Building Trust and Cooperation through Technology Adaptation in Virtual Teams: Empirical Field Evidence

Abstract

This article reports findings of a study of how leaders of virtual information systems development teams improve team trust and cooperation by managing adaptation of information and communications tools. Results indicate how Theory X (command and control) and Theory Y (facilitate and support) styles of leadership enable and hinder effective outcomes.     

Building Trust and Cooperation through Technology Adaptation in Virtual Teams: Empirical Field Evidence

This article reports findings of a study of how leaders of virtual information systems development teams improve team trust and cooperation by managing adaptation of information and communications tools. Results indicate how Theory X (command and control) and Theory Y (facilitate and support) styles of leadership enable and hinder effective outcomes.     

A Qualitative Study of Hard Decision Making in Managing Global Software Development Teams

We empirically explored the implication of hard decisions in the context of the management of global software development (GSD) teams. We hypothesized and empirically tested our belief that hard decision making in conventional development projects is very similar to GSD and differences arise from the nature of the relationship and the ranking of issues. Findings from a Delphi study illustrated our approach and shed some light into the management of GSD teams.     

Trust and knowledge sharing in diverse global virtual teams

Global virtual teams (GVTs) allow organizations to improve productivity, procure global knowledge, and transfer best practice information instantaneously among team members. GVTs rely heavily on IT and have little face-to-face interaction, thereby increasing problems resulting from geographic barriers, time language, and cultural differences, and inter-personal relationships. The purpose of our study was to design a normative framework that would assist organizations in understanding the relationship between diversity, mutual trust, and knowledge sharing among GVTs, with additional focus on understanding the moderating impact of collaborative technology and task characteristics. Empirical data was collected from 58 GVTs and analyzed using a Hierarchical Multiple Regression technique. Results showed that in GVTs, deep level diversity has a more significant relationship with team processes of mutual trust and knowledge sharing than visible functional level diversity. This relationship is moderated by the collaborative capabilities of available technology and levels of interdependence of the task. Furthermore, knowledge sharing and mutual trust mediate the relationship between diversity levels and team effectiveness.     

虚拟计算平台远程可信认证技术研究

与传统的单机系统按照可信平台模块、可信BIOS、操作系统装载器、操作系统内核的信任链传递方式不同,虚拟化计算环境信任链按照可信平台模块、可信BIOS、虚拟机监控器和管理虚拟机、用户虚拟机装载器、用户虚拟机操作系统装载器、用户虚拟机操作系统内核的方式进行.文章对虚拟计算平台远程完整性验证的安全需求进行了分析.为防止恶意的虚拟机监控器篡改虚拟机的完整性证明,文章提出虚拟机平台和虚拟机管理器两级的深度认证.在对虚拟机认证过程中,远程挑战者需要通过虚拟机或者直接与虚拟平台建立联系来认证平台的虚拟机管理器层.为防止中间人攻击,文章提出将物理平台寄存器映射到各虚拟平台寄存器的方式解决虚拟机与物理平台的绑定问题.     

The ToxicFarm Integrated Cooperation Framework for Virtual Teams

Developing a collaboration solution, that scales to an entire organization, that offers an integrated collection of cooperation tools, that is general enough to address a large range of applications, and that is easy to deploy for most people, is still an open challenge. This paper presents ToxicFarm services that are an integral part of a framework for hosting Internet virtual teams. The originality of this work is in providing a synthesis between contributions from different domains, including version management in software engineering, process management in data engineering, and awareness in groupware tools. The paper describes the overall services offered, discusses design choices for their integration and implementation, presents relations with existing work and describes their use in several emerging e-business application domains, such as e-finance, e-learning and e-telecom.     

Virtual Teams and the Appropriation of Communication Technology: Exploring the Concept of Media Stickiness

This paper reports on an exploratory study ofthe evolving use of communication tools by sixglobally distributed teams. The analysissuggest that although teams have similarstart-up conditions they evolve in differentways. We describe these differences as being aresult of the different routine patterns ofmedia use that the team members mutuallyenacted. Based on an analysis of six US-Dutchvirtual teams, we propose the notion of `mediastickiness', a phenomenon the teamsexperienced during the process of structuringmedia-use patterns. We will argue that in thecase of virtual teams, the evolution of mediausage seems to be path dependent. Steps takenby a team in the early stages of its life cycleconstrain later flexibility in terms of mediausage. Media stickiness has severalimplications both for the way to manage virtualteams as well as for the way teams deal withinformation problems that seem to be endemicfor global virtual teams.     

