eThesis - School of Business electronic theses

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Objective of the Study:

Global virtual team has become a commonplace in organizational structure and been widely used in entrepreneurial teams, such as born globals. Communication is recognized as a critical factor and challenge in GVT, nevertheless, researchers have merely touched the field of communication in global entrepreneurial virtual team. This study aimed to fill this research gap and found out what can global entrepreneurial teams do to achieve effective communication.

Methodology and the Theoretical Framework:

As very little literature existed about entrepreneurial GVT communication, this study conducted a systematic literature review on GVT communication in general and applied the synthesized findings to entrepreneurial team literature.

Findings and Conclusions:

The research showed that while communication plays a vital role in GVT functioning, it also specifically plays as a team performance factor, a human resource practice, a leadership practice, a trust building factor, a team member's boundary management strategy, an information delivery tool, a knowledge sharing channel and a team process facilitator. Factors that affect communication in entrepreneurial GVT include leadership, culture, technology, trust, language, communication behavior, communication channel, communication frequency/timing, training, interpersonal relations, interaction, task interdependence, communication wastes identification, degree of virtuality, coordination and awareness. Some factors depend on each other and communication is always a value that plays between these variables. To achieve effective communication in entrepreneurial GVT, the practitioners should address effective leadership practices.