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Success factors for global virtual team leaders: a qualitative study of leaders of global virtual teams in a global professional service firm employing grounded theory

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Success factors for global virtual team leaders: a qualitative study of leaders of global virtual teams in a global professional service firm employing grounded theory

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Content Success Factors for Global Virtual Team Leaders: A Qualitative Study of Leaders of
Global Virtual Teams in a Global Professional Service s Firm Employing Grounded Theory
by
Rodney J. Lawrence
Rossier School of Education
University Of Southern California
A dissertation presented to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education
May 2022

© Copyright by Rodney J. Lawrence 2022
All Rights Reserved

The Committee for Rodney J. Lawrence certifies the approval of this Dissertation

Monique C. Datta
Lawrence O. Picus
Corinne E. Hyde, Committee Chair

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2022

iv
Abstract
The purpose of the study is to contribute to literature and to assist a specific global professional
services firm understand factors that facilitate the success of leaders in leading global virtual
teams and develop a strategy to replicate those success factors across other leaders. The
methodology employs a constructivist paradigm and is a qualitative study. Grounded theory
guided the research. The theory of change is that if organizations understand why certain leaders
are successful, they can design programs to replicate those factors across other leaders and be
financially more successful. The study used interviews and document inspection. The research
occurred at a business unit at ABC Professional Services Co and participants were leaders of
global virtual teams at that unit. Results: global virtual team leaders attribute their success to
factors in the environment of both the global professional services firm and the team, behaviors
that they undertake in response to the environment, and innate personal characteristics. Results
lead to recommendations for practice targeting skills assessment, ongoing support in the form of
training and mentoring, and organizational support. Conclusions: using grounded theory, a model
predicts global virtual team leader success through a central phenomenon of social awareness.
Social awareness explains specific behaviors successful global virtual team leaders report are
important in their success and their responses to factors in the environment.
Keywords: social cognitive theory; expectancy value theory; social awareness; success
factors; global virtual team leaders; global professional services firms.

v

Dedication
To my parents, thank you for so much. You worked so hard to provide a great life for me and my
brothers. They taught me that education is the best investment. You are the greatest role models I
could wish for. Mom and Dad, this work would not exist but for you and I dedicate it to you and
your sacrifices.

To my children, Kate, Will and Thomas. Thank you for your patience and understanding. You
were incredibly supportive while I pursued this life aim. I could not ask for a more supportive
family.

To Cindy, thank you for being such an important part of my life. I can’t say enough how much
your support as I undertook this journey in personal growth has meant to me. I am so lucky that
you are here with me.

vi
Acknowledgements
Without the support of my chair, Dr Corinne Hyde, my committee, Dr Monique Datta and
Dr Larry Picus, and my reviewer, Dr Carey Regur, this work would not have been possible. At the
start, this seemed an enormous, unmanageable process; with their guidance and sense of calm I
completed a work I am very proud of. Finally, thank you to Dr Mattson for help with this final
work product.
The University of Southern California is an outstanding university. The Rossier School of
Education has many simply brilliant professors who challenged me continuously to critically think,
question, and use evidence-based decision making. I thank each of my professors for the time they
willingly invested in me and instilling a belief that I can tackle any problem with science.
The depth of my work would not have been possible without my interview participants
giving generously of their time. They are incredibly successful in their own right, and yet
enthusiastically contributed to their time because they believed in the importance of the topic, and
wanted to contribute to the success of similar, future leaders.
The use of global virtual teams is increasing and is an important part of most organizations
today. I believe that this work will help organizations consider how to increase the success of
global virtual team leaders in their organizations. I look forward to contributing more in this area.
There are no conflicts of interest. No funding supported this research. Please contact the
writer at rodney_lawrence@msn.com for further information.

vii
Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... v
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ vi
List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. x
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... xii
Chapter One: Overview of the Study .............................................................................................. 1
Context and Background of the Problem ............................................................................ 2
Purpose of the Project and Research Questions .................................................................. 3
Importance of the Study ...................................................................................................... 3
Overview of Theoretical Framework and Methodology .................................................... 4
Definitions........................................................................................................................... 6
Organization of the Dissertation ......................................................................................... 9
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature ........................................................................................ 10
Outline of Chapter............................................................................................................. 11
The Structural Environment .............................................................................................. 13
The Environment of Global Virtual Teams ...................................................................... 16
Leader Behaviors .............................................................................................................. 24
Factors Within the Leader ................................................................................................. 29
Self-Reflection and Self-Regulation ................................................................................ 38
Framework for Study ........................................................................................................ 39
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 46
Chapter Three: Methodology ........................................................................................................ 49

viii
Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 49
Overview of Design .......................................................................................................... 49
Research Setting................................................................................................................ 52
The Researcher.................................................................................................................. 52
Data Sources ..................................................................................................................... 54
Participants ........................................................................................................................ 55
Instrumentation ................................................................................................................. 61
Data Collection Procedures ............................................................................................... 62
Data Analysis .................................................................................................................... 63
Validity and Reliability ..................................................................................................... 73
Ethics................................................................................................................................. 77
Limitations and Delimitations ........................................................................................... 83
Chapter Four: Findings ................................................................................................................. 85
Context for Findings ......................................................................................................... 85
Themes Within Data ......................................................................................................... 90
Findings Related to Research Questions......................................................................... 105
A Potential Grounded Theory ......................................................................................... 151
Summary ......................................................................................................................... 156
Chapter Five: Discussion ............................................................................................................ 157
Discussion of Findings .................................................................................................... 157
Recommendations for Practice ....................................................................................... 162
Implementation Plan and Approach to Evaluation ......................................................... 177
Limitations and Delimitations ......................................................................................... 181

ix
Recommendations for Future Research .......................................................................... 183
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 186
References ................................................................................................................................... 189
Appendix A: Interview Instrument ............................................................................................. 216
Appendix B: Protocol for Previously Prepared Documents ....................................................... 223
Appendix C: Information Sheet .................................................................................................. 228
Appendix D: Code Names Assigned to Participants .................................................................. 230
Appendix E: Code Book Arranged by Theme ............................................................................ 231
Appendix F: Code Book Arranged by Research Question ......................................................... 237
Appendix G: Tables of Additional Descriptive Statistics for Each Finding ............................... 245

x
List of Tables
Table 1: Definitions Relevant to Framework................................................................................ 39
Table 2: Data Sources ................................................................................................................... 51
Table 3: Description of Population ............................................................................................... 57
Table 4: Initial Sample .................................................................................................................. 59
Table 5: Final Sample Compared to Population ........................................................................... 60
Table 6: Potential Conceptual Categories of Codes ..................................................................... 67
Table 7: Attributes Used in Analysis ............................................................................................ 71
Table 8: Attributes by Participant ................................................................................................. 88
Table 9: Themes Emerging from Data .......................................................................................... 91
Table 10: Summary of Findings ................................................................................................. 106
Table 11: Findings of Behaviors That Contribute to Success..................................................... 108
Table 12: Findings of Environmental Factors That Contribute to Success ................................ 120
Table 13: Findings of Personal Characteristics That Contribute to Success .............................. 133
Table 14: Evaluation of Consistency of Findings With Conceptual Framework and Literature 158
Table 15: Recommendations....................................................................................................... 164
Table 16: Recommendation Supports or Is Relevant to Various Findings and Themes ............ 165
Table 17: Potential Instruments .................................................................................................. 166
Table 18: Estimated Benefits of Training Programs ................................................................... 170
Table 19: Studies Illustrating Benefit of Mentoring ................................................................... 173
Table 20: Summary of Limitations ............................................................................................. 182
Table 21: Characteristics Where a Dimension of That Characteristic Had a >10% Variance ... 186
Table D1: Pseudonyms Used ...................................................................................................... 230

xi
Table E1: Code Book Arranged by Theme................................................................................. 231
Table F1: Code Book Arranged by Research Question .............................................................. 237
Table G1: Finding 1: Number of References by Classification .................................................. 246
Table G2: Finding 2: Number of References by Classification .................................................. 248
Table G3: Finding 3: Number of References by Classification .................................................. 250
Table G4: Finding 4: Number of References by Classification .................................................. 252
Table G5: Finding 5: Number of References by Classification .................................................. 254
Table G6: Finding 6: Number of References by Classification .................................................. 256
Table G7: Finding 7: Number of References by Classification .................................................. 258
Table G8: Finding 8: Number of References by Classification .................................................. 260
Table G9: Finding 9: Number of References by Classification .................................................. 262
Table G10: Finding 10: Number of References by Classification .............................................. 264
Table G11: Finding 11: Number of References by Classification .............................................. 266

xii
List of Figures
Figure 1: Key Elements of Social Cognitive Theory 42
Figure 2: Visualization of Study 45
Figure 3: Significant Elements of Researcher’s Positionality 53
Figure 4: Approach to Developing Sample 56
Figure 5: Data Analysis Process 64
Figure 6: Process to Analyze Data 69
Figure 7: Word Cloud Visualizing Most Common Words Used by Participants 86
Figure 8: Behavior Reported to Maximize Team Effectiveness 112
Figure 9: Relationships Participants Needed to Be Able to Build 137
Figure 10: Model Used to Explain Phenomenon Based on Data 152
Figure 11: Areas of Recommendation and Their Relationship to Each Other 163
Figure 12: Potential Approach to Implementation 177
Appendix C: Information Sheet Error! Bookmark not defined.

1

Chapter One: Overview of the Study
This study seeks to identify important factors that contribute to the success of leaders of
global virtual teams in global professional services firms
1
. As far back as 2001, only 18% of
global virtual teams rated their performance as “highly successful”, with 33% rating their
performance as largely unsuccessful (Govindarajan & Gupta, 2001). Despite the reported lack of
success, by 2012 66% of multinationals used global virtual teams (Gilson et al., 2015); consistent
research in 2011 indicated that global virtual teams comprised as much as 60% of multinational
organizations’ teams (Bullock & Klein, 2011). A 2016 survey of 1,372 respondents from 80
countries found that 41% of corporate teams never met in person (CultureWizard, 2016). A 2018
survey found that virtual working remains substantial; the study showed that 70% of
professionals are working virtually at least once a week and 53% working virtually half the week
or more (Browne, 2018; Johnson, W., 2019). This trend is increasing: 64% of organizations in a
recent survey reported a permanent shift to virtual working due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and
80% of corporate work policies shifted from a focus on collocated workforces to virtual
collaboration (Meluso et al., 2020). At least in the United States, the future suggests that the
trend toward virtual working will continue (Gallup, 2020). Yet, many companies have felt that
they did not have leaders who could succeed in their role as leader of such teams (Tucker et al.,
2014). Time has not solved the challenges of leading such teams; if anything, research has
explored many theories and approaches due to dissatisfaction with the array of results,
recommendations for practice and ongoing disappointment in the performance of such teams
(Reiche et al., 2019).

1
Firms that provide professional services, such as law, accounting, business, and engineering to clients in more than
one country (Boussebaa, 2015).
2

Context and Background of the Problem
Global professional services firms are the field of study. Such firms provide services to
clients across the globe via teams comprising individuals from many countries and cultures.
These teams work virtually due to time and geographic constraints. Two external surveys have
been conducted in one of the industries in which such firms compete. In 2015, an industry-wide
survey, undertaken by an independent consulting firm, involving 1424 respondents from China,
Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Australia highlighted the
importance of successful global teams
2
. Later, a 2019 industry-wide survey, undertaken by the
same independent consulting firm, of over 300 senior U.S. executives at organizations with more
than 1,000 employees considering 13 global professional services firms in the same industry
developed the same conclusions and suggested that clients prioritized service providers with
strong global teams that can support their needs
3
. These indicate the importance of the study to
the industry.
ABC Professional Services Co
4
, a global professional services firm that competes in the
professional services industry, makes extensive use of global virtual teams to serve clients. ABC
Professional Services Co sets goals for leaders of these teams and yet finds that many teams are
not as successful as expected. However, a number of leaders are successful in leading their
global virtual team, and ABC Professional Services Co desires to understand what is working so
that it can replicate successful practices across all leaders. In 2016, ABC Professional Services
Co undertook an internal review of a subset of such leaders to understand factors impacting their

2
This survey was made available only to industry participants who subscribed and is not publicly available. The
researcher has retained documentation of the study.
3
This survey was made available only to industry participants who subscribed and is not publicly available. The
researcher has retained documentation of the study.
4
This is a pseudonym to protect the identity of the organization.
3

success. That review, in which leaders from 23 countries participated, provided several insights
and recommendations. A 2019 internal analysis of the success of the same subset of leaders
revealed that implementation of the recommendations had not significantly improved success
rates since 2016. In 2020, ABC Professional Services Co determined that additional focus on this
area was warranted and implemented a further program designed to support such leaders. This
demonstrates that this is an ongoing problem worthy of study.
Purpose of the Project and Research Questions
The purpose of this study is to discover what factors leaders report facilitate their success
when leading global virtual teams in global professional services firms and to describe how the
factors contribute to the success so that ABC Professional Services Co can help all leaders adopt
those practices. Supporting this study are three research questions:
1. What behaviors do global lead partners report are important in succeeding in the role
of global team leader?
2. What in the environment do global lead partners report facilitates success in the role
of global team leader?
3. What personal factors do global team leaders report are important in succeeding in
the role?
Importance of the Study
Research highlights the multiplicity of theories, challenges, success factors and
conceptual frameworks associated with global virtual teams (Park et al., 2018). Yet for ABC
Professional Services Co, it is critical to understand success factors that may be deployed and
replicated across all global virtual teams. The above-cited industry-wide studies indicate that this
is important to clients as they assess global professional services firms. As this is consistently a
4

key consideration, the surveys suggest that the industry has not solved the problem to their
clients’ satisfaction. More particularly, internal studies at ABC Professional Services Co have
found that a significant percentage of leaders are not meeting their prime objectives. For ABC
Professional Services Co, the failure to replicate success factors across all teams may cause
clients to disfavor it as a service provider. Accordingly, ABC Professional Services Co has a
significant interest in understanding success factors so that it can help all leaders employ those
factors of success and be more successful with its clients. Success of such teams is vital to a
global professional services firm such as ABC Professional Services Co, and the cost of such
teams failing can be measured in firm growth, profitability, and client satisfaction.
Overview of Theoretical Framework and Methodology
Two theoretical frameworks guide this dissertation: social cognitive theory and
expectancy value theory. The following section outlines both theories and their appropriateness
for this study. The section concludes with an analysis of the appropriateness of using a
qualitative study as a basis of the research.
Social cognitive theory links the individual, behaviors, the environment, and self-
regulation (Bandura, 1986). There are four key theoretical principles: (a) learning is impacted by
reciprocal relationships between the person, the environment, and the person’s behavior; (b) role
models can show a person how to behave, what behaviors are successful, and outcome
expectancies for behavior; (c) self-efficacy is moderated by observational learning; and (d)
people are self-regulating and self-reflecting and so contribute to their life circumstances.
Bandura extended self-efficacy to address the concept of collective efficacy, which is the team’s
beliefs in its ability to succeed. Social cognitive theory is a relevant framework for this study
because the literature has shown that the environment, the person, and the person’s behavior are
5

important factors in the success of leaders within this study. Further supporting the use of social
cognitive theory is research finding that expectancies and self-efficacy are important.
Expectancy value theory links achievement, motivation, and choices to the person’s
outcome and efficacy expectancies and the value that the person places on relevant outcomes
(Eccles, 1983; Wigfield et al., 2017). Two features of the theory are relevant: (a) attainment
value assesses the importance of doing a particular task well; and (b) utility value assesses how a
person sees a particular task or activity fitting into their plans. A notable element of value is the
person’s assessment of cost when determining value. Expectancy value theory is a relevant
supporting theory because the research has indicated that there is potentially significant cost in
striving to be a successful global virtual team leader and the reward for being successful may not
be high.
These two theories are complementary and appropriate for this study because the study
focuses on individuals’ perceptions of certain factors. Perceptions are impacted by the
individual’s environment and their reaction to it as well as their beliefs about the outcomes of
such reactions or investment of time and effort into behaviors generating those outcomes. A
leader’s expectancies from undertaking behaviors impacts their success in their role as leader of
global virtual teams.
A qualitative study is an appropriate method of study to select if the purpose is to
understand how people interpret their world or attribute meaning to those outcomes, events, or
experiences (Creswell & Creswell, 2017; Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). This study is a qualitative
study as it focuses on understanding the factors that leaders who lead such teams believe are
important to their success. The approach will be through grounded theory. Grounded theory is a
form of qualitative study that proceeds from the data; while it uses elements from existing
6

theories, it results in a theory that is based in the collected data that is specific to the situation
under examination (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Grounded theory is an appropriate method for
this study because the study is focused on a specific situation. Grounded theory enables the
researcher to use elements of existing theories and examine data collected for the purpose of the
study to understand whether further elements are relevant to analyzing the data and developing
recommendations. This methodology makes the study credible in two ways. First, by hearing
from those individuals and ensuring that their voices are heard. Second, by being guided by
existing theory but retaining the flexibility to adopt further elements if the data suggests new
elements should be considered.
Definitions
• Affective identity refers to a form of motivation to lead where one sees oneself as a
leader and enjoys being a leader (Kwok et al., 2020).
• Axiology refers to values that guide the research, including the researcher’s views on
if the research should be neutral, and whether it should be used to cause change
(Aliyu et al., 2015).
• Collective efficacy refers to a group’s shared belief in its collective ability to organize
and execute the courses of action required to produce given levels of attainment
(Bandura, 1977). Also described as team efficacy.
• Cultural intelligence refers to an individual’s ability to function and manage in
culturally diverse settings (Solomon & Steyn, 2017).
• Efficacy expectancy refers to the belief in one’s ability to successfully perform a
behavior (Eccles, 1983; Wigfield et al., 2017).
7

• Epistemological accountability refers to the contractual arrangement between the
project owner and the person or persons they report to (Dubnick, 2014; Hall et al.,
2017; Wohlstetter et al., 2004).
• Epistemology refers to what can be known, how does one know what one knows,
whose knowledge is to be heard, and whether knowledge proceeds eticly or emicly
(Aliyu et al., 2015).
• Expectancy refers to a person’s estimate of the outcome of a particular course of
action or behavior (Bandura, 1977).
• Global virtual teams are teams whose compositions comprise participants from
multiple countries, languages, and cultures and interact primarily through technology-
based communications (Paul et al., 2016; Piccoli & Ives, 2000).
• Global professional services firms are firms that provide professional services, such
as law, accounting, business, and engineering to clients in more than one country
(Boussebaa, 2015).
• Grit is perseverance and passion for long-term goals (Duckworth et al., 2007).
• Laissez-faire leadership is a form of leadership characterized by the abdication of the
leadership role (Bass, 1999; Judge & Piccolo, 2004).
• Motivation to lead is an individual’s willingness to assume leadership roles,
undertake leadership activities and expend effort to fulfil leadership role requirements
(Chan & Drasgow, 2001).
• Ontological accountability is the account giving relationship in which accountability
arises (Dubnick, 2014; Hall et al., 2017).
8

• Ontology is the form and nature of reality or existence (for example, agency of
individuals versus an overall system that eliminates free will) (Aliyu et al., 2015).
• Outcome accountability refers to accountability for results (Hall et al., 2017).
• Outcome expectancy refers to the anticipated consequences from engaging in a
behavior. (Eccles, 1983; Wigfield et al., 2017).
• Paradigm refers to the researcher’s worldview and basic beliefs about how the world
exists and what is truth (Aliyu et al., 2015).
• Positive affect refers to a state of full concentration in which individuals are alert,
active, enthusiastic, and engaged (Carleton et al., 2018; Watson et al., 1988).
• Process accountability refers to accountability for following agreed processes (Frink
et al., 2008).
• Self-efficacy refers to a person’s belief in their ability to attain a certain goal or
objective (Bandura, 1977).
• Self-regulation refers to an individual’s monitoring of their own behavior and its
impacts and adapting one’s behavior to attain goals (Bandura, 1977).
• Self-reflection refers to the process that a person undergoes to look back on their past
experience and what they did to enable that experience to occur (Lew & Schmidt,
2011).
• Team cohesion refers to the state where members of the team work together as a
single unit in pursuit of shared goals and objectives and the factors that cause the
individuals to stay together as a team (Carron et al., 1985).
9

• Team efficacy refers to the shared belief of team members in the ability of the team to
attain a certain goal or objective (Bandura, 2000). Also described as collective
efficacy.
• Trait mindfulness refers to an intentional state of heightened awareness of, and non-
judgmental attention to, one’s traits characterized by emotional detachment and non-
reactivity (Carleton et al., 2018).
Organization of the Dissertation
Five chapters are used to organize this dissertation. This chapter introduced the context
and background of the problem. The purpose of the project and the research questions were
outlined. The chapter highlighted the importance of the study, provided an overview of the
theoretical framework and methodology, and provided definitions for significant terms used
throughout the dissertation. Chapter Two provides a review of the literature that is relevant to
this study. It starts with a review of literature related to the overall environment of global
professional services firms, then assesses literature related to the environment of global virtual
teams, and then reviews literature related to team leaders in such environments—their behaviors,
personal factors, and self-regulation. Following these, Chapter Two concludes with an
assessment of the appropriate theoretical and conceptual frameworks for this study. Chapter
Three details the methodology used in the study. This includes the research questions, the overall
design, features of the research setting and the researcher, and limitations of the study. It also
reviews validity, reliability, and questions of ethics. Chapter Four provides a discussion of the
data collected and its implications. Chapter Five provides recommendations based on the data
and literature.

