How virtual are we? Measuring virtuality and understanding its impact in a global organization

Abstract.  Employees in global corporations are increasingly involved in 'virtual teams' on a regular basis. Conflicting definitions of virtuality make it hard to measure such things as how much virtual teaming occurs and how virtual teaming affects performance. As a consequence, it is hard to allocate funding and to design infrastructures and software to support this specific mode of working. Using the concept of discontinuities, or changes in expected conditions, we propose a virtuality index to assess how 'virtual' a given setting is. The discontinuities used include geography, time zone, organization, national culture, work practices, and technology. The index separately measures these aspects of virtuality and their effect on perceived team performance. Data collected at a large multinational corporation clustered into three overarching discontinuities: team distribution, workplace mobility, and variety of work practices. The study revealed that being distributed in and of itself had no impact on self-assessed team performance. Work practice predictability and sociability mitigated effects of working in discontinuous environments, while variety of practices (cultural and work process diversity) and employee mobility negatively impacted performance.     

Factors Influencing Creativity in Virtual Design Teams: An Interplay between Technology,Teams and Individuals

Creativity is a topic of interest across numerous disciplines and areas of study. Creativity constitutes a challenging aspect of engineering design, and scholars in the field of management claim that the increase in virtual teamwork calls for research as to how virtual configurations alter some of the management practices based on the collocated workplace. By reviewing the different literatures, we posit a knowledge gap regarding creativity in the virtual design context, where varying degrees of virtuality are likely to exert an influence on creativity. In our quest to start bridging this gap, we pursued an exploratory case study with a student‐based virtual design team project, known as the European Global Product Realization (EGPR). Thirty‐nine interview extracts, covering most participants, along with non‐participant observation and document review, gave us insights into the nature of the project, the participants' perceptions of creativity, and their experience of designing in virtual teams. In all, our study unearths and discusses a number of factors – and the extent to which – they are found to influence creativity in virtual design teams. The study has cross‐domain relevance from those interested in the management of virtual teams through to those looking at creativity and design.     

Perceived discontinuities and constructed continuities in virtual work

Boundaries such as time, distance, organisation and culture have been a useful conceptual tool for researchers to unpack changes in the virtual work environment, moving from a dichotomous perspective that contrasts face‐to‐face and virtual work to a more nuanced hybrid perspective. However, researchers may tacitly assume that all members of a virtual team and virtual teams collectively will respond to a boundary in a similar way. We posit instead that boundaries are a dynamic phenomenon and may have different consequences under different circumstances. We offer organisational discontinuity theory as a tool for more focused investigation of the virtual work environment. Discontinuities and continuities describe the setting in which individuals in a virtual team operate, both actual work practices and the perceptions of the individuals in the virtual work environment. The terms offer a starting point to identify and understand what may otherwise seem to be paradoxical differences in how virtual team members respond to boundaries.     

Investigating hazard recognition in augmented virtuality for personalized feedback in construction safety education and training

Accidents resulting from poorly planned or set up work environments are a major concern within the construction industry. While traditional education and training of personnel offer well-known approaches for establishing safe work practices, serious games in virtual reality (VR) are used more often as a complementary approach for active, personalized learning experiences. Their designs yet have to take full advantage of how trainees can potentially manipulate and interact with virtual objects. In addition, little construction safety research has focused on generating and analyzing the inherent data that can be collected about the trainees’ actions in the virtual environment. The objective analysis of their performance in the virtual environment offers precise feedback to sensitize their work behavior later in real practice. This research presents a novel framework for the generation and assessment of the trainees’ data in augmented virtuality (AV). The proposed approach is tested in a virtual work environment consisting of multiple stages and hazards that are consistent within today’s construction sites and workshops. A real angle grinder has been reworked and repurposed as an interactive AV controller to further enhance immersion. Results on the performance in the proposed system and the experiences of two groups of volunteering participants are presented and discussed. An outlook presents future avenues towards enhancing existing construction safety education and focus points on correlating objective tracking data with self-assessment.     

Performing embodied identity in virtual worlds

Embodied identity, that is, who we are as a result of our interactions with the world around us with and through our bodies, is increasingly challenged in online environments where identity performances are seemingly untethered from the user's body that is sitting at the computer. Even though disembodiment has been severely criticized in the literature, most conceptualizations of the role of users’ bodies in virtuality nevertheless reflect a representational logic, which fails to capture contemporary users’ experience of cyborgism. Relying on data collected from nine entrepreneurs in the virtual world Second Life (SL), this paper asks how embodied identity is performed in virtual worlds. Contrasting representationalism with performativity, this study highlights that the SL entrepreneurs intentionally re-presented in their avatars some of the attributes of physical bodies, but that they also engaged in habitual practices in-world, thereby unconsciously enacting embodied identities in both their ‘real’ and virtual lives.     

