A Configurational Approach for Analyzing Cultural Values and Performance in Global Virtual Teams

Abstract

Although there have been decades of research on the effect of cultural values on team effectiveness outcomes, knowledge of the interdependencies of team cultural values for explaining team performance remains nascent. Using a configurational qualitative approach, this study explores how cultural values combine and collectively contribute to the effectiveness of Global Virtual Teams (GVTs). We perform a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis on a data set of 1847 individuals nested within 396 GVTs who participated in an international business consulting project. The results demonstrate that cultural values work together to achieve high levels of team performance rather than function independently. The results also show that different cultural value configurations could be equally effective at producing the same outcome, and that the presence of gender egalitarianism and the absence of power distance are the most important for producing the outcome. We discuss implications for practice and future research.