10

Chapter Two: Review of the Literature
Meta-analyses of studies have shown that research about global virtual teams and global
leadership competencies has exploded since 2010 (Cumberland et al., 2016; Park et al., 2018;
Reiche et al., 2019; Vijayakumar et al., 2018; Zander et al., 2012). Research has moved from
discerning potentially applicable concepts to empirical research (Mendenhall et al., 2016).
However, no single organizing principle emerges from the literature; Park et al. noted that the
research reveals multiple frameworks, theories, and recommendations which prevent
generalization. Yet, while Park et al. noted that research used at least 14 models of global
leadership since 2001, Reiche et al. determined that research used at least 57 different theories
and conceptual frameworks since 2010, and Vijayakumar et al. found at least 36 theories
spanning diverse fields such as cultural, political, cognitive, learning, personality, and social
fields.
Reiche et al. (2019) concluded that although the volume of empirical research has
increased and moved from conceptual discussions, a weakness in the field is that the research has
targeted specific situations and needs to move to a more integrated assessment of prior literature
and a clearer use of large samples and populations. Collectively, these analyses might lead a
researcher to consider whether the empirical research is effectively synthesizing and building
upon prior research (Reiche et al., 2019). Supporting that consideration are the multiple ways
researchers collect data on this topic; Cumberland et al. (2016) found a substantial number of
assessment tools used to measure global personality traits and behaviors.
However, a clear perspective is emerging. Park et al. (2018) has uncovered converging
trends in the literature. Key themes have also emerged (Gilson et al., 2015). Park et al. named
five emerging themes from global leadership competency models: (a) intercultural; (b)
11

interpersonal; (c) global mindset; (d) ability to change; and (e) personal traits as consistently
appearing in literature. Park et al. also named apparent behaviors of effective leaders: (a) task
oriented; (b) relationship oriented; (c) change oriented; and (d) external network building. These
findings suggest areas where additional research should focus.
For a field that seeks to understand global leadership, Vijayakumar et al. (2018) noted
that while the literature has historically been dominated by North American research, there is an
increasing body of research emanating from different cultures. Similarly, Park et al. (2018) found
that studies now span Asia, the Pacific region, Europe, and Africa, in addition to North America.
Outline of Chapter
This chapter reviews literature related to global teams in global professional services
firms and the conceptual framework used for data collection. Taking account of Vijayakumar et
al.’s (2018) perspective of the benefit of a more global body of research, the review of literature
revealed five significant areas of research. These five areas are summarized before the review.
The Structural Environment
Although global professional service firms aim to be global in nature, local demands may
take priority over global objectives due to the regulatory environment and incentives are
determined at a local level. As such, the regulatory oversight of, and legal framework for, such
firms may actively work against the aspiration of a truly global firm, which has implications for
the performance of global teams (Belal et al., 2017; Boussebaa, 2009; Boussebaa et al., 2012).
The Environment of Global Virtual Teams
Literature shows that global virtual teams present their own, unique challenges. These
range from misunderstanding cultural cues and needs, to the impact of virtual communication on
knowledge sharing, to the challenges of building team trust, to cohesion, and to team efficacy.
12

The literature suggests that leaders of such teams require additional skill sets over and beyond
those needed to lead purely in-person teams (Anantatmula & Thomas, 2010; Barnwell et al.,
2014; Schmidt, 2014).
Leader Behaviors
In response to the environmental challenges, leaders can employ a number of behaviors
to improve the likelihood of the team being successful. Researchers recognize that they cannot
characterize teams as either wholly in-person or wholly remote and have started to measure the
impact of those behaviors along the continuum of virtuality. This acknowledges teams are
neither completely in-person or virtual and adds a further dimension of complexity to analysis
(Cagiltay et al., 2015; Lilian, 2014; Palupi et al., 2017).
Factors Inherent in the Leader
Research has shown a variety of personal characteristics that the leader must have to have
the greatest likelihood of success. These include cultural intelligence—knowing how to
effectively relate to and manage different cultures—self-efficacy, openness to ideas, role model
congruency, and motivation to lead. The research has also shown that expectancies related to
success are important (Badura et al., 2020; Osland et al., 2013; Schimschal & Lomas, 2019;
Yoon & Han, 2018).
Self-Regulation and Self-Reflection
Tying the above fields together is research on the importance of self-regulation and self-
reflection as a way that leaders become more successful global leaders (Carleton et al., 2018;
Cseh et al., 2013; Yeow & Martin, 2013).
The literature review is organized according to the above five categories of research.
After the literature review, the framework used to collect data is reviewed. This part reviews key
13

theoretical principles, the theory of change, and the conceptual framework. Finally, this chapter
concludes with a summary of how the literature and conceptual framework form the basis for
this study.
The Structural Environment
Professional services firms globalized in response to client demands, yet the regulation of
their services and the ownership of country units as required by local law has impeded their
ability to be truly global organizations. Understanding the environment in which such teams
operate is important to understanding factors of success. This section reviews the structural
environment of professional services firms by assessing first the historical context and then
reviewing cultural, economic, and regulatory pressures impacting such firms.
The Historical Context
As they entered new markets, multinational businesses began to expect their professional
services firms to provide consistent services wherever they did business. Professional services
firms duly followed their clients overseas to retain their business despite the negative impact on
their profitability (Boussebaa, 2015; Brock & Alon, 2009). The professional services firms tried
many strategies to replicate the success they had achieved at home (Faulconbridge & Muzio,
2016). Yet, whether those strategies involved relocating professionals or attempting to control all
aspects of client service from the home country, these approaches created conflict between the
country units and the headquarters of the firm (Boussebaa, 2015; Faulconbridge & Muzio, 2016).
Professionals in the new country sometimes resented “colonialist practices” and the presumption
that the globally mandated approach was superior to that currently used in the country
(Faulconbridge & Muzio, 2016). Professional services firms found that local cultures, norms, and
regulations altered the way the firms conducted their business in each country. Professional
14

services firms had not anticipated these impacts and they needed to build flexibility into the
models they had hoped to export (Belal et al., 2017).
The need for flexibility created implications for the professional services firms.
Professional services firm’s mindset of “one global firm” arose from client demands; while such
firms believed they needed to accommodate client desires, the mindset proved difficult to
implement and the concept of “one global firm” was difficult to implement uniformly in all
markets. This difficulty arose from the cultural, economic, and regulatory pressures such firms
faced as they entered new countries.
Cultural, Economic, and Regulatory Pressures
Although such professional services firms conduct operations around the world, their
local units are often locally regulated, which means that local rules, culture, and norms have a
significant impact on their operations. Local considerations may conflict with, or even outweigh,
the global norms of the organization. For example, such firms found that local conditions
differed significantly from those in their home country and required new approaches to be
successful (Belal et al., 2017; Faulconbridge & Muzio, 2016). Additionally, because some
countries required such firms to be locally owned, local economic and regulatory considerations
became more important than directives from the global organization in three areas: (a) who to
promote and timing of that promotion; (b) what resources to offer for global initiatives; and (c)
how to share work efficiently between countries for the benefit of clients (Boussebaa, 2009;
Boussebaa et al., 2012; Spence et al., 2015). Significantly, the fact that the local unit determines
compensation of professionals has been found to cause professionals to focus on maximizing
benefits accruing to the local unit, even if this behavior is not in the best interest of the global
firm (Boussebaa, 2009; Spence et al., 2015). The larger environment of global professional
15

services firms, and specifically that personal rewards such as compensation are based on local,
rather than global performance, discourages professionals from acting globally. This has led
people to focus on their local results even to the detriment of the global role; this may extend, for
example to leaders maximizing revenue in their own unit rather than focusing on the greater
good; importing cheaper/more expensive talent rather than using own), leading to inter-unit
conflicts of interest and demonstrating greater loyalty to their domestic unit than the global team
(Boussebaa, 2009; Boussebaa et al., 2012). Consistent with these local considerations, local units
often decided to participate in—or resist contributing to—global initiatives, client investments,
and events based on how the local unit reconciled the global request to local needs (Klimkeit &
Reihlen, 2016). In doing so, local units were able to continue local practices and withstand
pressure to import all practices dictated by the global structure (Belal et al., 2017). The local
environment shapes the way people view their allegiance to global imperatives and where there
is conflict between global and local objectives, a variety of factors conspire to cause people to
focus on local considerations first. Economic, regulatory, and cultural pressures reduce the
ability of such firms to act as one global firm, modifying to varying degrees the concept to
accommodate the obligations and customs of each country.
Collectively, research into the environment in which global professional service firms
operate suggests that this environment is not truly global in nature and generates intra-firm
conflicts that are not easy to resolve in favor of the global requirement. Structural considerations
implicit in global professional services firms create an environment that may impact a leaders’
ability to act in a truly global nature which is required for the team to be successful. Beyond
structural considerations inherent in such professional services firms, global virtual teams have
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additional challenges over and beyond those of traditional, co-located teams that may impact the
leader’s success.
The Environment of Global Virtual Teams
The nature of global virtual teams presents additional challenges to successful team
performance. Research has recognized that these challenges are different from, or at least in
addition to, those that traditional, co-located, homogenous teams face (Anantatmula & Thomas,
2010; Barnwell et al., 2014; Schmidt, 2014). This section reviews literature which highlights
these additional challenges in six categories: (a) trust; (b) collaboration and cohesion; (c)
commitment; (d) knowledge sharing; (e) communication; and (f) team efficacy.
Trust
Trust is a vital component of successful teams. At least four studies have found that
building trust is a precondition for other factors necessary to building successful teams (Brahm &
Kunze, 2012; Davidaviciene et al., 2020; Jawadi & Bonet, 2013; Pangil & Chan, 2014). The
leader must pay attention to a variety of factors that impact their ability to maintain trust
(Connelly & Turel, 2016; De Jong et al., 2020; Niljaeng & Pruetipibultham, 2018; Norman et al.,
2019; Peñarroja et al., 2015). Taken together the research suggests that trust is an important
factor in the success of global virtual teams.
Studies have found that trust is an important precondition for other factors that are found
in successful teams in several ways. Trust has been found to improve team cohesion in
performing tasks, which translates team goal setting to team performance (Brahm & Kunze,
2012). Trust was found to lead to greater knowledge sharing which in turn led to better decision
making and better team outcomes (Davidaviciene et al., 2020; Pangil & Chan, 2014). Trust has
also provided the basis for increasing innovation in the team (Jawadi & Bonet, 2013). Yet, while
17

research has shown that the speed at which trust is created was important to developing long
term, sustainable trust within the team (Crisp & Jarvenpaa, 2013), trust may be eroded by a
variety of factors.
Trust may be eroded by a variety of real impacts or perceptions within the team. Team
members’ negative perceptions of the leaders’ competence and integrity eroded trust within the
team (Niljaeng & Pruetipibultham, 2018). Trust was also eroded when team members perceived
each other or the leader to lack emotional authenticity in communications and actions (Connelly
& Turel, 2016). The team’s perceptions of how cultural diversity within the team reduced the
ability to forge consensus also reduced trust (De Jong et al., 2020). Team members’ negative
impressions of the leader’s communication skills and media savviness reduced their trust in the
leader (Norman et al., 2019). The utility of feedback for improving team outcomes was found to
increase where there is high trust within the team and to have limited impact where there is low
trust (Peñarroja et al., 2015). Trust is important to successful team outcomes but may be
damaged by a variety of factors, which suggests that focusing on all factors is important to
building and retaining trust in the team. Those factors may be factual or based on perception
only. Yet, a focus on building trust in the team is critical to many key activities the team must
perform to be successful. Two critical activities that both require and support trust are
collaboration within, and cohesion of, the team
Collaboration and Cohesion
Virtuality reduces collaboration and cohesion. While research suggested that leaders must
build a cohesive team (De Jong et al., 2020; Hambley et al., 2007), building successful global
virtual teams also required overcoming the tensions that arise due to the different cultural norms
of team members (Cramton & Hinds, 2014; De Jong et al., 2020). Virtual teams have an
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additional hurdle: the impact of negative traits of team members on team cohesion increased as
the virtuality of the team increased (Hill et al., 2019). Adding to the challenge of building
collaboration and cohesion, research has focused on dynamics within the team (Paul et al., 2016).
While Paul et al. found that subgroups reduce collaboration, effective communication was found
to help reduce their negative impact. Consistent with Hambley et al., Paul et al. found that a
leader’s focus on task effectiveness and effective project management may offset the impact of
many of the challenges and enhance collaboration within, and cohesion of, the team.
Collaboration and cohesion are necessary factors in a successful team that may reduce the
negative influence of bad traits; however, collaboration and cohesion become more difficult as
the team becomes more virtual or culturally diverse. Collaboration and cohesion also have an
impact on, and can be influenced by, knowledge sharing within and commitment of the team.
Knowledge Sharing and the Impact of Commitment
Knowledge sharing is more complicated in a virtual team, yet critical to success.
Research has shown that sharing knowledge within the team impacts trust, collaboration, and
cohesion, all of which are predictors of team effectiveness in virtual teams (Alsharo et al., 2017).
It has also improved ultimate team performance by improving decision making (Davidaviciene et
al., 2020).
Yet, a meta-analysis of 94 studies of virtual teams found an inverse relationship
between the virtualness of the team and the amount of information sharing within the team
(Mesmer-Magnus et al., 2011). Mesmer-Magnus et al.’s findings were nuanced: a notable
finding was that the type of information shared also changed. Knowledge sharing moved from
discussing topics that the team already knew about to items that only subsets of the team knew
about, suggesting that knowledge sharing became more one-way as the team became more
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virtual. Later research building on these findings has uncovered several reasons why knowledge
sharing decreases as the virtuality of the team increases. For example, the lack of in-person
events and the resulting sense of social isolation reduced knowledge sharing (Collins et al.,
2017). Politics and internal competition also reduced knowledge sharing (Baruch & Lin, 2012).
Collins et al. also found that the leader’s cultural intelligence had a significant impact on
knowledge sharing. Consistent with Collins et al.’s findings, other studies have found that
countering the negative impact of issues such as internal politics by increasing team members’
appreciation for both the technical skills and personal skills of other team members increases the
willingness of team members to share knowledge freely (Baruch & Lin, 2012; Maynard et al.,
2019). Significantly, Maynard et al. extended prior research to find that while it was important
for team members to know each other personally, it was also important not to overstate the
impact of personal relationships on knowledge sharing; in contrast, instilling an appreciation for
each other’s professional skills, knowledge and abilities had a more significant impact on
knowledge sharing. Yet other research has found that the leaders’ skills are important to
increasing knowledge sharing in three areas: (a) a positive approach to feedback (Peñarroja et al.,
2015); (b) demonstrated behaviors related to knowledge sharing (Abdulmuhsin & Tarhini, 2021);
and (c) focusing on increasing positive attitudes towards knowledge sharing (Collins et al.,
2017). Cultural sensitivity, a focus on familiarizing team members with each other’s personal
lives and professional skills, and positivity within the team all improve knowledge sharing.
These require team members to be committed to the team.
Commitment to the team is critical to knowledge sharing. Team members’ commitment
to the objectives of the team and its deadlines have been found relevant to knowledge sharing
within the team and ultimate team effectiveness (Lin, 2011). Similarly, commitment in terms of
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the amount of time members were willing to devote to the team as well as the number of
different teams that members participated in has been found relevant: team performance in
virtual teams has been found higher where members allocate more of their time to the specific
virtual team (Cummings & Haas, 2012). Cummings and Haas also found a positive impact on
knowledge sharing of allocating more time to the team as the geographic dispersion of team
members increases. The leader needs to appreciate and effectively manage several factors, such
as commitment to the team, team dynamics, trust, and cultural awareness to create an
environment that supports knowledge sharing, because knowledge sharing has been found
critical to the success of such teams. One opportunity for building such an environment is to
focus on methods and frequency of communication.
Communication
Because it is harder to pick up the cues one sees in in-person meetings during virtual
meetings, additional focus on the type, cadence, and approach to communication is critical. In
person communication has long been found more effective in team settings (Hill et al., 2019;
Kirkman et al., 2004; Klitmøller & Lauring, 2013), although at least one study has found that
team members are willing to accept virtual communication as an effective substitute for face-to-
face communication (Gonçalves et al., 2014). A consistent finding in these studies is that
communication is important.
The activity of communication itself is critical. According to a much-cited study, highly
effective virtual team leaders used regular, detailed, and prompt communication (Leidner et al.,
1999). At that early stage in the development of research in this field, Leidner et al. noted that
communication was more challenging in a virtual environment; subsequent research has
validated Leidner et al.’s findings that leaders must have regular and predictable communication
21

with the team for the team to be successful and for good decision making (Espinosa et al., 2015;
Gajendran & Joshi, 2012; Schinoff et al., 2020; Schmidt, 2014; Scott, 2013). Consistent with
these findings, a lack of continuous, consistent, and routine communication increased the risk of
misunderstandings which leads to negative team outcomes (Morgan et al., 2014). An active focus
on the act of communication itself is an important behavior given the virtual nature of these
teams. Another factor is the choice of how to communicate.
The choice of how to communicate is also important. While research has shown that
savviness about choosing the type of communication media is important given the range of
options (Giuffrida & Dittrich, 2015; Iorio & Taylor, 2015; Klitmøller & Lauring, 2013; Norman
et al., 2019), it is not just the efficacy of communication that is important; a meta-analysis of 150
studies found that the quality of the communication is also critical (Marlow et al., 2018). Marlow
et al.’s findings were nuanced, finding that the link between quality of communication and team
performance also depended on both the virtuality of the team and the familiarity team members
had with each other. The choice of how to communicate is important to the successful
functioning of the team. Another factor is the quality of the communication
Beyond the choice of how to communicate, the quality of communication is also critical.
The team’s perception of the leader’s effective use of communication was found to impact trust
within the team (Newman et al., 2020). Quality communication comprised language that was
motivating and empathetic to encourage creativity and collaboration (Fan et al., 2014). Similarly,
research found that perceptions of the emotional authenticity of the communication and
managing the emotions were critical to the effectiveness of the communication (Connelly &
Turel, 2016; Holtz et al., 2020; Pitts et al., 2012). Finally, the quality and cadence of
communication also improved relationship building within the team (Schinoff et al., 2020).
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Quality of communication is important to a successfully functioning team. Another factor is the
choice of communication channel.
Selection of the appropriate communication channel to fit the situation is important.
Selection of the most appropriate form of communication channel (such as face to face, video
conference or conference call) has impacted the effectiveness of communication depending on
the cultural diversity of the team and the complexity of the topic discussed (Klitmøller &
Lauring, 2013). Importantly, the sense that team members were present, or available, to
communicate as needed increased trust (Altschuller & Benbunan-Fich, 2010). However, the
impact of the choice of communication media may be overstated. Morgan et al. (2014) found
that although team effectiveness diminished as teams became more virtual it was not the choices
of communications that was a cause but the commitment to, and the consistency, clarity, and
routine of communication. Adding to the theme of commitment, building personal familiarity
within the team enhanced communication as it reduced the likelihood of one taking offense at
inappropriately worded electronic communication (Riordan et al., 2013). The commitment to
communication may be more important than the choice of technology used to communicate.
However, the dispersed nature of such teams will also have an impact on communication.
The impact of team dispersion on communication has been found to have a negative
impact on transformational leadership styles where team members have different cultural norms
(Eisenberg et al., 2019). This is significant because theoretical research suggested that this form
of leadership is most impactful in the virtual team context (Mukherjee et al., 2012). Yet team
dispersion also increased the impact of negative traits any team member might have (Hill et al.,
2019). Beyond the impact of the dispersion of the team, inter-culture communication has been
found less effective than communication within a team located in one country or culture (Lyons,
23

2017). This finding extended to the appropriateness of the communication itself for the diverse
cultures represented on the team, including allowing for differing levels of skill with the
language used by the team and the complexity of the topic being discussed (Collins et al., 2017;
Klitmøller & Lauring, 2013; Lyons, 2017; Presbitero, 2021). Successful communication is more
difficult in a virtual, rather than in person setting, but consistency, empathy, and selection of
communication channel can counteract some of the negative impact of virtual consistency.
Communication in a global virtual team is rendered more difficult by team dispersion, cultural
differences of team members, familiarity, and technology. The leader must assess each of these
items in developing both a cadence and the substance of communications. Importantly,
communication can lead to increased team efficacy, which is critical for meeting team
objectives.
Team Efficacy
Team, or collective, efficacy is vital to success. Over the last ten years, studies have
consistently shown that the team’s belief in its ability to succeed is a predictor of success (Chen
& Lin, 2013; Lin et al., 2019; Lin et al., 2020; Ortega et al., 2010). Research has reproduced this
finding in multiple cultural settings suggesting that it may be a universal requirement for
successful teams—Europe (Chen & Lin, 2013; Ortega et al., 2010), Asia (Chen & Lin, 2013),
and North America (Staples & Webster, 2007). To improve team efficacy, research has
highlighted several factors. For example, Staples and Webster (2007) found that encouraging
team members to coach each other and role model collaboration behaviors positively impacts
collective efficacy. Building on that earlier research, Ortega et al. found shared beliefs about task
interdependence and collective efficacy impact team outcomes and Lin (2020) discovered that
beliefs about collective efficacy can moderate the impact of team dysfunction. Building on
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research about the importance of communication, a leader’s effective use of communication has
been found to increase team efficacy (Newman et al., 2020). Chen and Lin also found that in
culturally diverse teams the leader’s degree of cultural intelligence impacted knowledge sharing
and collective efficacy, a result that was repeated by Lin (2019) who found a link between
knowledge sharing and team success via the belief of collective efficacy. Many factors interact
with team efficacy which indicates that team efficacy is important to successful team outcomes.
Collectively, the research indicates that unique challenges exist in the environment of
global virtual teams. Yet, these can be overcome by a deliberate approach to communication,
knowledge sharing, building of trust, and generating commitment to the team. Accordingly, the
environment of global virtual teams, with its many challenges, may impact a leaders’ ability to
build an effective team that will advance the leader’s likelihood of success. Despite the wide
array of challenges, literature has shown that there are several behaviors a leader can implement
that will mitigate the impact of these challenges.
Leader Behaviors
Notwithstanding the challenges of teams that are global and virtual, meta-analyses have
uncovered a variety of behaviors that leaders can choose to implement to improve their success
(Cagiltay et al., 2015; Lilian, 2014). This section reviews literature addressing four specific
behaviors: (a) sharing leadership, or team empowerment; (b) focusing on the relational, or
interpersonal, side of communications; (c) a particular focus on task effectiveness; and (d)
providing detailed coaching and feedback that have been found to mitigate challenges. Research
has found a positive relationship between leadership behaviors, team efficacy, trust in the leader
and organizational commitment, which ultimately drive successful outcomes (Palupi et al., 2017;
Pinar et al., 2014). These behaviors may be near universal: a study of 1148 leaders across ten
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national clusters found that, despite significant differences in specific dimensions of global
leadership, leaders in both the East and West generally display similar behaviors (Agrawal &
Rook, 2014). Further, these behaviors may continue to evolve and converge as technology
evolves (Avolio et al., 2014).
Shared Leadership
Shared leadership, if culturally appropriate, improves the success of the team when
compared to the historically accepted form of hierarchical leadership. A meta-analysis of 42
studies found that shared leadership was positively related to team effectiveness (Wang. et al.,
2014). Shared leadership, also known as team empowerment, increased team performance
(Drescher & Garbers, 2016). Shared leadership positively impacted team performance more than
traditional leadership in more virtual settings (Al-Ani et al., 2011). However, Al-Ani et al.’s
findings should be assessed on a continuum of virtuality. Al-Ani et al. determined that as teams
became more virtual, the impact of hierarchical leadership became less significant. Structural
supports such as communication, management systems, task structure that reduces ambiguity,
and reward systems became more important as the team became more virtual (Al-Ani et al.,
2011). However, the beneficial impact of hierarchical leadership was weakened (Hoch &
Kozlowski, 2014) and the beneficial impact of team empowerment increased as the number of
in-person interactions decreased (Kirkman et al., 2004). Further research found that empowering
the team by sharing leadership increased collaboration and cohesion, and the impact was higher
when the team was more dispersed (Hill & Bartol, 2016; Muethel et al., 2012). Further, team
empowerment mitigated negative impacts of diversity on trust within a team (De Jong et al.,
2020); Meuthel et al. found that added diversity within a team may go beyond mitigating
26

negative impacts by promoting successful team empowerment behavior. However, there is not a
single approach to team empowerment to apply in all situations.
In a note of caution, a 2013 study determined that mechanical implementation of team
empowerment was not enough; team leaders should adapt the way that they empower their teams
based on the conditions and forms of delegation prevailing in the local cultures of the team
members (Chevrier & Viegas-Pires, 2013). A leader that has a hierarchical leadership style is
likely to be less effective than a leader who shares leadership responsibilities with other team
members in a culturally appropriate way. One way to appreciate how to share appropriately is to
focus on the relational side of communication to understand each team member’s perspectives
and needs.
Relational Focus
Leaders of global virtual teams need to focus more on the relational, or interpersonal, side
of communications because the normal cues of in personal meetings do not exist. In research
when this field first evolved, Leidner et al. (2002) found that highly effective virtual team leaders
focus on interpersonal matters such as taking a personal interest in the team member, acting in a
mentoring role, and showing empathy. Leidner et al.’s work assessed team leaders in Europe,
Mexico, and the United States, suggesting that a focus on interpersonal relationships transcends
individual cultures. Reinforcing these findings, further research showed that both the quantity of
communication, and increasing the proportion of the communication focused on interpersonal
matters improve the likelihood of positive team outcomes (Gajendran & Joshi, 2012; Schinoff et
al., 2020). Yet, in a study that superficially appeared to contradict these findings, encouraging
professional familiarity was more important for knowledge sharing than personal familiarity
(Maynard et al., 2019). However, upon deeper examination, there is no contradiction; Maynard
27

et al. did not discount the research that showed that encouraging personal familiarity was
significant to the outcomes of teams (Dalal et al., 2017; Kurmann et al., 2014; Marlow et al.,
2018). Maynard et al.’s findings can be reconciled upon closer review to suggest a more nuanced
result: team virtuality enhanced the influence of personal familiarity on knowledge sharing but
dampened the relationship between professional familiarity and knowledge sharing. This may
suggest that if leaders focus too much on building personal familiarity, the focus on achieving
the goals of the team may be diminished. As such, consistent with other research that indicates
that team members needed to see leaders act deliberately and conduct effective leadership
behaviors in interpersonal relationship building (Wellman et al., 2019), Maynard et al.’s findings
suggested that the communication strategy needs to be reviewed regularly to assess the relative
weightings of attention to the professional credibility of team members and encouraging personal
familiarity.
In assessing the relative weighting of relational and task communication, at least at the
outset, developing a sense of familiarity amongst team members is a key leader behavior; as the
leader reflects on his or her leadership style, they may need to refine the amount of time spent on
interpersonal matters and focus on what each team member brings professionally to the team.
Such attributes the team member may bring include modeling, coaching, and feedback.
Laissez-Faire Leadership, Effective Leadership, and Feedback
Modeling appropriate behaviors, feedback, and coaching are important leadership
behaviors. Highly effective virtual team leaders have been observed acting in a mentor role
(Hart, 2016; Leidner et al., 1999). However, the leader must be deliberate. Team members
perceived a laissez-faire leader as engaging in less modeling of effective leadership; as a result,
team members engaged in less informal leadership thus reducing the benefits of team
28

empowerment (Wellman et al., 2019). Wellman et al. found that in distributed teams, members
must see leaders conduct effective leadership behavior in three principal areas: (a) feedback
tasks; (b) social functioning of the team and interpersonal relationships; and (c) change
management.
At least two studies have found that feedback is important to developing trust, knowledge
sharing and likelihood of positive outcomes (Peñarroja et al., 2015; Wellman et al., 2019). Yet
not all feedback is equally valuable; leaders must ensure that the environment supports the team
(Fan et al., 2014). Greater positivity of feedback has been found to be positively associated with
social presence, group efficacy, group cohesion, and decision-making speed (Kahai et al., 2012).
Positivity, in the context of inspirational motivation rather than “management by exception” has
also been found to compensate for a lack of team members’ openness to diversity (Lauring &
Jonasson, 2018). In a cautionary note, feedback has been found less effective where there are low
levels of trust within the team (Peñarroja et al., 2015).
Team members rate a leader based on their coaching, modelling, and feedback, but the
feedback must be supportive for all team members. Such a rating will impact trust, knowledge
sharing, and the likelihood of team success. Another factor that will impact team success is the
team seeing effective leadership behavior, including a focus on task effectiveness.
Focus on Task Effectiveness
Team members, specifically those who report to the team leader, may assess the
competence of a global virtual team leader more by the extent to which the team performs tasks
are on time than other factors. Two recent studies suggested that achievement factors are
important predictors of successful leaders and that team members assess a leader based on, in
part, his or her deliberate focus on task performance (Purvanova et al., 2020; Wellman et al.,
29

