The perceived level of collaborative environment's effect on creative group problem solving in a virtual and distributed team environment

Abstract

Continuous product development and market introduction of new products are central to sustaining company performance, and information systems (IS) development project managers face increasing pressure for quicker product delivery, despite cost constraints. To respond to these challenges, virtual and distributed (V& D) teams are formed, which present a unique environment to foster collaboration among the project team members. We investigated the sources and effects of team members' perceived level of collaboration on creative group problem solving in V& D IS project settings. Based on relational coordination theory, we performed semi-structured interviews and used a Q-methodology to confirm certain communication and relationship dimensions as precursors to collaborative environments. Using empirical tests, we found that relationships have a direct effect on creative group problem solving and that communication is mediated by perceived collaboration. We present practical implications and recommendations for V& D IS project managers for enhancing creative problem solving for V& D IS projects.