Understanding Technology Use in Global Virtual Teams: Research Methodologies and Methods
Tony Clear, Stephen G. MacDonell

TL;DR
This paper explores an interpretive, longitudinal research approach to studying technology use in global virtual teams, emphasizing the need for diverse methodologies in complex, culturally-influenced software development contexts.
Contribution
It demonstrates the effectiveness of an interpretive field study using structuration theory to understand global virtual team practices, offering new insights and techniques for research in this domain.
Findings
Generated substantive theory on global virtual team practices
Developed adaptable research techniques for complex settings
Validated approach through pilot applications
Abstract
Context: The globalisation of activities associated with software development and use has introduced many challenges in practice and for research. While the predominant approach to research in software engineering has followed a positivist science model, this approach may be sub-optimal when addressing problems with a dominant social or cultural dimension, such as those frequently encountered when studying work practices in a globally distributed team setting. The investigation of such a team reported in this paper provides one example of an alternative approach to research in a global context, through a longitudinal interpretive field study seeking to understand how global virtual teams mediated the use of technology. Objective: Our focus in this paper is on the conduct of research in the context of global software activities, particularly as applied to the actions and interactions of…
Peer Reviews
No public reviews on file for this paper yet. If you reviewed it on a platform where reviews are public (OpenReview, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML), you can paste yours below so the community can read it here.
Videos
No videos yet. Explain this paper in a talk, walkthrough, or lecture? Add one.