2019). Purvanova et al.’s research, using social learning theory, found that laissez-faire formal
leaders were negatively associated with team performance. This suggested that achievement and
functional behaviors were more important than personal traits in the development of successful
leaders. Wellman et al.’s research, found the same result by assessing functional behaviors as
markers of successful leaders. Yet these are not new findings. In 2016, research found that task
effectiveness increases trust and cohesion in a team (Paul et al., 2016) and an earlier study found
that effective project management was more important to building a cohesive team in a virtual
setting (Hambley et al., 2007). The leader must focus on completing tasks and demonstrate
completion for the team to perform effectively.
Collectively, the research indicates that behaviors cannot be viewed in isolation to each
other, but all impact to some degree the successful functioning of a team. A leader can
implement several behaviors that will lead to greater success in leading global virtual teams in a
global professional services firm. Yet some do not; factors personal to the leader may impact the
desire to implement the known behaviors that lead to successful global virtual team leadership.
Factors Within the Leader
A variety of personal factors within the leader contribute to that person’s success or
failure in leading such teams and desire or ability to implement research-based behaviors.
Understanding these factors helps reveal traits that facilitate successful leadership of global
virtual teams. Research has shown that the organization can help build the sense of motivation to
lead in the leader by providing organizational support, rewards, and job enrichment opportunities
(Wambua & Nzulwa, 2016). However, a significant body of research has focused on the impact
that factors within the leader have on motivation. Intriguingly, research has shown that the nature
of a global leadership role creates more cognitive demands than a local leadership role; in
30

particular requiring greater abilities in the areas of building influence, building relationships,
reading people, and taking multiple perspectives (Osland et al., 2013; Osland et al., 2017). This
section reviews literature addressing seven key characteristics: (a) the motivation to lead; (b)
grit; (c) self-efficacy; (d) personal expectancies; (e) openness to ideas; (f) cultural intelligence;
and (g) the impact of role models.
Motivation to Lead
Although there is limited literature related to leaders of global virtual teams, in other
contexts “motivation to lead” is a critical feature of successful leaders. This suggests that this
concept may be relevant to leaders of global virtual teams. Increasing a leader’s motivational
resources helped enable them to perform well as leaders, suggesting that training can have an
impact on motivation to lead (Auvinen et al., 2020). A recent meta-analysis of 1154 effects from
100 studies found that motivation to lead better predicted leadership outcomes than factors such
as effectiveness and use of appropriate behaviors (Badura et al., 2020). Motivation to lead was
found to negatively correlate with laissez-faire leadership (Badura et al., 2020). This negative
correlation with laissez-faire leadership is important due to Wellman’s (2019) study that found
that such leadership is also negatively correlated with virtual team success. Consistent with
research into self-efficacy, discussed below, leaders who demonstrated affective identity were
the most likely to engage in successful leadership behaviors and were most likely to be viewed as
effective leaders (Kwok et al., 2020). However, other research has indicated that the leader
themself must have other characteristics that precede developing motivation to lead.
A sense of well-being, humility, positive self-image, and the ability to perceive one’s
own emotions are preconditions to motivation to lead (Auvinen et al., 2020; Chen., 2016;
Krishnakumar & Hopkins, 2014). Reinforcing research that shows that relevant concepts may
31

not be linear in application or development, although the relationship between the two concepts
of self-efficacy and motivation to lead is not settled, how leaders see themselves compared to
how they see leaders in general impacts leadership self-efficacy which impacts overall
motivation to lead (Schyns et al., 2020). Motivation to lead is a key factor that must exist within
the leader for successful outcomes to occur. Yet, it is not the only key factor. Another key factor
is grit.
Grit
As with motivation to lead, although there is limited literature related to leaders of global
virtual teams, in other contexts grit has been found to be a critical feature of successful leaders.
This suggests that this concept may be relevant to leaders of global virtual teams. In a much-
cited seminal work, grit predicted success more than other factors such as IQ and
conscientiousness; collectively, these findings suggested that the achievement of difficult goals
entails not only talent but also the sustained and focused application of talent to those goals
(Duckworth et al., 2007). Further research has shown that grit predicts other traits of successful
leaders.
Building on Duckworth et al.’s (2007) work, later research has found that grit is a
predictive factor in determining which people will finish a task (Fink, 2013). For example, a
2019 study found that a leader’s grit predicted the leader’s extent of role modeling and
innovative behaviors (Caza & Posner, 2019). Suggesting that grit may be an important factor in
the success of virtual teams, recent research of 100 leaders across a range of industries found that
grit accounted for variance in positive leadership which leads to strong leadership performance
(Schimschal & Lomas, 2019). Grit is a factor that must be present in a leader for a team to be
32

successful; the leader must persevere despite challenges and barriers put in their way. To
persevere leaders also need to believe that they can be successful.
Self-Efficacy
To be successful, a global virtual team leader must believe that they can succeed in the
role. For example, self-efficacy has been found to predict knowledge sharing (Yoon & Han,
2018). A contemporaneous study determined that self-efficacy was important to transformational
leadership (Carleton et al., 2018), which a 2012 study suggested was the most effective form of
virtual team leadership (Mukherjee et al., 2012). Self-efficacy was based on a sense of control
over elements felt to be critical to leadership success¸ or lack thereof—for example, over rewards
and team compensation (Leidner et al., 1999). It has also stemmed from prior experience leading
successful global virtual teams or learning from prior examples of good or bad leadership
(Osland et al., 2017; Schyns et al., 2020) and constructive feedback (Yoon & Han, 2018).
Several studies have found that a leader’s self-efficacy improved in situations where the
leader compared themself favorably with other leaders that leader considered as role models
(Guillén et al., 2015; Schyns et al., 2020). Self-efficacy and motivation to lead are viewed as
related to each other (Kwok et al., 2020; Schyns et al., 2020); both Kwok et al. and Carleton et
al. (2018) found that increasing affective motivation to lead increased leader self-efficacy.
Whether using role models or constructive feedback, it is possible to build self-efficacy in a
leader. This is an important activity given the positive relationship self-efficacy has with
motivation. Yet expectancies that the leader has can also impact motivation.
Expectancies
Leaders’ expectancies may drive the extent to which they choose to implement behaviors
that result in successful outcomes. Accordingly, the organization itself needs to demonstrate that
33

the value of implementing the successful behavior is worth the cost in terms of time and effort on
the leader’s part (Wambua & Nzulwa, 2016). Confirming the significance of expectancies,
research has shown that leaders must perceive that leadership development activities are
effective before they will participate, even if they say they will (Khoreva & Vaiman, 2015).
Expectancy value theory examines a person’s values and beliefs and how those values
and beliefs influence a person’s performance and choices (Wigfield et al., 2017). Expectancies
comprise three main factors: (a) outcome expectancies; (b) efficacy expectancies; and (c) task
value (Wigfield et al., 2017). Cost of effort is a component of task value. Taken together, a
leader’s expectancies impact the leader’s desire to succeed. Consistent with Khoreva and
Vaiman’s (2015) research, potential leaders’ willingness to take on such a role depended on the
significance and perceived value to them (Björkman & Mäkelä, 2013; Khoreva & Vaiman,
2015).
The structure of global professional firms may impact the leader’s outcome expectancies.
Outcome expectancies arising from acting globally may be low because rewards are based on
local, rather than global performance. This leads people to focus on their local results even to the
detriment of the global role; expectancies for making the effort may become negative. For
example, efforts to create global teams have been viewed as at odds with the way individual
countries or units evaluate and reward their professionals (Boussebaa, 2009; Boussebaa et al.,
2012). Leaders who wished to be promoted in their local firm focused on local metrics first
because the local firm made promotion decisions independent of the global firm’s
recommendations (Spence et al., 2015). The nature of global professional services firms reduces
a leader’s outcome expectancies from, and increases the costs of, successfully leading a global
virtual team when compared with acting consistently with local objectives.
34

The structure of global professional firms also impacts the leader’s efficacy expectancies
because team member compensation is developed by the local firm. Leaders have reported
feeling powerless to force team members to contribute as expected because they did not control
the team members’ compensation (Leidner et al., 1999). Team leaders have reported having no
control over team members’ decisions to maximize local profits and use local people to the
detriment of global objectives (Boussebaa, 2009). Leaders of global virtual teams in a global
professional firm context have valid reasons for believing that they may not be able to succeed as
they would be able to if they had the enforcement tools available to leaders of wholly domestic
teams.
The structure of global professional firms creates a cost to acting globally. As noted
above, leaders who wished to be promoted in their local firm will focus on local metrics first
because the local firm makes promotion decisions independent of the global firm’s
recommendations (Spence et al., 2015). Contemporaneous research found that local norms and
culture may conflict with global priorities, and because the local firm determines a leader’s
compensation and promotions there may be a cost to acting globally when that conflicts with
local plans (Belal et al., 2017). Taken together, the research indicates there may be a cost to
acting globally given the structure of global professional services firms.
The leader’s perspective on expectancies arising from successfully leading the team need
to be positive so that the leader sees value in successful performance. These expectancies may
need to be substantial given the difficulty of being successful due to the inherent challenges in
the global professional firm model. One way for the leader to reduce the personal cost related to
such expectancies is to be open to new ideas and ways of solving many of the problems.
35

Openness to New Ideas
Openness to new ideas is a critical mindset of successful leaders. Research has found that
openness to new ideas improves team efficacy, which improves team performance (Lin et al.,
2019), and the ability to adapt to a new context have been found to be a key leadership
development activity (McDermott et al., 2011). Leaders who have taken on global roles do
different things than they did as domestic leaders, underlining the significance of the concept
(Osland et al., 2013). Further confirming the importance of this concept to success, research has
found that to succeed in the new role, leaders must be open to new experiences and be
extroverted to be perceived as successful (Caligiuri & Tarique, 2012). For example, they needed
to be more flexible with their time than domestic leaders, due to time zone and global complexity
constraints. This causes changes in leadership style due to 10 factors: (a) multiple time zones and
geographical distance; (b) long hours; (c) flexible schedules and fluid time (fewer scheduled
meetings); (d) dependence on technology; (e) time alone connected to others; (f) extensive
travel; (g) functional expertise with global scope; (h) facilitation of information, advice, action;
(i) management of complexity; and (j) confrontation of risk (Huesing & Ludema, 2017). In
being open to new ideas, leaders have also been found to increase their self-efficacy (Wang &
Hsu, 2014).
Merely repeating the roles and behaviors that have helped the leader get to the role of
global leader is not sufficient given the different demands of the role. Accordingly, the leader
must be open to change, dispensing with behaviors that have got them to this stage of their
career, and be willing to embrace new ideas. A factor that impacts a leader’s potential openness
to new ideas in a global setting is their cultural intelligence.
36

Cultural Intelligence
In global virtual teams, the cultural intelligence of the leader is important to team
performance. Understanding and appreciating cultural diversity is important because diversity
may be one of the greatest strengths the team has (Barnwell et al., 2014; Stahl & Brannen, 2013).
A 2016 study documented the potentially negative impacts of not understanding cultural
diversity (Han & Beyerlein, 2016). Consistent with Han and Beyerlein, knowledge sharing in
culturally diverse teams was impacted by the leader’s degree of cultural intelligence (Chen &
Lin, 2013; Collins et al., 2017; Solomon & Steyn, 2017). Research has determined that cultural
intelligence predicted successful global leaders, whether that is due to specific intercultural
competencies they exhibit, such as respecting beliefs, navigating ambiguity, and instilling trust
(Tucker et al., 2014), increasing their capacity for self-reflection (Tuleja, 2014), or increasing
team empowerment (Solomon & Steyn, 2017). Cultural intelligence is necessary for a leader of a
global virtual team to be successful. There are a variety of ways that a leader can acquire cultural
intelligence.
It may be that the degree of the leaders’ own multicultural identity is significant. A
qualitative study found that leaders raised in multiple cultures were better able to connect across
cultures by demonstrating three classes of behaviors needed by successful leaders: (a) building
an emotive connection (observing behavioral nuances and adapting accordingly based on
empathy); (b) acknowledging cultural differences while learning from each other and identifying
commonalities; and (c) understanding of norms different to one’s own—more than formal
training on specifics of different cultures (Shakir & Lee, 2017). Consistent with Shakir and Lee,
direct immersion in a foreign culture helped develop global leadership competencies by
increasing self-reflection and cultural intelligence (Pless et al., 2011) as did cross-cultural
37

experiences (Caligiuri & Tarique, 2012). A lack of cultural intelligence, in contrast, negatively
impacted important leader actions in four ways: (a) delegation (Chevrier & Viegas-Pires, 2013);
(b) communication (Presbitero, 2021); (c) the establishment of leadership and trust (Anantatmula
& Thomas, 2010); and (d) the ability to lead effectively (Caligiuri & Tarique, 2012). Regardless
of actual success, a leader’s degree of cultural intelligence predicted team members’ perceptions
of the leader and team performance (Groves & Feyerherm, 2011). The significance of cultural
intelligence is magnified in global settings where the leader will be managing a team whose
members are in many countries and cultures; failure to appreciate those backgrounds of team
members will reduce the team’s likelihood of success. Cultural intelligence may be developed in
a variety of ways and whether it exists factually or in perception only, is vital to a global team’s
success. Apart from the variety of ways that a leader may acquire cultural intelligence, in
learning how to appreciate cultural differences, leaders may also benefit from role models.
Impact of Role Models
How leaders see themselves, compared to role models, is significant in impacting
leadership self-efficacy, motivation to lead, and determining the likely success of the leader
(Guillén et al., 2015; Schyns et al., 2020). This comparison may be undertaken by observing role
models directly or by reviewing case studies of both successful and unsuccessful leaders and
translating those outcomes into the leader’s own desired actions (Osland et al., 2017; Schyns et
al., 2020). Finding appropriate role models, or case studies of role model behavior, for leaders to
review, compare themselves against, and reflect upon is important to developing successful
leaders.
Collectively, the literature indicates that there are several, interrelated factors inherent in
the leader that are significant to the success of the leader. Self-reflection and self-regulation are
38

important to enabling the leader to reflect on the application of behaviors which may modify
some of the factors inherent in the person.
Self-Reflection and Self-Regulation
Self-reflection is a critical element for successful leaders of global virtual teams. Self-
reflection, found to be important to the core of developing global leaders (Cseh et al., 2013), has
led to improved leader self-efficacy (Steele & Day, 2018). Consistent with Steele and Day,
research has shown that self-reflection is a factor in appreciating cultural differences and
increasing cultural intelligence (Akdere & Hickman, 2018; Tuleja, 2014). Carleton et al. (2018)
replicated the finding by observing that trait mindfulness, or reflecting on the current experience,
increased positive affect; increasing positive effect increased self-efficacy and predicted
successful leaders. Carleton et al.’s findings were also consistent with Osland et al.’s (2013)
research that found that leaders who problem solve by testing mental models, have deep domain
knowledge, are patient in understanding the root of a problem, and continuously monitor the
environment and readjust will be more able to be effective in a complex, interdependent,
dynamic environment. Yet, while self-reflection is important, the ability to regulate one’s
responses is also important.
Self-regulation improves the perceptions of leaders by team members. In an experimental
study a group of leaders who were given additional training on self-regulation were perceived to
be more effective leaders and their teams having greater outcomes than a control group who did
not receive the training (Yeow & Martin, 2013). Allowing the leader time to reflect and self-
regulate may impact his or her likelihood of success. Allowing time for self-reflection and self-
regulation will lead to successful outcomes for global virtual teams.
39

Framework for Study
This section reviews the researcher’s paradigm and the theory of change underpinning the
study. It concludes by reviewing the theoretical and conceptual frameworks used in the gathering
of data.
Researcher’s Paradigm
Assessing the appropriateness or limitations of this research and the appropriateness of
the theoretical and conceptual frameworks requires an understanding of the researcher’s
paradigm, axiology, ontology, and epistemology (Aliyu et al., 2015). These can be thought of as
implicit assumptions that underpin the research and selection of theory (Lyon, 2017). Drawing
from Aliyu et al., Table 1 restates each term from the definitions section.

Table 1
Definitions Relevant to Framework
Concept Definition
Paradigm The researcher’s worldview and basic beliefs about how the world exists and
what is truth.

Axiology Values that guide the research, including the researcher’s views on if the
research should be neutral, and whether it should be used to cause change

Ontology The form and nature of reality or existence (for example, agency of individuals
versus an overall system that eliminates free will)

Epistemology What can be known, how does one know what one knows, whose knowledge
is to be heard, and whether knowledge proceeds eticly or emicly

40

It is important that the concepts are aligned. The researcher’s worldview is the pragmatic
paradigm for two reasons: (a) the inquiry requires quantitative, objective data to develop an
appropriate sample of participants; and (b) qualitative, interview data of leaders to understand
success factors from their lived perspectives. The study acknowledges that, while post-positive
concepts of objective facts are suitable for developing the sample, a constructivist lens is most
appropriate because the study assesses leaders’ perspectives of factors that shape their success;
what people are experiencing is the reality from their perspective (Creswell, 2014). The axiology
includes fairness and equity; however, a critical, underlying assumption in the axiology is that, if
there is an inequity, the research should point to how that can be redressed. The ontology is
based on the belief that there is one truth, albeit experienced by people differently and that
experience becomes their reality. The epistemology includes the view that the knowledge of
those in the study must be heard if change is to occur.
Theory of Change
Selection and application of theory is based on an appropriate theory of change, which
comprises the assumptions the researcher uses, the preconditions or types of actions that must
occur for change to occur, and how the situation may be addressed or improved (Mayne, 2017;
Taplin & Clark, 2012; Tuck & Yang, 2014). The theory of change for this study is that by
naming factors that leaders believe contribute to their success as leaders of global virtual teams,
senior leaders will be able to both change the environment to facilitate leader success and
encourage leaders to develop behaviors and personal facts that will increase their success those
factors. This research contributes to the current conversation by researching a combination of
environments that has not been significantly researched.
41

Theoretical Frameworks
Social cognitive theory is the principal theoretical framework for the study (Bandura,
1986). Four key theoretical principles are summarized in Figure 1: (a) learning is impacted by
reciprocal relationships between the person, the environment, and the person’s behavior; (b) role
models can show a person how to behave, what behaviors are successful, and outcome
expectancies for behavior; (c) self-efficacy is moderated by observational learning; and (d)
people are self-regulating and self-reflecting and so contribute to their life circumstances. Self-
efficacy may extend to group efficacy, which is the belief in the team’s ability to acquire and
implement new behaviors. This theory is appropriate given the research. Research has shown
that the environment, both firms themselves and global virtual teams, is a significant factor.
There are several behaviors required of successful leaders. Finally, the leader must have certain
inherent abilities and desires, and learn from what behaviors are most useful for him or herself.
The key theoretical elements of social cognitive theory are expressed in the reviewed literature.

42

Figure 1
Key Elements of Social Cognitive Theory

Expectancy value theory is a supporting theoretical framework. Expectancy value theory
links achievement, motivation, and choices to the person’s expectancies and the value that the
person places on relevant outcomes (Eccles, 1983; Wigfield et al., 2017). Two features of the
theory are relevant: (a) attainment value assesses the importance of doing a particular task well;
and (b) utility value assesses how a person sees a particular task or activity fitting into their
future plans. The research has shown that social cues and factors in the environment observed by
leaders together with expectancies related to the reward or cost of investment given the

Personal factors
Behaviors

Environment
The person and
environment interact
based on the person’s
beliefs and thoughts
Behaviors are
embraced based
on their
perceived utility
and benefit

Self-
regulation
Behaviors impact
the environment,
the environment
impacts behaviors
43

environment of global professional services firms help understand why particular individuals are
successful in this role.
Core Concepts and Conceptual Framework
Based on the theoretical frameworks and literature review, Figure 2 depicts the five core
concepts used in the conceptual framework.
Macro-Environment
Social cognitive theory suggests that the environment is a critical element in assessing
outcomes. Beyond that, the literature suggests that the regulatory and legal framework that
governs such firms conflicts with the aspiration of the firms to be truly global in outlook. The
regulatory and legal framework may impact a leader’s assessment of the value of acting or
thinking globally, which is an element of expectancy value theory evidenced in the literature. As
this macro-environment is present in both theory and research, it is relevant to this study.
Micro-Environment
Continuing the relevance of social cognitive theory is the importance of the global virtual
team itself, which can be thought of as a smaller subset of the environment. Substantial research
has shown the challenges that global or virtual teams experience.
Leadership Behaviors
Behavior is a critical element of theory. Substantial research has revealed behaviors of
successful leaders. As the study seeks to understand factors in successful leaders, their behaviors
are a significant element of the conceptual framework.
Characteristics of the Leader
Theory suggests that the person themself is a significant element in outcomes, whether
that be through the way they implement behaviors, interact with the environment, or assess the
44

value of certain outcomes. The research also suggests that factors inherent in the leader are
predictors of successful leadership.
Diversity and Global Mindset
A significant portion of the literature focused on the impact of diversity in several ways:
(a) how it impacts the macro-environment of global professional firms; (b) how it impacts the
functioning of global virtual teams; (c) how it may impact key drivers of team success, such as
communication, cohesion, and trust; and (d) the impact of a leader’s cultural intelligence. Taken
together, these suggest that diversity has an impact on key theoretical elements of the study.

