Paper title (Paper Title style)


Australasian Journal of Information Systems Shaik & Makhecha 
2019, Vol 23, Research on the Role of Tech in Workforce Mgt Employee Engagement in Virtual Teams 

  1 

Drivers of Employee Engagement in Global Virtual Teams  

Farheen Fathima Shaik 

Indian Institute of Management  

Tiruchirappalli 

farheen.f16006@iimtrichy.ac.in 

Upam Pushpak Makhecha 

Indian Institute of Management  

Tiruchirappalli 

Abstract 

Global Virtual Teams (GVTs) comprise geographically distributed groups of people 

collaborating with each other through technology-mediated communication. Members of 

GVTs are from different cultural backgrounds and time zones, who may (or may not) meet in 

person to take complex decisions or to deliver on the tasks that are of strategic importance. 

Though technology has enabled GVTs in almost all multinational organisations across all 

industries, keeping the members of GVTs engaged over the duration of the team's task or 

project could still pose a challenge for organisations. Employee engagement is defined as an 

employee's cognitive, behavioural and physical state directed towards organisational 

outcomes. While employee engagement has been researched in a collocated team context, it 

remains an under-researched area in the context of GVTs. Given that there are several 

characteristics of GVTs which are distinct from the collocated team, it warrants a separate 

inquiry, which we undertake in this study. This study uses the Job Demands-Resources theory 

of employee engagement to derive the drivers of employee engagement in GVTs. Through 

interpretive analysis of the lived experiences of members working in an organisation which 

extensively uses GVTs for achieving its strategic goals, we conceptualise five drivers of 

employee engagement, namely, cultural intelligence, communication (formal and informal), 

technology, trust and individual maturity.  

Keywords: Employee Engagement; Geographically Dispersed Teams; Global Virtual Teams; 

Phenomenology; Technology Mediated Communication.  

1 Introduction 

Technological developments and global mobility have resulted in expansion of the scope of 

teams beyond the traditional collocated forms (Matlay & Martin, 2009) towards geographically 

dispersed and global forms of teams working virtually and connected through technology, 

commonly known as the Global Virtual Teams (GVTs) (Jiminez, Boehe, Taras, & Caprar, 2017). 

These types of teams are also known as “multinational and multicultural distributed teams” 

(Connaughton & Shuffler, 2007) or “transnational teams” (Haas, 2006). GVTs, as a form of 

organising work through technology-mediated communication and through a workforce 

spread across cultures and boundaries, has become a norm for all types and forms of 

organisations rather than being limited to large firms. Such teams include not only full-time 

employees but also part-time employees, freelancers, suppliers and other forms of 

collaborations (Jiminez et al., 2017). Such teams require an appropriate choice of technology 

for interaction among team members for effective communication via technology (Morgan, 

Paucar-Caceres, & Wright, 2014).  



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Due to the increase in virtual forms of work mediated through technology, and multicultural 

nature of workforce that is becoming ubiquitous and indigenous to all types of firms, it is 

prudent for researchers and practitioners to explore and understand the challenges of working 

in GVTs. Dulebohn and Hoch (2017) report the challenges faced by members of GVTs as 1) 

understanding speech patterns in multicultural GVTs; 2) leading efficiently; 3) combining and 

collaborating with different time zones; 4) developing personal rapport; 5) being on 

technology-mediated communication; and 6) selecting appropriate communication channels. 

These challenges are known to have a negative impact on results, including productivity, costs, 

deadlines, and retention as well as morale and stress of the employees (Grenny & Maxfield, 

2017; Tran, Yang, & Raikundalia, 2004). In general, one of the measure used by organizations 

to counter some of these negative impacts is to focus on increasing employee engagement 

levels (Gilson, Maynard, Young, Vartiainen, & Hakonen, 2015). Higher levels of employee 

engagement in organizations have been reported to increase the financial performance and 

employee productivity (Harter et al, 2002). Observations by consulting firms like Aon, Gallup, 

also suggest that employee engagement drives organizational results. Especially Aon Hewitt 

(2005) emphasizes that they “have established conclusive, compelling relationship between 

engagement and profitability through higher productivity, sales, customer satisfaction, and 

employee retention”. However, it is alarming to note that the engagement levels are found to 

be lower in GVTs. Practitioner report such as KPMG (2012) specifies that though “cost-

conscious businesses are turning to technology to become increasingly flexible and 

virtual….employee engagement measures from GVTs are lower than those for on-site teams 

that work close to each other” (pg. 4). Though the practitioner literature reports reduced levels 

of employee engagement in GVTs, there is scant scholarly work on employee engagement in 

GVTs. Thus, in our view, due to the changed context of working in GVTs which is 

characterised by virtuality, technology-mediated communication and multicultural 

interaction, and the ubiquitous presence of GVTs in organisations, it is critical to understand 

the phenomenon of employee engagement in GVTs through scholarly research and identify 

factors that can influence engagement of team members of GVTs.  

This study is an interpretative analysis of employee engagement in GVTs. As employee 

engagement in virtual teams is an underexplored area (Gilson et al., 2015), as a starting point 

this research has used phenomenology as its methodological approach to understand 

employee engagement from the narratives and lived experiences of team members of GVTs. 

From this interpretative analysis, we conceptualise the drivers of employee engagement that 

emerge from our study and compare these with antecedents of employee engagement 

researched in collocated teams as per extant literature. In a nutshell, this study tries to answer 

the question, “What drives employee engagement in the context of GVTs?”  

In following sections, we first provide a brief overview of the challenges teams face in a virtual 

context. We then highlight the importance of employee engagement in organisations and 

theories used to explain employee engagement, with specific focus on Job Demands-Resources 

(JD-R) theory, which we use in this study to understand employee engagement in GVTs. This 

section also highlights reasons for the authors to anticipate change in drivers of employee 

engagement in GVTs as compared to collocated teams. The third section of this paper discusses 

the relevance of phenomenology as a methodology in deriving the drivers of employee 

engagement in GVTs. We then move on to describe evolved themes and their interpretations, 

followed by a discussion and end with a conclusion.  



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2 Virtuality and Teams  

Due to rapid changes in environment such as digitization, globalisation, and increased 

complexity, organisations today have turned towards team-based work structures in order to 

respond quickly to the dynamic environment to stay competitive. At the same time, with 

technology, communication, and competition, it has become necessary for organisations to 

unite globally distributed units with differences in culture and skill-sets. This has made 

information and communication technologies inevitable for a team to subside the spatial and 

temporal barriers, and meet the demands of work (Alnuaimi, Robert, & Maruping, 2010), 

making GVTs a preferred choice for managing work. GVTs have been earlier defined by Henry 

and Hartzler (1998) as “groups of people who work closely together even though they are 

geographically separated by miles or even continents” (pg. 5) and later by Powell, Piccoli, and 

Ives (2004) as “a group of geographically, organisationally and/or time dispersed workers 

brought together by information technologies to accomplish one or more organisation tasks” 

(pg. 7) to capture the temporary nature of GVTs and the critical role of communication 

technologies across GVT members. The concept of virtual implies permeable interfaces and 

boundaries; teams that rapidly form, reorganise and dissolve when the needs of dynamic 

marketplace change; and individuals with differing competencies located across different 

time, space and cultures (Bell & Kozlowski, 2002). These teams also address new workforce 

demographics where the best employees may be located anywhere in the world and where 

workers increasingly are demanding technological sophistication and personal flexibility 

(Burn & Robins, 2002; Townsend, DeMarie, & Hendrickson, 1998).  

The main assumption behind formation of such teams is that people will contribute as much 

in GVT settings, as they do in a collocated team (Alnuaimi, Robert, & Maruping, 2010). 

However, as per existing literature, members of GVTs face certain challenges and this is 

reflected in low individual commitment; role overload; role ambiguity; absenteeism and social 

loafing; communication and collaboration difficulties; potentially lower team engagement by 

team members; difficulty in creating and maintaining trust; high levels of social and 

psychological isolation between members; and challenges in managing and monitoring teams 

(Dulebohn & Hoch, 2017; Johansen, 1994; Matley & Martin, 2009). Further, as organisations 

implement new technologies into team-based structures, researchers began to identify hurdles 

that these teams may need to overcome ( Dulebohn & Hoch, 2017; Schaubroeck & Yu, 2016) 

such as limitations in team identification (Raghuram & Wiesenfeld, 2004); managing diversity 

(Gibson & Gibbs, 2006); and determining leadership in GVTs (Bell & Kozlowski, 2002; Hoch & 

Kozlowski, 2014). Addressing and keeping such challenges in check has the potential to enable 

the advantages of working in a virtual environment (Burgess, Kerr, & Houghton, 2013). 

In a global virtual context, a team assumes that its members set interdependencies and a 

common purpose that is unique to the team. The individual efforts are pooled and the need 

for interacting directly is limited. Therefore, the quality of communication in a team becomes 

important, particularly in case of distributed teams compared to those that are not (Morgan, 

Paucar-Caceres, & Wright, 2014; Schaubroeck & Yu, 2016). In our view, the virtual context of 

working in GVTs with dispersion of employees over multiple geographic locations, coupled 

with complete reliance on technology for communication and other such factors could 

potentially reduce the levels of employee engagement, as also reported by practitioner 

organisations (Aon-Hewitt, 2013; KPMG, 2012) Therefore, in this study, we contend that as the 

challenges faced by members working in GVTs are different when compared to a collocated 



Australasian Journal of Information Systems Shaik & Makhecha 
2019, Vol 23, Research on the Role of Tech in Workforce Mgt Employee Engagement in Virtual Teams 

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team, we propose that dynamics of employee engagement in GVTs might be different from 

those of collocated teams. The next section discusses employee engagement and its 

antecedents in the context of collocated teams, and also argues that existing antecedents might 

not completely predict employee engagement in a virtual, technology-mediated and 

multicultural context.  

3 Employee Engagement 

The existing literature acknowledges that employee engagement is key to organisational 

success and competitive advantage (Macey, Schneider, Barbera, & Young, 2009; Rich, LePine, 

& Crawford, 2010; Saks & Gruman, 2014). Also, it is one among the very few constructs which 

have captured the attention of academicians and practitioners alike (Saks & Gruman, 2014). 

According to Kahn (1990), when employees are engaged, they bring cognitive, emotional and 

behavioural aspects of themselves at work towards performance, thus displaying their 

complete selves within their job roles (Saks & Gruman, 2014). And when employees are 

disengaged they decouple themselves from their work roles, and withdraw themselves 

cognitively, emotionally and physically during role performances (Kahn, 1990, pg. 694). 

According to Maslach, Schaufeli, and Leiter (2001) employee engagement involves vigour, 

dedication and absorption of employees in their jobs and is seen as an antithesis of burnout 

dimensions of exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy. Recently, Shuck and Wollard (2010), 

define employee engagement as “an individual employee’s cognitive, emotional, and 

behavioural state directed toward desired organisational outcomes” (pg. 103). This definition 

conceptualises the three dimensions given by Kahn (1990) and also relates them to 

organisational performance and hence we take this definition of employee engagement for this 

paper.  

The extant literature uses several models and theories to explain employee engagement. Three 

major theories being- the theory of psychological meaningfulness by Kahn (1990), engagement 

as a positive antithesis of burnout (Maslach et al., 2001) and the Job Demands-Resources (JD-

R) model by Bakker and Demerouti (2007) (Saks & Gruman, 2014). The first theory of employee 

engagement by Kahn (1990) found that employee engagement was a function of experiencing 

three psychological conditions, namely, psychological meaningfulness, psychological safety, 

and psychological availability. Those employees who experience higher levels of 

psychological meaningfulness (being valuable, useful and worthwhile); psychological safety 

(being able to express one’s true self without the fear of negative consequences to one’s self-

image, status or career) and availability have been reported to engage more in their roles (Saks 

& Gruman, 2014). Those social systems that are predictable, consistent and non-threatening 

provide higher levels of psychological safety (Kahn, 1990). In the context of GVTs, we question 

the sense of psychological safety due to the interactions among team members that are 

predominantly mediated through a technological medium. The expression of self through 

various forms of technology might differ in comparison to a collocated team where the 

emphasis is on face to face (FtF) communication (Morgan et al., 2014). In context of GVTs we 

anticipate that this can lead to either a reduced or alleviated form of psychological 

meaningfulness of work. Psychological availability is when an employee is present 

psychologically, emotionally, and physically in their work, leading to higher levels of 

engagement. Considering the contextual difference in GVTs, the authors assume that 

expression of availability might also differ considerably in comparison to a collocated team.  