Evaluating the generalizability of the Organizational Constraints Analysis framework: a hospital bed management case study

Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) provides useful tools for analyzing and modeling work constraints that can inform the development of systems design requirements. However, it does not provide effective tools for analyzing and modeling organizational constraints that can inform the development of organizational design requirements. By integrating organizational theories with the CWA approach, we developed the Organizational Constraints Analysis framework, a formative approach to the analysis, modeling, and design of the organization of work. In this paper, we test the generalizability of the framework by using its two analytical templates—the Organizational Constraints model and Work Possibilities diagram—to analyze the hospital bed management work domain. The research findings suggest that the concepts, investigative probes, and notations from the analytical templates can be applied to complex work domains beyond those in which it was initially developed. We conclude with suggestions for how the Organizational Constraints Analysis framework can complement CWA methods by helping researchers and practitioners develop a broader organizational perspective on the constraints that drive how work can be done in organizations.     

Predicting users' return to virtual worlds: a social perspective

Virtual worlds or three‐dimensional computer‐based simulated environments have received considerable attention as platforms for entertainment, education and commerce. In contrast to a web site, for example, where a user interacts with a two‐dimensional site, virtual worlds provide a platform in which users can interact with other individuals, sometimes including strangers, within three‐dimensional environments. Virtual worlds afford a form of ‘socialness’ unlike many other technologies, often motivating a user – by virtue of these social experiences – to return. Drawing on the Spatial Model of Interaction and Awareness‐Attention Theory, we demonstrate that besides social aspects, which include social awareness and social perception, flow experience, which is the mental state of being fully absorbed and somewhat lost in time, is an essential ingredient in an individual's decision to return to a virtual world. We also demonstrate how characteristics of the technology are linked to the social aspects experienced in virtual worlds. A laboratory study conducted in a virtual world, Second Life, supports our assertions and identifies state predictors of flow that influence individuals' intentions to return to the virtual world environment.     

Upward influence tactics through technology-mediated communication tools

The globalization of work within organizations has generated a greater need for all types of workers to exert interpersonal influence through technology-mediated communication tools. This paper sheds light on the interpersonal relations process in virtual environments from the specific perspective of the choice of upward influence (UI) tactics. We suggest that virtual work settings may impact the UI tactic selected, as well as the communication medium used to enact it. In particular, we study whether the types of UI strategies found in physical environments are relevant in virtual work contexts. This research also analyzes the UI process in virtual work settings, as well as the role of communication media in that process. Results based on the qualitative analysis of the content of 14 interviews suggest that there is an influence tactic specific to virtual work relations. That tactic might be called intermediation and consists of finding an intermediary who is well connected to the target and can help define the best approach for the agent. In addition, workers often split their influence attempts into a two-step strategy in order to achieve better results, taking advantage of the capabilities of the media available for that purpose.     

An empirical investigation of the relationship of IS strategy with firm performance

Given the important impact that an IS strategy has on the potential value IS brings to an organization, we develop and test a model of IS Strategy and Firm Performance. Our survey-based study provides strong evidence that firms with defined IS strategies (either IS Innovator or IS Conservative) perform better than those without defined IS strategies. Organizations without a clearly defined IS strategy actually experienced a negative relationship with firm performance. These organizations should realize the potentially negative outcomes of such a lack of strategy and work to extricate themselves before a consistent pattern of investing in IS without clear organizational benefit develops. Furthermore, the study suggests that the IS Innovator strategy is, in particular, associated with more superior firm performance than the IS Conservative strategy under conditions of environmental dynamism. Organizational leaders need to consider the external environments under which their organizations are operating and evaluate the influence those environments may have on their IS strategy’s ability to impact performance. Post hoc analysis results also reveal a fourth potential IS strategy, one that strives for ambidexterity. Ambidextrous firms were found to be associated with the most superior performance, leading to a potential extension of the existing IS strategy typology and a call for future research.     