45

Figure 2
Visualization of Study

Social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986)

Significant theoretical elements are the environment, the person, and behaviors all reciprocally
impact each other, and the person chooses behaviors after self-reflection.

Expectancy value theory (Eccles, 1983; Wigfield, 2017)

Significant theoretical elements are a person acts based on their expectancies arising from those
actions, considering the cost of those actions, the importance of successful completion, and the
utility of outcomes to themselves.

Many, successful leaders exist or could develop if they could employ factors proven to increase their
success

Few are successful
Motivation to
lead, Grit
Macro. The
nature of
global
professional
firms
Micro. The
nature of
global virtual
teams
Learning
appropriate
behaviors in
response to
certain items
Select personal
charactericstics
including self
efficacy
Cultural
diversity and
intelligence
Self Reflection
46

Summary
The literature reveals several factors that impact and predict successful leaders of global
virtual teams in global professional services firms. While no one factor may be determinative of
outcomes, these factors interrelate and may explain why succeeding in this role is challenging.
These factors are both environmental and personal to the leader themselves.
The literature points to several factors in the environment. A significant factor is the legal
and regulatory framework that governs such firms. The lack of a unifying ownership structure or
single regulatory framework due to legal considerations in a particular country drives
compensation and promotion decisions at the local, rather than global level. This factor may
cause an otherwise successful leader to choose not to behave in a global way because they
calculate that the effort to be a successful global leader has limited value to their future success.
Beyond the framework itself is the challenge of the environment of the global virtual team.
Research has highlighted the challenges that such teams encounter that traditional, collocated
teams do not. These include the incremental difficulty in building trust, collaborative behaviors,
and sharing knowledge within the team together with broader challenges of effective
communication and building team efficacy in a virtual environment. Taken together, the research
suggests that people that are otherwise good leaders in a purely domestic context need additional
skills and behaviors to successfully lead such teams.
The skills and behaviors needed to successfully lead such teams are revealed by the
research. They include sharing leadership between team members, focusing on task
effectiveness, coaching, providing positively framed feedback, and creating an environment
within the dispersed team that facilitates interpersonal relationships. The research does not assign
47

relative weighting to any behavior nor reveal any linear progression between the behaviors
suggesting that all behaviors need to be present.
Yet, if the challenges and behaviors are known, the breadth of literature demonstrates the
significant rate of underperformance of such teams. This suggests that leaders may not
implement the behaviors that research shows will overcome environmental obstacles. Research
has indicated a variety of factors inherent in the leader that are important to the leader becoming
successful. These include one’s motivation to lead, grit, self-efficacy, a positive assessment of
the expectancies from being successful, being open to new ideas, having cultural intelligence,
and comparing oneself favorably to role model leaders. Development of these factors is
enhanced where the leader has the time and ability to reflect on the attributes needed for success
and to regulate their behaviors accordingly.
Finally, the issue of diversity and cultural intelligence is present in much of the literature.
This suggests that this factor, potentially less significant in a purely domestic context, is likely a
significant predictor of successful leaders of global virtual teams in global professional services
firms. In making this suggestion, the research is taking account of the environment, the
membership of the teams themselves, and the significance of the skills, behaviors, and attitudes
that the leader should have.
The literature employs many theoretical frameworks, suggesting how many factors need
to be considered. However, there is little research synthesizing the research and its application to
the specific area of global virtual teams in global professional services firms. Selection of a
particular theory for this study should be consistent with the findings from across the literature;
theory or theories consistent with the research would be the most appropriate frameworks to
guide this study. The research highlights the environment, behavior, the leader, expectancies, and
48

utility of activities. Both social cognitive theory and expectancy value incorporate many of these
concepts. Accordingly, these are the theories used to generate the concepts employed in the
collection of data.
49

Chapter Three: Methodology
The focus of this study was leaders of global virtual teams in one business unit of a
global professional services firm, ABC Professional Services Co. These teams serve clients of
ABC Professional Services Co. The purpose of the study was to identify factors that such leaders
report as important to their success. This chapter is organized into eight sections: (a) the research
questions; (b) an overview of the design of the study; (c) the research setting; (d) the researcher;
(e) data sources; (f) validity and reliability; (g) ethics; and (h) limitations and delimitations.
Research Questions
There are three research questions guiding this study:
1. What behaviors do global team leaders report are important in succeeding in the role
of global team leader?
2. What in the environment do global team leaders report facilitates success in the role
of global team leader?
3. What personal factors do global team leaders report are important in succeeding in
the role?
Overview of Design
Selecting the appropriate paradigm to support the study is the first step in the design
(Creswell & Creswell, 2017). The study is a qualitative study using constructivism as the
paradigm. A constructivist paradigm is appropriate as the purpose of the study is to understand
the current environment in which the problem exists, how people are dealing with the world as it
exists for them, and to ascribe meaning to their perspectives (Creswell & Creswell, 2017). A
qualitative study is appropriate because the purpose of the study was to understand why certain
factors are viewed as important to success from the perspective of leaders (Creswell & Creswell,
50

2017; Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Having determined an appropriate paradigm and selected a
qualitative study, I next considered an appropriate research design.
The research design must be consistent with the paradigm and qualitative nature of the
study (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). The research design utilized grounded theory. Grounded
theory is a form of qualitative study that starts with the collection of data and inductively
develops a theory based on that data that is appropriate for the specific environment in which the
study occurs (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). This research design is appropriate because it is
impossible to separate the variables of the phenomenon being studied, namely success, from its
context of global professional services firms (Yin, 2014). I next considered data collection
procedures consistent with the paradigm and research design.
Data collection processes must be consistent with the paradigm, qualitative nature of the
study, and the research design (Creswell & Creswell, 2017). Table 2 summarizes the sources of
data. The primary method of data collection was interviews. The secondary method of data
collection was document review. I determined that interviews were the best source of data for
this study because the purpose of the study was to understand the participants’ perspectives and
the researcher cannot directly observe the meaning participants place on certain events, activities,
or behaviors (Patton, 2002). Document review was the secondary method of data collection.
While the documents were not created for the purpose of this study and thus have limitations, the
benefit of documents as a secondary method of data collection is that the researcher has not
influenced their design or outcomes (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). I next considered data analysis
procedures consistent with the paradigm and research design.
51

Table 2
Data Sources
Research questions
Method 1
interviews

Method 2
document review

RQ1: What behaviors do global lead partners report
are important in succeeding in the role of global
team leader?

X X
RQ2: What in the environment do global lead
partners report facilitates success in the role of
global team leader?

X X
RQ3: What personal factors do global team leaders
report are important in succeeding in the role?

X

Data analysis processes must be consistent with the paradigm, qualitative nature of the
study, research design and data collection procedures (Creswell & Creswell, 2017). Because the
study is based on grounded theory, data should be analyzed inductively or abductively, but not
deductively (Gibbs, 2018; Strauss & Corbin, 1998). The constant comparative method is used to
analyze data (Glasser & Strauss, 1967; Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). This iterative, integrative
approach allowed me to look for connections across data sources. Each data source is referred to
as an incident (Ravitch & Carl, 2019). I used the three-cycle approach to coding and NVivo
software to analyze data as described in detail in the Data Analysis section of this chapter.
This design enhanced the validity and reliability of the study in four ways: (a) using a
qualitative approach is the most appropriate way to understand the meaning participants ascribe
to certain attributes; (b) grounded theory, while using elements of existing theory, enables the
52

researcher to examine the data for additional theoretical elements or explanations; (c) using
multiple sources of data to support findings; and (d) adopting a plan that is consistent from
paradigm to data analysis.
Research Setting
One business unit at ABC Professional Services Co was the setting for the study. This
business unit is the largest global business unit in one of ABC Professional Services Co’s core
businesses. The business unit comprises personnel in 147 countries. As appropriate for a specific
project, personnel from a number of countries must form a team to accomplish the project’s
goals. These teams may be either temporary or long-standing. Because the teams comprise
people from around the world, most work is undertaken virtually.
This setting was appropriate for this study for two key reasons. First, the study is focused
on leaders of global teams. This setting contains many global virtual teams involving many
countries. Second, the study is focused on leaders of global teams that are virtual. This setting
and the nature of the teams dictate that the teams interact and conduct their work virtually.
The participants were leaders of global teams. These participants are appropriate because
the focus of the study is on success factors for leaders. Leaders were chosen based on what they
could contribute to the study.
The Researcher
The researcher obtains, interprets, and analyzes all collected information; their
background is important to assess for potential biases (Maxwell, 2012). I am an executive at
ABC Professional Services Co at the same level as the participants. Figure 3 depicts several
elements of my positionality and reveals the associated areas of dominance I considered during
the design of the study.
53

Figure 3
Significant Elements of Researcher’s Positionality

There are three significant items of positionality that I considered.
1. Occupation. A researcher’s assumptions may impact their research and analysis of
data (Liu, 2011; McNamee & Miller, 2009). I am an executive at ABC Professional
Services Co and lead global virtual teams. Accordingly, I may bring preconceived
ideas of what factors contribute to the success of the participants. To guard against
this, I developed the interview and document review instruments in advance. I also
asked participants to review interview and observation notes to confirm that they
Researcher

European
descent

Most of
working
career in US

Belief that
education is
always a
solution

Family and
upbringing

English
language

Occupation
includes
leading global
virtual teams
54

accurately reflected the participant’s perspective. Finally, I have addressed this issue
by developing instruments that focus on the voices of the participants.
2. Background. Cultural context is important to consider when assessing research
(Henrich et al., 2010). I have spent my career in New Zealand, the United Kingdom,
and the United States. Most of that career has been in the United States. Accordingly,
I may have a North American perspective on leadership which may be different to
concepts used by leaders from other cultures. I address this by using research from
multiple countries to formulate the research questions and instruments.
3. Language. Ensuring that the researcher and participant understand the meaning
behind words used is important in ensuring validity (Van Nes et al., 2010). While
English is my first language, it is not the first language of all participants. To guard
against the potential for misunderstanding by non-native English speakers, I
employed the Fleisch-Kincaid tool in Microsoft Word to ensure that phrases and
words were not overly complex. I also tested the interview protocol in advance with
two non-native English (American version) speakers and checked for meaning.
Data Sources
The study will use interviews and documents as the two data sources. Collection of data
followed a pre-set pattern. I requested available documents from ABC Professional Services Co
to enable me to understand what work had already been completed and determine how to use that
work to enhance the interview and documentation instruments before the formal data gathering
phase. Documentation included prior surveys of this population of leaders by ABC Professional
Services Co and surveys of professional services firms conducted by an external research firm. I
55

then conducted interviews. Finally, in the interview I asked participants if they wished to share
any additional documents.
Method 1
The primary method of data collection was interviews. I piloted a pre-developed
interview instrument, included in Appendix A, on two leaders of global virtual teams who were
not be included in the sample. Interviews were the first phase of gathering data from a particular
participant.
Method 2
The secondary method was document review. Document review occurred after the
interview. Prior to commencing interviews, I asked ABC Professional Services Co if there were
any documents that could illuminate this study. In the interview, I asked the participant for any
documents that could prove helpful to the study. I reviewed all documents after undertaking
interviews as a way of confirming or disconfirming primary evidence.
Participants
It is important to use a pre-determined, top-down approach to obtain the sample rather
than starting with the potential participant class (Pazzaglia et al., 2016). This starts with
understanding the largest potential population and then assess the addressable population. Figure
4 depicts the five-step process that I used to determine participants for this study.

56

Figure 4
Approach to Developing Sample

The largest potential population is all leaders of global virtual teams at ABC Professional
Services Co and firms like ABC Professional Services Co. To make the study feasible and able
to be completed within time parameters, the population was first narrowed to leaders of global
virtual teams at ABC Professional Services Co. The addressable population was further
narrowed to a particular program that comprised 200 significant accounts that ABC Professional
Services Co monitors. The addressable population was further narrowed to leaders from a
particular business unit at ABC Professional Services Co assigned to lead a particular team at
those 200 significant accounts. The researcher obtained the sampling frame by asking ABC
Professional Services Co to provide a list of those leaders.
Step 1
•Define largest potential population
Step 2
•Define addressable population
Step 3
•Obtain sampling frame
Step 4
•Define approach to obtain sample
Step 5
•Validate approach with ABC Professional Services Co data
57

Descriptive Statistics
Understanding the population aids assessment of solutions (Salkind & Shaw, 2019). The
population in question is the leaders of the 200 accounts within this business unit. Relevant
parameters of the population are in Table 3.

Table 3
Description of Population
Statistic Number Percentage
Region
Americas 79 39%
Europe 79 39%
Asia Pacific 37 19%
Middle East 4 2%
Africa 1 1%
Totals 200 100%

Gender identification
Male 168 84%
Female 32 16%
Other/not identified 0 0%
Totals 200 100%

Note. Percentages rounded.

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The Sample
I next determined participants. I started with a sample of 15. I did not pre-determine the
size of the sample but employed the concept of saturation to develop the actual sample.
Saturation is an approach that enables the researcher to maximize data because the sampling
continues until the researcher uncovers no new, meaningful information (Merriam & Tisdell,
2015). I selected sample participants via non-probabilistic, purposeful sampling because the
study is focused on understanding factors impacting successful leaders (Maxwell, 2012; Merriam
& Tisdell, 2015). I selected participants based on what they could conceivably contribute.
Initial selection of the fifteen participants was based on three actions: (a) an agreement
with ABC Professional Services Co on what criteria define a successful leader; (b) an inspection
of revenue records of the teams that the leaders lead to identify performers agreed by ABC
Professional Services Co to be successful leaders of global virtual teams; and (c) consideration of
the above descriptive statistics. These three actions defined the sample population.
ABC Professional Services Co defined a successful global virtual team leader via three
quantitative factors and one qualitative factor. The three quantitative factors were the percentage
of revenue generated outside the country of the leader, total revenue and the geographic
dispersion of that revenue. The qualitative factor was the judgement of the leaders of this group
of which team leaders demonstrated ABC Professional Services Co’s values and led their teams
in an exemplary way.
Based on these factors, I developed a more refined sampling frame including only those
leaders that ABC Professional Services Co agreed were successful leaders. Because cultural
intelligence, diversity, and availability of role models, emerged from the literature as a key
consideration, I stratified the sampling frame by region and reported gender to include
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proportionate regional and gender representation. Having determined the participants, I reviewed
the data that ABC Professional Services Co provided to determine which leaders would make the
most appropriate participants, given the purpose of the study. I selected participants from each
region, except for Africa due to size, to facilitate understanding cultural differences, if any. Table
4 depicts the initial sample.

Table 4
Initial Sample
Location Total number
of leaders per ABC
Professional
Services Co
Percentage Total number
of leaders initially
selected
Percentage

Region
North America 79 39% 5 33%
Europe 79 39% 6 40%
Asia-Pacific 37 19% 3 20%
Middle East 4 4% 1 7%
Africa 1 1% 0 0%
Total 200 100% 15 100%

Gender identification
Male 168 84% 11 73%
Female 32 16% 4 27%
Total 200 100% 15 100%

Note. Percentages rounded.

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Snowballing is an appropriate incremental recruitment strategy (Merriam & Tisdell,
2015). The sample increased beyond the initially selected sample based on a snowballing
strategy until saturation was reached. Snowballing was achieved by me asking each of the fifteen
participants for any recommendations for additional participants. Based on recommendations, I
recruited three additional participants, all from Europe and identifying as male. Table 5
compares the sample to the population, as reported by ABC Professional Services Co.

Table 5
Final Sample Compared to Population
Location

Total
number of
leaders per
ABC
Professional
Services Co
Percentage Total number of
leaders who
participated in study
Percentage

Region
North America 79 39% 5 28%
Europe 79 39% 9 50%
Asia-Pacific 37 19% 3 17%
Middle East 4 2% 1 5%
Africa 1 1% 0 0%
Total 200 100% 18 100%

Gender Identification
Male 168 84% 14 78%
Female 32 16% 4 22%
Other/not identified 0 0% 0 0%
Total 200 100% 18 100%

Note. Percentages rounded.

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Participants were based in 13 countries: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom,
and the United States.
Instrumentation
The primary instrument, attached in Appendix A, was an interview instrument. As this
was a qualitative interview, the instrument included four key considerations: (a) logistical
details; (b) an explanation of the purpose of the study, which was read at the start of the
interview; (c) the questions; and (d) a closing (Burkholder et al., 2016). Determining the
approach to take in the interview is the next key consideration (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). I
selected a semi-structured approach as the most appropriate way to gain the necessary
information; this approach allows participants to add more detail where they wish while still
having a coherent framework that facilitated obtaining answers to the research questions
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Because the purpose was to understand participants’ reality, I
determined that a highly structured interview would not allow sufficient space for the
participants to share their perspectives. Equally, given the time constraints, I determined that an
unstructured interview would not address all the areas needed for this study or allow the
additional time needed to appropriately code the transcripts (Patton, 2002). The interview
comprised 26 questions; understanding that participants will have limited time I planned an
interview that would last approximately 60 minutes. The instrument dealt with administrative
matters and explanation of purpose consistent with best practice (Burkholder et al., 2016). I
designed the questions to be open ended and result in the participant speaking more than the
interviewer. To accomplish that, I used a variety of questions: (a) opinions and values; (b)
behaviors and experiences; (c) feelings; (d) knowledge; (e) sensory; and (f) demographics
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(Patton, 2002). To enhance dependability, I piloted the instrument on two leaders that were not
part of the sample, and refined the questions based on those results (Burkholder et al., 2016;
Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). The questions addressed the research questions and key concepts by
asking interviewees to consider specific situations and what impacted success (or otherwise) in
that situation. They further addressed expectancies specifically by asking how critical
stakeholders assess and reward the role.
The secondary method of data collection was inspection of documents. The protocol is
attached in Appendix B. Prior to commencing the study, I asked ABC Professional Services Co
for any documents it felt might help this study. During the interview, I asked each participant if
they have any documents that could be helpful to this study. I then assessed those documents in
accordance with the protocol.
Data Collection Procedures
In person interviews were not possible due to pandemic-related restrictions on travel.
Accordingly, I used Zoom virtual meetings. I used the interview protocol in Appendix A,
recorded the interview, and enabled the transcription feature to have a contemporaneous visual,
oral, and written record. I used my University of Southern California Zoom account to provide
additional confidentiality to participants and I saved the files to my personal computer. The
interviews lasted approximately 60 minutes.
Review of documents occurred via email of documents and my notes were
contemporaneously prepared and saved to my ABC Professional Services Co computer in
accordance with data protection obligations.
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Data Analysis
Stating how data was analyzed increases the credibility of the study. For each method,
this section reviews the approach to data analysis, the approach to coding data, the tools used to
undertake the analysis.
Approach to Data Analysis
The approach to data analysis must be consistent with all other elements of the study.
Data analysis followed a 10-step process as depicted in Figure 5. Throughout the process I
looked for alternative perspectives that were inconsistent with the body of data already
accumulated.

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Figure 5
Data Analysis Process

Because the study is based on grounded theory, data should be analyzed inductively or
abductively, but not deductively (Gibbs, 2018; Strauss & Corbin, 1998). The constant
comparative method is used to analyze data (Glasser & Strauss, 1967; Merriam & Tisdell, 2015).
Step 1
•Develop theoretical sensitivity
Step 2
•Line by line coding using open coding
Step 3
•Consolidate or eliminate codes
Step 4
•Compare to prior cases
Step 5
•Develop axial or analytical codes
Step 6
•Compare to prior cases
Step 7
•Memorandum compiling observations
Step 8
•Selective coding for core concept
Step 9
•Repeat steps 2-8 for each incident
Step 10
•Develop theory
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This iterative, integrative approach allowed me to look for connections across data sources. Each
data source is referred to as an incident (Ravitch & Carl, 2019). The constant comparative
method recommended by Glasser and Strauss involves collecting and analyzing the data
simultaneously, rather than collecting all data and the performing analysis. This involves
completing one incident collection, undertaking analysis, and the comparing that analysis to
cumulative analysis (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). That comparison seeks to identify consistencies
or inconsistencies between incidents, identify emerging concepts, and integrating those concepts
to generate hypotheses and a theory (Holton, 2007). Typologies are a way of analyzing data.
Typologies are a way to categorize cases based on common attributes (Gibbs, 2018). I developed
typologies based on participant descriptive statistics. Having determined an approach to data
analysis, I then considered an appropriate approach to data coding.
Approach to Coding
Coding must be consistent with grounded theory (Gibbs, 2018). Because theory is
grounded in the data, it is important to not prejudge what codes will be appropriate (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2015). Three phases of coding are appropriate: open, axial, and selective (Juliet &
Corbin, 2015; Merriam & Tisdell, 2015; Packer-Muti, 2016). Open coding, which is also
commonly referred to as first-cycle coding, consists of line-by-line coding of transcripts without
prejudgment (Bryant & Charmaz, 2007; Holton, 2007; Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Axial coding,
which is also commonly referred to as second-cycle coding, considers codes and either combines
or groups those codes into categories (Juliet & Corbin, 2015). The third and final cycle of coding
is selective, which is also known as theoretical, coding, in which a core category is developed,
and hypotheses constructed (Charmaz, 2014; Juliet & Corbin, 2015). I applied the three coding
cycles to the transcripts in a consistent fashion for each case.
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First-Cycle, Open Coding
First-cycle coding required line-by-line review of each transcript. There are three levels
of first-cycle coding: (a) descriptive; (b) categorization; and (c) analytical (Charmaz & Smith,
2003). Descriptive coding describes the particular passage; categorization consolidates
descriptions into categories of like items; and analytical coding are more conceptual or
theoretical codes (Gibbs, 2018). I used analytic codes. I examined each line of the transcript and
assigned an emergent code, based on the content of the line. I did not pre-set any expected, or a
priori, codes. After coding the entire transcript, I reviewed the codebook to determine if any
codes were duplicative and if they were, I consolidated the codes (Maxwell, 2012). I reviewed
the codebook which contained codes from all prior transcripts and assessed whether my use of a
particular codes was consistent across all analyses. I then considered which research questions
each code could conceivably relate to. After completing the first-cycle methodology for each
transcript, I moved to the second cycle.
Second-Cycle, Axial Coding
The second cycle requires using analytic coding to further conceptualize the data. Axial
codes group codes developed in the first cycle into refined categories (Gibbs, 2018). In the
second cycle of coding, I reviewed the code book to determine which codes should be further
linked together or consolidated. I then considered further categorizing codes using concepts in
Gibb’s 14 types of code hierarchies, depicted in Table 6 (Gibbs, 2018). I employed constant
comparative analysis and reviewed prior transcript coding to determine the significance of any
category and whether categories should be expanded or consolidated. I created axial codes in two
ways. First, I created axial codes that would assist in answering the research questions. Second, I
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created a copy of the codebook and investigated the codes for broad themes, regardless of which
research question the code related to.

Table 6
Potential Conceptual Categories of Codes
Number Potential category
1 Are types, categories, or dimensions of
2 Are caused by/causes of
3 Affect or constrain
4 Happen in these places or locations
5 Happen at these times or stages
6 Precede or succeed these
7 Are explanations of
8 Are consequences of
9 Are done by/to these types of persons
10 Reasons given for
11 Duration
12 Attitudes towards
13 Are strategies for
14 Are examples of
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Third-Cycle, Selective or Theoretical Coding
I reviewed the categories to assess relationships between the categories and emerging
hypotheses and theory. I reviewed the codebook to see which codes were linked to other codes
and the frequency of linkage. I created a copy of the codebook, evaluated the code hierarchies
developed through the second cycle and rearranged them into seven codes. Strauss and Corbin
recommended seven selective codes: (a) causal conditions; (b) phenomenon; (c) strategies; (d)
context; (e) intervening conditions; and (f) action/interaction/intervening conditions; and (g)
consequences (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). I identified the core concept that links to all other
significant elements and determined how that core concept related to other concepts derived
from the data (Gibbs, 2018). Having determined an approach to data coding, I then considered
which tools would support validity and reliability and facilitate data analysis. Appendix F depicts
the final codebook after completion of the three cycles of coding.
Method 1
Documenting observations at each stage of a case analysis is critical. Documentation
should be in the form of transcripts and a case memorandum which includes observations about
the case, and reflective notes about concepts, themes, and patterns (Gibbs, 2018; Johnson &
Christensen, 2019). I completed transcripts by using Zoom’s embedded transcription tool. I
reviewed the transcript in conjunction with the recorded video of each interview to confirm that
the transcript accurately captured the interview. I prepared a memorandum for each case; each
memorandum was standardized by including the five sections recommended by Gibbs: (a)
observation notes; (b) methodology notes; (c) theory notes; (d) personal notes; and (e) new ideas
for coding. I updated the memorandum after each coding cycle by comparing the current case to
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the accumulated cases. I completed the memorandum for a case before moving to the next case.
For greater depth of analysis, I undertook computer-assisted analysis.
For computer-assisted analysis, I used NVivo 12 Pro for Windows. I undertook a pre-
defined process to analyze the data. That process is depicted in Figure 6.