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The second theory of engagement is based on burnout literature. Maslach et al. (2001) discuss 

that engagement is the antithesis of burnout. According to them, burnout is an outcome of 

mismatch of six critical areas of organisational life, which are also reported to be antecedents 

of burnout: workload, control, rewards and recognition, community and social support, 

perceived fairness, and values. The greater alignment of these areas will lead to improved 

employee engagement, and it includes sustainable workload, feelings of choice and control, 

appropriate recognition and reward, supportive work community, fairness and justice, and 

meaningful and valued work (Maslach & Leiter, 2008). Considering the context of GVTs, the 

authors contend that among the six factors identified by Maslach et al. (2001), contextual 

factors like perceived fairness, values, community and social support, and control in GVTs 

might take newer meanings for the team members. Changes in these factors may help us 

understand the ways in which employees feel engaged in a geographically dispersed and 

technologically mediated team. Limiting factors of GVTs like lack of FtF interactions, extensive 

geographic dispersion makes us assume that levels of engagement might differ across multiple 

forms of communication.  

Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory is an extension of the burnout theory in which Bakker 

and Demerouti (2007) emphasise on working conditions to improve employee engagement. 

This was first used to explain burnout as a consequence of two processes- one, high job 

demands which leads to exhaustion; and two, lack of job resources which leads to withdrawal 

of employees. These two broad categories of job demands and job resources have been used 

to explain employee engagement as well. Proposed originally by Demerouti, Bakker, 

Nachreiner, and Schaufeli (2001), the JD-R model describes how job demands and resources 

trigger motivational and psychological health impairment processes. Meta-analytic evidence 

shows that motivational processes through job resources such as autonomy, task variety, 

feedback, training and development, participation in decision-making, co-worker support, 

and supervisor support are positively related to employee engagement (Crawford, LePine, & 

Rich, 2010; Halbesleben, 2010). There is also meta-analytic evidence which states that job 

demands such as work overload, role conflict and ambiguity, emotional demands, can 

adversely impact employee health, wellbeing and performance (Albrecht & Anglim, 2018; 

Alarcon, 2011).  

We anticipate that job resources such as feedback, participation in decision making, co-worker 

support, and supervisor support could be different in GVTs in comparison to a collocated 

teams. Also, changes in job demands, especially emotional demands due to contextual 

differences of GVTs can trigger changes in engagement level in GVTs. This paper relies on the 

JD-R model as it focuses on the contextual factors of GVTs that predict engagement and 

disengagement of employees rather than psychological factors as in other theoretical 

approaches. The change in context of GVTs and the limitations that team members of GVTs 

face can affect the drivers of their engagement. Therefore, this study tries to answer the 

question, “What drives employee engagement in GVTs?”  

4 Methodology 

In this study, we use phenomenology, a form of qualitative inquiry which is a philosophy 

(Heidegger, 1962; Husserl, 1962) and a methodology (Schutz, 1967) which incorporates details 

of experiences in everyday life at a rather mundane level. In our view, phenomenological 

inquiry best suited the context of this study as we wanted to understand employee 

engagement in GVTs from the team members’ perspective reflected in their experiences as it 



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2019, Vol 23, Research on the Role of Tech in Workforce Mgt Employee Engagement in Virtual Teams 

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is an underexplored research area. The main goal of phenomenology is to critically reflect the 

conscious experience rather than subconscious motivation, by uncovering important and 

invariant features of those lived experiences of participants (Jopling, 1996) and, thus, there is 

"fidelity to the phenomena as it is lived" (Wilson, 2002). Phenomenology emphasises on 

“careful study of individuals to discover deeper meaning of ‘lived’ experiences in terms of the 

individual relationship with time, space and personal history” (Stern, 1994). The new context 

and lack of academic literature on employee engagement in GVTs necessitated the need to first 

understand the phenomena as is, from the narratives of lived experiences of team members, 

and make meaning of their stories towards developing convergences and divergences 

according to the phenomenological accounts. 

In this study, interpretation of participants’ reflection on employee engagement in GVTs 

emerged through a circular interplay between developing understanding of 

phenomenological interviews (Thompson, Locander, & Pollio, 1989) and ongoing immersion 

in several key literatures relevant to participants’ reflections, namely, (1) JD-R model of 

employee engagement; (2) literature on GVTs; (3) on multicultural implications; and, on (4) 

technology adaptation in organisations. The resulting interpretation seeks to articulate a 

theoretical interplay between drivers of employee engagement as articulated in academic 

literature, and phenomenological descriptions of meanings that events and experiences 

assume in life worlds of the members of GVTs.  

The study was carried out at Cyient Ltd., a global organisation headquartered in Hyderabad, 

India, with a presence in 47 countries and employing about 14,000 employees. Cyient 

extensively uses GVTs due to its geographical presence in many countries. At the outset of this 

investigation, a list of potential participants was developed from Cyient Ltd. Purposive 

sampling criteria for phenomenological interviews (Thompson, 1996) were based on the 

degree of virtuality of the team, and the experience of working in GVTs. The degree of 

virtuality was based on three criteria as first given by O’Leary and Cummings (2007): (1) 

spatial, which is the geographic distance among team members; (2) temporal, which is the time 

difference among team members; and, (3) configurational, which is the locations where team 

members work alone or the uneven distribution of team members. These criteria provided a 

specific set of circumstances to situate the findings of this study and hence facilitate in-depth 

and localised accounts of the phenomena (Sherry, 1991). 

The master data set of the employees was accessed to select teams based on the above selection 

criteria. Three teams (26 members) were selected accordingly (see Table 1). Team managers of 

these three teams were contacted for consent to contact their respective team members. Sixteen 

of the 26 members of the three GVTs selected responded positively towards the research. The 

teams were selected where respondents belonged to managerial positions. This purposive 

selection was done as these members have experienced virtual teams as managers as well as 

team members, and the questionnaire was designed accordingly. It was expected that their 

experience of working in a virtual team can be more holistic leading to richer data for research. 

Before the interviews, participants were assured of anonymity and they signed consent forms 

which explained the purpose and intended use of this investigation. 



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Table 1: Teams selected for phenomenological interviews (NR: Not Responded) 

Team Designation Gender 
Service at 

Cyient 
Age 

Location 
Country Continent 

Interview Interview 

Medium (Seating) Duration 

Team A General Manager Male 15.2 43 Hyderabad - Manikonda India Asia 0:55:00 Telephone 

Vice President (Sales) Male 6 56 London UK Europe 0:57:00 Telephone 

Senior Sales Manager Male 4 48 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Southeast Asia 0:45:00 WebEx 

Assistant General Manager Male 3 43 Sydney Australia Australia 0:43:00 Telephone 

Senior Project Manager Male 16.7 65 Paragould USA North America NR NR 

Senior Sales Manager Male 2.2 32 Melbourne Australia Australia NR NR 

Associate Vice President Male 14.4 52 Dulles USA North America NR NR 

Deputy General Manager Male 0.9 46 Melbourne Australia Australia NR NR 

Team B Associate Vice President Male 16.1 56 Hyderabad - Madhapur India Asia 0:45:00 Face to Face 

Assistant Manager Female 12.2 39 Hyderabad - Manikonda India Asia 1:03:00 Face to Face 

Associate Vice President Male 6.7 45 East Hartford USA North America 0:45:00 Telephone 

Senior Marketing Director Female 2.3 45 London UK Europe 0:55:00 WebEx 

Senior Project Manager Male 15.4 41 Hyderabad - Madhapur India Asia 0:40:00 Face to Face 

Sales Manager (Singapore) Male 1.1 53 Seletar Singapore Southeast Asia 0:37:00 Telephone 

Deputy General Manager Male 8.2 43 Hyderabad – Manikonda India Asia 1:10:00 Face to Face 

Senior Project Manager Male 6 43 Bangalore India Asia 1:05:00 Face to Face 

Senior Project Manager Male 6.5 55 East Hartford USA North America NR NR 

Team C Design Engineer  Male 8.4 30 Hyderabad - Manikonda India Asia NR NR 

Design Engineer  Female 7.6 31 Hyderabad - Manikonda India Asia 1:10:00 Telephone 

Design Engineer  Male 6.3 31 West Perth Australia Australia 1:03:00 Telephone 

Design Engineer  Male 8.4 29 Peoria USA North America NR NR 

Design Engineer  Male 3.8 31 Melbourne Australia Australia NR NR 

Design Engineer  Male 3 53 West Perth Australia Australia NR NR 

Manager A Senior Vice President & BU 

Head 

Male 12 49 Hyderabad - Madhapur India Asia NR NR 

Manager B Senior Vice President & BU 

Head 

Male 8.6 43 Hyderabad - Madhapur India Asia 0:37:00 Face to Face 

Manager C Senior Project Manager Male 3.7 41 Hyderabad - Manikonda India Asia 1:05:00 Telephone 



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As this research follows the tradition of qualitative inquiry we emphasised the development 

of highly in-depth analysis of life stories expressed by a small number of participants (Levy 

1981; McCracken, 1988; Thompson, Locander, & Pollio, 1990). The purpose of using a restricted 

sample was to gain an in-depth understanding of the experiences and also assumptions behind 

those experiences through which the participants construe their world (McCracken, 1988). 

This becomes an important rationale for the objectives of phenomenological research based on 

hermeneutics. The interviews occurred either FtF or through telephone or WebEx calling, 

based on the availability and comfort of participants and we followed the conventions of 

phenomenological interviewing as given by Thompson et al. (1989, 1990). Three pilot 

interviews were conducted by the researcher to fine tune the interview schedule. The 

interviews were conducted largely through dialogue set by the participants and followed up 

by questions based on experiences described by them. The interview dialogues ranged from 

45 to 70 minutes. NVivo Pro 11 was used to transcribe audio tapes into text, leading to 

verbatim transcripts ranging from 15 to 25 single-spaced pages for each participant account. 

These transcripts of audio-taped interviews served as primary texts on which findings of this 

interpretative account is based. Apart from the transcripts, researchers had also taken notes 

while in the organisation which amounted to about 150 pages of everyday diary writing and 

constant observation.  

Interpretation in phenomenological analysis is proceeded by means of hermeneutic logic 

(Thompson, Pollio, & Locander, 1994). An iterative process of reading, documenting, and 

systematising interview transcripts (Thompson, 1996) was done. The transcripts were closely 

read to gain a sense of the whole and during this initial reading, the authors also started noting 

down key phrases, metaphors, and patterns of meanings. With every iteration, interpretation 

was developed and an effort towards getting a grasp of thematic similarities and meaning-

based linkages was made. This process was undertaken for each participant and when the 

researcher felt that an internal structure is derived for a participant, attention was turned 

towards another and the process was repeated. An effort has also been made to note down 

similarities and differences from the interpreted interviews. As this iterative process 

continued, a larger pattern to capture essential dimensions through thematic relationships was 

derived. Throughout the process, we developed a thematic structure by continuously 

modifying, questioning, and returning to the experiences described by each participant in the 

interviews, as suggested by Thompson (1996). The iterative process was conducted using 

coding in NVivo Pro 11. There were 240 nodes identified in the first round of the coding 

process. Further, convergences led to the identification of 19 subordinate themes (Appendix 

II), from these themes nine emic interpretations were identified and finally these were mapped 

to five etic interpretations including: (1) cultural intelligence, (2) communication, (3) 

technology, (4) trust and (5) individual maturity. As Pike (1967) states “the etic viewpoint 

studies behaviour as from outside of a particular system and is an essential initial approach to 

an alien system, and the emic viewpoint results from studying behaviour as from inside the 

system” (pg. 37).  