虚拟可信平台模块动态信任扩展方法

将可信计算技术应用到虚拟计算系统中,可以在云计算、网络功能虚拟化（network function virtualization,简称NFV）等场景下,提供基于硬件的可信保护功能.软件实现的虚拟可信平台模块（virtual trused platform module,简称vTPM）基于一个物理TPM（physical TPM,简称pTPM）,可让每个虚拟机拥有自己专属的TPM,但需要将对pTPM的信任扩展到vTPM上.现有方法主要采用证书链来进行扩展,但在虚拟机及其vTPM被迁移后,需要重新申请vTPM的身份密钥证书,可能会存在大量的短命证书,成本较高,且不能及时撤销旧pTPM对vTPM的信任扩展,也不能提供前向安全保证.提出了一种vTPM动态信任扩展（dynamic trust extension,简称DTE）方法,以满足虚拟机频繁迁移的需求.DTE将vTPM看作是pTPM的一个代理,vTPM每次进行远程证明时,需从一个认证服务器（authenticaiton server,简称AS）处获得一个有效的时间令牌.DTE在vTPM和pTPM之间建立了紧密的安全绑定关系,同时又能明显区分两种不同安全强度的TPM.在DTE里,vTPM被迁移后,无需重新获取身份秘钥证书,旧pTPM可及时撤销对vTPM的信任扩展,而且DTE可提供前向安全性.从原型系统及其性能测试与分析来看,DTE是可行的.     

iVCE中基于可信评价的资源调度研究

随着网格计算、P2P、Web服务技术在电子商务、电子政务领域应用的不断扩展,基于Internet的资源共享的安全可信问题变得越来越重要.该文在基于Internet的虚拟计算环境(Interenet-Based Virtual Computing Environment,iVCE)的资源共享的用户与资源关于身份可信、能力可信、行为可信的信任模型的基础上,提出了一种可信优化的资源调度算法.算法基本思想在于根据用户对资源可信的需求,对虚拟计算环境中的自主元素可信度综合考察与评价,以用户可信满意度为优化调度目标调度资源,进而基于min-min算法优化任务执行时间,满足了资源调度的可信保障,同时具有较好的性能.仿真实验结果表明可信优化调度算法能够在iVCE的信任度效益,最早完工时间,失效服务请求数,资源利用率等性能参数方面明显优于min-min和max-min算法.     

Virtual Teams and the Importance of Building Trust

Trust in the workplace is both an ethical and a management issue. Virtual teams have become common in IT, but the importance of building trust in such teams is often underappreciated. In this installment of IT Ethics, the authors look at several definitions and theories of trust and their application in virtual IT teams.     

Trust establishment in the formation of Virtual Organizations

Virtual Organizations (VOs) represent a new collaboration paradigm in which the participating entities pool resources, services, and information to achieve a common goal. VOs represent an interesting approach for companies to achieve new and profitable business opportunities by being able to dynamically partner with others. Thus, choosing the appropriate VO partners is a crucial aspect. Ensuring trustworthiness of the members is also fundamental for making the best decisions. In this paper, we show how trust negotiation represents an effective means to select the best possible members during different stages in the VO lifecycle. We base our discussion on concrete application scenarios and illustrate the tools created by us that integrate trust negotiation with a VO Management toolkit.     

Contextualising collective efficacy in virtual team research: The essential role of collaborative technologies in the virtual team efficacy conceptual framework

One factor receiving contemporary interest from virtual team researchers is collective-level efficacy, that is, a team's shared belief in its collective abilities to work effectively. However, our understanding of this literature leads to two concerns. First, depending on traditional team-focused collective-level efficacy concepts conveys an indifferent view of technology that ignores decades of research explaining how virtual teams' reliance on collaborative technologies differentiates them from traditional teams. Second, the information systems literature has largely ignored the concept of collective-level efficacy in virtual team research. That collective-level efficacy is underexamined in IS research is disappointing, given the growing recognition (outside the IS literature) that it is crucial to virtual team success. This absence becomes even more concerning given that IS researchers developed the concept of virtual team efficacy (VTE) specifically for virtual team settings. Unlike collective-level efficacy measures designed for traditional team settings, VTE incorporates technology into its conceptual definition and the operationalization of its measurement indicators. Thus, it is a stronger predictor of virtual team outcomes. To demonstrate its importance to IS research, we used a deductive theory-driven approach to propose and empirically evaluate whether VTE indirectly acts on virtual team effectiveness through the critical concepts of trust and participants' perceptions of problems associated with the collaboration inhibitors of time difference, geographical separation, and cultural differences. This research contributes significantly to the literature by confirming VTE's relationship to important virtual team success factors and informing IS researchers about the appropriate choice of constructs when studying collective-level efficacy in virtual team settings.     