Figure 6
Process to Analyze Data

Step 1
•Upload incidents to Zoom as interviews
Step 2
•Apply three-cycle coding protocol
Step 3
•Create cases and typologies
Step 4
•Visualize and query data
Step 5
•Develop model
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Ingesting the data is the first step. I uploaded the Zoom transcripts to NVivo as
interviews. I then applied the three-cycle coding protocol. I then undertook three processes to
analyze data: (a) coding and development of themes; (b) analysis by typologies; and (c)
visualization and deeper analysis of data using query tools. To supporting the emergence of a
core concept in the third cycle of coding, I used NVivo’s word cloud and cross tabulation tools.
Before starting analysis, I converted each incident to a case. The purpose of this
conversion was to eliminate my statements from further analysis so that I could investigate solely
the voice of participants. I then reviewed the code book to assess which codes were most
frequently used. After considering frequency of usage in the code book, I moved to analyze the
data by typography.
Analysis by typology, such as attribute and strength of sentiment, is appropriate for a
study based on grounded theory. In developing theory, it is important to understand the
properties, or dimensions, of each category (Glasser & Strauss, 1967). As this study is based on a
constructivist lens, it is important to understand the participants’ perspectives. (Creswell &
Creswell, 2017). I used NVivo’s case classifications feature. I assigned cases by certain attributes
which I determined might be useful in understanding data. I developed those attributes when
analyzing data. Table 7 depicts all attributes used in data analysis.

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Table 7
Attributes Used in Analysis
Attribute Classifications Number Percentage
Gender Female 4 22%
Male 14 78%
Other 0%
18 100%

Region North America 5 28%
Europe 9 50%
Asia Pacific 3 17%
Middle East 1 5%
18 100%

Size of team < 10 1 5%
10–19
8 45%
20 or more 9 50%
18 100%

% time committed to team <5 3 17%
5–9 2 11%
10–19 2 11%
20–50 8 44%
>50 3 17%
18 100%

Number of teams committed to 0 7 39%
<5 6 33%
5–9 4 22%
10–15 1 6%
18 100%

Time in role < 5 years 8 44%
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Attribute Classifications Number Percentage
5–9 years 8 44%
10–20 years 2 12%
18 100%

Education Law 7 39%
Business 4 22%
Law and business 5 27%
Business and oher 2 12%
18 100%

Note. Percentages rounded.

I assessed the degree of positivity participants ascribed to each theme. I used NVivo’s
sentiments feature to assign degrees of positivity. Having assigned cases by attributes, I then re-
analyzed the data using data visualization and detailed frequency queries.
Querying data allowed me to identify emerging concepts and the core concept. I started
by visualizing the data. To visualize the data, I first created a word cloud to visualize common
words. I then queried the data to obtain a deeper analysis of actual words used. I did this in three
ways: (a) looking at the frequency of codes over all incidents, by examining the node section in
NVivo; (b) using the framework matrix option to extract specific quotes from participants sorted
by code; and (c) using matrix query and crosstab query to understand frequencies. I used
NVivo’s chart coding by attribute option to assess relative importance of nodes. As a result of
the queries, I proceeded to develop theory.
Developing theory is the final stage of data analysis. This involves looking for the
common themes and connecting them (Gibbs, 2018). I verified my interpretations of the data by
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using the comparison diagram tool in NVivo to visually compare items to evaluate
commonalities and differences. The results are presented in Chapter Four.
Method 2
Because documents contained confidential information, I was not able to upload this data
to my personal computer and use NVivo. I received six documents from ABC Professional
Services Co and two documents from participants. I completed the analysis using the protocol
included in Appendix B. I looked for evidence that confirmed or disconfirmed the evidence
obtained using method one.
Validity and Reliability
Merriam and Tisdell (2015) note that it is important to be able to convince the reader of
the study that the findings are sufficiently authentic to be credible. This involves considering
credibility, dependability, consistency, and transferability.
The study meets standards of credibility for qualitative research as follows:
1. Credibility. I selected participants based upon agreed pre-determined measures of
success and stratified them according to gender and location.
2. Dependability. I designed interview questions up front, contemporaneously
documented answers, and then asked participants to review my interpretations. I
designed the document inspection protocol upfront.
3. Confirmability. I created standardized instruments before research started and the
interviews will be transcribed and retained as an audit trail.
4. Transferability. A rich analysis of data has been shared in this study to enable other
researchers to determine how relevant the work is to their field of study. The study is
written to allow the reader to decide how the findings may be generalized.
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I employed additional strategies to increase the validity and reliability of the study. These
five strategies were triangulation, member checks, search for alternative explanations,
introspection into the researcher’s potential biases, and transparency.
Triangulation
Triangulation helps establish credibility (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Triangulation
addresses potential concerns that the findings are based on a single method or source (Patton,
2015). Triangulation occurred in three ways. First, I created a data analysis plan. A data analysis
plan is critical to analytic data triangulation (Glasser & Strauss, 1967; Merriam & Tisdell, 2015;
Ravitch & Carl, 2019). I described the data analysis plan in my approach to data analysis.
Second, I applied the constant comparison method. The constant comparative method requires
the researcher to analyze data simultaneously with collection, and to compare recently collected
data with the prior corpus of data accumulated (Glasser & Strauss, 1967; Merriam & Tisdell,
2015). I used memoranda to summarize key observations and considerations which I used to help
compare a case with prior collected data. Third, I employed analytical theoretical triangulation.
Analytical theoretical triangulation requires considering the interaction between data collected
and theory. I used two theories that emerged from the literature review to guide the study. I
undertook analytical theoretical triangulation at the third cycle of coding to avoid prejudging
what codes or categories should be appropriate for this study. As part of analytic theoretical
triangulation, I re-reviewed the totality of interview data and compared the data with documents
obtained through the study (Hussein, 2009; Maxwell, 2012; Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Beyond
triangulation, I also employed member checks.
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Member Checks
Member checks increase validity and reliability. Member checks occurred at five separate
times: (a) after the interview; (b) during the analysis (on three separate occasions); and (c) after
development of recommendations. This process allowed participants to contribute further
thoughts or clarifications.
After the Interview: Review of Data
Asking participants to review raw data collected to ensure that I did not misunderstand
their input is a first step toward validity. An appropriate way is to ask participants to review the
data collected to ensure no misunderstandings (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). I shared the transcripts
of interviews with each participant and gave them an opportunity to correct any
misinterpretations. I used the participant-approved version of their transcript as a basis for my
analysis. I then gave participants a second opportunity to review the analysis by sharing the
themes that arose from the data.
During Analysis: Review of Themes Arising From Data
Grounded theory starts with appropriately interpreting the data. I undertook this by
examining the data for themes. As I updated and consolidated findings based on each interview
and shared those updated findings with each participant (on an anonymized basis) to determine if
the themes made sense to them or whether they wished to provide further input. After
considering input received at this stage, I then assessed data relevant to each research question.
During Analysis: Review of Findings by Research Question
The study’s purpose is to address three research questions. To do this, I analyzed data and
related it to each research question. Having done this, I shared the findings with participants and
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asked them to comment on whether the findings made sense to them. Having taken into account
their input, I then constructed a potential model and invited participants to assess that model.
During Analysis: Validation of Potential Model
The purpose of grounded theory is to elaborate theory. To do this, I constructed a
potential model. At the conclusion of this step, I shared the model with participants to give them
a further opportunity to comment. After analysis, I shared recommendations with participants.
Development of Recommendations
Chapter Five includes recommendations based on findings. This provided a final
opportunity for participants to check the sense of the study. I provided the recommendations and
solicited further input. I also looked for contrary explanations.
Search for Contrary Explanations
Looking for contrary explanations in the data supports both validity and credibility. This
requires the researcher to search for inconsistencies (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015; Ravitch & Carl,
2019). I first looked for data that did not support the expected outcomes or contradicted data
already collected when assessing each incident. As I reviewed the results of the first coding
cycle, I looked for emergent codes that appeared to be inconsistent with other codes that I had
employed. Where an emergent code appeared inconsistent, I rereviewed that datum to determine
if it was inconsistent. If it was inconsistent, I noted it in the incident memorandum. Finally, I
made the study more credible by assessing my potential biases.
Consideration of Own Positionality
The study is made more credible by my consideration and documentation of my own
positionality and accounting for it in the analysis of data. Consideration of one’s own
positionality requires a reflective analysis of the biases I might bring to the analysis based on my
77

background (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). I assessed this by considering my upbringing, cultural
affiliations, and work experienced, as documented in the Ethics section of this dissertation. I
finally employed transparency.
Transparency of Processes
Transparency improves validity. Transparency requires documenting how I developed
processes, analyzed the data, and developed themes (Gibbs, 2018; Ravitch & Carl, 2019). I
provided transparency by fully documenting these items in this dissertation so that readers could
decide for themselves the validity of the study. Transparency of how I obtained the attributes will
also increase confidence in the findings. These attributes were obtained via the demographic
questions in the instrument. I validated each attribute with participants when sharing the
transcript.
Employing the methods for improving credibility, dependability, consistency, and
transferability in advance of undertaking data collection enhanced validity and reliability of the
study. The four methods of triangulation enhanced validity and reliability. I next considered
ethics.
Ethics
Ethics are an important consideration in assessing validity and reliability (Patton, 2015).
The following section reviews power and positionality, the researcher’s ethics, the approach to
obtaining consent and ensuring that participants understand that participation is voluntary, and
analytic ethics. The section concludes with a review of the approach to ensuring confidentiality.
Power and Positionality
Power, positionality, and the related areas of dominance are key considerations to address
throughout the study (Diller, 1996). Power is a significant consideration because I am a senior
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leader at ABC Professional Services Co; participants might feel compelled to participate or be
more guarded in their responses (Glesne, 2011). My positionality is important to consider
because it may cause blind spots or create assumptions that impact the study (Liu, 2011;
McNamee & Miller, 2009). I addressed the concerns as part of my assessment of ethics
underpinning the study.
Ethics
The ethics of the researcher impacts the validity and reliability of the study (Patton,
2015). I evaluated six significant issues in preparation for Institutional Review Board review
(Glesne, 2011):
1. Harm. The priority in research is to cause no harm to participants (Maxwell, 2012).
Harm could occur by breaching confidentiality or by causing psychological damage
to participants. Confidentiality was addressed as noted above. The potential for
psychological damage was minimized by reducing the length of interviews and
observations to the minimum necessary for the study.
2. Power. The researcher must account for their power in the interview dynamic
(Glesne, 2011). Importantly, I did not have any formal or informal authority over any
participant. However, I am a senior executive and well known as such; people may
have assumed that I am conducting this study to find problems to solve on behalf of
the organization and thus be more guarded in their responses. I attempted to put
people at ease by using non-firm sponsored technology and articulating the purpose
of the interview.
3. Consent. The researcher must obtain both the informed consent of ABC Professional
Services Co and the participants (Glesne, 2011). ABC Professional Services Co needs
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to fully know the purpose for the research and the fact that information will made
public. I obtained formal approval from all necessary chains of command at ABC
Professional Services Co: legal, people, strategy, and risk management and fully
disclosed the purpose, scope, use of the study, and data collected. The participants
need to know why the researcher is interviewing them so that they can feel
comfortable sharing information and that their participation is voluntary (Patton,
2015). To address this, I provided an information sheet to each participant explaining
the study.
4. Perspective. This is a study to understand why some leaders are successful. The
researcher must ensure that the participants’ voices are heard, and that the researcher
does not substitute their voice for the participants (Kobayashi, 1994; Tuck & Yang,
2014). I accomplished this through member checking.
5. Appropriate access to documents. As a leader at ABC Professional Services Co, I
have access to significant amounts of information that could prove useful for this
study. However, it is not appropriate for such information to comprise part of this
study without the consent of ABC Professional Services Co (Merriam & Tisdell,
2015). I addressed this by requesting formal email confirmation that existing data
compiled by ABC Professional Services Co could be used for the purposes of this
study. No data was used without obtaining approval from ABC Professional Services
Co.
6. Analytic ethics. Considering analytic ethics requires the researcher to consider how
data is analyzed, and not forcing data to fit pre-conceived expectations (Ravitch &
Carl, 2019). By using grounded theory and using emergent codes only in the first
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coding cycle, I did not force data to fit pre-existing conceptions. This was further
enhanced by using the constant comparative method.
Approach to Obtaining Informed Consent and Ensuring Participation Is Voluntary
Ensuring participation is voluntary and that participants consent to be recorded is a key
ethical consideration (Glesne, 2011). A pre-determined plan to address these is recommended
best practice (Bogdan & Biklen, 1997; Patton, 2015; Robinson & Leonard, 2018). Consent must
be obtained prior to collecting data (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). I followed a four-step plan to
assure participants that their participation was voluntary, and consent was obtained.
Initial Recruitment
In the initial recruitment of potential participants, I stated that participation was voluntary
and, after explaining the purpose of the study, asked the participants if they both understood and
consented. I offered to provide any further information the potential participant might want to
make an informed decision. To avoid any sense of coercion, I did not ask ABC Professional
Services Co to encourage participation. That email contained three options: (a) I would like to
discuss further; (b) I am willing to participate; (c) I would prefer not to participate.
Detailed Follow-Up
For those that indicated that they would be willing to participate, or for those who agreed
to participate after further discussion, I sent a further email offering a follow up discussion prior
to them making a final decision which also contained logistical information, a statement
indicating that participation was voluntary, that the participant could withdraw at any time, and
the information sheet attached in Appendix C. I did not proceed with interviews or document
review before sending the information sheet.
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An information sheet, rather than a signed consent form, was the documentation
evidencing voluntariness. An information sheet is the appropriate, sufficient documentation
given the nature of the study and the participants. The study focuses on success factors and thus
does not elicit information that would be detrimental to the participants if it were made public.
The participants are all senior executives. They are required by ABC Professional Services Co
policy to be proficient in English, and they will have business or legal backgrounds. All have
either a law degree or a business degree, and professional affiliations to accounting bodies such
as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants or law societies such as the American
Bar Association and their equivalents. Accordingly, I determined that participants should
understand the language used in the information sheet and have sufficient educational and
business training to read and understand the information sheet. The alternative was to request a
signed consent form. However, this would be an additional burden on the participant that does
not confer any further documented proof beyond the transcript asking the participant to confirm
that they have understood.
I also determined how to comply with any regulatorily required consents. As some
participants are located outside the United States, I complied with the University of Southern
California’s policies regarding the European General Data Protection regulation. This policy
requires the researcher to inform participants in the European Union of five matters: (a) the
purpose for the use of the data; (b) how long the data will be stored; (c) who will view or use the
data; (d) their rights and ability to withdraw consent; and (e) contact at the university and who to
complain to. The information sheet contained this information. Importantly, no sensitive data, as
that term is defined by regulation, was collected and so a signed consent form was not required.
For participants in other jurisdictions, I confirmed with the legal department of ABC
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Professional Services Co whether comparable requirements existed, and I complied with any
additional requirements.
Reconfirmation During Interview
In the interview protocol, the introduction included similar language. I did not proceed
unless the participant verbally confirmed that they understood the interview was voluntary, and
the participant consented to the researcher recording the interview. I reminded the participant of
the voluntary nature of participation at the conclusion of the interview. This was documented via
the transcript.
Respondent Validation
Finally, I employed respondent validation. Respondent validation occurred through
member checking (Gibbs, 2018). Respondent validation involved sharing the transcript with the
participant, asking them to review it. As part of that validation process, I reminded participants
that their participation was voluntary and that they could withdraw their transcript or any portion
thereof.
Confidentiality, Recording, Storage of Data
Confidentiality is a key obligation of the researcher (Glesne, 2011). Two elements of
confidentiality exist in this study: (a) the confidentiality of any information the participants
share; and (b) the confidentiality of any documents that ABC Professional Services Co provides
which contain client-confidential or firm-confidential information. I designed protocols to
enhance confidentiality.
To enhance confidentiality of participant response, I decided against using ABC
Professional Services Co. email and data storage options; communications took place via
University of Southern California email, my University of Southern California Zoom account,
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and from my personal computer. I offered to communicate with participants through their non-
ABC Professional Services Co email addresses if they wished. Before each interview, I asked
permission to record the interview. Data and the related analysis were stored electronically on
my personal computer in an encrypted folder. I assigned each participant a code name, chosen
from the top baby’s names in the United States in 2021 which I used in all documentation. This
further anonymized participation by not assigning names based on any geography. The list of
assigned names is in Appendix C.
For documents provided by ABC Professional Services Co, ABC Professional Services
Co has certain data management requirements. Germane to this study is the obligation of all
ABC Professional Services Co personnel to make their best efforts to safeguard firm-confidential
information and client-confidential information. ABC Professional Services Co prohibits
personnel from conducting firm business from any computer that is not a firm-owned computer.
To comply with this obligation, I created a folder in their firm-sponsored email account and
housed all documents and related analysis there. That folder is stored on the ABC Professional
Services Co servers and cannot be deleted without my consent or knowledge.
Limitations and Delimitations
Limitations are influences outside the control of the researcher. Delimitations are choices
the researcher makes which impact the study. Both limitations and delimitations have the
potential to impact this study.
There were several limitations inherent in the study. As this was a qualitative study
involving understanding and documenting meaning ascribed to various factors, there were
opportunities for human error. Because the focus was on success factors, maximum variation as a
tool to validate information was not used. Despite the focus on ensuring confidentiality and the
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voluntary nature of the study, participants might have felt compelled to participate and might
have sought to give the answers I wished to hear. Interviews continued until saturation was
achieved, but it was possible that further interviews and observations could have revealed new
information. The study was limited to one business unit in one organization and the findings
might not be transferrable to other settings. Finally, time constraints limited the length of the
study.
There were several delimitations. The primary delimitation was to select a qualitative,
rather than quantitative approach. Although this may have limited generalizability, the researcher
determined that a qualitative study was the most appropriate to understand the leaders’
perspectives. A key delimitation was my decision to collect data only from leaders, rather than
also from team members. Collecting data from team members might have validated or
invalidated information provided by the leaders. Delimitations included the selection of
addressable population and the criteria used to develop the sample. Further delimitations were
the length of the interview instrument and the number of observations and documents examined.
Collectively, the limitations and delimitations have the potential to negatively impact the
validity and reliability of the study. However, I have reduced the potential negative impact by
developing a research design that considered these factors, addressed power, positionality, and
ethics, and involved multiple sources of data and approaches to enhance validity and reliability.
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Chapter Four: Findings
This chapter reviews findings. Findings for this study are based on the research questions
that address the question of what success factors to which global team leaders attribute their
success. Findings not related to the research questions were not investigated further, unless they
suggested contrary explanations (Gibbs, 2018; Merriam & Tisdell, 2015).
This chapter has five parts. Part one provides the context for findings: (a) graphically
representing the data using a word cloud to allow readers to assess the overall responses of
participants; (b) providing a table of participants with their descriptive characteristics; and (c)
stating descriptive statistics about the data collected. Grounded theory demands an understanding
of themes emerging from the data (Charmaz & Smith, 2003; Gibbs, 2018; Thornberg & Charmaz,
2014). Accordingly, part two identifies key themes without regard to literature or research
questions. The objective of research is to answer specific research questions (Merriam & Tisdell,
2015). As such, part three states findings for each research question. Developing and refining
theory is the ultimate purpose of a study based in grounded theory (Juliet & Corbin, 2015). As
such, part four reviews a potential model arising from the selective coding process and asserts a
theory grounded in the data. The chapter concludes with a summary of overall findings.
Context for Findings
Obtaining an overall sense of the data will help readers assess the generalizability of this
research. I obtained an overall perspective by visualizing the data, understanding the background
of participants, and assessing the data collected. I started by visualizing the data.
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Visualization of Data and Participants
An appropriate way to obtain an initial overall sense is to visualize the data (Gibbs, 2018;
Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Figure 7 is a word cloud extracted from NVivo. The cloud depicts the
exact words used by participants.

Figure 7
Word Cloud Visualizing Most Common Words Used by Participants

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Consistent with literature, paradigm, and research design, the word cloud shows that
concepts related to people, reflection, and team arose frequently. A further way to help the reader
understand the findings is to state the relevant attributes of the participants. Table 8 depicts the
relevant attributes for each participant.

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Table 8
Attributes by Participant
Person Region Gender Education Number
of years
as
leader
Number of
other
teams
committed
to
Approximate
percentage
of time
committed
to team

Team
size or
number
of
countries
Alex Asia-
Pacific
Male Law and
business
< 5 0 20–50 10–19
Ava Europe Female Business
and other
< 5 <5 10–19 <10
Ben North
America
Male Law 5–9 5–9 20–50 >=20
Charlotte North
America
Female Business 5–9 0 >50 >=20
Elijah Europe Male Business < 5 0 5–9 10–19
Emma Europe Female Law 5–9 <5 <5 >=20
Ethan Asia-
Pacific
Male Business < 5 <5 <5 10–19
Henry Middle
East
Male Law and
business
< 5 0 >50 >=20
Jack Europe Male Law and
business
5–9 10–15 5–9 >=20
James Europe Male Law and
business
10–20 0 10–19 10–19
Leo North
America
Male Law and
business
5–9 <5 20–50 10–19
Levi Asia-
Pacific
Male Law 5–9 5–9 20–50 >=20
Liam North
America
Male Law < 5 0 20–50 10–19
Lucas Europe Male Law 10–20 <5 20–50 >=20
Noah North
America
Male Law 5–9 5–9 >50 >=20
Oliver Europe Male Law 5–9 5–9 <5 >=20
Olivia North
America
Female Business < 5 0 20–50 10–19
William Europe Male Business
and other
< 5 <5 20–50 10–19

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Several observations are important. First, there is a mix of geographies which is
consistent with the purpose of a study of global team leaders. Second, participants have a range
of self-reported attributes relevant to their team leadership which increases generalizability.
Third, I interviewed a meaningful percentage of team leaders. I achieved saturation after
interviewing nine percent of the population. Collectively, Figure 7 and Table 8 allow readers to
visualize the data and participants backgrounds as an aid to assessing the findings. I then
assessed the volume and quality of data collected.
Assessing Data Collected
Assessing the nature and extent of data collected provides additional context for findings.
Total data amounted to 1,109 separately coded references from participant interviews, two
documents provided by participants and six documents provided by ABC Professional Services
Co. I assessed the sentiment of participants, participant engagement, and richness of data. I first
assessed sentiment.
As the purpose of the study is to assess success factors, I first assessed whether
participants provided positive, rather than negative, comments. NVivo’s automatic coding of
sentiment revealed that participants shared almost twice as many positive as negative views
(positive = 983, negative = 469). I found that all participants shared more positive than negative
views which indicated that the data obtained was appropriate for this study. I then assessed the
engagement of participants.
Understanding the consistency of data supplied by participant helps the reader determine
participant engagement. NVivo’s cases function allowed me to assess engagement of each
participant by counting references. References per participant fell within a tight band (range =
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22–40, median = 28.5, modes = 28 and 31). The mean was 29.3 (SD = 4.9). I found that
participants were similarly engaged in the process. I then assessed the richness of the data.
Understanding the volume of codes developed through the analytical process provides
insight to the richness of data collected. NVivo was used to determine the volume of data
collected. First cycle coding, after consolidation of duplicates and similar concepts, resulted in
53 individual codes. First cycle codes, including repeated codes within a case, per participant fell
within a band which was widened by several outliers (range = 25–81). Further statistical analysis
indicated a tighter range (median = 49.5, modes = 43, 49). The mean was 51 (SD = 13). To
develop themes, in the axial coding phase I combined these codes into nine themes. These
themes were independent of the research questions. To develop findings related to research
questions, I reran axial coding. This axial coding process resulted in 11 second cycle codes
which were then assigned to each research question. I found that the data was rich. Collectively,
the statistics suggest relevant sentiment, engagement, and richness of views. I then considered
the themes that arose from the data.
Themes Within Data
Grounded theory starts by understanding the collected data and the themes they represent.
An appropriate first step is to review the codebook for frequencies and patterns regardless of
relationship to research questions (Gibbs, 2018). Appendix E includes my codebook arranged by
theme. Nine themes, summarized in Table 9, emerged from the data.