5 A Hermeneutic Interpretation 

As a general overview, the interviews suggest that team members participating in this study 

had experience of working in GVTs since the start of their career, and they shared a common 

set of work settings and social circumstances. Further, awareness of belonging to GVTs 

seemed to be closely related to their perception that they, and other team members of the GVT, 



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were working in a context which is very different from that of a collocated team. All members 

were aware of the context that they were working in, and the typified views of being part of 

GVTs. For example, throughout the interviews, participants spontaneously compared 

themselves to the working conditions and team members of a collocated team.  

In presenting the following hermeneutic account, our goal is to retain the holistic quality that 

characterised the participants’ descriptions while still providing analytic clarity. We first 

discuss the general structure of the thematic framework that emerged from hermeneutic 

analysis of interview transcripts. Figure 1 portrays the system of thematic relations emerging 

from interpretation of interview texts. The representation of data in Figure 1 follows the 

representation given by Thompson (1996). The vertical continuum ranges from ‘experience-

near’ to ‘conceptually-abstract’ (Thompson, 1996). This continuum suggests that concrete 

experiences and behaviours of participants manifest into higher order patterns of sociocultural 

meanings and processes. 

 

Figure 1: Levels of abstraction derived from phenomenological accounts of the participants,  



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This continuum also represents interpretative movement from various levels of emic 

meanings to an etic framework that we use to situate the participants’ perceptions in a broader 

system of sociocultural meanings.  

The emic nomenclature has been derived from the vernacular of the participants. The levels of 

abstraction towards emic interpretations included, (1) participants’ perceptions about a 

specific experience; (2) reflective meanings of those experiences; and (3) meanings that emerge 

by the interpretation of larger patterns across all interviews (Thompson, 1996). After 

presenting the emic account, an etic framework is conceptualised that links drivers of 

employee engagement in GVTs.  

The placement of various themes of emic-focused interpretation (see Figure 1) was done based 

on relationships that emerged from the narratives of the respondents’ lived experiences. It was 

found that GVT members faced challenges (demands) due to lack of goal clarity and 

coordination issues. And GVT members were trying to bridge these challenges by being 

sensitive to temporal and spatial distance among members and through constant 

communication for setting clear expectations on goals (resources). Similarly, the issues of 

conflicts and informal communication (demands) were being bridged by building adequate 

interpersonal relationships among the members of GVTs (resources) through various means. 

Also, context of GVTs implies that there is cultural diversity and extensive use of technology 

media for the team to be connected (demands). And, it was found that team members’ cultural 

intelligence, trust and maturity (resources) was a requirement for adequate engagement and 

functioning in a virtual team. Each of the emic focused theme has been elaborated below.  

5.1 Focus on Goal Clarity 

Senior Marketing Director (London): It is about setting the expectations and expected 

results upfront. It helps you and the individual to be clear on the deliverables. It is 

always easy to point somebody out when they are not doing the right thing. And in 

GVTs, this takes high priority due to lack of personal and face to face interaction.  

This theme highlights the importance of being structured in setting expectations and 

deliverables, and on putting conscious efforts by team members towards structuring the forms 

of working. The team members also emphasise periodic meetings using technology like 

video/audio conferencing, or calls to discuss the progress of team work. Increased frequency 

in regular meetings allows compensating for lack of physical interaction among team members 

of GVTs. 

Senior Sales Manager (Kuala Lumpur): We properly define challenges and action plan 

every week. And, every week we also have a meeting with the senior management and 

update them about the progress. So, no progress means I am sitting at home!  

Senior Project Manager (India): As a manager, one has to ensure that the team is 

working on a single goal. It becomes very important while working in a virtual team. 

While in a collocated team it is also possible to work with less structure and do unplanned 

meetings on a need basis, participants emphasise that in GVTs, unstructured and unplanned 

meetings and discussions cannot be undertaken due to the dispersion of the team temporally 

and spatially. Thus periodic meetings and constant reiteration of goals help build clarity on 

goals which helps members of GVT to bring their cognitive and behavioural selves to work on 

goals important to the GVT.  



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5.2 Coordination Issues: 

Senior Project Manager (India): GVTs face on-site and off-site issues. I was once working 

from New York, and my team was in India. Due to the change in time zones, we faced a 

lot of difficulty in getting support from each other. And when I was back in India, the 

process of follow-up was also difficult.  

Most participants stated that owing to contextual challenges of GVTs, coordination is a 

challenge faced by team members and managers of GVTs.  

Vice President Sales (London): Most of the members get involved 7/24 with the team. 

Some of my team is in far-off Europe. It so happens sometimes that they forget other 

team members who are based out of their offices in their emails. These situations 

reduce coordination within the team. Some team members feel left out. So, out of sight, 

out of mind situation often occurs in GVTs.  

The members also emphasised that interdependency of team members in GVTs is very high. 

Even though members seem to be independently working from different geographical 

locations, sensitisation of members towards better coordination reduces emotional and 

behavioural fallouts and thus eases the functioning of GVTs.  

5.3 Cultural Diversity: 

Senior Vice President, Business Unit Head (India): There was one person who I worked 

with in Germany, she was a fantastic contributor who had taken significant 

responsibility and did that very well. During one of the feedback sessions, when I asked 

her what are the things we can do better and how is she coming along, one thing that 

she said was, during the initial days, she was actually thinking of leaving the 

organisation, because she felt so disrespected in the conference calls. She said that 

“everybody is talking over me, and that is not something that I am used to”. And also 

said, if somebody is talking, you finish that conversation, you hear that person, and then 

you make a point, and then the next person makes a point Right, she is very used to that. 

She had not worked in a global team before but she said that it took time for her to 

understand that this is the way that people talk, (sic) even though she could never 

understand the reason behind it.  

The culture of ‘structure and rigidity’ in the West and that of ‘flexibility and chaos’ in the East 

has been highlighted by most participants, and they focus on the clutter that happens when 

these two cultures are to work along with each other in GVT context. Our study found that to 

cope with cultural sensitivity issues, managers have their own adaptive strategies- either the 

manager goes for a detailed ‘background study’ or ‘contact switching’. Contact switching is to 

speak the same language in the accent of the receiver. 

Sales Manager (Singapore): The only thing I had to do was contact switching. By 

contact switching what I mean is even though I am speaking English, I speak in a 

different way, so they understand. So this is what is contact switching. And it works 

well.  

The majority of participants of this study emphasised challenges of cross-cultural environment 

in GVTs. And, therefore, being sensitive to cultures, local festivals, diversity of a team, and 

being flexible to team members' cultures facilitates working in GVTs. The participants also 

reflect that the multicultural nature of GVTs makes driving change a challenging task as 



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different cultures have different mindsets and have different factors for getting motivated. 

Language and email etiquette have been stressed by the participants. Being careful with words 

while responding to emails can lessen the perceptual differences and misinterpretations of 

expectations in a GVT. Thus understanding and respecting cultural differences may enhance 

the cognitive, emotional and behavioural contributions of members of GVTs. 

5.4 Team Member Trust and Maturity 

The participants emphasised the role of trust in GVTs. GVTs require additional levels of trust 

due to lack of FtF interactions. It has been said that the need to build trust comes from the need 

to be dependent on the team members in GVTs, especially so when members have not seen or 

met each other in person.  

General Manager (India): In GVTs, the relationships are built only on trust. Everyone 

wants to be a part of a winning story. Due to spatial dispersion, a lot of communication 

can go wrong due to lack of trust.  

Design Engineer (West Perth): People take trust and give it back to you. I am here, and 

my team is in India. Coordinating in different time zones is only possible if I can trust 

that my team is there to support me. 

Further, several members emphasised the need for team members to be mature enough to be 

able to handle the nuances and challenges of GVTs. All participants pinpointed the need to be 

self-managed rather than being micro-managed by managers in GVTs.  

Associate Vice President (East Hartford): there are some people who will find it 

difficult to work in a GVT because here at the end of the day you are not answerable 

to your manager, you are answerable to the goals, and you are answerable to the 

outputs that you have to come up with.  

Thus when team members are mature and are able to build trust amongst each other, we 

expect that they would be able to bring their complete selves towards the performance in 

GVTs.  

5.5 Technology Medium 

Senior Vice President, BU Head (India): Technology is an integral part of even having 

GVTs. If you are not connected on a very regular basis, GVTs cannot work.  

All participants unanimously pointed out that the existence of GVTs depends on technology. 

Technology is the tool to collaborate, progress, enable and stay connected in GVTs. The choice 

of virtual infrastructures such as video conferencing, skype calls, phone or email is dependent 

on context, and type of communication and task required for the team members. Most 

connections are through email.  

Vice President (London): I think a lot of this has to depend on what I call the virtual 

infrastructure. It is very important in GVTs that you have the proper tools, means to 

connect to the company, means to extract the data and put it back, and means to talk 

to different people in your team.  

Also, it has been noted that most participants mention reduced cost due to the existence of 

virtual forms of work.  

Sales Manager (Singapore): Technology has also enabled us to reduce the commuting 

through flights, back and forth etc.  



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Apart from being an enabler, technology has also surfaced as a deterrent in GVTs, where it 

was noted that hiding information is easier in GVTs compared to a collocated team. The 

functioning of GVTs depends on a network of communication. The strength of connection 

determines the quality of communication. The lags in responses due to technology, the 

problems of transferring large files, and the problem of hiding behind text messages and email 

communication have emerged as challenges of technology through these interviews. 

Alongside the technical issues, technology also demands more individual efforts by team 

members to build interpersonal connections among team members. The interviews highlight 

that in GVTs the team members need to put extra efforts to connect, bond and understand 

each other. They need to overcome problems faced by team members due to lag in response, 

language misinterpretation, and bad networks. It has been noted that millennials are more 

comfortable and excited to work in GVTs as they are also digital natives compared to their 

seniors.  

5.6 Conflicts: 

Senior Project Manager (India): There is conflict, but the problem in a GVT is more 

difficult to identify. But, conflict does exist. And when you get into conflict, personally, 

I have not been successful in doing it while (sic) video conference. You have to get 

together and sort it up. 

Most members interviewed view conflict management as one of the most important challenges 

as it just brews inside and does not surface. This, according to the participants, complicates 

the ways of working and compounds the challenges faced in GVTs by withholding or hiding 

information and this we feel as hindrance in team members to contribute fully in GVTs.  

Design Engineer (India): A lot of times, when conflict gets into GVTs, that becomes 

unproductive for work, one has to have a face to face meeting with people in conflict 

and resolve it. It is very difficult to resolve it in a virtual environment.  

5.7 Interpersonal Relationships 

Vice President (London): [...] one is you get to know each other when you form GVTs 

and you are talking for the first time. Of course, through formal communication, you get 

to know each other, some of the details. But then informal communication happens 

when you send an email and you agree and put a small smiley. This helps in building 

interpersonal relationships in a virtual environment.  

The participants working in GVTs mention that interpersonal skills are needed to adapt to 

conditions of GVTs. Skills that include writing emails, the etiquette of communication over 

technological media, and being sensitive in usage of words in text and email messaging have 

been mentioned. Apart from the above skills, it has also been emphasized that having 

adequate knowledge regarding the cultural and national background of the team member 

helps in building better interpersonal relations.  

Senior Vice President (India): If one has done their homework and understand that 

there are circumstances and situations that could be impacting the other person 

differently, then, communication with the other person helps build better interpersonal 

relationships with the members who are geographically dispersed. This will in a way 

allow to reduce the distance between the locations (sic). 