基于开放网络环境下信任建立的博弈模型

现有的信任研究关注单个安全域内实体问的信任建立,在解决跨安全域或非集中环境下陌生实体问的信任建立问题存在不足。该文提出一种信任建立博弈模型,根据访问控制策略求解满足访问条件的初始证书交换集,并利用纳什均衡理论精减证书交换集,使得双方在获取对方最大信任的同时损失自身最小隐私。一次性披露精减后的证书交换集,节省传统的根据访问控制策略多次交换属性证书而带来的通信开销。信任博弈模型既解决了陌生实体问信任建立问题,又能有效保护实体隐私,提高信任建立效率。     

信任机制及其在网格安全中的应用

分析了网格计算环境对信任机制的需求,将信任机制分为理性信任和感性信任,并给出了相应的两种信任机制模型,结合网格计算的安全功能,给出了有感性信任参与下的网格安全服务,最后结合基于角色的访问控制（RBAC）机制给出了该模型的一个实例,即通过理性信任和感性信任的评判得到信任度等级,根据该信任度等级来决定用户所分配的角色和权限集。     

Triggering Creativity in Teams: An Exploratory Investigation

Triggering, developing and maintaining creativity in teams is critical to the economic performance of the firm. This article presents an exploratory action research effort in a health care organization that focused on interaction patterns amongst team members, creativity and performance. The results indicate that the teams’ inquiry and dialogue into their interaction patterns have the potential of influencing creativity. Team interaction patterns were found to influence team performance. Directions for future research are discussed.     

Surviving the paradoxes of virtual teamwork

Despite the potential benefits of virtual teams, current literature suggests that virtual teamwork is rife with complex challenges. We frame some of these challenges as paradoxes inherent in the concept of virtual teamwork. Based on interviews with 42 leaders and members of virtual teams, we identify five paradoxes: (1) virtual teams require physical presence; (2) flexibility of virtual teamwork is aided by structure; (3) interdependent work in virtual teams is accomplished by members' independent contributions; (4) task-oriented virtual teamwork succeeds through social interactions; and (5) mistrust is instrumental to establishing trust among virtual team members. In addition, we identify strategies that respondents used to cope with, or 'survive' the paradoxes of virtual teamwork.     

Virtual positions: an examination of structure and performance in ad hoc workgroups

Abstract. This paper examines the strength and performance of virtual positions within an organizational setting. Access to US Air Force systems acquisition teams provided a unique opportunity to study the phenomenon for a large number of virtual positions in a stable setting, thereby controlling for the differing aspects of organizational structure that usually make such positions difficult to study. A measurement scheme for the strength of the virtual position is developed and validated. A hierarchical regression analysis of research constructs dealing with power, autonomy, allegiance, structure and performance confirms that stronger virtual positions perform better in complex rather than simple task situations. Finally, managerial implications are discussed.     

虚拟企业的安全交互模型

虚拟企业是由异构企业组成的临时动态联盟，在实际的运作中与普通企业有很大的不同，现有的各种企业CA信任模型(如等级模型、对等模型等)都无法适应虚拟企业安全交互的需求，而虚拟CA，即：VCA，为虚拟企业的安全交互提供了一种新的方法和思路，针对原有VCA方案的不足和缺陷，并结合两个虚拟企业的典型实际案例，分析出虚拟企业的主要特点和要求，由此构建了新的VCA模型，并提出了此VCA模型的比较完整的安全解决方案。     

基于社会关系的互联网信任建立模式研究

本文从社会关系的角度研究了互联网信任的建立模式,主要对基于信任传递和基于信任评估的信任建立两种模式进行了研究和阐述,并以人人网和淘宝网为例进行了信任建立模式的分析。对人人网中好友数量及无效连接过多引发的信息爆炸问题,采用好友分类和划分关系连接权重的方法改进信任建立过程,而对淘宝网的信用评价体系采用基于物品、服务、成交金额加权计分的方法进行优化。