral psychology, information systems, industry analysis, research design and methodology, data collection methods, evaluation and assessment methods, practitioner, psychology, project delivery, analytical methods, property law, professional practice |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Project Management, Information Management, Organizational Design, Quality Management, Design Practice, Legal Issues, Digital Applications |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here