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5.8 Informal Communication 

It has been found in this study that informal communication among members of GVTs allows 

them to get to know each other better and increases ‘team bonding’ given the challenge of not 

being able to meet on a daily basis.  

Senior Marketing Director (Singapore): I think it is important for a team to understand 

and also getting that additional information (through informal communication) is 

always helpful.  

Design Engineer (India): I think it is important for a team to understand and also 

getting that additional information (through informal communication) is always 

helpful.  

Further, participants specify that informal communication is difficult in GVTs as FtF 

interactions are reduced and, further, communications which occur outside the work 

boundaries in a collocated team are less possible in a virtual context. The participants specially 

mention that in GVTs the social needs are seldom fulfilled. The getting together of teams or 

meeting team members personally during lunch and snack time are extensively reduced. The 

team members have been noted to feel isolated and left out, and also crave for belongingness. 

They also feel that positive energy is missing in teams while sharing concerns, and discussion 

of personal grievances are also reduced. Such experiences by the participants lead to higher 

emotional exhaustion rather than physical exhaustion in GVTs. The lesser experience of 

emotions, belongingness, and appreciation is a norm when one is part of GVTs.  

5.9 Temporal Distance 

According to participants, one of the biggest challenges in GVTs is to understand and 

collaborate with people across time zones. It takes effort, patience, and persistence to 

coordinate the timings of all members of the team for a discussion, meeting, or a brainstorming 

session to be scheduled. If for any reason, the coordination fails for a particular time zone, 

team members would lose interest and disengage from subsequent discussions in teams.  

Senior Vice President (India): It sometimes happens that team members located outside 

of the headquarters, or outside of the location wherever the leader is located is, there 

is a tendency for teams who are in one location to just start brainstorming an idea, come 

up with something, some sort of a draft etc., and then go to GVTs or teams outside of 

that headquarter or teams outside of that geography and ask them for their feedback. 

The teams which are (sic), they don't see anything wrong in that, we are soliciting 

inputs, we are making this part, but the problems with (sic) the teams outside see is 

that we want to be in the brainstorming meeting.  

Even though the participants had reported having experienced challenges while working in 

GVT context, they have also stated that GVTs give them autonomy of work, reduce distraction 

and allow higher immersion and dedication towards the job, and contribute towards 

advancing their career. A Design Engineer (India) shared an experience which involved high 

levels of commitment and loyalty towards the GVT she was working with, and another Senior 

Vice President (India) shared his view that in GVTs, “the team members are loyal towards the 

leader or team more than the organisation due to lesser impact of organisational culture in 

GVTs.”  



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6 The Conceptual Model 

We use emic descriptions and concerns expressed by the participants to derive etic 

categorisations of drivers of employee engagement using the Job Demands-Resources theory 

of employee engagement. The JD-R (Bakker & Demerouti, 2014, 2017, 2018) suggests that all 

job characteristics can be classified as either Job Demands or Job Resources. Job demands are 

those aspects of work which cost energy of the employee; and job resources are those aspects 

of work which enable employees to deal with the job demands and achieve their goals (Bakker 

& Demerouti, 2018). Job demands also are known to have an independent effect on employee 

well-being and, in contrast, job resources are known to initiate a motivational effect (Scaufeli 

& Bakker, 2004). Job resources can also buffer the impact of job demands on the negative strain. 

Even though each of them have an independent impact, they also work in concert.  

Existing research indicates that employees actively interpret and influence their working 

conditions (Bakker & Demerouti, 2018). Based on employee's occupational health, they can 

influence their job designs either into a loss cycle or a gain cycle. When employees are stressed, 

they influence their work environment negatively and are susceptible to lose even more 

resources leading to a loss cycle; and when motivated and engaged, they influence their 

environment in a positive way leading to gain cycles (Bakker & Demerouti, 2018). The job 

demands are increased with high levels of job strain (chronic exhaustion), poor 

communication, mistakes in structure, and conflicts among team members, and these 

behaviours have been termed as ‘self-undermining' as they lead to reduced performance 

(Bakker & Demerouti, 2018). The employees who experienced increased levels of job strain are 

noted to be engaged in self-undermining behaviours and report higher levels of emotional 

exhaustion, demands and lower performance (Bakker & Wang, 2016). Those employees with 

positive job resources such as craftsmanship, pride in the profession, and positive feedback of 

their work have been said to positively influence work engagement which, in turn, positively 

impact future job resources (Hakanen, Perhoniemi, & Toppinen-Tanner, 2008). In case of 

GVTs, academic literature, practitioner literature, and phenomenological accounts in this 

study identify the challenges which can be experienced as job demands by team members in 

comparison to collocated teams such as temporal and spatial dispersion, reduced 

interpersonal relationships, probability of higher conflicts, and reduced FtF interactions. The 

emic interpretations of this study also underline the additional challenges of a technological 

medium, need for higher trust and maturity levels of individuals involved, and the importance 

of cultural intelligence among team members. The emic interpretations are evident to the 

challenges faced by GVT members and the available job resources for similar job demands as 

a collocated team. This comparison may lead to an increase in loss cycles of team members 

compared to gain cycles. The mismatch in the form of higher job demands and limited job 

resources in the context of GVTs necessitates a detailed understanding of employee 

engagement in GVTs.  

Our findings indicate that the challenges of employee engagement according to prior scholarly 

literature in the context of the collocated team is significantly different in comparison to 

challenges experienced by the participants in this study.  

We argue that the context of GVTs is unique-it is virtual, technology-driven and multicultural- 

and, hence, these contextual features could be perceived as job demands to be additionally 

met by members of GVTs. If perceived as job demands these specific factors could negatively 

influence the employee's cognitive, emotional and behavioural contribution towards 



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organisational goals. Thus, it becomes prudent for organisations to understand and invest in 

creating job resources that would help GVT members to overcome the job demands and 

consequently increase employee engagement. The emic interpretations derived based on this 

study are mapped with the etic categorisations as shown in Table 2. Figure 2 is the derived 

conceptual framework based on these emic and etic interpretations which are discussed in the 

subsequent section. 

 

 

Figure 2: Drivers of Employee Engagement in GVTs – Etic Interpretation. (Framework: by authors) 

 
S.No Emic Interpretations Etic Categorizations 

1 Focus on Goal Clarity Communication (formal) 

2 Conflicts Communication (informal) 

3 Interpersonal Relationships Communication (informal) 

4 Informal Communications Communication (informal) 

5 Cultural Diversity Cultural Intelligence 

6 Team Member Trust & Maturity Trust & Maturity (separated) 

7 Technology Medium Technology 

8 Coordination Issues Technology 

9 Temporal Distance Technology 

Table 2: Mapping of Emic interpretations into Etic themes  

6.1 Cultural Intelligence 

The findings of this phenomenological account reflect the need for cultural sensitivity or 

cultural awareness in GVTs and, in our opinion, the Cultural Intelligence/ Cultural Quotient 

(CQ) construct captures individual sensitivity towards the different cultures. As per Ang et al. 

(2007), CQ emphasises metacognitive, cognitive, motivational, and behavioural facets of an 

employee to adapt and function in a multicultural environment. Thus, higher cultural 

intelligence of members in GVT act as a resource to overcome the barriers created due to 

cultural diversity as they would be more sensitive towards cultural differences. This has the 

potential to enhance emotional and behavioural contribution to the GVTs, through higher 

engagement.  

In a traditional team setup, employees have sufficient physical interactions with their 

professional counterparts, which might lead to distinct and clearer differentiation between 



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their work and non-work identities (national, gender, family). As the context of work changes 

in a GVT, and with blurring distinctions between work and non-work life identities, 

employees in such occupations tend to negotiate between work and non-work identities. In 

case of GVTs, where team members belong to varied geographical locations, with a diverse set 

of cultural background, it is highly likely that due to lesser physical interactions and lesser rich 

mediums of communication, employees could be more aligned towards their non-work 

identities than the work identities (Ramarajan & Reid, 2013). In a GVT, it is possible that the 

impact of the cultural background of an employee is more pronounced and national culture 

prompts employees to form sub-groups within a team, as a process of self-categorisation, and, 

thus, social identification. Individual well-being and engagement; occupational productivity 

and efficiency; and individual empowerment and autonomy have been mentioned as three 

direct consequences of alignment of work and non-work identities of an employee at the 

workplace (Ramarajan & Reid, 2013). Due to distorted alignment, the employees in a GVT 

might not be able to express themselves cognitively, emotionally or physically as there is a 

lack of cultural understanding and confused identity. We propose that when team members 

express higher cultural intelligence, the alignment of non-work and work identities could 

create better understanding, fewer conflicts, and improved interpersonal relationships, (Ang, 

Van Dye, Koh, & Ng, 2007). This has also been captured in the phenomenological accounts of 

this study. These could be perceived as job resources by members of GVTs leading to higher 

levels of engagement. Therefore, we propose that: 

Proposition 1: Cultural intelligence of team members positively influences employee 

engagement in GVTs.  

6.2 Communication 

From excerpts in the emic descriptions, it is evident that in GVTs, structured, frequent and 

formal communication on expectations and deliverables helps to build goal clarity among 

GVT members which could be perceived as a valuable job resource by employees. On the other 

hand, informal communication is less prevalent and, therefore, to build cultural awareness, 

bonding, and faith, it is very essential for a team to also have communication which is not 

work-related. This could help culturally diverse members of GVTs to understand each other 

better. Informal communication is something that happens spontaneously (Kraut, Fish, Root, 

& Chalfonte, 1990). And this could include communication which is unscheduled, interactive, 

spontaneous, optional, participant organised, and experience focused (Flepp et al., 2017; 

Hrastinski, 2010). Earlier research has found that informal communication in a team is very 

essential for its successful collaboration (Fish, Kraut, Root, & Chalfonte, 2002). In GVTs, 

accomplishment of team tasks inadvertently involves collaboration. Thus, informal 

communication gains prominence. This study emphasises that informal communication helps 

the members’ understanding of their teamwork and learning about each other. And, by doing 

this, due to the underlying social relations, it gives critical facility and resources for 

engagement and for collaborators to jointly work, maintain and also drive to conclusions (Fish 

et al., 2002). Another added advantage for informal communication is that it helps to 

understand and empathise with time zone differences and different expectations of diverse 

team members. It helps in understanding other members’ challenges, and to structure the 

formal communication and scheduling when working in a virtual environment in such a way 

that participants converge with time zones differences and are flexible in their approach. 

Therefore, appropriate communication, both formal and informal, act as resources to help 



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overcome the challenges in GVTs, and negate the demands of the job for GVT members to be 

cognitively, emotionally and physically immersed in their work. Hence, it is proposed that: 

Proposition 2: Formal and informal communication among the team members positively 

influences employee engagement in GVTs.  

6.3 Individual Maturity 

Our analysis in previous section indicate the advantage of having mature team members in 

GVTs. According to Argyris (1957), “as a person matures, changes occur in several continua 

which include passive to active, dependence to independence, behave in few ways to capable 

of behaving in many ways, erratic shallow interest to deep strong interest, short-term 

perspective to long-term perspective, subordinate position to equal (or) superordinate 

position, and, lack of awareness of self to awareness and control of self” (as cited in Eldridge, 

1991). Such maturity on part of members of GVTs would serve several benefits. Further, for a 

GVT to work in coordination and alignment, it is necessary to have all team members as a 

single cohesive unit which allows them to use their skills and capabilities and motivate them 

towards concerted actions. Team technical competency, team motivation, and virtual 

teamwork skills have been identified as dimensions of team maturity in GVTs (Zhang, 

Tremaine, Fjermestad, Milewski, & O'Sullivan 2006). In the analysis of our phenomenological 

accounts, we found that managers in GVTs would prefer an individual who either has 

experience of working in a GVT or an individual with very high commitment levels. By the 

term ‘mature’, they meant that team members have high cognition towards their jobs. 

