Nice to meet your avatar! : role negotiation and dialectical tensions in temporary interorganizational virtual workgroups

Abstract

This qualitative study examined the role negotiation processes that members of Temporary Interorganizational Virtual Workgroups (TIVWs) use when collaborating. Further, the study examined the dialectical tensions that emerge in these workgroups and coping mechanisms these groups use to manage those tensions. The study found that one’s identification as leader or member was, at times, a fluid identification process with many of the participants self-identifying as leader and member depending upon context. Four primary tensions emerged from the data: leader-identity versus member-identity, autonomy versus connectedness, leader-centered focus versus group-centered focus, and organizational value versus individual value. Finally, to manage tension within TIVWs members used a variety of coping mechanisms and combinations of coping mechanisms.