Inter-organizational projects face unique challenges and opportunities due to team diversities and task complexity. Mobile social media like WhatsApp and WeChat emerge as new-generation collaboration ...tools in such endeavors. Based on a literature review, this study posits that how well team-tool, task-tool and team-task relationships are handled shape virtual collaboration effectiveness. The conceptual framework, validated with the interviews from inter-organizational project team members in China and the USA, leads to a research model. The results of a larger-scale survey confirm that tool usability, task fit and team connectivity contribute to virtual collaboration effectiveness, which affects project management success and team appreciation. In addition, there are noticeable cross-country differences, especially the opposite moderating effects that degree of use imposes on the relationship between virtual collaboration effectiveness and project management success. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.
•Mobile social media emerge as collaboration tools in inter-organizational projects.•Tool, task, and team comprise the basic elements of virtual collaboration (VC).•Tool usability, task fit and team connectivity shape VC effectiveness.•Project management success and team appreciation rely on VC effectiveness.•There are cross-country differences like how degree of use moderates relationships.
ConfocalVR is a virtual reality (VR) application created to improve the ability of researchers to study the complexity of cell architecture. Confocal microscopes take pictures of fluorescently ...labeled proteins or molecules at different focal planes to create a stack of two-dimensional images throughout the specimen. Current software applications reconstruct the three-dimensional (3D) image and render it as a two-dimensional projection onto a computer screen where users need to rotate the image to expose the full 3D structure. This process is mentally taxing, breaks down if you stop the rotation, and does not take advantage of the eye's full field of view. ConfocalVR exploits consumer-grade VR systems to fully immerse the user in the 3D cellular image. In this virtual environment, the user can (1) adjust image viewing parameters without leaving the virtual space, (2) reach out and grab the image to quickly rotate and scale the image to focus on key features, and (3) interact with other users in a shared virtual space enabling real-time collaborative exploration and discussion. We found that immersive VR technology allows the user to rapidly understand cellular architecture and protein or molecule distribution. We note that it is impossible to understand the value of immersive visualization without experiencing it first hand, so we encourage readers to get access to a VR system, download this software, and evaluate it for yourself. The ConfocalVR software is available for download at http://www.confocalvr.com, and is free for nonprofits.
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•ConfocalVR is a new visualization tool for confocal microscopy images.•ConfocalVR can be used across microscope platforms and VR technologies.•ConfocalVR accelerates understanding of cellular protein or fluorescent molecule localization.
Background
The significant increase of digital collaboration, driven by the current COVID-19 pandemic, is resulting in changes in working conditions and associated changes in the stress-strain ...perception of employees. Due to the evident leadership influence on employees' health and well-being in traditional work settings, there is a need to investigate leadership in virtual remote work contexts as well. The objective of this scoping review was to assess the extent and type of evidence concerning virtual leadership in relation to employees' mental health, job satisfaction and perceptions of isolation.
Method
A search was undertaken in five databases, PubMed, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, PSYNDEX and Web of Science, as well as reference lists of included articles on 9th February 2021 and an update on 28th September 2021. The search strategy was limited to English, German and French language, peer reviewed journal articles published from January 2000 onwards. This scoping review was conducted in accordance with the JBI methodology for scoping reviews. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the JBI critical appraisal tools. A narrative synthesis was conducted.
Results
Nineteen studies met the eligibility criteria for this review. Overarching review findings suggested a positive link between virtual leadership and well-being, job satisfaction, and a negative link to psychological strain, stress and perceptions of isolation of digitally collaborating employees.
Conclusions
By mapping the available evidence on virtual leadership in relation to health and work-related employee outcomes, the review identified many research gaps in terms of content and methodology. Due to limited data, causal relationships were not derived. Future research is needed to examine the complex cause-and-effect relationships of virtual leadership in more detail.
This article introduces a large-scale virtual hackathon where we observed the way participants found collaborators and undertook innovation processes entirely in the virtual world. As an emerging ...social-technical practice, the virtual hackathon leverages the power of familiar strangers, the improvisation of low-cost digital services, and the crowdsourcing mechanism to enable open innovation under the constraint of physical distancing. This study contributes to the research by introducing and conceptualizing a modified artifact - virtual hackathon. The implication of and the lessons learnt from the virtual hackathon are applicable and generalizable to organizations when managing virtual collaborations, digital infrastructure, and open innovation.
During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the College's library and the office of institutional research & training (OIRT), along with all departments of our college, shifted to working from ...home (WFH) overnight. This column shares examples from the literature regarding experiences and lessons learned from both the corporate world and academic libraries' experiences managing teams remotely with technology. Finally, we share how the College's academic library and OIRT transitioned to working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic with the variety of online tools we already used, but further enhanced during this experience, to communicate and collaborate effectively with our team members.
This paper presents a framework for developing tool support for the design and management of new business models. Existing IT tools supporting the process of designing, innovating, and evaluating a ...company's business model are currently not leveraging the full potential of tool support, because they do not make use of theoretical and empirical knowledge around business model development. Against this backdrop, we analyze existing knowledge on business model design and management, resulting in a first systematization of the activities that are necessary for developing and managing new business models. In order to complement this knowledge and to identify the requirements for supporting these activities, a series of expert interviews is conducted. Based on the results of the interview series, a new business model development tool is created and evaluated. The learnings of this development process are then consolidated in a unified framework. This framework constitutes a new solution for systematically designing tool support for business model development and extends existing literature by highlighting the importance of collaboration between participants in a business model development project. It also provides designers of new business model development tool with an empirically based conceptualization to guide their efforts.
Fast-response virtual teams (FRVTs) have been developed as a response to emergent challenges faced by organizations that need to be addressed urgently. Even though FRVTs offer enormous potential in ...terms of their benefits, their success is not guaranteed. When used, the need for high performing FRVTs has become critical for organizational success. However, there is a lack of detailed understanding of how sensemaking can potentially influence FRVT performance. Drawing on social exchange theory, we identify swift trust as a potential antecedent of sensemaking. In this paper, we report the results of a study that examined the effects of swift trust on sensemaking and the effects of sensemaking on team performance in FRVTs. The study included 20 FRVTs and 80 team participants. Analysis of data shows that FRVTs' swift trust is positively correlated with all three dimensions of sensemaking and only the linguistic and conative development aspects of sensemaking affects FRVT performance.
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