According to Shuck (2010), employee engagement is “cognitive, emotional and behavioural”. 

We argue that the maturity of team members in GVTs helps in team functioning, influencing 

the cognitive and emotional aspect of employee engagement. Thus, we propose: 

Proposition 3: Maturity of team members positively influences employee engagement in GVTs.  

6.4 Trust 

Trust, openness, and honesty are seen as critical factors by team managers and also by team 

members when they are part of GVTs. However, in GVTs it may take time to build trust due 

to geographical dispersion, limited informal communication, diverse cultural background, 

language barriers and so on. Most participants in the interviews pointed that at least one FtF 

conversation, or a video conference where the team has visual images of people they are 

talking to, will be helpful in building a relationship and extending collaboration in GVTs. 

Thus, building trust is one of the critical challenges faced in GVTs (Chatfield, Shlemoon, 

Redublado, & Darbyshire, 2014). Trust as a topic of research has been widely studied in the 

context of GVTs (Bell & Kozlowski, 2002a; Jarvenpaa & Leidner, 1998; Krebs, Hobman & 

Bordia, 2006). As discussed earlier, informal communication can be one of the means to build 

trust in GVTs. In addition, structured and clear communication of goals allows the teams to 

be in alignment with their broader objective. Trust enables alignment of common goals and 

reduces conflicts which can be highly prominent in GVTs (Panteli & Sockalingam, 2005). The 

reduction of conflicts in GVTs can lead to improved performance as team members share 

information across among team members which can be beneficial (Panteli & Sockalingam, 

2005). The employees can thus focus more, both cognitively and emotionally, on their job 

rather than be in conflict with other team members. In view of the above, we propose that,  

Proposition 4: Trust among team members positively influences employee engagement in GVTs.  



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6.5 Technology 

The very existence of GVTs is based on the presence of technology media connecting team 

members across geography. Technology plays a vital role in many forms such as text, email, 

instant messaging (IM), video conferencing, WebEx, phone calling and so on (Chatfield, 

Shlemoon, Redublado, & Darbyshire, 2014). The selection of technology depends on the type 

of task. More complex tasks require more coordinated and interactive effort. Team members’ 

roles become highly symbiotic and the need for deeply orchestrated teamwork, reciprocal 

communication and feedback are essential (Bell & Kozlowski, 2002). In complex tasks, 

information richness becomes critical and necessary due to collaboration demands 

(Hollingshead, Mcgrath, & O’Connor, 1993). Straus and McGrath (1994) found that there was 

no difference between FfF and technology-mediated groups in lower complexity tasks. 

However, FtF teams performed significantly better than their technology-mediated 

counterparts in more complex and judgmental tasks. Bell and Kozlowski (2002) opined that 

synchronous forms of communication are superior to asynchronous modes for complex tasks 

which require collaborating and a lot of information sharing. They suggest that these 

technologies in synchronous form maintain a higher degree of information richness and allow 

interactive decision-making mechanisms, leveraging collaboration and coordination. Media 

effects are generally a combination of the technical capabilities of the communication media, 

the group's understanding of the medium and their usage according to the purpose 

(DeSanctis, Poole, Dickson, & Jackson 1993). Even though media effects depend on user 

experience as well as technical capabilities of the members, use of technology-mediated 

communication without FtF interaction can change the dynamics of team relationships, and 

misunderstandings, if any, might be hidden longer in GVTs than in traditional settings 

(Hansen, 2004). While diversity of a geographically distributed team might stimulate creativity 

allowing a wide variety of skills, it might also reduce cohesion in the team (Kankanhalli, Tan, 

& Wei, 2007). The selection of technology, either synchronous or asynchronous, becomes 

important in the context of GVTs. When appropriate technology is not selected there is a 

chance of misinterpretation of the message, and misunderstanding among the team members 

which can increase the risk of reduced levels of trust and increased conflicts (Knight & Burn, 

2011; Yigitbasioglu; 2014). The reflections on the phenomenological accounts also suggest that 

technology enables the working of GVTs but the use of appropriate technology is important 

which enables smooth functioning of GVTs by reducing the challenge of misinterpretation and 

misunderstanding among team members, facilitating team members to be cognitively and 

emotionally driven towards performance. Hence, we propose: 

Proposition 5: Appropriate technology positively influences employee engagement in GVTs.  

Based on our findings, we conceptualise that employee engagement in GVTs could be 

influenced by the cultural intelligence of team members, formal and informal communication 

in GVTs, greater maturity of team members, higher trust levels in team members and 

appropriate technological support. 

7 Discussion and Implications 

There has been an extensive study on employee engagement both in practitioner and academic 

literature, however, there is a scant literature which tries to understand employee engagement 

in the context of GVTs. The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of team 

members of GVTs and then derive the drivers of employee engagement in GVTs and compare 



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these with traditional collocated team context. Our findings and interpretive analysis at two 

levels- emic and etic- reveal that in the context of GVTs, the drivers of employee engagement 

take newer meaning and form. With the use of phenomenology, we make an attempt to 

understand the phenomenon of employee engagement through the narratives and stories of 

lived experiences of members of GVTs. This is a seminal study (in our knowledge, it could be 

the first) to understand drivers of employee engagement in GVTs using phenomenology. 

Using the JD-R model, we argue that in the context of GVTs, the job demands are unique and, 

hence, there is a need to transform some of these demands into resources or to negate the 

effects of few of the demands (e.g. cultural intelligence in GVT members can negate the 

negative influence of cultural misunderstandings). Thus, by working on factors like 

technology, communications, trust, maturity, and cultural intelligence, GVTs members’ 

perception of resources would increase, thus, making them increase their cognitive, emotional 

and behavioural contributions towards the team goals through higher levels of engagement. 

The importance of cultural intelligence (Erez et al., 2013), technological competence (Carlson, 

Carlson, Vaughn, & George, 2017; Chatfield et al., 2014), individual maturity (Friedrich, 

Friedrich, & Fetzer, 2017), informal communication (Marlow, Lacerenza, & Salas, 2017) and 

trust among team members in GVT (Alsharo, Gregg, & Ramirez, 2017; Chatfield et al., 2014) 

have been studied earlier with their direct linkages to effective functioning of GVTs. However, 

we conceptualise the relationship between the drivers and GVT success could be facilitated 

through the process of employee engagement. Thus, we argue that for an employee to 

contribute towards GVT goals he/she needs to be engaged and for an employee to be engaged 

in the context of a GVT, the combination of these five drivers play an important role in helping 

members perceive the specific context of the GVT as an enabler, instead of a hindrance in 

performance in GVTs. The results of this study demonstrate that when the context of team 

environment changes to being virtual, multicultural and technology-mediated, the challenges 

that the team members face in being engaged change. These challenges need to be addressed 

with adequate resources for the team members to be cognitively, emotionally and physically 

directing their energy towards their performance. This study involved understanding the 

lived experiences of employees as they engage in GVTs and, thus, it adds to the academic 

literature by highlighting five possible factors that could drive employee engagement in GVTs. 

On theoretical grounds, the study contributes to literature on GVTs and the literature on 

employee engagement. This study also offers guidelines to practitioners on ways to improve 

employee engagement in a virtual context. As the practitioner literature, for example, Aon 

Hewitt (2013) or KPMG (2012), claim reduced levels of engagement in GVTs, this study 

provides a direction towards improving engagement in GVTs by providing appropriate 

technology support, and facilitating adequate informal and formal communications among 

team members. The GVTs would gain by investing in improving the cultural intelligence of 

team members and providing appropriate opportunities to build trust among members.  

8 Conclusion and Limitations 

This study was an attempt to understand employee engagement in GVTs as recent times have 

witnessed a proliferous increase in globally distributed teams due to rapid growth of 

technology and globalisation. Our interpretive analysis highlights that in order to increase 

engagement levels in GVTs, organisations need to focus on appropriate team membership 

(members high in maturity and cultural intelligence) supported by appropriate technology, 

and adequate formal and informal communication. Finally, facilitating teams to create a 



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climate of trust among members might help in fostering an environment in GVTs which is 

ultimately engaging.  

This study has several limitations which we propose to address in further studies. The drivers 

have been derived through the interpretive analysis of narratives by members of GVTs while 

describing their experiences in GVTs, and, hence, linkages with employee engagement have 

not been studied directly. We acknowledge the need to take this research forward by 

individually and collectively testing the variables conceptualised in this study through larger 

empirical study in multiple organisations. The subjective interpretations of the interpretations 

of the experiences of the participants by researchers add to the subjectivity in our conclusions 

and, hence, may not be infallible. We believe that an empirical testing of variables will help 

concretise conceptual variables with certainty, especially by showing full or partial mediation 

of employee engagement between the variables and effective functioning of the GVTs. Also, 

due to the use of many modes of technology for conducting interviews, the bias due to 

multiple media can be questioned. Going forward, an empirical study will enable us to 

concretise the drivers of employee engagement in GVTs conceptualized in this study.  

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Appendix I 

Representative Quotes (sic) underlying the Emic Interpretations. 

 

S.No Representative Quote 
Emic Theme 

Interpretation 

Etic Theme 

Mapping 

1 

So, we keep all the evidence mails and everything 

for clarity of work process and for future 

communication also. 

Focus on Goal Clarity 
Communication 

(formal) 

2 

I have been multi-tasking on different projects 

parallels. But when it comes to priority, I have to do 

one task on priority and send it to the customer or 

other team or other subordinate once it is done. 

Focus on Goal Clarity 
Communication 

(formal) 

3 
 Reporting involvement like the manager 

involvement will be less if it is a virtual team. 
Focus on Goal Clarity 

Communication 

(formal) 

4 
If it is planned, the things go on fine. But if it is 

unplanned, then there will be a problem.  
Focus on Goal Clarity 

Communication 

(formal) 

5 

Where ever the team is available, we will be able to 

work well in such place. Because, there will be no 

mental pressure, nothing will be there. We can able 

to do it as soon as possible. Where the team is not 

available, our concentration is only on the work, so 

it is like, we will feel like somewhat stressed.  

Focus on Goal Clarity 
Communication 

(formal) 

6 

We properly define challenges and action plan every 

week. And, every week we also have a meeting with 

the senior management and update them about the 

progress. So, no progress means I am sitting at 

home!  

Focus on Goal Clarity 
Communication 

(formal) 

7 

As a manager, one has to ensure that the team is 

working on a single goal. It becomes very important 

while working in a virtual team. 

Focus on Goal Clarity 
Communication 

(formal) 

8 

There is conflict, but the problem in a GVT is more 

difficult to identify. But, conflict does exist. And 

when you get into conflict, personally, I have not 

been successful in doing it while (sic) video 

conference. You have to get together and sort it up. 

Conflicts 
Communication 

(informal) 

9 

A lot of times, when conflict gets into a GVT, that 

becomes unproductive for work, one has to have a 

face to face meeting with people in conflict and 

resolve it. It is very difficult to resolve it in a virtual 

environment.  

Conflicts 
Communication 

(informal) 

10 
Informal communication is very less. Everything we 

follow is formal communication.  

Informal 

Communication 

Communication 

(informal) 

11 
Regular team meetings and team lunch that is 

informal communication.  

Informal 

Communication 

Communication 

(informal) 

12 

Team building in a virtual team, like only on phone 

communication or else the manager has to visit the 

work office where his team is working, and or else 

he has to talk on phone or regular, wishes on some 

special days like birthdays, like we follow a general 

practice where some of the team members is having 

birthday we have celebrations. But in VT unless the 

person visits here or there, then only it can be like.   