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Table 9
Themes Emerging from Data
Theme Concept Number of participants
reporting concept

1 Understanding where team members are coming from 18
2 Making the team feel like a team 18
3 Willing to lead 17
4 Being a good communicator 18
5 Being effective 18
6 Feeling supported by the wider organization 18
7 Willingness to grow 14
8 Relationships 17
9 Understanding what is success 18

Theme 1: Understanding Where Team Members Are Coming From
The leader must understand their team members’ perspectives to be successful.
Understanding involved a deliberate acknowledgement of the team member through
demonstrating empathy and an appreciation of the team member’s background. For example,
Charlotte noted “I think I’ve become way more empathetic than I probably started out my career.
And so, I do think I’ve evolved as well.” Empathy extended to an appreciation for the cultural
background of each team member.
Regarding the need to understand how cultural background informs team member
behavior, participants noted the need to appreciate cultural differences and deliberately modify
their approach to be successful. Ben acknowledged the centrality of cultural difference:
The first is that you have to recognize that you’re dealing with an international team.
You’re dealing with people in different cultures, who have very different ways of
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thinking of things. How they work, how they react, how they respond. I had no idea how
important that was.
Appreciating cultural difference extended to the need to be open-minded. This
acknowledged that different approaches would be appropriate depending on the team member.
For example, James expanded on the importance of flexibility:
I think, you need to accept that there are [sic] different cultures in the team, and you
should try to be flexible and need to try not to be a dominant character, because that also
will lead to failure. So, I think being open minded and recognizing that you maybe have a
different culture. It’s a different culture and that’s fine. So, you didn’t need to try to
impose your culture and your culture style. And because that is going to be a failure.
Moreover, participants noted that this involved their very active participation in
interactions with team members. Consistent with James, Alex noted
But when you are in cross-cultural discussions, the way that an issue is raised or
mentioned may not be quite as obvious as you would expect to hear in your local
jurisdiction. So, you need to be listening very carefully for the telltale signs if something
is potentially going wrong, and pick up on that, and try to elicit more.
Participants attributed their success in leading the team to acknowledging that team
members bring potentially unique experiences and cultures. This was reflected in the need to
seek to understand team member’s individual perspectives before acting, and to be flexible—
prepared to modify leader behavior depending on the particular interaction.
Theme 2: Making the Team Feel Like a Team
For the leader to be successful, the leader must lead a unified team. A unified team had
common understandings, objectives, and engaged team members. For example, William noted
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So, I suppose I’d preface that with, if I didn’t have an effective team around me, I would
be completely useless. I think the fact that they feel like they’ve got a common goal and a
bit like the [practice] principles. They’ve got a common set of principles that they’re
holding themselves to in how they operate on the team is key, actually.
Common purpose and objectives supported an effective team. Participants saw team
efficacy or shared perspectives as foundational. For example, Lucas provided further perspective
on William’s comments:
So, it’s like a trainer on a football team that must be able to keep everyone focused on the
objectives, and also that team is working together and really as a team and not as separate
professionals that are doing their work without taking into account what the others are
doing.
Moreover, this extended to developing a commonly held purpose and empowering team
members to act. Elijah noted
And at the end, this should be always the case, creating a purpose for the team where they
work. … Creating a purpose where they’re aiming for at the end, maybe that’s a client,
that’s a lighthouse engagement, where you can just say, “Okay, we want and won that
thing and we did it,” you need to create purpose and you need to make them chargeable
also for the success at the end.
Creating an effective team through common purpose and objectives required a supportive
space for team members. This required the team leader to encourage team members to fully
participate in team decisions and be engaged in the team’s objectives, even if they did not agree
with the leader’s decisions. Team members needed to feel that they could make mistakes and be
supported in their efforts. For example, Ethan noted
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I think it’s the team’s character, it’s very important. I think these people need to be open
minded and willing to work with and support each other, even though they might not
agree with a certain decision. But if they are willing to support and get it through, I think
that’s important rather than in a situation where people don’t agree with it, and then they
would just say, “Oh, this is not what I proposed, so I just don’t contribute as much as I
can and try to prove that person is right.” So, I think that’s very important, to make sure
the team—everyone is going in the right direction.
Yet, developing a unified team required engagement by team members as well.
Empowering team members included the leader working to develop a sense of responsibility in
each team member for the success of the team. For example, Noah noted
Empowerment, and what I mean by that is that you end up pulling the team together, and
presumably you’re not going to pull somebody together that’s part of the team that’s not
going to be able to deliver. You’re going to hand pick the people. So, then empowering
your team to go out and be successful themselves individually. I think it’s critical. …
And my viewpoint, the way I lead my team, is trust; delegate and trust are what it
amounts to, and I try to empower people to actually be leaders of their own specifics.
Participants noted that they could not be successful unless they lead a unified team. To be
unified, team members needed to have a shared perspective, and accept and support decisions
reached within the team. To support the effectiveness of the team, the leader needed to engender
a sense of personal responsibility for the success of the team in team members and a supportive
environment in which team members could contribute.
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Theme 3: Willing to Lead
To be successful, the leader must be willing to lead. Willingness to lead required inherent
qualities of leadership beyond mastery of team leadership behaviors. These inherent qualities
included being self-motivated, open to new things, and leading by example. For example, Oliver
noted
In our setup, I think it only works with intrinsically motivated [team leaders]. They have
to be intrinsically motivated. … So, either you like what you do or you don’t like what
you do. And then if you don’t like what you’re doing, then obviously nothing will be
really happening.
Willingness alone was insufficient. Leaders needed to demonstrate leadership. Regarding
the importance of demonstrating leadership, Levi commented
I lead by example. It’s not easy to change the people’s mind for the business. I just show
the leader example, whether in the success or failing will make people change their
motivation. So, lead by example. So not say so much. I do. And disclose everything. And
I do not ask people to follow me. I will just show and lead by example.
Collectively, participants noted that an important factor in their success is inherent in
themselves. Being self-motivated and demonstrating leadership contribute to a leader’s success.
Theme 4: Being a Good Communicator
Communication skill was critical to participants’ success. Key skillsets included
transparency and an attention to the quality of the communication. Regarding transparency, Jack
noted that this needs to be handled sensitively:
I think it’s also very important that also in that case, you communicate that with the
person, right? If you are disappointed about, let’s say, an issue, you can, in my view,
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bring that or have that conversation with that person in a very good manner without
offending the person, but just making sure that this should have been done differently.
Being very candid and open and transparent and honest on these issues is important.
In discussing quality of communication, participants elaborated on the need for
sensitivity and balance. Leo noted
So, I think it’s that. And even with the client yelling at me so to speak, listening, hearing,
assuring them, and then going back to that. But not myself yelling at the [team members],
right, but it’s just kind of explaining, “Hey, you could see how the client might perceive
this and we just want to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
Reinforcing the need for balance is an attention to taking emotion out of communication.
Focusing on the business issues at hand rather than personality or apportioning blame in the
moment was a part of being a good communicator. Reflecting on the need to be levelheaded,
William noted
I tend to take emotion out of the situation because at the end of the day, you’re trying to
get something done for someone at a level of quality. And I think it’s more effective if it
doesn’t become a sort of emotionally charged conversation. So, I guess I’ve tried to be as
objective as possible in terms of my behavior.
A further dimension of quality of communication is preparation. Participants noted the
importance of thinking through what needed to be communicated and the potential implications
of that communication. Regarding the importance of preparation, Ben noted
Attention to detail is important: you need attention to detail, because if you’re sloppy
with the details you’ll just get murdered. You lose your credibility with people. So,
attention to detail and being prepared for calls. Being prepared for meetings. I always
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document everything. I have notes so that when I’m talking to a [team member], I don’t
say at the beginning, “let’s continue from last time, blah blah blah.” I read the note, so I
know what we said last time and then I drop that kind of in the middle of the
conversation, and I might say, “Oh yeah that’s right because last time you mentioned that
you were talking to.” … He’s like, “oh yeah, that’s right,” and they’re impressed that you
remember that.
Participants noted that an attention to the quality of communication was important. Being
deliberate, eliminating emotion, and being sensitive about the way that they communicate was
cited as a key element of being a good communicator. Being a good communicator contributed
to participants’ success.
Theme 5: Being Effective
Effectiveness was necessary for a leader to be successful. Effectiveness required a focus
on generating positive beliefs that the leader and the team were effective. These beliefs
reinforced the prior held beliefs about effectiveness. Beyond completing tasks effectively,
participants believed that it was important to their success as the team leader that team members
believed them to be effective in meeting objectives and helping the team to be successful.
Bolstering both to increase effectiveness started with having a deliberate plan for such team
interactions. Olivia focused on the mechanics of team interactions:
Well, what occurs is we have these regular calls where each member on the team will
speak to their points of contact during the past, however long it’s been, if it’s been,
usually try to have something monthly at least. And we have different calls, so, we might
have our European call and we’ll have it monthly and then everyone will speak to what’s
happened, any deals that they’re seeing working on, trying to get in to see, who they’ve
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spoken to during the month. And then people will have follow ups, right? So, things that
they need to do over the next month. And then we usually have a summary is done, we
have someone that takes notes, puts together a summary, it’ll be a to do list on goals,
right? To achieve for the next call on what we can do. If there’s … a connection that we
can make to someone, for instance here, that’s important to the particular [task or project]
or whatever, we’ll discuss that and try to make that connection.
Olivia’s more formal approach was not uniformly adopted by all participants; some were
more willing to depart from a pre-set agenda to foster greater interaction with the expectation of
a richer team meeting. For example, Liam commented
The other thing that I tend to do in my meetings, to the frustration of some, is I tend not
to stick with the agenda. I like to see where the interesting thing goes a lot of the time.
So, I’ll ask people if something’s interesting—say the Japanese … change of law and is
this something that we should be bringing to the client today. I might not go over the
metrics today and push that off to the next meeting.
Yet, these data can be reconciled by noting that both started with a pre-prepared
approach; rather than being contradictory they can be viewed as a continuum of flexibility. Some
leaders may choose to adopt a more flexible approach to the team interaction based on what they
perceive is likely to foster more collaboration. Beyond having a pre-determined plan for a team
interaction, leader accountability or control facilitated effectiveness. Leader accountability and
control contributed to team efficacy by developing a sense that the team was achieving its
objectives, which contributed to team member’s belief in the success of the leader. Team
members’ belief in the success of the leader reinforced the team leader’s success. Elaborating on
the importance of control and accountability for effectiveness, Lucas noted
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It’s to have the good level of control. Since you are responsible, you are accountable for
the engagement, in order to be accountable, you have to control. And so, to be able to
control in the right way, it’s really key. … But to have the control on the teams, like of
the activities of the team, the control on the engagement, it’s really key for the success of
the engagement of the client.
Moreover, the tone or style of the interaction was as important as the mechanics in
contributing to effectiveness. This extended to how the leader portrayed themselves to their
team; participants viewed this as an opportunity to demonstrate their effectiveness, model
appropriate knowledge sharing behaviors, and reinforce their role as team leader. Participants
believed that role modelling behaviors encouraged team members to appreciate or adopt those
behaviors. Regarding the tone of such interactions, Ava observed an opportunity to reinforce the
value of her leadership:
I think it’s important to be able to show the team that you are in control of what’s going
on, because you need their respect, so I would usually spend a bit of time starting with
my overview summary of things that have gone on in any meetings I’ve had or any
opportunities I’m aware of just to set the tone for the meeting. That’s my opportunity to
share things that I found out, or know, or heard that.
Being effective reinforced a leader’s success. Although effectiveness could be objectively
measured by task outcomes, participants stressed effectiveness was influenced by perceptions.
Effectiveness causes the team to believe that the leader is successful in their role, leading them to
contribute more, and thus enhances the leader’s success.
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Theme 6: Feeling Supported by the Wider Organization
Participants reported that organizational support was important to their success and
available to them. Although this support existed, it tended to be based on whether the participant
sought it out, or whether the organization determined it needed to intervene and provide support.
For example, Lucas noted “so, the support from the firm is there but is not so clear. So, you have
always to think with your head and try to solve the issue. Maybe then, you can discuss, and then
you have some support.” Charlotte expanded this notion
So, I put my hand up, leadership was definitely engaged. Whilst I was the first one to
come to them with that issue, they know inevitably it’s going to be across the board, so
that type of thing is just illustrative of if I put my hand up, I get the help.
Accordingly, support was available if needed. When pressed further on whether they
were supported by the wider organization, participants settled on the notion of institutional
freedom as an indirect indicator of support. Liam elaborated
I’d say that probably there’s different ways to support success. One is to create sponsors
and mentors. And push things forward. The other is to give clear goals and transparency
and help along the way with those goals. Another way to do it, which I would say is our
firm’s way is to just get out of your way—it’s very much a laissez faire attitude toward
the way in what you build a business. As long as you’re building a business and things
aren’t going problematic then the firm tends to follow the stay out of the way kind of
thing. There’s pros and cons from my perspective to that. But not having a lot of
bureaucracy that’s surrounding you and figuring out yourself how to do this is certainly a
positive.
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More consistently, the visibility of their team enhanced a leader’s ability to be successful.
Participants noted that being the leader of a visible account gave them greater access to resources
and support. For example, Alex commented
And I have the support of the [overall] firm, again, through the head, and also the chief
operating officer happens to be someone I’ve had a personal relationship with since 24
years of being a [team member], and they recognize the importance of the account to
their firm.
Participants felt supported in their desire to be successful by the wider organization.
Moreover, participants felt that the visibility of the team enhanced their access to resources,
which would contribute to their success. This support, while not overt, was available when
needed.
Theme 7: Willingness to Grow
Willingness to grow, both in terms of looking inwardly and seeking external guidance
was an important factor in the success of global virtual team leaders. Self-reflection, or a sense of
humility emerged as a key concept. William summarized the importance of self-reflection:
I think there’s a sort of openness, and you can almost call it vulnerability in terms of your
behavior. So being willing to say “I know I’m the global leader … but I don’t know the
answer to everything. … I don’t know the answer to everything in terms of my client’s
fact pattern.”
Moreover, seeking external guidance was as important to growth as self-reflection. Noah
encapsulated the importance of role models
As you know, the person who leads our … practice now started what he called our
academy, many years ago. And invited many people who aspired to be [global team
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leaders] to join it. The network that was built up through that process has been incredibly
valuable to me. We’re all going through the same experiences as we move into these
roles. And then, there is a senior leader group that we’re all allowed to tap into,
particularly the relationships that we built, because those senior leaders were in some
degree proctors or whatever during our academy. They were sharing with us their
experiences to help us develop relationships with them that allowed us to just feel
comfortable to call. I can’t tell you how often I’ve done it. Tons of times.
Appreciating, and reflecting on one’s limitations indicated a willingness to grow, which
participants noted was important to their success. Self-reflection, however, was not viewed as
sufficient on its own, as participants recognized the importance of an external source—role
models and mentors—to their growth and subsequent success.
Theme 8: Relationships
Building relationships with team members was critical to success. Strong relationships
helped when the leader was not being successful, particularly as leaders of global teams
acknowledged that, due to organizational structure, they did not have complete authority over the
particular team member and relied on their willing engagement. Participants spoke of the
importance of building goodwill. For example, Emma noted
I would say it’s good to be a friendly, communicative, positive character. So yeah, once
again you cannot urge somebody at the end. You need to build up on your positive
relationships to other colleagues and I think that they should be handed in a constructive,
friendly manner.
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Moreover, building relationships took significant effort and commitment of the leader’s
time. The leader needed to be consistent and genuine. For example, James explained how
important integrity is to relationships:
People do things because they believe in you; you are credible. You have a track record,
which shows that you really are honest. You are trustworthy. You say things and really,
those are things that are true or accurate. So, you do not play games with people. I think
that kind of environment that the leader has authority could be, the team could have their
own personal view of how this leader acts, but I think he’s something with authority. The
authority, meaning someone, well, people really, he can drive teams because, really, the
teams are convinced, “Okay. This is someone who is really driving for the performance
for the team and to achieve the global objectives, not just his personal objectives.”
Devoting time to building relationships that can withstand challenging times enables a
leader to accumulate trust and belief in their role. Building successful relationships enhances the
working of the team, which contributes to the leader’s success.
Theme 9: Understanding What Is Success
Understanding what success looked like and how it helps the leader in their career
development was an important factor to the success of the leader. There was a divergence
between what participants determined would accurately measure their success and what
participants determined the organization used to measure success. Regarding the organization’s
view, the most common response was a financial metric: success was objectively determined
based on revenue generated by the team, both on an absolute current year basis and based on
growth from the prior year. Most commonly, this metric was set by the local business unit based
on local metrics, rather than global team metrics. Participants stated that success was, or could
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be, measured by other indicators (for example, trust of the client, dynamics of the team,
percentage share of client spend, or dispersion of projects by geography or type of service), but
ultimately concluded that financial metrics demonstrated success. For example, Charlotte shared
Success metrics would be, I think, zero or no complaints—but I think we need to be in a
green zone. Managing any client service issue in a quick and productive way. I think they
appreciate that, but I don’t even want to get to that point, so staying close enough to the
account that I can actually see things coming and going to the client with a proactive
solution before it gets to that point is where I like to play. I think the client appreciates
that. And you know, obviously it’s a share of revenue and making sure that we’re still
number one as far as our competitors and making sure market share doesn’t get eroded
over time.
Adding to the perspective that other indicators of success likely existed, William shared a
consistent view with Charlotte, adding that different people have different views of what success
looks like. Yet, when pressed to state what indicators were most important to the organization,
William reflected that although all the indicators he mentioned were important, financial metrics
were the measure of success from the organization’s perspective. Notwithstanding participants’
views that alternative, additional indicators would more accurately measure their success in role,
participants all understood how success was measured.
Moreover, participants were clear that success in their role would help them. Participants
framed this understanding in terms of what it could do for their future. For example, Henry
observed
Of course, at the end of the day we are judged on your results. You are allowed a bad
year but not 2 bad years. And, if you are successful then other opportunities open up. It’s
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the commercial side—if you are perceived to be doing well and being successful, then
more opportunities open up for you.
Participants had a clear understanding of the indicator of success, although they were
divided on whether this was the most appropriate way to measure their success in the role of
global virtual team leader. Regardless of the appropriateness of the indicator, all participants
understood what defined success and were able to articulate how it impacted their expectancies
of future success.
The nine themes are consistent with the purpose and constructivist paradigm of this
study. Understanding themes emerging from the data increases the validity of findings for each
research question. I then assessed data that related to each research question.
Findings Related to Research Questions
This part states findings, organized by research question. Three research questions
emanated from the literature review and theoretical framework: (a) what behaviors do global
team leaders report are important in succeeding in the role of global team leader; (b) what in the
environment do global team leaders report facilitates success in the role of global team leader;
and (c) what personal factors do global team leaders report are important in succeeding in the
role. Table 10 states the findings, arranged by research question.

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Table 10
Summary of Findings
Research question Finding
number
Finding

What behaviors do global
team leaders report are
important in succeeding in
the role of global team
leader?
1 It is important to behave in a balanced positive
manner when communicating
2 Maintaining an effective team contributes to success
3 Leaders must engender respect for team members
and appreciate their cultural background

What in the environment do
global team leaders report
facilitates success in the
role of global team
leader?
4

Participants were supported by their organization
5 Participants needed a positive, inclusive, in person
team environment
6 Shared objectives are an important part of a
successful team environment

What personal factors do
global team leaders report
are important in
succeeding in the role?
7 Participants had interpersonal skills
8 Participants were able to build relationships
9 Participants understood how to achieve objectives
10 Participants were personally invested in the role
11 Participants were open to change

Each research question starts with a summary of overall findings and significance of the
findings to participants. Findings contain two parts: (a) statistics depicting participants’ response
rate and intensity of views; and (b) the finding and supporting data. To develop findings, I
reassessed first cycle codes previously arranged by theme and recombined them into axial codes
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based on the research questions. The code book, rearranged by research question, is in Appendix
F.
Research Question 1: What Behaviors Do Global Team Leaders Report Are Important in
Succeeding in the Role of Global Team Leader?
This research question focused on identifying behaviors of global team leaders that they
reported contribute to success. Twenty nine percent of the data related to this question (285
references out of 997 references coded to research questions). Table 11 depicts the three findings
related to this research question.

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Table 11
Findings of Behaviors That Contribute to Success
Finding Brief description Number of
participants
reporting finding

It is important to
communicate in a
balanced, positive
manner
Behaving in a balanced but positive way
enhances success of global virtual team
leaders. Behaving in a balanced but
positive way increases team member
confidence in the leader. A way to behave
in a positive manner is to acknowledge
team members’ positive contributions
through feedback.
18

Maintaining an effective
team contributes to
success
Leaders need to have an effective team to be
successful. To position the team to be
effective, the leader must instill a sense of
team that encourages team members to
actively participate. This requires upfront
preparation for each team interaction. The
leader must be accountable for task
achievements and can accomplish this via
active monitoring of team activity.
17

Leaders must treat team
members with respect
and appreciate their
cultural background
Leaders must treat people appropriately.
Treating people with respect and
empowering them to act is how leaders
behave to encourage success. To treat
people appropriately requires the leader to
understand and respect cultural differences
and appreciate that there can be a number
of ways of achieving a goal. This requires
flexibility in approach on the part of the
leader.

