가상 팀의 지식네트워크, IT 활용, 성과 간의 관계에 관한 연구: 사회 네트워크 분석을 중심으로 (Knowledge Networks, IT Use, and Performance in Virtual Teams: A Social Network Analysis)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국경영학회
· 수록지 정보 : 경영학연구 / 38권 / 1호 / 75 ~ 103페이지
· 저자명 : 서아영, 신경식

초록

가상 팀(Virtual team)은 기본적인 팀제도의 성격을 유지하면서 전자적 연계에 의존하는 지리적으로 분산된 조직형태이다. 본 연구는 가상 팀 정황 하에서 (1) 팀 구성원이 집단 내․외에서 맺고 있는 지식 네트워크가 팀의 성과에 미치는 영향을 고찰하고, (2) IT 활용의 수준이 지식 네트워크가 팀 성과에 미치는 효과를 어떻게 조절하는 가에 대해서 실증 함으로써, (3) 가상 팀의 효과적인 운영을 위한 지식 네트워크 구축과 IT 활용 방안에 대해 시사점을 제시하고자 한다. 먼저 사회 네트워크 이론을 바탕으로 지식 네트워크의 내부 결속과 외부 매개성을 결합하는 이론적 프레임워크를 개발하고172명의 개인과 42개 가상 팀을 대상으로 사회 네트워크 분석(Social Network Analysis)을 실시하였다. 분석 결과는지식 네트워크의 내부 결속(네트워크의 밀도)과 가상 팀의 성과 사이에는 유의한 선형적 관계가 존재함이 나타났다. 반면, 지식 네트워크의 외부 매개성(구조적 공백)은 팀 수준의 IT 활용 수준에 따라 팀 성과에 미치는 효과가 달라지는 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구는 전통적인 사회 네트워크 이론을 가상 팀에 적용함으로써, 가상 팀의 효과적인 지식네트워크 구축 방안에 대한 새로운 시각을 제언하였다.

영어초록

A virtual team is defined as a group of people that works across space, time, and organizational boundaries with links strengthened by the diverse computer-mediated communication media.
By forming virtual teams, people can easily collaborate with other people and acquire information and knowledge from anywhere and at anytime. However, managing virtual teams is far more challenging than managing traditional teams because ad hoc virtual teams may engage in a lower level of social interacts and supports than their counterparts in face-to-face environments. The problem of how to manage social relationships among virtual team members to increase their performance is considered to be very pivotal and still remains unsolved.
Through the lens of social networks, this study examines the following specific questions: (1) to what extent should ad hoc virtual teams maintain internal cohesion; (2) whether do virtual team members’ external bridging ties guarantee the higher level of team performance; and (3) how does IT play the role in balancing and harmonizing internal cohesion and external bridging ties for increasing the performance of a virtual team.
We investigate these questions with the specific type of social networks; the knowledge networks which contain knowledge or task-related intelligence in the networks. These knowledge networks contain the collective competencies that enable organizational members to produce products and services. By examining the influence of knowledge networks of virtual teams on their performance, this study aims to reveal how to manage knowledge network among members to maximize the performance of a virtual team.
The contributions of this study are three-fold. First, we conceptually clarify the properties of knowledge networks that individuals maintain within and outside their work groups: network density and group-level structural holes. Next, by integrating social network theory and CMC related theories, we develop a theoretical framework linking knowledge networks, IT use, and team performance. Third, we examine the interplay among the research constructs and elucidate a complex phenomenon in relations to the forming and managing knowledge networks of a virtual team, which is in short supply in the current literature.
The proposed model was tested with 172 consultants and 42 virtual teams in 5 global consulting companies in Korea. The study found that increasing network intra-group network density was crucial for better team performance. On the contrary, increasing extra-group structural holes decreased the team performance, contradicting the prevailing wisdom. The most important standpoint is that the effect of knowledge network of virtual teams varied along the level of IT use that is related to communal CMC such as group ware or group decision support systems (GDSS). This study is meaningful in that it examined how to manage knowledge network by integrating social network theory and computer-mediation communication theory, and by analyzing the moderating effect between knowledge network and IT use in the context of virtual teams. Based on these findings, the study suggests that optimal knowledge network configurations to maximize the performance of a virtual team should be considered along with the IT use.

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