Informal 

Communication 

Communication 

(informal) 



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S.No Representative Quote 
Emic Theme 

Interpretation 

Etic Theme 

Mapping 

13 

Manager and team member communication is very 

important thing. A recent scenario we have 

implemented is, at least it is mandatory for him to 

meet the team weekly once. Like apart from work I 

am saying. Weekly once for team building apart 

from work mandatory. so that if there are any 

informal talks they can be discussed with the team 

members on team lunch, team tea or team practices 

or team outings. It will improve the interaction time 

with the manager and it will also have a friendly 

platform.  

Informal 

Communication 

Communication 

(informal) 

14 

Some people will be fine to explain everything with 

call, but others might not be comfortable. So, in that 

cases, we cannot communicate and it might not be 

helpful. 

Informal 

Communication 

Communication 

(informal) 

15 

Only the communication will be different. 

Whenever we want to communicate with people, 

only that is the problem with virtual place.  

Informal 

Communication 

Communication 

(informal) 

16 

Interaction should be there and created by these 

people. You cannot sit for long hours and work 

without personal interaction. 

Informal 

Communication 

Communication 

(informal) 

17 

 When an associate wants to explain the personal 

reasons, then they feel that they cannot do it 

through video or audio calls. If I see the person, that 

will be definitely different, and if I am talking to the 

face whom I know there is a difference with whom I 

don’t know. 

Informal 

Communication 

Communication 

(informal) 

18 

That difference has an impact on the work because it 

will change your mood. So when you are refreshed, 

you will have good productivity also. 

Informal 

Communication 

Communication 

(informal) 

19 

Only thing is that when we are isolated from the 

organization, from the family, then there will be 

personal sacrifices that you need to do. 

Informal 

Communication 

Communication 

(informal) 

20 

I think it is important for a team to understand and 

also getting that additional information (through 

informal communication) is always helpful.  

Informal 

Communication 

Communication 

(informal) 

21 

I think it is important for a team to understand and 

also getting that additional information (through 

informal communication) is always helpful.  

Informal 

Communication 

Communication 

(informal) 

22 

It’s quite a different experience... It’s like six months 

we have been communicating this way and it’s 

really required. We are adapting to the situation. So, 

now we are almost on the same lines. So, now there 

is no problem with all this mails, conferences and 

videos. 

Interpersonal 

Relationships 

Communication 

(informal) 

23 

Team building in a virtual team, like only on phone 

communication or else the manager has to visit the 

work office where his team is working, and or else 

he has to talk on phone or regular, wishes on some 

special days like birthdays, like we follow a general 

practice where some of the team members is having 

birthday we have celebrations. But in VT unless the 

person visits here or there, then only it can be like.  

Interpersonal 

Relationships 

Communication 

(informal) 



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S.No Representative Quote 
Emic Theme 

Interpretation 

Etic Theme 

Mapping 

24 

But the person who is reporting them in a different 

location his involvement will be less unless he visits 

or they visit him.  

Interpersonal 

Relationships 

Communication 

(informal) 

25 

Some people will be fine to explain everything with 

call, but others might not be comfortable. So, in that 

cases, we cannot communicate and it might not be 

helpful. 

Interpersonal 

Relationships 

Communication 

(informal) 

26 

We can find so many type of people at workplace, 

everyone has their own attitudes, and some people 

can be able to explain even a silly thing also without 

hesitating and without any domination. So, we 

cannot expect same thing from all people.  

Interpersonal 

Relationships 

Communication 

(informal) 

27 

Like in a collocated team, we have so many people 

to interact here. So, obviously you may have to 

spend some time to talk to others who ever are 

sitting around you. So, that is the only one thing.  

Interpersonal 

Relationships 

Communication 

(informal) 

28 

Then obviously normal working place only. Because 

we can interact with other people for some time if 

you are not feeling well. Then at least you will get 

some relaxation. 

Interpersonal 

Relationships 

Communication 

(informal) 

29 

But, you know, compared to talking to associates 

and customers, there will be some difference. We 

don’t belong to that organization.  

Interpersonal 

Relationships 

Communication 

(informal) 

30 

 In my experience after working for seven years, I 

feel this small talk is a waste of time and somewhat 

like spoils your mood also to work at place. It is not 

always, because some people will talk very well 

when they see you and some people will talk in 

different way also.  

Interpersonal 

Relationships 

Communication 

(informal) 

31 

Like if you have seen the manager before, they will 

come to know what kind of issues they can share 

with the manager and cannot share with the 

manager. Over technology you don’t know how the 

person might react.   

Interpersonal 

Relationships 

Communication 

(informal) 

32 

Our job depends on understanding.  How the 

manager and how I get through. So when your 

reporting manager is face to face, this is what I say 

him directly that this is the required problem and if 

provided then it would be easy. So the direct 

communication in terms of time there will be a 

saving. 

Interpersonal 

Relationships 

Communication 

(informal) 

33 Yeah, it feels a bit isolated. 
Interpersonal 

Relationships 

Communication 

(informal) 

34 

You will not be able to see the organization 

happenings, day to day events when you are 

isolated. Ya, that seems to be bad. But again when 

you are working in a project, you are a billable 

resource, you will see that your compensation will 

reach you. Your salary is there. Ya, so that’s there. 

Interpersonal 

Relationships 

Communication 

(informal) 



Australasian Journal of Information Systems Shaik & Makhecha 
2019, Vol 23, Research on the Role of Tech in Workforce Mgt Employee Engagement in Virtual Teams 

  31 

S.No Representative Quote 
Emic Theme 

Interpretation 

Etic Theme 

Mapping 

35 

One is you get to know each other when you form a 

GVT and you are talking for the first time. Of 

course, through formal communication, you get to 

know each other, some of the details. But then 

informal communication happens when you send 

an email and you agree and put a small smiley. This 

helps in building interpersonal relationships in a 

virtual environment.  

Interpersonal 

Relationships 

Communication 

(informal) 

36 

If one has done their homework and understand 

that there are circumstances and situations that 

could be impacting the other person differently, 

then, communication with the other person helps 

build better interpersonal relationships with the 

members who are geographically dispersed. This 

will in a way allow to reduce the distance between 

the locations 

Interpersonal 

Relationships 

Communication 

(informal) 

37 

There, the technical documents completely we read 

and their local language Spanish, and we had a 

challenge to convert them into English. And, we 

have to learn Spanish in order to learn some 

technical terminology. So, it was quite challenging 

task for us.  

Cultural Diversity 
Cultural 

Intelligence 

38 

We had different people working for different 

customers, Spain, UK, but the work is similar. But 

the standards are different. Because, for Spain there 

are different standards for work and UK there are 

different standards. So, the work is similar but how 

you are going to get the output done the procedure 

is different. So I felt the platform like software that I 

am using for Spain client is different from that of 

UK. 

Cultural Diversity 
Cultural 

Intelligence 

39 

So I felt like there are different ways of getting the 

output done for different clients and the other part is 

in Spain also there are around 13 to 14 different 

standards. So, it is also challenging that to change 

from one task to another task, you have to go to 

different standards. So you have to go back to the 

technical documents and refresh everything before 

starting the work.  

Cultural Diversity 
Cultural 

Intelligence 



Australasian Journal of Information Systems Shaik & Makhecha 
2019, Vol 23, Research on the Role of Tech in Workforce Mgt Employee Engagement in Virtual Teams 

  32 

S.No Representative Quote 
Emic Theme 

Interpretation 

Etic Theme 

Mapping 

40 

There was one person who I worked with in 

Germany, she was a fantastic contributor who had 

taken significant responsibility and did that very 

well. During one of the feedback sessions, when I 

asked her what are the things we can do better and 

how is she coming along, one thing that she said 

was, during the initial days, she was actually 

thinking of leaving the organisation, because she felt 

so disrespected in the conference calls. She said that 

“everybody is talking over me, and that is not 

something that I am used to”. And also said, if 

somebody is talking, you finish that conversation, 

you hear that person, and then you make a point, 

and then the next person makes a point Right, she is 

very used to that. She had not worked in a global 

team before but she said that it took time for her to 

understand that this is the way that people talk, (sic) 

even though she could never understand the reason 

behind it.  

Cultural Diversity 
Cultural 

Intelligence 

41 

The only thing I had to do was contact switching. By 

contact switching what I mean is even though I am 

speaking English, I speak in a different way, so they 

understand. So this is what is contact switching. 

And it works well.  

Cultural Diversity 
Cultural 

Intelligence 

42 

In such case we have used one platform, cisco to get 

it solved, cisco like the desktop sharing option we 

had, so we used to call the client on the video 

conference, and using cisco, we used to get it solved. 

That platform helped us to get things done easily 

and in crucial times, when we had to meet some 

deadlines without any change.  

Coordination Issues Technology 

43 

There will not be any problem when the teams are 

located in different places, the only problem comes 

how do you monitor the team members. because 

work point of view everything is being live updated 

on the server and the work status, everything is 

updated on the server so, getting the things done by 

people is the only thing you will be challenging, 

apart from the work here there will not be any 

problem when we are working in multiple locations 

also. 

Coordination Issues Technology 

44 

We share them the task like this is the task for you, 

and this is the task for you, but when the person will 

come and get the take done, you don’t know. Unless 

and until either we call he or he calls us or we drop 

us a text or he drops us a text. But, at what times he 

might come and leave, we don’t know.  

Coordination Issues Technology 

45 

I will tell you the same thing if at all a customer, if 

we are sitting at a customer location in UK, like if 

we have multiple queries, we segregate everything 

and we will sit in front of the customer and the 

things become easy. So, the amount of time taken to 

solve the query is less when you are working in UK.  

Coordination Issues Technology 



Australasian Journal of Information Systems Shaik & Makhecha 
2019, Vol 23, Research on the Role of Tech in Workforce Mgt Employee Engagement in Virtual Teams 

  33 

S.No Representative Quote 
Emic Theme 

Interpretation 

Etic Theme 

Mapping 

46 

But, when you are sitting in India, you consolidate 

everything and you send an email to the customer, 

call the customer on phone, some queries get solved 

and sometimes the customer says that you have to 

check back to his team members and get it done. So, 

the response time is less there. 

Coordination Issues Technology 

47 

 Until the designer does not complete his task I don’t 

have an input to the checker. So, the designer has to 

close his task and only then the checker can have his 

input. So, if this is delayed, the other person's work 

will also be delayed. Entirely it will affect my 

deadline. So, I have to closely monitor the person 

sitting remotely to get the design part done.  

Coordination Issues Technology 

48 

For any change of policies we get an email 

communication, like regularly HR was available at 

floor, but if it is in remote location, unless and until 

the employee goes with an issue, the HR cannot 

respond in that. There is an issue, they will be 

responding for sure. So it is up to the employee to 

go and tell what the problem is then they will get 

the response if it is in the remote location.  

Coordination Issues Technology 

49 

Like, when you take the UK time example, the team 

sitting in UK working for some task, and the team 

sitting in India with similar task, the time frame is 

different, so there, the manager will be able to 

monitor only for a partial time, either on phone, 

email or any other communication. The other time 

frame after office hours it will be difficult for the 

manager and to contact the manager.  

Coordination Issues Technology 

50 

When it comes with the communication, it is about 

the timings. That is something we cannot avoid. 

Some things like if any activity has urgent delivery, 

definitely there will be some time gap. If we have 

sufficient time, there is no problem in communicate. 

If some problems we cannot explain them email, we 

can contact them by call or a video call. 

Coordination Issues Technology 

51 

I was one among the two people in UK, and four 

people in Hyderabad. So, the manager was in 

Hyderabad itself. So whenever we need changes, 

then we request our employees from there only. So, 

they were doing on time and the manager also 

coordinates with them to deliver the work within 

the time. We could able to manage well. Only the 

problem comes whenever there is an urgency.  

Coordination Issues Technology 

52 

Because, in a virtual place, if we have any concerns 

that we need to discuss with the manager, then we 

will be able to explain to him easily, and work well 

after that. When it comes to the technical matters 

there are so many senior people available in a 

normal set up. 