16

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Finding 1: It Is Important to Behave in a Balanced, Positive Manner When Communicating
When communicating, behaving in a balanced way and being continuously positive was
reported to be a key factor in global virtual team leader success. Communication covered both
verbal and non-verbal behaviors. I first review statistics related to this finding and then review
the finding itself.
A statistical review of the codebook revealed that the behavior of balanced, but positive,
communication was important to all participants (range = 1–15, modes = 4, 5, 6, median = 5,
mean = 5.3, SD = 3.4). Sixteen of 18 participants mentioned balanced, positive communication
as an important behavior more than once. I found the importance of this finding, by type of
participant, by measuring the frequency of times discussed. Table G1 in Appendix G provides
additional descriptive statistics.
Regarding the importance of behaving in a balanced way when communicating with team
members, participants noted that they were more successful if they could project balance, or
levelheadedness. In contrast, participants noted that communicating with emotion or negativity
did not enhance their success. Balance or level headedness impacted the success of the team,
which impacted the success of the leader. For example, Ethan observed “I would say remaining
calm. Because I’ve worked for different style[s] of leaders, some of them get so irritated that I
think even the [most senior] member will lose their confidence if you just don’t remain calm.”
Balance also extended to the content of communication. Whereas communication needed to have
a purpose related to the team’s objective, allowing communication to drift from the purpose was
beneficial because it brought the team together. For example, Elijah noted
It's serious but on the same side, you will have fun. It’s allowed to tell jokes, it’s allowed
to maybe drift a bit into unserious things, but at the end of the meeting, there is a focus,
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and we are aiming for something, and the way we reach that is, more friendly, more by
being colleagues and not by being, there’s a [leader] here, there’s a [senior member] and
this [more junior member].
Yet, this finding was nuanced: although balance was important, the leader still needed to
always behave positively. Behaving positively, or with confidence, was regarded as a significant
part being a successful team leader because team members looked to the leader’s behavior for
signals of how the team was performing. Charlotte observed “I think of my role in a way, as a bit
of a cheerleader.” Regarding the need to behave in a consistently positive manner, Olivia shared
“so I would say having a positive attitude is important, because there are times when you are
going to fail, right?” Extending the need for positivity, Leo observed
I think you have to show, whether you feel it or not, confidence, right, enthusiasm.
You’ve got to be upbeat. … It’s all eyes are on you. When you walk in the room, when
you walk in the office, your body language, your tone, how you treat others, like all of
that, whether you want it or not, is being critiqued at every level. … And it’s you have to
have a level of confidence and awareness of your own persona if you’re going to be
successful. And whether you feel it or not, you have to be the one that’s positive. Again,
to be a leader you can’t be the one that’s complaining or falling down or what have you.
It’s just you got to remain upbeat even in the dire situations.
Moreover, behaving positively extended to the act of recognizing team members for their
efforts and providing feedback. Recognizing team member efforts helped bind the team together
and make a more welcoming environment for team members. For example, William shared “so
maybe occasionally in some of those meetings, if you were to attend one of them, you’d see a bit
of that reaffirmation of that commitment. And some gratitude actually expressed as to how well
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people are doing.” Echoing this, Oliver observed “I think one important aspect is
acknowledgement. So, acknowledging good work, providing feedback, positive and negative,
but providing feedback, I think that’s extremely important as a leader.”
Behaving in a balanced but positive way enhances success of global virtual team leaders.
Behaving in a balanced but positive way increases team member confidence in the leader. A way
to behave in a positive manner is to acknowledge team members’ positive contributions through
feedback.
Finding 2: Maintaining an Effective Team Contributes to Success
Being a successful global team leader required the leader to manage a team with a view
to effectiveness of the team. In participants’ minds, this covered the mechanics of managing the
team towards success in its objectives as well as instilling a sense of team. I first review statistics
related to this finding and then review the finding itself.
A statistical review of the codebook revealed that 17 of 18 participants shared that the
behavior of actively managing an effective team was a key factor in their success (range = 0–14,
mode = 7, median = 7, mean = 6.6, SD = 3.4). Sixteen mentioned the importance of maintaining
an effective team as an important behavior more than once. I found the importance of this
finding, by type of participant, by measuring the frequency of times discussed. Table G2 in
Appendix G provides additional descriptive statistics.
The mechanics of managing an effective team started before any team interaction and
continued after the interaction. The process involved a continuous cycle of behaviors. Figure 8
depicts that cycle.
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Figure 8
Behavior Reported to Maximize Team Effectiveness

The first step in the cycle of maintaining an effective team was preparation for team
interactions. Preparation included both developing content and considering the logistics of a
team interaction. Leaders also needed to consider how they would engage all members of the
team. Ethan observed
First of all, for my team meeting, definitely, I need to do a fair bit of preparation. In
particular, if you have a number of people on the meeting, it could get a little bit messy.
So, definitely, need to have a lot of preparation, have a proper agenda. Make sure the
technology is right, if it is online because that could cause a lot of disruption. Making
sure people have the chance to say their opinion. In particular, if you have a large number
Preparation
Instilling a "one
team" sense in
interactions
Taking
accountability
Focusing on task
effectiveness
Active
monitoring
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of people. Even though sometimes people would just like to join the discussion and then
sometime people with that opportunity lost, then maybe people say, “Okay, I would just
not provide a comment.” So, making sure people have the chance to say what they want
to say and spend the time to listen and have the follow-up action points.
The second behavior participants identified was behaving in each team interaction in way
that instilled a sense of teamwork and collaboration was important. This meant that the
participant created an environment in which all team members felt comfortable contributing.
Where team members were not contributing, the participant needed to ensure that they were
given the space to do so. Tracing Ethan’s perspective directly to success, Liam observed
Sure, so one thing that I hope comes across in my meetings is that while I’ll set the
agenda, I really want it to be a King Arthur’s roundtable concept. I don’t want anyone to
be in charge simply because they’re in charge. I want everyone to feel that they have a
seat at that table and are an equal participant. You’ll hear me make sure that if anyone’s
being quiet, I will give them a platform to speak. Because I’m a big believer that just
because you’re the loudest person in the room doesn’t mean you have the best ideas and
so you’ll give everyone an opportunity to speak. There’s also a big cultural element to it
as well; if we talk about the loudest people in the room, they tend to be the Americans
and the Brits. English as a first language they have large aspects of their book of business
but frankly if all I had was a U.S. and a U.K. office, I’d get zero work. It’s because we’re
global that that we get it.
Failing to instill a comfortable team environment had negative consequences for success.
This is because if team members did not feel comfortable sharing information, the participant
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might not factor the data into important decisions or actions. Participants required willing, active
engagement by team members to be successful. Liam continued
The other aspect to success is I need everyone to have their own voice—as I said, I don’t
lead by dictate. That’s not how this organization works. I need everyone to be saying
what they need and hold their hand up because where I’ve seen significant failures it’s
where people are in a silo, and we don’t have any time to address it.
Placing pressure on the participant’s ability to instill a sense of team was the fact that the
teams provided personal services for clients. Accordingly, team members sometimes believed
that they could be successful independent of working within the team and would act accordingly.
Lucas reinforced the negative impact on a leader’s success of the failure to actively instill a sense
of team:
So, we tend to do things like an artist, so everyone thinks that he’s the best one, he has to
do his job alone. So, we tend to play alone and not as a team. … And basically, when we
had issues and we had difficulties, it was really because of this behavior, because
everyone, at least part of the people involved in the team were playing alone. And so,
what I tried to change was that behavior, so tried to organize a little bit more and put in,
so to put the first place the needs of the [wider organization] rather than the personal
success of the person that was involved in the team.
The third important behavior related to task effectiveness. Participants meant
accomplishing tasks that were set. This involved meeting commitments to each other. For
example, Henry observed “and then back to the just delivering on what we say we’re going to
do—that applies not just delivering to the client, but also amongst ourselves.”
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The fourth important behavior was taking accountability for outcomes. Assuming
responsibility for both positive and negative outcomes was important. For example, Elijah
highlighted the importance of taking accountability to maintaining an effective team:
Also, we always see leaders when it goes wrong, they say, “It was the other guy.” I think
it’s always good to take responsibility in both cases, and if we have success, we have it
together, if we lose stuff or if we are not doing a good job, we all didn’t do a good job.
It’s about being there and being responsible and not hanging back at the end.
Participants observed that they needed to demonstrably assume personal accountability to
ensure their success. This helped ensure that the team was effective. For example, Jack shared
But people can definitely see that if indeed I initiate issues, I follow up on those issues. If
I hear about, let’s say, one of the team members that they need support from me, I will
follow up on that. And I will keep myself accountable on, let’s say, those roles. And if I
can’t, let’s say help them, I will tell them. So, just making sure that everything that is
asked can either be done and will be done or otherwise tell them to go to someone else, or
that it can’t be done. And so, follow up on issues, giving follow up on issues.
However, participants viewed accountability as a shared concept. Participants observed
that they needed to empower team members to act and hold them accountable to the team.
Participants viewed this as an important feature of any successful leader. Oliver observed
So, I try to share responsibilities in that sense. So, trying to include them—shifting,
ownership, accountability to certain extent. At the end, yes, I’m accountable for it, but
still, they should feel themselves also accountable within their role. Obviously, they play
within the [client service team]. It’s also an aspect of personal development. I mean,
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these people who are contributing, they may be also in the future have such a role. So,
they should already start early feeling accountable.
Yet, shared accountability was tempered by the recognition that the leader needed to
ultimately be responsible. Participants observed that failing to assume accountability had a
negative impact either to the team itself or to themselves personally. Oliver continued “I don’t
know if it goes, but taking ownership and being accountable, are extremely important in my
view. You lose credibility if you constantly shy away from taking ownership, not taking
decisions, and then at the end, not being accountable or you try to shift accountability.”
The fifth behavior was monitoring. Managing an effective team required monitoring of
tasks and outcomes. It was insufficient to agree actions and assign accountabilities. Participants
needed to be prepared to actively engage where the team was not meeting expectations. Success
further required participants to continue to monitor even after an intervention. For example,
Charlotte observed
But I thought they were on the right track and had left them—trusted them and hadn’t
heard any waves. They went down a bit of a rabbit hole on a particular issue, and then the
way they were describing it to the client made the client think that there was a bigger
issue than there really was. So, it got escalated to me and I had an initial internal
discussion with my guy: this is the feedback I’m getting from the client, we need to be
clear in our messaging, and I left them to deal with it. I thought we were clear after the
call that there was a plan and they had it in hand. And it further escalated. I think we’ve
got it back on track now, but I’m annoyed that I had given them the benefit of the doubt
and trusted them a bit more than I should have. Maybe I should have been in there,
helping them further tailor their communication.
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Leaders need to have an effective team to be successful. To position the team to be
effective, the leader must instill a sense of team that encourages team members to actively
participate. This requires upfront preparation for each team interaction. The leader must be
accountable for task achievements and can accomplish this via active monitoring of team
activity.
Finding 3: Leaders Must Engender Respect for Team Members and Appreciate Their Cultural
Background
Being a successful global team leader required the leader to treat people appropriately. In
participants’ minds this behavior meant engendering respect and empowering team members to
act. However, this required participants to first understand team members’ perspectives and act
according to their culture and way of working. I first review statistics related to this finding and
then review the finding itself.
A statistical review of the codebook revealed that 16 of 18 participants shared that the
behavior of treating people appropriately was a key factor in their success (range = 0–7, mode =
4, median = 4, mean = 3.7, SD = 2). Fifteen of 18 mentioned treating team members well as an
important behavior more than once. I found the importance of this finding, by type of participant,
by measuring the frequency of times discussed. Table G3 in Appendix G provides additional
descriptive statistics.
Engendering respect was a precondition to treating people appropriately. Participants
noted the importance of according each team member respect. For example, Alex noted “so in
terms of if you were attending one of the team meetings, what you would see is a request that
everyone is respectful of each other.” Liam encapsulated the meaning participants assigned to
respect
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Treating everybody with respect all of the time is critical to a team. Obviously, I would
take it as a given respect in the normal sense of the word, and you know, treating people
as human beings. I’m talking about respect for what they bring to the table as well and
making sure that they that they are recognized for that. Giving them every opportunity to
shine.
Moreover, empowering team members was also an important facet of engendering
respect. Empowerment demonstrated that the participant trusted the team member and respected
their ability to execute a particular task. Noah observed that failing to empower team members
put the success of the team at risk:
I think the empowerment is the most important. I’ve always been an advocate for
empowering teams and empowering individuals but that’s the most important. Without
the empowerment, without the knowledge that “hey it’s yours go do it,” it has a chilling
effect. It could have a chilling effect on individuals or so we want to encourage
behaviors, encourage action. I think by empowering you encourage the action.
Respect required an appreciation for the team member’s background and culture. Acting
with cultural humility when engendering respect or empowering people was important. This
meant, on occasion, modifying the way that the leader would otherwise act. For example, James
observed “adaptable because you see such different styles in the jurisdictions they are in, so you
need to really understand, ‘Okay. I need to act this way because I know who I have in front of
me.’” Henry reinforced the importance of cultural appreciation as a sign of respect: “the other
thing too is, you know, we’ve got 25–30 different nationalities, so respecting that people see
things from a different is important. There just isn’t one way of doing things—you got to respect
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some people approaching it from a different angle.” Elijah underscored the importance of
appreciating cultural background as part of showing respect:
And if I work [with] foreign colleagues of the client, you need to have this perspective,
you need to respect the culture, you need to respect how they behave in order to get along
with them. Therefore, it is crucial to integrate these foreign team members into your
team, that also you act like one team, it’s harder definitely, it’s even harder [than] with
people you are around every day, but you need to also create an atmosphere where they’ll
feel welcome and where they will then contribute.
Leaders must treat people appropriately. Treating people with respect and empowering
them to act is how leaders behave to encourage success. To treat people appropriately requires
the leader to understand and respect cultural differences and appreciate that there can be a
number of ways of achieving a goal. This requires flexibility in approach on the part of the
leader.
Research Question 2: What in the Environment Do Global Team Leaders Report
Facilitates Success in the Role of Global Team Leader?
This research question focused on identifying features of the environment that global
team leaders believe contribute to success. The environment had two dimensions: (a) the wider
organization outside the leader’s own team; and (b) the team itself. Thirty four percent of the
data related to this research question (338 references out of 997 references coded to research
questions). Table 12 summarizes findings.

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Table 12
Findings of Environmental Factors That Contribute to Success
Finding Brief description Number of
participants
reporting finding

Participants were
supported by their
organization
Support manifests itself through access to senior
leadership and other resources. Leaders know
when support exists because they see either a
positive impact on their career or they are able
to organize their team without intervention.
Support at the local business unit level is
perceived to be stronger than at global.
However, at both levels, the support is not
automatic, and the leader must act to access it.
18

Participants needed a
team environment
that fosters
communication,
collaboration, and
knowledge sharing
A positive environment fostered trust,
knowledge sharing and communication.
Virtual teamworking contributed to a positive
environment where team members already
knew each other because it afforded greater
accessibility of team members. Virtual
teamworking was also viewed positively
where the team had defined tasks and
objectives and virtual sessions could focus on
concrete steps and outputs. However, the
positive impact of virtual teamworking is
nuanced: virtual teamworking was viewed as
less effective than in person interactions when
difficult discussions needed to occur, or new
team members joined the team. Virtual
teamworking also had a risk of decreasing
efficiency as it facilitated multi-tasking and
made it difficult to establish connections
within the team.

18

121

Finding Brief description Number of
participants
reporting finding

Shared objectives are
an important part
of a successful
team environment
Team members needed shared objectives for the
team to be successful. Shared objectives were
objectives of the team itself that each team
member subscribed to for the team’s benefit.
Where team members had priorities and goals
outside the team that might cause them to
deprioritize the team; leaders needed to extend
the concept of common objectives to include
objectives that were common with the team
member’s other, non-team related, priorities.

16

Finding 4: Participants Were Supported by Their Organization
Being a successful global team leader required the leader to be supported by the wider
organization. In participants’ minds this was demonstrated by receiving support when they
needed or otherwise being allowed to lead their team as they saw fit. I first review statistics
related to this finding and then review the finding itself.
A statistical review of the codebook revealed that all participants shared that this
environmental finding was a key factor in their success (range = 1–9, mode = 4, median = 3.5,
mean = 3.6, SD = 1.6). Seventeen of 18 mentioned treating team members well as an important
factor more than once. I found the importance of this finding, by type of participant, by
measuring the frequency of times discussed. Table G4 in Appendix G provides additional
descriptive statistics.
Participants reported that being a global team leader on one of the global accounts
resulted in organizational support. Tangible demonstrations of support included being invited to
senior level courses and receiving account-based interventions. Support was also manifested in
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the ability to enlist the support of senior resources and career growth. Regarding senior level
support, participants felt that they could call senior leaders when needed to obtain needed
support. Alex shared “there is recognition and support. If something is critical, the fact that I
know people like the global head . . . I can reach out and say, we need something done, we’ve
got a burning platform.” Noah elaborated on the supportive environment and senior level
support:
It empowers me. Our lead partners are lead partners. The firm allows us to build our
teams and allows us to operate our accounts the way we want to operate our accounts, in
a way that we see that would be the best fit for that client. But I think the best part about
our firm is our leadership and the accessibility to people who have been down this path
before. To share with you how they would handle certain situations so there’s always a
line of communication that’s open.
Moreover, participants perceived that the visibility of their role and the team they led
provided access to more resources and helped the participant’s career. Regarding access to
resources, Leo shared “look, given the name, if something we needed [say], our leaders, to fly
out and meet the chief executive officer, they would do that.” Regarding the assistance the team
provided to the participant’s career, James commented
Lot of visibility, because in the end, this client is one of the main clients of my [local
business unit]. So certainly, by being the global [leader] of the client and then succeeding
in some way, that’s helped me, certainly, in my career. It provides a lot of this visibility.
Yet, participants noted that support was not automatic or necessarily easy to find; they
needed to find it. Continuing from his prior comment, Alex observed
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the support is probably there if you need it and you ask for it, but it’s not exactly obvious
what that support is, and it takes a long time to find out—you need to know the right
people to ask to get into the channels to get the support that’s there.
Moreover, participants viewed support as uneven. Local business units provided support
because there was a perceived benefit to the local business unit or from a sense that the local
business unit should contribute to the global organization. Regarding the benefit to the local
business unit providing the basis for support, Ava reflected “the encouragement I get is to take
on the global roles that will help facilitate [local business unit] business.” Regarding the benefit
to the global organization providing the basis for support, William noted
So, I think it does, actually. I think it recognizes that there’s a certain category of clients
where, as the [local business unit] in a member firm network, we need to contribute some
capacity of a group of people to look after these clients. So, they could say, “Well, you’re
going to be measured on x amount of revenue being brought into the [local business
unit].” And they don’t. They just say this is one of a group of clients where we think as a
global firm, we should be investing time and energy and intensity in them. And therefore,
you have direct sponsorship to go and do that as a [local business unit member] for the
global firm.
In contrast, participants noted less consistent support at the global level. Beyond access to
senior leaders, the global organization provided material and financial resources and the potential
for knowledge sharing. For example, Elijah noted
So, first of all, global creates an infrastructure so we can work together. And so, this is
the infrastructure where we count on and where we can build trust together at the end, so
this is, at least in my eyes, the foundation. We need to have information and tech in order
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to work together. I know that for big accounts, there is money where you can spend hours
but really can go for it, and I think this is definitely valuable. There are things where we
really share knowledge, and this is all we are, our job is all about knowledge sharing. So,
if global knows something, that sharing would be the best situation at the end, but I think
there, global is doing a good job, including the foundation, and everyone has to do the
next step.
However, beyond leadership access, material resources and the potential for knowledge
sharing, participants determined that support at the global level was less tangible in terms of
quantity and perceived effectiveness. For example, Charlotte shared “global pops up every now
and again is how I describe it.” This might be explained by the limited nature of support the
global organization might practically provide and its limited ability to directly intervene in local
business unit matters. For example, Liam observed “so I know that there’s limitations almost like
a federal system right there’s limitations to the ability of global to do things. I recognize that,
being a student of the firm.”
Leaders reported a supportive environment exists at the local business unit and global
levels, and they could access that support whenever needed. Support manifests itself through
access to senior leadership and other resources. Leaders know when support exists because they
either see a positive impact on their career or they are able to organize their team without
intervention. Support at the local business unit level was perceived to be stronger than at the
global level. However, at both levels, the support is not automatic, and the leader must act to
access it.
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Finding 5: Participants Needed a Positive, Inclusive, in Person Team Environment
Being a successful global team leader required a positive team environment. In
participants’ minds this meant an environment that fostered communication, collaboration, and
knowledge sharing. I first review statistics related to this finding and then review the finding
itself.
A statistical review of the codebook revealed that all participants shared that this finding
was a key factor in their success (range = 5–27, mode = 11, median = 11.5, mean = 12.7, SD =
5.1). All participants mentioned team environment as an important environmental factor more
than once. I found the importance of this finding, by type of participant, by measuring the
frequency of times discussed. Table G5 in Appendix G provides additional descriptive statistics.
A positive team environment meant an environment where team members contributed
willingly and trusted each other. Such an environment increased task effectiveness. Reflecting on
the need for everyone to be willing to contribute, Emma underlined the impact to her success:
So, I think it’s easier because globally you don’t have any possibility to urge something. I
think everything is voluntary. And at the end, in most cases, aside from friends surprising
[with] some very big project, it’s local … work, yeah, so you always need … the
willingness of the local . . . people at the end.
Regarding trust, Ethan observed
And if people know they have the back of each other, I think people will be more open
and willing to do their best, knowing that they always got the support, not just the team
member, but also the leader and other people within the team to give full support.
Trust existed where team members were willing to communicate and share knowledge.
For example, Alex shared
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A team that is comfortable at any time to communicate with each other on the spot to ask
a question or to share some information so that, again, nothing is being delayed,
everyone’s happy to make sure everybody’s fully informed as to what’s going on.
Willingness and trust extended to collaboration. Ben highlighted the importance of an
environment that facilitated give and take
I rely on and need vocal partners who are open to working in a collaborative way. It
means they have to give a little bit, but hopefully they’ll feel like they’re receiving in
return. So, I’m looking for people that will have that have a collaborative spirit, you
know and want to work towards something and build something together.
Jack noted the importance of bonding in building a sense of collaboration:
Well, I think the bonding and making sure that the team works as a team, is I think the
most important one. Because, if people recognize that, that is the way to make the client
more successful, also for their own practice in their country, then of course, they will see
the results of that action.
Moreover, although participants observed that diversity created challenges in maintaining
a team environment, diversity was viewed as feature of the environment that, if employed
successfully, could create more success. Diversity helped the team mirror their client and
generate better outcomes. Yet, to achieve these contributions to a positive environment, the
leader needed to expend additional effort. Oliver highlighted the challenges and benefit of
diversity on the team environment:
I think at the end of the day it does actually help the success. Typically, in a first instance,
it may be perceived as kind of holding you back because everybody has a different way
of communicating, of bringing up issues, handling issues differently. So, it takes some
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patience, yes, but at the end of the day, I guess you have a more holistic view. You have
more inclusion by that, and by that also being able to get the buy-in of the entire group.
Perceptions on how working virtually impacted the team environment varied. While
some participants noted positive impacts, others perceived negative impacts. However, the views
could be reconciled. On the one hand, virtual working increased accessibility when compared to
taking time to gather in person. As long as team members already knew each other, virtual
communication was viewed as effective. This was because there was a pre-existing relationship
to fall back on should problems arise. For example, Lucas observed
But my feeling is that all the virtual activities and the remote working, it’s good and does
not affect too much the success of the team when you are working with people that you
have been working with for a long period of time.
Appropriate use of technology enhanced a positive team environment. Participants
commented that new technologies replicated much of the in-person experience. Emma observed
No, I think we did make improvement when we started using Teams starting from last
year, so that is really one key element. I think it makes such a big difference whether you
only have a conference [call] where you don’t get it to distinguish these different voices.
It was always pain with participants of more than 10 or 20 colleagues. And now it’s
really easy because it’s nice and it’s normally very personally you see the apartments, so
these private offices.
Yet, on the other hand, working virtually was less successful when there were new team
members or difficult discussions. Participants expressed concern that although virtual
communication increased the amount and frequency of communication, it was less effective than
in person meetings. For example, Noah observed
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I think the virtual environment has a tendency to slow things down. We can be far more
productive in meetings together face to face than we are on a Zoom or Skype or a Team’s
meeting. … The multitasking that goes on during meetings is incredibly inefficient for
meetings right, so I think that virtual encourages multitasking and nobody’s good at
multitasking. Which means that we’re not getting our points across to everybody that’s
on the line or everybody that’s in the meeting like if you were in person. So, sometimes
you have to repeat things and other times, you have to have follow on discussions and so
I think from an efficiency and from a time to market approach the virtual world actually
hurts us a little bit.
Moreover, the same concern about the true effectiveness extended to the difficulty in
building team spirit. This was evidenced through whether the virtual mode of working inhibited
the ways people developed a team environment. For example, William shared
So, I think there’s definitely something about the ability to build up rapport with people.
Especially people you’ve never met before, is compromised by being on a video call.
Because I can’t actually make eye contact with you as much as I might want to. That’s
impossible for me to do that and for you make eye contact with me at the same time. And
there’s something about the nonverbal communications unless I do this
5
. You can’t see
what my body is doing, so I can’t build a rapport with you through body language. And I
think that holds us back a great deal, actually.
Participants sensed that working virtually impacted the sense of commitment within the
team. This arose when difficult discussions requiring decisions occurred. Echoing the concern
that virtual team working negatively impacted the environment, Oliver observed

