Search results

In light of contradictory research findings, the purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating effects of team setting (face‐to‐face or online) on the relationship that team member affect and interaction processes have on individual team source learning, and at the team level on the relationship between group cohesiveness and perceived team performance.

Students enrolled in graduate level organizational behavior classes at a large university in the southeastern United States responded to the survey. The final sample included 79 students in 21 on‐campus teams and 97 students in 26 online teams. All classes surveyed required a detailed team project. Tests of the moderator hypotheses were conducted using hierarchical linear multiple regression.

Team setting moderated the relationship that member teamwork orientation and member social interaction had on individual team‐source learning; the relationships were stronger in online teams.

The results have implications for teams in a variety of settings since the team composition and nature of the work conducted by student teams are similar to that in Western organizational contexts. To avoid possible conflicts that impede learning and performance in online teams, administrators should ensure that team members are chosen carefully and give members a strong reason for being on the team.

This paper extends the model examined by Williams et al. to include member social interaction and consider the context in which teamwork occurs and its effects on personal learning and team performance.

Current trends such as a steadfast movement toward globalization, increased connectivity and use of networks in business relationships, rapidly changing technology, increased pressure for economic profitability, and economic concern create an environment where a focus on global team effectiveness is imperative. This study provides greater clarity on the workings of global hybrid team effectiveness including an examination of accelerators and decelerators. It also proposes a new model of Global Working behaviors to be applied systematically to all McKinsey 7-S areas – Strategy, Structure, Systems, Shared Values, Style, Skills, and Staff – in order to accelerate global hybrid team effectiveness.

The purpose of this paper is to study the use of blended learning in the workplace and questions whether interpersonal interaction facilitates learner engagement (specifically behavioral, cognitive and/or emotional engagement), and if so, the means by which this occurs.

A qualitative approach was taken to this exploratory study, a single-case study design was utilized, and data collection methods involved interviews with facilitators and past participants of a blended workplace learning (BWL) program.

Human interaction in the BWL program included learner–facilitator, learner–learner and learner–colleague interaction. Where human interaction was present, it was reported to be linked with more active behavioral engagement, higher cognitive engagement and stronger and more positive emotional engagement than where human interaction was absent.

The single-case study design does not allow for generalizability of findings. Reliance on self-reported data through interviews without cross-validation from other forms of measurement is a further limitation of the study.

Effective blended learning programs for workplaces are those that provide opportunities for learners to engage through human interaction with facilitators, other learners and colleagues. The findings advance current knowledge of BWL, and have implications for human resource development professionals, and designers and facilitators of blended learning programs for workplaces.

The study contributes to existing literature on blended learning in the workplace and emphasizes the importance of ensuring that human interaction is still an element of blended learning to maximize the benefits to learners and organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to present a new approach for analyzing place making structure and processes and discuss strategies for inclusive place making in urban areas.

The theoretical approach is based on social systems theory and organization design theory, representing a constructionist and socio-structural approach to inclusive place making. The methodology is based on a comparative analysis of three cases of inclusive place making.

The main findings are that place making systems today lack the necessary complexity in their politics and planning to secure inclusive place making and fail to organize for face-to-face interactions in place making processes.

In a social systems approach, the author observes how place stakeholders and systems observe place making realities and problems and constructs place images. This introduces some degree of uncertainty into the analyses but constitutes an effective basis for studying inclusive strategy development.

The findings indicate that observing how place stakeholders construct their opinions about the problems and possibilities for inclusive place making and face-to-face interactions probably constitutes the best basis for practical support for inclusive place making.

The paper directs attention to the fact that current urban development strategies and policies toward inclusion of groups with limited resources today lack the necessary knowledge bases and means to deal effectively with the complexity related to current inclusion problems.

The paper demonstrates that an approach, which supplements the basic governance systems with face-to-face interactions, can deal effectively with today’s problems of inclusivity.

When working remotely, homeworkers are provided with various technologies which may help them to avoid experiencing feelings of social isolation from colleagues. These include the mobile phone, which provides homeworkers with the means of engaging in interaction with colleagues irrespective of time and location. This paper aims to investigate how the mobile phone is used by homeworkers for social interaction purposes.

Data are collected from 25 respondents working in a telecommunications organisation using in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews.

Upon analysis, it emerges that a significant number of respondents use their mobile phone for retaining social interaction with colleagues outside of their designated work time and space. It also emerges that certain organisational factors help to explain why interaction is maintained in this way.

Implications for organisations employing homeworking are also presented, together with how the limitations of the paper can be overcome in future research.

The results challenge the common assertions concerning social isolation made within homeworking literature; these are discussed within the paper, which also addresses how the findings of this paper aim to aid, as well as to direct, theoretical progression within this area.

The chapter explores if and how online and face-to-face organizational environments can interact, and if and how this interaction could foster managerial practices to sustain personal growth, organizational development, and employee–organization relationships.

Research project is based on an emblematic case study: Fubles.com is a social sport sharing platform with one of the most active sport communities in Europe. This case is representative of a novel initiative, useful in understanding how social media drive organizational results.