Coordination Issues Technology 



Australasian Journal of Information Systems Shaik & Makhecha 
2019, Vol 23, Research on the Role of Tech in Workforce Mgt Employee Engagement in Virtual Teams 

  34 

S.No Representative Quote 
Emic Theme 

Interpretation 

Etic Theme 

Mapping 

53 

Where ever the team is available, we will be able to 

work well in such place. Because, there will be no 

mental pressure, nothing will be there. We can able 

to do it as soon as possible. Where the team is not 

available, our concentration is only on the work, so 

it is like, we will feel like somewhat stressed.  

Coordination Issues Technology 

54 Getting the right inputs at the right time. Coordination Issues Technology 

55 

Because we can ask their opinion. We can directly 

meet the experts available for the job. We can just do 

better things. 

Coordination Issues Technology 

56 

GVTs face on-site and off-site issues. I was once 

working from New York, and my team was in India. 

Due to the change in time zones, we faced a lot of 

difficulty in getting support from each other. And 

when I was back in India, the process of follow-up 

was also difficult.  

Coordination Issues Technology 

57 

Most of the members get involved 7/24 with the 

team. Some of my team is in far-off Europe. It so 

happens sometimes that they forget other team 

members who are based out of their offices in their 

emails. These situations reduce coordination within 

the team. Some team members feel left out. So, out 

of sight, out of mind situation often occurs in a GVT.  

Coordination Issues Technology 

58 

We share them the task like this is the task for you, 

and this is the task for you, but when the person will 

come and get the take done, you don’t know. Unless 

and until either we call he or he calls us or we drop 

us a text or he drops us a text. But, at what times he 

might come and leave, we don’t know.  

Spatial Distance Technology 

59 

Everything it is comfortable when everyone is 

located in the same location and it will be 

challenging while meeting the targets like crucial 

targets to control the people if they are at different 

location.  

Spatial Distance Technology 

60 

Amount of dedication when we are in a virtual team 

in different locations, we have to think more about 

the person who is sitting in the remote areas, about 

his task and when he can deliver his task, 

Spatial Distance Technology 

61 There are telecom where you need to have web-ex. Technology Medium Technology 

62 

the earlier team experience when we used on 

software tools, which are completely out of scope, 

the tool errors were completely out of our scope, we 

have technical knowledge of how the system works, 

like what we have to do, we used to take that 

platform too, in order to do the testing, but the tool 

error was completely out of our scope. 

Technology Medium Technology 

63 

In such case we have used one platform, cisco to get 

it solved, cisco like the desktop sharing option we 

had, so we used to call the client on the video 

conference, and using cisco, we used to get it solved. 

That platform helped us to get things done easily 

and in crucial times, when we had to meet some 

deadlines without any change.  

Technology Medium Technology 



Australasian Journal of Information Systems Shaik & Makhecha 
2019, Vol 23, Research on the Role of Tech in Workforce Mgt Employee Engagement in Virtual Teams 

  35 

S.No Representative Quote 
Emic Theme 

Interpretation 

Etic Theme 

Mapping 

64 

If we have any queries or any challenges we 

regularly we have telephonic conversation. So, as of 

now what we are following is telephonic 

conversation. And for any clarification we are 

having RFI through email and technical queries, 

Technology Medium Technology 

65 
So, we keep all the evidence mails and everything 

for that, and for future communication also. 
Technology Medium Technology 

66 

 When the team is located in one location, coming to 

the bottom level, like my team members, getting 

work done it is easy. So, I directly report to my 

manager on the status or else any updates through 

email. Mostly I communicate with him over email. 

So, I don’t feel any challenge, due to remote location 

or at my location. 

Technology Medium Technology 

67 

Like if you have seen the manager before, they will 

come to know what kind of issues they can share 

with the manager and cannot share with the 

manager. Over technology you don’t know how the 

person might react.   

Technology Medium Technology 

68 

It’s quite a different experience... it’s like six months 

we have been communicating this way and it’s 

really required. We are adapting to the situation. So, 

now we are almost on the same lines. So, now there 

is no problem with all this mails, conferences and 

videos. 

Technology Medium Technology 

69 

So whenever a need arises, we will exchange our 

interaction through mails, WebEx, phones as per the 

requirement. 

Technology Medium Technology 

70 

Technology is an integral part of even having a 

GVT. If you are not connected on a very regular 

basis, GVTs cannot work.  

Technology Medium Technology 

71 

I think a lot of this has to depend on what I call the 

virtual infrastructure. It is very important in a GVT 

that you have the proper tools, means to connect to 

the company, means to extract the data and put it 

back, and means to talk to different people in your 

team.  

Technology Medium Technology 

72 
Technology has also enabled us to reduce the 

commuting through flights, back and forth etc.  
Technology Medium Technology 

73 

For us, and in UK, you might be knowing, they 

work until late evening. For us at morning they 

come at 12:00 or 1:00. So, we expect more mails in 

the second half. And it also continues in the evening 

hours.  

Temporal Distance Technology 

74 

But, when you are sitting in India, you consolidate 

everything and you send an email to the customer, 

call the customer on phone, some queries get solved 

and sometimes the customer says that you have to 

check back to his team members and get it done. So, 

the response time is less there. 

Temporal Distance Technology 



Australasian Journal of Information Systems Shaik & Makhecha 
2019, Vol 23, Research on the Role of Tech in Workforce Mgt Employee Engagement in Virtual Teams 

  36 

S.No Representative Quote 
Emic Theme 

Interpretation 

Etic Theme 

Mapping 

75 

Like, when you take the UK time example, the team 

sitting in UK working for some task, and the team 

sitting in India with similar task, the time frame is 

different, so there, the manager will be able to 

monitor only for a partial time, either on phone, 

email or any other communication. The other time 

frame after office hours it will be difficult for the 

manager and to contact the manager.  

Temporal Distance Technology 

76 

When it comes with the communication, it is about 

the timings. That is something we cannot avoid. 

Some things like if any activity has urgent delivery, 

definitely there will be some time gap. If we have 

sufficient time, there is no problem in communicate. 

If some problems we cannot explain them email, we 

can contact them by call or a video call. 

Temporal Distance Technology 

77 

But where the deliveries are a project need an 

immediate output and the schedule is so tight, so in 

that instances we can go with direct meetings or 

putting a report. It depends on the type of work you 

are in. 

Temporal Distance Technology 

78 

It sometimes happens that team members located 

outside of the headquarters, or outside of the 

location wherever the leader is located is, there is a 

tendency for teams who are in one location to just 

start brainstorming an idea, come up with 

something, some sort of a draft etc., and then go to a 

GVT or teams outside of that headquarter or teams 

outside of that geography and ask them for their 

feedback. The teams which are (sic), they don't see 

anything wrong in that, we are soliciting inputs, we 

are making this part, but the problems with (sic) the 

teams outside see is that we want to be in the 

brainstorming meeting.  

Temporal Distance Technology 

79 

Dedication depends on individual responsibility. If 

he feels responsible and thinks that he is the one to 

get the task done, so you can get it done in limited 

time frame or you can also take extra amount of 

time. But, when he is at a different location and not 

taking ownership, it is always difficult to trace him 

even though they are calling him and he has any 

technical competency in that particular task which is 

lesser where we might have to mentor him, and give 

some support, then it will be a difficult task. 

Team Member 

Maturity 

Trust & Maturity 

(separated) 

80 

 Because the amount of experience which he 

(experienced employee) has, is already high and he 

has to be ready to accept any kind of task for any 

kind of customer. His experience speaks, not 

anything.   

Team Member 

Maturity 

Trust & Maturity 

(separated) 

81 

I don’t think so, because every individual as an 

employee has to take the ownership for his task and 

he has to definitely come back when the task is done 

to get the second task. So, ownership is the first 

quality where every individual has to own in a 

company.  

Team Member 

Maturity 

Trust & Maturity 

(separated) 



Australasian Journal of Information Systems Shaik & Makhecha 
2019, Vol 23, Research on the Role of Tech in Workforce Mgt Employee Engagement in Virtual Teams 

  37 

S.No Representative Quote 
Emic Theme 

Interpretation 

Etic Theme 

Mapping 

82 

The basic thing that differs is that in a normal team, 

employee as I told you feels less responsible because 

there is some person who is monitoring him. But in 

a virtual team, there has to be completely full fledge 

100% responsible for the task which is in hand, 

because it is being less monitored.  

Team Member 

Maturity 

Trust & Maturity 

(separated) 

83 
 Reporting involvement like the manager 

involvement will be less if it is a virtual team. 

Team Member 

Maturity 

Trust & Maturity 

(separated) 

84 

I was in UK last year and at that time, myself and 

one of my colleague, both was in UK. My manager 

was in Hyderabad office. That time we came to 

know how to deal with the client and how to talk to 

them in case of official way, or whatever we need. 

Team Member 

Maturity 

Trust & Maturity 

(separated) 

85 

In a virtual team, you need not waste much time 

talking to other people. It is a human tendency if we 

have surroundings, sometimes we try to talk to 

them, not always. If you are in virtual place, you 

don’t have chance to speak to so many people. So, 

obviously you can do your work faster.  

Team Member 

Maturity 

Trust & Maturity 

(separated) 

86 

Suppose if you take me and the company is not 

monitoring me, I will do my job and what are all the 

necessary things to complete the project. Some 

people, unless manager comes to them and tells 

them, they won’t react to the work or timings and 

all.  

Team Member 

Maturity 

Trust & Maturity 

(separated) 

87 

Some people who are like they want to come late to 

office and go early from office, those type of people 

cannot be kept in a virtual team.  

Team Member 

Maturity 

Trust & Maturity 

(separated) 

88 

It’s like you feel very determined. It’s kind of job 

responsibility. It’s like given my consent to the 

organization but I will be doing these roles 

whenever necessary. So I feel like it’s my job 

responsibility. 

Team Member 

Maturity 

Trust & Maturity 

(separated) 

89 

You will not be able to see the organization 

happenings, day to day events when you are 

isolated. Ya, that seems to be bad. But again when 

you are working in a project, you are a billable 

resource, you will see that your compensation will 

reach you. Your salary is there. Ya, so that’s there. 

Team Member 

Maturity 

Trust & Maturity 

(separated) 

90 

They should have the skills, the fitting in, writing e-

mails, basic corporate skill, then the people doing it, 

it should be easy for them to interact with such kind 

of people. 

Team Member 

Maturity 

Trust & Maturity 

(separated) 

91 
Mentoring will give him confidence. He should be 

under guidance. 

Team Member 

Maturity 

Trust & Maturity 

(separated) 

92 

Because they are away from the team, they will 

come to know what are all the things they have to 

do on their own. So, if they want to do something, 

no one will be there to guide them and they will face 

the situation on how to do it. And they will come to 

know on their own. 

Team Member Trust 

and Maturity 

Trust & Maturity 

(separated) 

93 

The relationships are built only on trust. Everyone 

wants to be a part of a winning story. Due to spatial 

dispersion, a lot of communication can go wrong 

due to lack of trust.  

Team Member Trust 

and Maturity 

Trust & Maturity 

(separated) 



Australasian Journal of Information Systems Shaik & Makhecha 
2019, Vol 23, Research on the Role of Tech in Workforce Mgt Employee Engagement in Virtual Teams 

  38 

S.No Representative Quote 
Emic Theme 

Interpretation 

Etic Theme 

Mapping 

94 

There are some people who will find it difficult to 

work in a GVT because here at the end of the day 

you are not answerable to your manager, you are 

answerable to the goals, and you are answerable to 

the outputs that you have to come up with.  

Team Member Trust 

and Maturity 

Trust & Maturity 

(separated) 

95 

Then obviously normal working place only. Because 

we can interact with other people for some time if 

you are not feeling well. Then at least you will get 

some relaxation. 

