Global Virtual Teams: A Cure for – or a Cause of – Stress

Abstract

Global virtual teams (GVTs), also known as transnational or distributed teams, are increasingly common as organizations strive to maintain a global presence, find top and diverse talent, and cope with economic constraints. Despite increasing adoption of GVTs, there is a dearth of research addressing whether GVTs are an effective coping strategy for dealing with the world economic crisis and if there are unintended negative consequences on employee well-being as a result of their use. Thus, a focal question guiding the development of this chapter is whether or not GVTs are a sustainable solution for organizations? In this chapter we present a generic framework depicting the cycle by which macroeconomic demands impose changes on organization's structures, which trickle down to the level of the individual who has to cope with the demands the new structure has imposed. We discuss GVTs as an intervention (or cure) for organizations’ dealing with the current world economic crisis and how this organizational intervention inevitably becomes the context (or cause) for the kinds of stressors or demands employees face.

Citation

Glazer, S., Kożusznik, M.W. and Shargo, I.A. (2012), "Global Virtual Teams: A Cure for – or a Cause of – Stress", Perrewé, P.L., Halbesleben, J.R.B. and Rosen, C.C. (Ed.) The Role of the Economic Crisis on Occupational Stress and Well Being (Research in Occupational Stress and Well Being, Vol. 10), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 213-266. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3555(2012)0000010010