Adapting Virtual Reality for the Participatory Design of Work Environments

This paper describes the evolution of a standard PC-based virtual reality tool which has been adapted for the participatory design of work environments. Tool features, method of control and combination with other participatory design tools are investigated in the context of a particular design situation. This research is aimed at participatory design facilitators to aid in the adaptation of similar virtual reality systems for a similar purpose. The context of this work is the Envisionment Workshop, in which a group of workers participate with design experts in using full-scale modelling, pedagogical drama, and democratic meetings to (re)design their workplace. A series of prototypes have been developed and tested during the design of a new university in the region using a case study methodology to provide high ecological validity. These were preceded by a task analysis, brainstorming and pilot study. The results suggest that such a tool can be constructed and used successfully by a small group of people using projected virtual reality. However larger groups suffer from a bottleneck at the input devices such that a virtual reality expert must take control and build what the participants wish. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Enabling a continuum of virtual environment experiences

We define a virtual environment as a set of surroundings that appear to a user through computer-generated sensory stimuli. The level of immersion-or sense of being in another world-that a user experiences within a VE relates to how much stimuli the computer delivers to the user. Thus, one can classify VEs along a virtuality continuum, which ranges from the real world to an entirely computer-generated environment. We present a technology that allows seamless transitions between levels of immersion in VEs. Milgram and Kishino (1994) first proposed the concept of a virtuality continuum in the context of visual displays. The concept of a virtuality continuum extends to multimodal VEs, which combine multiple sensory stimuli, including 3D sound and haptic capability, leading to a multidimensional virtuality continuum. Emerging applications will benefit from multiple levels of immersion, requiring innovative multimodal technologies and the ability to traverse the multidimensional virtuality continuum.     

Benefitting from virtual customer environments: An empirical study of customer engagement

Customer engagement has been labeled as a prerequisite for the success of virtual customer environments. A key challenge for organizations serving their customers via these environments is how to stimulate customer engagement. This study is among the first to shed light on this issue by examining customer engagement and its drivers. Using the theory of uses and gratification as theoretical lens, we develop a model that relates characteristics of virtual customer environments, perceived benefits of using these environments and customer engagement intentions. The model is validated using partially least squares structural equation modeling on three samples of real users of different virtual customer environments in the Dutch telecom industry. The results provide clear support for the validity of the hypothesized relationships and show high robustness of the findings across the three datasets. An important finding of this study is that cognitive, social integrative and hedonic benefits appear to be significant in their influence on customer engagement intentions. Overall, the findings add to the underexplored field of customer engagement study and hold implications for research into and the management of virtual customer environments.     

The Hybrid World of Virtual Environments

Much of the work concerned with virtual environments has addressed the development of new rendering technologies or interaction techniques. As the technology matures and becomes adopted in a wider range of applications, there is, however, a need to better understand how this technology can be accommodated in software engineering practice. A particular challenge presented by virtual environments is the complexity of the interaction that is supported, and sometimes necessary, for a particular task. Methods such as finite-state automata which are used to represent and design dialogue components for more conventional interfaces, e.g. using direct manipulation within a desktop model, do not seem to capture adequately the style of interaction that is afforded by richer input devices and graphical models. In this paper, we suggest that virtual environments are, fundamentally, what are known as hybrid systems. Building on this insight, we demonstrate how techniques developed for modelling hybrid systems can be used to represent and understand virtual interaction in a way that can be used in the specification and design phases of software development, and which have the potential to support prototyping and analysis of virtual interfaces.     

The sound of silence: The case of virtual team organising

In this paper we discuss the role of silence within a virtual organising context. The paper raises issues related to the construction of silence in the virtual team context and the implications it has on team interactions. By drawing upon existing studies on virtual teams, we argue that members' silence may not always have negative effects on team performance and team relationships, but that silence is an embedded part of this environment as it reinforces the very nature of virtuality. The theoretical and practical significance of this study are discussed and implications for further research are identified.     

The effects of virtuality level on task-related collaborative behaviors: The mediating role of team trust

This study aims to analyze the mediating role of team trust in the relationship between virtuality level and task-related collaborative behaviors. Three types of task-related collaborative behaviors were studied, namely team coordination, team cooperation, and team information exchange. Drawing upon theory and research on virtual teams and trust, we hypothesized that team trust partially mediated the effects of virtuality level on team coordination, team cooperation, and team information exchange. A laboratory experiment was carried out with 65 four-person teams randomly assigned to three communication media with different virtuality levels (face-to-face, video conference and computer-mediated communication). The results showed that team trust partially mediated the relationship between virtuality level and team coordination, and fully mediated this relationship with team cooperation and team information exchange.     