Trust 
Trust & Maturity 

(separated) 

96 

But, you know, compared to talking to associates 

and customers, there will be some difference. We 

don’t belong to that organization.  

Trust 
Trust & Maturity 

(separated) 

 

  



Australasian Journal of Information Systems Shaik & Makhecha 
2019, Vol 23, Research on the Role of Tech in Workforce Mgt Employee Engagement in Virtual Teams 

  39 

Appendix II 

Data Structure – First Order Dimensions, Second Order Themes, Emic and Etic Theme 

Mapping 

 

S. 

No. 
First Order Dimensions 

Second Order 

Theme 
Emic Theme 

Etic 

Theme 

1 

personality, work requirement goals, how they 

operate, style of working is diff for diff team 

members 

Understanding 

Personality 

Improved Trust 

by 

understanding 

personality  

T
ru

st an
d

 M
atu

rity
 

2 
sensitivity/sentiment - body language, how serious 

the customers are, have to judge through a con call 

3 
spend time and more effort to understand 

personality 

4 understanding individual personality 

5 
use different tactics with different people depending 

on the feasible context 

6 make adjustment comfortable to the other person 

7 handling differing perceptions 

Perception 

Management and 

Power Relations 

Managing 

perceptions to 

improve trust 

8 GVTs-perceptions management 

9 don’t know how the other person will react 

10 
how sender sends the message and receiver 

perceives it 

11 different means are comfortable for different people 

12 power relations are underplayed in GVTs 

13 expert power and distributed leadership 

14 
need a mature team, self-managed, people should 

take initiatives to deliver 

Team Maturity 
Team Member 

Maturity 
15 need more mature people who take responsibility 

16 
high level of motivation to instinctively take 

ownership 

     



Australasian Journal of Information Systems Shaik & Makhecha 
2019, Vol 23, Research on the Role of Tech in Workforce Mgt Employee Engagement in Virtual Teams 

  40 

S. 

No. 
First Order Dimensions 

Second Order 

Theme 
Emic Theme 

Etic 

Theme 

17 
GVTs - skills needed are adaptation, email, 

communication made easy team members 

Skills needed 

and Challenges 

for 

communication 

Communication 

 Skills 

C
o

m
m

u
n

icatio
n

 (F
o

rm
al &

 In
fo

rm
al) 

18 
writing mail will give limited and restricted 

communication,  

19 informal communication opportunities are less 

20 GVTs - team members interact limited time 

21 
expression of emotions and feelings not possible in 

GVTs 

22 informal communication difficult in GVTs 

23 human interactions are reduced 

24 difference between explanation and understanding 

25 
informal communication - raise questions outside 

work, updates, informal chats 

26 
GVTs -not many people for suggestions, few people 

around to ask  

27 
The need to socialize does not get fulfilled. Social 

needs not getting fulfilled by working remotely. 

Unfulfilled 

social needs 

Interpersonal 

Relationships 

28 
less social get-togethers, not refreshed and not set to 

right mood 

29 GVTs - feel isolated, miss out on local events 

30 GVTs - social needs do not get satisfied 

31 need for belongingness not satisfied 

32 
people who need face time and need to talk to their 

managers face difficulty 

33 
informal meets like lunch, discussion, going out etc. 

missing 

34 no people around you to share your problems 

35 
GVTs- positive energy from team members is 

missing 

36 
GVTs- cant share if you are not well, collocated 

team you can 

37 GVTs - personal issues cannot be discussed 

38 more emotional exhaustion than physical 

39 
GVTs - less experience in emotion, less appreciation 

of human experiences,  

40 GVTs - no one to chase you or help you 

Implications for 

Managers 

41 All forms of communication important in GVTs 

42 
extend feelings to care about family, social media, 

birthday, small things for bonding 

43 
GVTs - skype, VC, WhatsApp, non-visual 

communication 

44 interaction deliberation 

45 
contribution to a purpose, then collaborate, 

communicate and support 

46 
sense of appreciation is less, and feel uncomfortable 

even when performing well 

47 manage conflict in GVTs 

Conflicts 
Conflict 

Management 

48 resolving conflicts 

49 conflict management is high 

50 conflict not so visible, hidden and be brewing inside 

 



Australasian Journal of Information Systems Shaik & Makhecha 
2019, Vol 23, Research on the Role of Tech in Workforce Mgt Employee Engagement in Virtual Teams 

  41 

S. 

No. 
First Order Dimensions 

Second Order 

Theme 
Emic Theme 

Etic 

Theme 

51 Tasks specified - disjunctive and conjunctive tasks 

Task 

Structure/Goal 

Clarity 

Focus on Goal 

Clarity 

C
o

m
m

u
n

icatio
n

 (F
o

rm
a

l &
 In

fo
rm

al 

52 
conjunctive - need to build on opinion/inputs of 

other members on projects 

53 GVTs - clear KPIs objectives and goals 

54 need for clear, crisp and adjectives 

55 
conscious efforts, structured way of putting it to all 

stakeholders 

56 
structured, weekly biweekly call, updates and 

dedicated time 

57 GVTs meetings-structured pointed and formal 

58 use regular meetings, frequency 

59 lot of groundwork before meeting 

60 
GVTs-employees not answerable to managers but to 

goals and objectives 

61 set expectations right, set frequency meeting 

62 role of manager to set clear goals and aims 

63 
how do team members get to work and how they 

achieve it 

64 
clear with goal 

setting/expectations/parameters/guidelines 

65 setting expectations right 

66 clean and correct messaging for each stakeholder 

67 timely work reduces challenges 

68 setting expectations right 

69 make team members accountable 

70 
set objective and make people understand it, check 

output 

71 
once, twice in a month meeting will be with all team 

members, less frequent contact 

72 discipline and be responsive and prompt 

73 take responsibility of your decision 

     



Australasian Journal of Information Systems Shaik & Makhecha 
2019, Vol 23, Research on the Role of Tech in Workforce Mgt Employee Engagement in Virtual Teams 

  42 

S. 

No. 
First Order Dimensions 

Second Order 

Theme 
Emic Theme 

Etic 

Theme 

74 
technology as a tool to collaborate and progress, 

enabler, stay connected 

Technology as 

enabler 

Coordination 

Issues, Temporal 

and Spatial 

Distance 

T
ech

n
o

lo
g

y
 

75 
technology - enable  GVTs online chats, discussions 

etc. 

76 
Technology is enabler. Technology selection plays 

role. 

77 GVTs-thrive on technology and flexibility 

78 enjoy technology connections 

79 
millennials comfortable with technology, non-visual 

and non-verbal communication 

80 use of technology 

81 new technology advancement 

82 GVTs possible to hide info 

Technology as 

Deterrent 

83 when network is down, it is a problem 

84 Delay in addressing challenges 

85 can’t take up unplanned actions in vt 

86 
technology -  weak network in certain areas, big size 

file problem 

87 
GVTs - communication through technology, hide 

behind the email/text messages 

88 
in isolation - disjunctive - no inputs, lag/delay, not 

so much now due to advanced technology 

89 
most interaction on VC, Skype, phone and less 

frequent visit 

Virtual 

Infrastructure 

90 Means of communication - email, calls, WebEx 

91 
Virtual infrastructure important, tools to connect, 

extract and tell different people in the team 

92 Depending on the type of task, technology is used. 

93 GVTs-interpersonal mechanism is email 

94 
tech advancement - positive for GVTs, reduces cost, 

VC, Skype etc. increase interaction 

95 Different medium 

96 GVTs- most connection through email 

97 
GVTs-need extra time and efforts to connect, bond 

and understand 

Efforts towards 

connecting at 

personal level 

Coordination 

Issues 

98 building relations through technology 

99 GVTs can’t see body language so use Skype and VC 

100 
On phone talk and open up for things you can’t 

write on email. 

101 
GVTs - technology bad link, lag in responding, 

language misinterpretation 

102 
engagement is high if they are happy working over 

technology 

103 
GVTs connection becomes a priority and 

responsibility 

104 
use technology that the other person is comfortable 

with 

105 
set clear expectations and tasks, use technology to 

share info and empower people 

106 customize + localize (tech, people process) 

107 establishing connect through emails 

108 
millennials comfortable with emotions in 

technology but not bosses 



Australasian Journal of Information Systems Shaik & Makhecha 
2019, Vol 23, Research on the Role of Tech in Workforce Mgt Employee Engagement in Virtual Teams 

  43 

 

S. 

No. 
First Order Dimensions 

Second Order 

Theme 
Emic Theme 

Etic 

Theme 

109 
no time lag, round the clock connection irrespective 

of time zone 

Advantage of 

Time zone 

differences 

Temporal/Spatial 

Distance 

T
ech

n
o

lo
g

y
 

110 time zone diff - incorporate flexibility 

111 time gap to get issues solved 

112 
same time zone, not much frustration (0-3 hours) 

can initiate calls 

113 time zone flexibility 

114 VT Coordination Challenges 

Coordination 

according to the 

Time Zone 

115 set fixed meeting times 

116 coordination issue to find appropriate time 

117 more time on collaborating to set meeting 

118 Time zone differences, managing meetings 

119 
more challenging when you have to meet deadlines 

- time zone matters 

Challenges due 

to Time Zone 

120 GVTs-process affected by time zones 

121 
high time zone difference, more frustration, need 

more adjustment 

122 time zone differences 

123 
information and use of emoticons, skype chat, 

sensitive to time zones, lunch time 

124 can’t respond quickly to issues 

Response time 

due to Time 

Zone 

125 

time zone challenges - some decisions cannot wait 

for sleeping people, but they have valuable inputs 

for decisions 

126 problem of getting right input at right time 

127 

time differences, long time taking, quick feedback 

not possible, allow delay or not take input of some 

people 

128 
time zone - time gap is the bridge, issues in 

coordination 

129 

response to email - introducing people, syncing 

calendars, time, difficult to involve all in 

brainstorming 

     



Australasian Journal of Information Systems Shaik & Makhecha 
2019, Vol 23, Research on the Role of Tech in Workforce Mgt Employee Engagement in Virtual Teams 

  44 

S. 

No. 
First Order Dimensions 

Second Order 

Theme 
Emic Theme 

Etic 

Theme 

130 driving change is challenging in cross cultural env 

Cross Cultural 

Environment 

Cultural 

Diversity 

C
u

ltu
ral In

tellig
en

ce 

131 train and plant people in different geographies 

132 change in mindset 

133 
uniqueness and uniformity of org culture spreads 

across locations 

134 culture sensitivity 

Culture 

Sensitivity 

135 understanding diversity of culture 

136 be sensitive to culture, local festivals, diversity 

137 GVTs-understanding cultural nuances help 

138 culture-be sympathetic 

139 diff cultures have diff motivation factors 

140 
Understand diversity at deeper level to respect 

other culture, style and ethics. 

141 cultures - need to understand and adjust 

142 cultural aspect important 

143 
language - some cultures are very aggressive, some 

are comfortable 

Etiquette, 

Language, and 

Preparedness 

across Cultures 

144 
email etiquette is very important, interpretation of 

email depends on mood of reader 

145 
communication details, expectations and outcomes 

for all members across cultures 

146 
being careful with words while responding to 

emails 

147 
culture, contact switching, speak English in different 

way 

148 
training on cultural difference - avoid 

misinterpretation of expectations 

149 preparedness can reduce cultural difference 

Preparedness 

about culture 

150 do proper homework 

151 
consciousness will bring in adaptability, culture 

sensitivity and humility 

152 understanding culture 

 

 

Copyright: © 2019 Shaik & Makhecha. This is an open-access article distributed under the 

terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Australia License, which 

permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the 

original author and AJIS are credited. 

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/au/


Australasian Journal of Information Systems Shaik & Makhecha 
2019, Vol 23, Research on the Role of Tech in Workforce Mgt Employee Engagement in Virtual Teams 

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