Social media activities do not always substitute face-to-face relationships; online connections can enhance relationships, in terms of quantity, quality, and fairness, generating comprehensive reconfiguration of people practices, before and after the game. Thanks to social networks, organizations can support interpersonal contacts, enabling people to organize collective activities both virtually and physically.

The case advocates three levels of possible organizational reconfigurations through social media (individual, collective, and organizational) that can foster the quality of the employee–organization relationship.

Results suggest that social media are sources of new and innovative ways to interact within and across organizations, reinforcing not only the online interactions, but especially traditional face-to-face connections through a process of reconfiguration of people practices.

This paper aims to describe the implementation of a blended learning approach in a Stage 2 management accounting course at a university in New Zealand. The paper reports on student participation and engagement in the course and reflects on students’ learning experiences. The blended learning approach was implemented in response to low student attendance and poor preparation for face-to-face tutorial sessions, along with demand from students to be able to access learning resources off-campus.

Data were collected from formal course evaluations, the learning management system and a student focus group, with particular emphasis on three of the online activities introduced – lessons, quizzes and chat rooms.

The study finds that while learners value online activities, they are nevertheless still unwilling to forgo the opportunities which face-to-face contact with both peers and faculty members present. This finding provides support for the continuation of a blended learning approach in the course, as well as its implementation in others.

This paper has several limitations. These include the small sample size and the absence of reflection on the process and outcome(s) of implementation of the blended learning course by the responsible academic. Furthermore, the paper also did not consider the impact of blended learning on students’ soft, or generic, skills. These are topics for future research.

The findings highlight the importance of offering not only a mixture of online activities, but also a blend of face-to-face and online activities.

This study focuses on student participation and engagement in a blended learning accounting course.

The paper aims to better understand the process of networking by small business with their customers to achieve innovations. In particular the relative roles of face‐to‐face and virtual interaction are to be investigated.

Initially a week of participant observation was undertaken then 17 in‐depth interviews were conducted and analyzed. The biotechnology sector was used for the sample.

Networking interaction could be categorized into stages. A deepening of the relationship developed on two fronts: increasing exchanges of technical information but necessarily supplemented by increased sharing of social information to facilitate tacit knowledge exchanges. As the relationship continued to develop, virtual modes could be used in an increasing capacity. The paper developed a stage model and identified the role of face‐to‐face and virtual exchanges at each stage.

Generalizability is unproven. However the issues appeared typical of any technology or science‐based sector and suggest broader applicability.

Business people cannot assume that all steps in the process of generating an innovation with a customer can be achieved virtually. The stage model provides guidance to practitioners on the appropriate interaction modes to avoid wasteful face‐to‐face meetings and ineffective virtual exchanges.

While the usefulness of networking by small business is well recognized, little is known about the process of networking and in particular the potential role of virtual communication and what can and cannot be achieved. The paper sheds light on these issues and develops an explanatory framework.

The purpose of this paper is to explore current marketing communication mixes (MCMs) in two industries, electronics home appliance stores (face-to-face interaction) and remote care (interface-mediated interaction), to propose marketing strategies from the perspective of service design and determine the relationships between service interaction patterns and MCMs in the pre-service phase.

Six industry experts in marketing were interviewed through semi-structured interviews, the topic of which focused on the details of five MCMs and their correlations were analyzed using a customer journey maps. Finally, the MCMs were further explored to verify differences in attractiveness to customers, respectively.

The result showed that the most attractive activity for the electronics home appliance stores customer is the promotion. And the four face-to-face service interaction patterns and MCMs exhibited a low correlation. In addition, the customers of remote care service argued that the personnel selling was the most attractive MCMs to them. For customers who utilize smart devices to communicate with advertisement exhibited the highest correlation coefficient.

The limitation of this study is that the research only conducts interview research on two service industries.

This study was expected to develop improved marketing communication strategies to remedy the sales predicament induced by virtual channels and to increase people’s acceptance of remote care service.

The value of this paper is to analyze the correlation and difference of MCMs and service interaction patterns between electronics home appliance stores and remote care, and propose a structural model of MCMs for two different industries.

This study aims to understand the role of technology in relationship maintenance among romantic partners.

It takes a qualitative, inductive approach and collected data from in-depth interviews with 20 individuals who are married or in cohabiting relationships.

This study supports the extension of relationship maintenance typology derived from face-to-face relationship studies to technology-mediated communication, but highlights how technology use transforms the implementation of maintenance behaviors. Technology helps couples coordinate tasks and keep in touch with friends and families. Although technology-mediated communication cannot replace face-to-face interactions in relationship talk and sharing in-depth feelings, it plays an important role in redefining the ways in which couples interact positively, maintain mutual understanding, and secure the future of the relationship. Moreover, this study identifies a new maintenance behavior, communication coordination. These maintenance behaviors reflect a tension between maintaining connectivity and managing the boundary between work and home and between the public and private spheres.

This study builds on previous work on technology use and relationship maintenance, but takes a different qualitative, inductive approach to address the limitations in the survey research dominant in the literature. It helps us understand the advantages and challenges in maintaining relationships in the digital age and also explores the factors that influence the patterns of technology use in relationship maintenance.