Algorithms as co-workers: Human algorithm role interactions in algorithmic work

In algorithmic work, algorithms execute operational and management tasks such as work allocation, task tracking and performance evaluation. Humans and algorithms interact with one another to accomplish work so that the algorithm takes on the role of a co-worker. Human–algorithm interactions are characterised by problematic issues such as absence of mutually co-constructed dialogue, lack of transparency regarding how algorithmic outputs are generated, and difficulty of over-riding algorithmic directive – conditions that create lack of clarity for the human worker. This article examines human–algorithm role interactions in algorithmic work. Drawing on the theoretical framing of organisational roles, we theorise on the algorithm as role sender and the human as the role taker. We explain how the algorithm is a multi-role sender with entangled roles, while the human as role taker experiences algorithm-driven role conflict and role ambiguity. Further, while the algorithm records all of the human's task actions, it is ignorant of the human's cognitive reactions – it undergoes what we conceptualise as ‘broken loop learning’. The empirical context of our study is algorithm-driven taxi driving (in the United States) exemplified by companies such as Uber. We draw from data that include interviews with 15 Uber drivers, a netnographic study of 1700 discussion threads among Uber drivers from two popular online forums, and analysis of Uber's web pages. Implications for IS scholarship, practice and policy are discussed.     

Influence of contextual objects on spatial interactions and viewpoints sharing in virtual environments

Collaborative virtual environments (CVEs) are 3D spaces in which users share virtual objects, communicate, and work together. To collaborate efficiently, users must develop a common representation of their shared virtual space. In this work, we investigated spatial communication in virtual environments. In order to perform an object co-manipulation task, the users must be able to communicate and exchange spatial information, such as object position, in a virtual environment. We conducted an experiment in which we manipulated the contents of the shared virtual space to understand how users verbally construct a common spatial representation of their environment. Forty-four students participated in the experiment to assess the influence of contextual objects on spatial communication and sharing of viewpoints. The participants were asked to perform in dyads an object co-manipulation task. The results show that the presence of a contextual object such as fixed and lateralized visual landmarks in the virtual environment positively influences the way male operators collaborate to perform this task. These results allow us to provide some design recommendations for CVEs for object manipulation tasks.     

Have a look around: the effect of physical environments on risk behaviour in work-related versus non-work related decision-making tasks

Abstract

Due to ubiquitous computing, knowledge workers do not only work in typical work-associated environments (e.g. the office) but also wherever it best suits their schedule or preferences (e.g. the park). In two experiments using laboratory and field methods, we compared decision making in work and non-work environments. We hypothesised that participants make riskier work-related decisions when in work-associated environments and riskier non-work-related decisions in non-work-associated environments. Therefore, if environment (work vs. non-work) and decision-making task (work-related vs. non-work-related) are incongruent, then risk-taking should be lower, as the decision maker might feel the situation is unusual or inappropriate. Although results do not reveal that work-associated environments generally encourage riskier work-related decisions (and likewise for non-work), we found environmental effects on decision making when including mood as a moderator.

Practitioner summary: Mobile workers are required to make decisions in various environments. We assumed that decisions are more risky when they are made in a fitting environment (e.g. work-related decisions in work environments). Results of the two experiments (laboratory and field) only show an environmental effect when mood is included as a moderator.     

Factors affecting members' trust belief and behaviour intention in virtual communities

In this research we investigate whether antecedent factors of participant trust and institutional trust significantly influence members' trust belief towards virtual communities. Further, we investigate how members' trust levels affect their behaviour intention. A model of factors that affect members' trust in virtual communities is constructed. We analysed 625 valid online questionnaires obtained from virtual communities related to travel, games, and computer information. The findings suggest that benefit attraction and shared value have significant positive effects on building participant trust, and monitoring has a significant positive effect on building institutional trust. Trust building influences both members' stickiness in virtual communities and their willingness to share information. This research suggests that the extent to which members trust community-based website environments significantly influences their practical behaviour in such environments.     

支持计算机协同操作的虚拟实验室的研究开发

该文对虚拟实验室、计算机支持的协同工作(CSCW)进行一些简述。提出了研究开发基于网络协同工作的虚拟实验室的一种新视野和新思路。开发实现了一个具有协同工作能力的虚拟实验室系统。首先该系统是一个虚拟实验室系统，具有虚拟实验室的基本功能，如虚拟元器件、可视化输入、可视化输出、可视化模型等；其次它是一个网络环境下的协同工作系统，具有不同实验者之间协作完成同一实验的功能。