5
William used exaggerated gestures to demonstrate that normal-sized gestures would not be seen or correctly
interpreted via a computer screen.
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And particular in these instances, I think there are certain things which are lost in
communication when dealing virtually, it’s again, that what results in a gut feeling, it’s
the body language, the fine movements, which you don’t get when you. I mean, it’s better
now when we are, at least when we see each other in the video conference, but still, you
don’t get the same atmosphere. People, I guess, at the end, don’t feel as accountable to
contribute to conversation, to take decision so much because it’s one button and they can
click away. If you’re in a room you cannot just click and “Scotty, beam me up”, you have
to get physically out of this room. And it just creates a different sense of accountability.
And then reading these fine signals, you just get more of in a physical meeting than in a
virtual meeting. Think when it’s purely factual, when it’s about getting team together.
Okay, how do we progress, next steps, etc. Absolutely fine doing this virtually but when
you have topics where you may feel some dissent, I just believe a physical meeting
cannot be beaten.
When pressed, participants believed that in person interactions improved the team
environment. In person interaction had an intangible quality contributed to a positive
environment. For example, Noah observed
Our teams work virtually for the most part, anyway, most of the time, but to me there’s
no substitute for working together in person. The various workshops that I’ve hosted at
clients in Paris and Zurich demonstrate that. You know a bunch of [team members] from
five countries that probably know each other, maybe they’ve even met each other before,
but now we’re coming together to do something for this client. We have dinner the night
before. Prep our presentation—you really feel part of a team and there’s a different vibe.
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A positive team environment was important for the success of global team leaders. A
positive environment fostered trust, knowledge sharing, and communication. Virtual
teamworking contributed to a positive environment where team members already knew each
other because it afforded greater accessibility of team members. Virtual teamworking was also
viewed positively where the team had defined tasks and objectives and virtual sessions could
focus on concrete steps and outputs. However, the positive impact of virtual teamworking
nuanced: virtual teamworking was viewed as less effective than in person interactions when
difficult discussions needed to occur, or new team members joined the team. Virtual
teamworking risked decreasing team effectiveness as it facilitated multi-tasking and made it
difficult to establish connections within the team.
Finding 6: Shared Objectives Are an Important Part of a Successful Team Environment
Shared objectives were a feature of a team environment that contributed to team leader
success. In participants’ minds this meant objectives that supported the success of the team and
of the team member themself. I first review statistics related to this finding and then review the
finding itself.
A statistical review of the codebook revealed that 16 of 18 participants shared that this
finding was a key factor in their success (range = 0–7, mode = 1, median = 2, mean = 2.6, SD =
2). Sixteen of 18 mentioned this as an important environmental factor more than once. I found
the importance of this finding, by type of participant, by measuring the frequency of times
discussed. Table G6 in Appendix G provides additional descriptive statistics.
Team members needed to have shared objectives for the team environment to contribute
to success of the team leader. Participants needed to reinforce the benefit of shared or common
objectives for the entire team. Regarding how shared objectives lead to success, Lucas shared
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I think that the team is successful if it is a team, if it’s working really as a team. So, what
I was saying before, if we are able to build up a team, if the global team leader together
with the other people helping him is able to build up a team that work as a team, people
that know each other and can help each other, and can support each other, that it’s a good
starting point for a team to be successful. … But if the team is correctly buil[t] up and
share the same ideas and the same goal and approaches to manage the account, th[en] it’s
a team that can be successful.”
Moreover, shared objectives needed to accommodate and satisfy external influences.
Leaders needed to understand team member motivations. These motivations might be
attributable to factors unrelated to, or even at cross purposes with, the team. Participants
appreciated that team members were part of more than one team and thus needed to prioritize
this team; accordingly, they needed to find shared objectives that went beyond task completion
and appealed to each team member. Reflecting on the importance of shared objectives to
mitigate the impact of competing priorities, Ava noted
I think when people have got loads of competing things, they’ve got to do with their time
right—and [in global professional consulting firms] we give people a lot of freedom
about how they spend their time. You take on lots of different things to get done, lots of
different roles and then we trust people to get things done and talk about doing things off
the side of your desk. You’re fighting to get people to put a certain amount of energy into
a thing that they’re doing, and making people feel like they’re part of the community that
they enjoy being part of that team, being kind to each other, helping each other. So that
people look forward to those calls and actually want to join them because they feel like
they get something out [of being on the team].
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Moreover, the impact might not be due to the need of team members to prioritize their
time. Team members might view other activities as more important for their personal career. As
such, participants needed to focus team members on the benefit of contributing to the team for
themselves. For example, Noah observed
Well, so another thing that that we have to keep in mind is the people that are on our
teams are also on other teams. So, the other thing too is that everybody has their own
kind of driver for their career. So how can we collectively help one another achieve our
career goals or aspirations for the success of our team. Let’s not lose sight of the bigger
picture of the individuals who are on the team and what drives their behavior.
Team members needed shared objectives for the team to be successful. Shared objectives
were objectives of the team itself that each team member subscribed to for the team’s benefit.
Where team members had priorities and goals outside the team that might cause them to
deprioritize the team, leaders needed to extend the concept of common objectives to include
objectives that were common with the team member’s other, non-team related, priorities.
Research Question 3: What Personal Factors Do Global Team Leaders Report Are
Important in Succeeding in the Role?
This research question focused on identifying factors inherent in, or personal to, the
leader that participants believed contributed to their success. Accordingly, the research question
focused on characteristics of the participant themselves that participants viewed as important to
their success. Thirty eight percent of the data related to this research question (374 references out
of 997 references coded to research questions). Table 13 summarizes findings.

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Table 13
Findings of Personal Characteristics That Contribute to Success
Findings of personal
characteristics
Brief description Number of
participants
reporting finding

Participants had
interpersonal skills
Being engaging meant having good people skills
or being the type of person people want to
interact with. Such a person also had a focus
on the issues and culture of the other person.
18

Participants were
able to build
relationships
The ability to build relationships with team
members, role models, mentors, and clients
was important to the participant’s success.
Each category of relationship had a different
purpose, and each of those purposes was
important to the success of the participant.
17

Participants
understood how to
achieve objectives
Being focused on objectives meant
understanding what the external stakeholder,
the client wanted and meeting their
expectations. Translating that to the leader’s
success required the leader to be able to think
like the client, have a competitive nature, and
have a solution- focused mindset.
18

Participants were
personally invested
in the role
Being personally invested in the role was an
important characteristic of successful leaders.
Self-motivation was an important component
of the characteristic due to multiple demands
on participant’s time and the freedom
associated with the role. Being passionate
about the role, enjoying oneself in the role and
having fun contributed to being personally
invested.
14

Participants were
open to change
Participants were willing to admit that their way
might not be the most appropriate approach,
questioning the status quo, challenging one’s
own decisions, and learning from mistakes.
16

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Finding 7: Participants Had Interpersonal Skills
Being a successful global team leader required the leader to be engaging with, and
viewed as such by, team members. In participants’ minds this meant having certain innate
qualities or attributes that caused others to want to interact with the leader. I first review statistics
related to this finding and then review the finding itself.
A statistical review of the codebook revealed that all participants shared that this finding
was a key factor in their success (range = 2–11, mode = 6, median = 6, mean = 6.33, SD = 2.5).
Further, all participants mentioned this as an important environmental factor more than once. I
found the importance of this finding by measuring the frequency of times discussed. Table G7 in
Appendix G contains additional descriptive statistics.
Being engaging connoted a range of people skills. Participants used a variety of concepts
such as style, friendliness, being engaged, or collegial, likeability, outgoingness, honesty, and
being present as an umbrella concept for a range of qualities that caused others to want to
interact with them. Encapsulating the concept, Alex observed “so you’ve got to have a degree of
personal engagement that people actually do want to interact with you and share their problems
and talk things through.” Extending the concept, Ava observed the negative consequences for
success of a style that was not personable “my way of doing that, which is a very collaborative
leadership style, gives people space to talk and act. It’s the only way I can do it because I
couldn’t go in and just boss people around—that wouldn’t have gone very well.” Honesty was a
nuanced element: participants distinguished honesty and transparency. Regarding honesty, James
shared “I think you need to be honest always. This doesn’t mean you need to be fully transparent
because sometimes you cannot tell everything, but at least be honest with people.” Being
engaging also involved being present. Participants observed the benefit of being willing to
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interact in person, rather than by other modes. Leo observed “well, I think to be successful, you
have to communicate. That’s the first and foremost. … If you’ve got anything that’s more than a
couple sentences to explain, you just don’t put it in an email and you just call.”
Moreover, being engaging required a focus on the other person. This meant listening to
the other person, being supportive, and being respectful. Regarding active listening Ethan shared:
“I would say you definitely need to listen to your people. Well, you need to be brave to make
bold decisions, but at the same time, you need to respect the opinion of the members.” Focusing
on the other person also meant not being mono-cultural. This meant being open to realizing that
an approach that worked in the participant’s culture might be viewed negatively, and thus be
counterproductive, in a team member’s culture. For example, Ben observed
Doing things the [home country] way doesn’t work for everybody, so what I learned was
that you really, really have to take into account I’m not an expert on, well I know French
culture now, but I’ve never lived in Singapore, in China, Australia, Argentina, or other
places. But I do know that you can still approach them in a respectful polite way, that can
enhance your communication. For example, you ever noticed that most European
countries don’t say hi, they say dear. Things like turnaround time: if an American
colleague says, “I’ll get this to you tomorrow”, and they don’t you can follow up usually
pretty quickly but if you do that with somebody in France sooner than a week or 10 days,
they are going to think you’re a nuisance. So, I think one skill that you need to have is
you need to be able to recognize how complex and different many cultures are because,
without looking carefully at everything—just looking through your own lens things might
look kind of the same but they’re really not the same. So that I think it’s terribly
important to have that that international global sensitivity.
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Moreover, participants reported that being empathetic was an important component of
focusing on the other person. Empathy reinforced a sense of respect and helpfulness. For
example, Charlotte observed
And so yeah, I mean I think it’s about that open line of communication—it’s about being
steady, it’s about supporting people, not about dictating to them, cutting through and
finding solutions. It’s the way I approach things and I think being very empathetic right
now, especially during covid.
Being engaging was regarded as an important characteristic of successful global virtual
team leaders. Being personable meant having good people skills or being the type of person
people want to interact with. Such a person also had a focus on the issues and culture of the other
person.
Finding 8: Participants Were Able to Build Relationships
Being a successful global team leader required the leader to be able to build and maintain
relationships. The ability to relationships went beyond technical proficiency or task effectiveness
and focused on the personal side of the relationship. Participants identified four types of
relationships that they needed to be able to build to be successful. Figure 9 depicts those
categories of relationships.
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Figure 9
Relationships Participants Needed to Be Able to Build

I first review statistics related to this finding and then review the finding itself. A
statistical review of the codebook revealed that 17 of 18 participants shared that this finding was
a key personal characteristic required for their success (range = 0–12, mode = 3, median = 4,
mean = 4.9, SD = 3). Sixteen of 18 participants mentioned this as an important personal
characteristic more than once. I found the importance of this finding, by type of participant, by
measuring the frequency of times discussed. Table G8 in Appendix G contains additional
descriptive statistics.
The first category of relationships that participants needed to be able to build was with
role models. This relationship sometimes preceded the participant assuming the role of leader
and was viewed as foundational to success. Role models helped leaders learn how to be a
Participant
Role
models
Team
Mentors
Clients
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successful leader. Participants noted that role models set them on course for success. For
example, Lucas observed
I had the big luck to start working with at a certain point of my career, I start working
with a person. I don’t know if you know him, he was the international contact partner for
[my country]. And he was very open to involve the younger colleagues like me in
international project, and I really learned from him how to stay in touch and how to
cooperate with the colleagues of the firm in other jurisdictions. So, that was really my
goal in order to open myself to the rest of the world and start working with colleagues
from everywhere. And so, that was really the person that helped me more in growing up
and understanding how to behave and how things goes within the larger organization. …
But in any case, it was like my teacher in how to grow up in this activity.
The second category of relationships that the participant needed to be able to build was
with team members. These relationships were important because team members impacted the
success of the participants’ role itself. Building these relationships helped a participant
understand task outcomes. For example, Elijah noted
Although you would say, “Why do you need a personal relationship? Why do you need to
spend so much time with people making things work?” But really, we are a people
business. We just need to make sure we understand people’s circumstances, understand
why things happen a certain way. I know we always been told we are judged by the
result, but there’s always a reason for why things happen, why we get to that certain
result. So really understanding the root of the problem, working with the team to agree
how we can resolve it.
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Participants echoed the centrality of being able to build team relationships to the success
of the role. Participants reflected that their success depended on other people and so they needed
relationships with those other people. For example, William noted
The willingness to build relationships with people. And actually, that’s number one.
Because I think without that, you’re not going to get anywhere. Because you can be as
effective a firefighter as you like, and as effective a team player as you like, but if you
can’t build a connection with people, you’ll never get anywhere. So that for me is number
one.
Moreover, relationships helped when challenging discussions needed to occur.
Participants observed that a strong relationship enabled them to be candid with less fear of
negative impact to team performance. For example, Lucas observed
And so, that’s the worst part of the role, I’m always called by the client to discuss fees in
Switzerland, in Poland, in Russia, somewhere. So, I have always to call colleagues, and
the colleagues when they hear it’s me, they already know that I’m calling to them, not for
a job but just for negotiate a reduction of the fees. So, after building up the team, and I
spend a lot of time on that, then what I spend time was to discuss the fees for the client,
get a reduction of fees. At least for me it’s easier to have this type of discussion with
someone that I know. So, if I have a relationship with him, I can do better work also for
the client because I can explain to him openly which are the reason for the reduction, how
we can mitigate, how we can do it. So, since we have to discuss things that are not always
pleasant, to be friends may help on that. So, what I try to do over the years, and in some
cases, I succeed doing that, some other not. But was to create a connection which was not
just a telephone call exchange or email, and the fact that we are working together on that
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client, but that we have a little bit more, which is spend a few days together, have done
something together that we can remember. And I’ve seen that that worked a lot with a lot
of colleagues throughout the organization in France, in Spain, many, many places.
The third category of relationships that participants needed to build was with mentors.
This relationship was important because it enabled participants to contemporaneously check their
performance with a trusted person. Mentors provided an informal, trusted perspective that helped
participants learn and grow. The mentoring relationship provided a safe space where participants
could turn to ask for advice they would not otherwise ask for or receive feedback they might not
otherwise believe. For example, Liam observed
It's all what you’ve had in your career right, but I would certainly say that that at different
times, having a sponsor or mentor is critical. I couldn’t do this job without my sponsor
and a mentor. Someone you can call and talk to about different things. Presumably, at
some point you grow out of that, and then you become more of the sponsor and mentor,
but I would be at a complete loss on how to proceed. You have your own ideas, but you
need somebody that you can trust to check those with that that you can get some honest
feedback. I’m personally somebody who needs the critical feedback, not just the positive
feedback but the “this is what you need to work” on kind of feedback because I recognize
I have a lot of blind spots, as does everybody. I always want to be a student of myself and
work on those blind spots. Without a sponsor a mentor it’s very hard to have an anodyne
organization tell you the collective feedback is “x.” Maybe you can respond to that but is
that somebody coming from a place of trust or is that a place of insecurity or is that a
place of naivety or ignorance. Those are all questions you would have from somebody
who didn’t trust, so I think that to me that that’s critical for the role.
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The fourth category of relationships that participants needed to be able to build was with
clients. This relationship was important because participants viewed the client as the reason for
the team’s existence, and so having a strong relationship was important for the ongoing success
of the team. Regarding the importance participants placed on this form of relationship, Noah
observed
My viewpoint is, the more we get to know the company and the more we interact with
them, the revenue ends up coming. It’s not a matter of chasing revenue, it’s a matter of
chasing relationships and chasing strategic discussions with our client right. Once we
start having those strategic discussions it’s almost natural that the work will come.
Moreover, participants viewed the ability to build a relationship with the client as a
positive differentiator between service providers. This differentiator could lead to more
opportunities for the team. For example, Levi noted
So, the good connection is very important, good relationship, very important with client.
But always a good thing, this is, to be and maybe they want to find out a good partner to
use their budget. They have a tax budget, but they need to find out, who is the best
person? So, if there is no strong relationship, so quality of service is not so much different
between, for example, our firm and [a competitor].
However, participants noted that it was important to focus on the right client relationships
and to regularly check whether the pre-existing relationship remained the focal point. An existing
client relationship might cease to have the same impact as that person changed roles in the client
organization or new people joined the client organization in a position of influence. For example,
Lucas observed
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I think that all the times we have failure with large accounts, it’s maybe due to the fact
that we do not understand how the changes occur at the client, and who is the person that
now takes the decision. And we do not react quickly to build up a new relationship with
the new person taking the decisions. So, if we are successful and then we lose new
opportunities it is because normally because we are not able to create a link, create a
connection with the new persons. So, we lose the grip on the client.
Participants acknowledged that perseverance was a component of the ability to build
relationships. Building successful relationships took commitment, continuous effort, and time.
For example, Olivia observed
So, perseverance, right? You can’t give up on things, because I know sometimes people
don’t want to focus on a particular client or target, because they don’t think things are
happening fast enough. But it takes a long time to develop relationships, to get them to
trust you. And so, I think you need that kind of patience and perseverance to carry
through.
The ability to build relationships with team members, role models, mentors, and clients
was important to the participant’s success. Each category of relationship had a different purpose,
and each of those purposes was important to the success of the participant.
Finding 9: Participants Understood How to Achieve Objectives
Being a successful global team leader required the leader to be capable of focus on their
critical objective. Participants agreed that their objective, as set by the organization, was revenue
growth or share of client spend. That required the team being engaged for more work.
Participants agreed that this meant they needed to focus on the client, their needs, and their
satisfaction. To achieve such a focus, amongst other qualities, participants needed to be able to
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think like the client, have a competitive nature, and have a solution focused mindset. I first
review statistics related to this finding and then review the finding itself.
A statistical review of the codebook revealed that all participants shared that this finding
was a key personal characteristic required for their success (range = 1–10, mode = 3, median = 4,
mean = 4.7, SD = 2). Seventeen of 18 participants mentioned this as an important factor more
than once. I found the importance of this finding, by type of participant, by measuring the
frequency of times discussed. Table G9 in Appendix G provides additional descriptive statistics.
Leaders’ ultimate objectives, set by the organization, were typically financial in nature.
They were expressed in terms of revenue growth or, sometimes, share of client’s spending. For
example, Lucas observed “well, basically it’s measured on figures or results. So, it’s always
revenues increase compared to the previous years, number of projects. That’s it.” Levi expanded
financial objectives by including share of spending:
The easiest way to say is share number one in the [field of advisors]. For example, the
client spends money with the [field of advisors]. The target would be that our firm has the
largest share—not only the domestically but also internationally.
Participants focused on achieving their objective by winning projects for the team from
the client and maintaining client satisfaction. The leader needed to be able to accurately
determine what the client wanted and converting that into a project for the team. Moreover, the
client needed to be satisfied with the work product and the team’s performance. For example,
James observed
Well, obviously when there’s an opportunity, winning the opportunity, and once you get
the opportunity, well, client satisfaction. You get a call and say, “Okay, this went very
well. Thank you very much for assistance. I appreciate it.” So, I think that’s the standard.
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Winning projects required an appreciation for the client’s true needs, which may be
broader than the initially identified need. Regarding the need to be able to discern the true client
need to be successful, Olivia shared
Understanding the business and making that effort to understand what’s important to the
client and different people within the client. Because the driver for someone in [one]
department is not the same driver for someone perhaps in [another department] for
instance or on the business side of things.
To focus on the objective, leaders needed a number of innate qualities. Participants
commented on the need to have a competitive nature, the ability to put oneself in the client’s
shoes, and have a solutions-focused mindset. Regarding being competitive, Charlotte observed “I
am like a dog with a bone if there’s an opportunity going after things, but back to that rfp
comment—making sure that we’re just not being aggressive let’s be thoughtful, but I don’t want
to lose in the market.” Participants commented on the need to look at things from the client’s
perspective. Levi commented on his aspiration “to become the client. For example, if I were
client, what should I do?” Bringing a solutions mindset was important. For example, Charlotte
observed: “And I think approaching things with a solution orientated mindset is key. You
know— have you thought of this, what about that.”
Yet, focusing on the objective needed to be reinforced with the team. Participants
believed that although there were many components of their role, their success required this
focus to be shared by the team. For example, Jack observed
And I think of course you also have to be results oriented or results focused in the end of
course, you want to have results. And that is something that [the] team should recognize
as well that you could be, let’s say having a very nice and friendly leader and good team,
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but the result in the end is what counts. And so, revenues, but also good projects or
reputational issues are very important.
Being focused on objectives meant understanding what the external stakeholder, the
client wanted and meeting their expectations. Translating that to the leader’s success required the
leader to be able to think like the client, have a competitive nature, and have a solution focused
mindset.
Finding 10: Participants Were Personally Invested in the Role
Being a successful global team leader required the leader to be personally invested in the
role. This required them to be self-motivated. In participants’ minds this was important due to
the freedom of the role. Part of being personally invested in the role was being passionate about
the role and enjoying oneself. I first review statistics related to this finding and then review the
finding itself.
A statistical review of the codebook revealed that 14 of 18 participants shared that this
finding was a key personal characteristic required for their success (range = 0–5, mode = 1,
median = 1, mean = 1.6, SD = 1.5). Seven of 18 participants mentioned this as an important
factor more than once. I found the importance of this finding, by type of participant, by
measuring the frequency of times discussed. Table G10 in Appendix G provides additional
descriptive statistics.
Self-motivation was an important personal characteristic. Self-motivation was important
because leading such a team required continuous effort, there were few external motivators, and
plenty of other things to do. For example, Noah observed “well, you have to have motivation,
you have to be a self-starter and self-driven. If you’re waiting for someone to drive you and light
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the way and show you or asking—that’s not going to work.” Continuing the thought, Noah
shared
I really enjoy what I’m what I do, and I enjoy my client relationships, as I said, so I think
that’s a prerequisite to success. I think you can go through the motions but then you’re
not really optimizing value for yourself or for the firm. So, you need to you find ways.
Expanding further, Oliver shared
I’m speaking for myself—there are tons of things which may come in between and if I
don’t have something which reminds me, or perhaps somebody just kicking my butt in
order to do that, then I perhaps won’t do it. It’s not because I don’t like to do it—I do, but
then you still need this soft reminder and discipline. Unlike if you’re tied up in a project,
then there’s a timeline. The client is pushing you; with a [global team leader role], you
have nobody really pushing you. So, you have to push yourself. So, it needs discipline
that you do it.
Being passionate about, and enjoying, the job contributed to being personally invested.
This included maintaining a sense of proportion or perspective about the work element of the
role. For example, Henry spoke of the importance of fun and balance “I suppose the other one
just to throw in there, have a bit of passion. Which I think goes a little bit to that you want to be
excited about working.” Continuing with that theme, Henry further shared the importance of fun:
work is work and you’re going to have to enjoy what you do. Have a little bit of fun
along the way, so I think setting that sort of tone is important. … I’ve actually got a Post-
it note in the office and it’s got three words on it: passion, humor, and integrity. And I’ve
had that Post-it now for two decades now so that’s my goal. Instead of getting too
wrapped up in yourself. Someone told me “over your career, keep your passion, humor.
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Keep your integrity.” It’s good to reread occasionally. It rebalances you. I did say
integrity but keeping a bit of fun. I worked for a guy at another firm. He would finish
every conversation with “go have a bit of fun.” And that’s every conversation
6
.
Being personally invested in the role was an important characteristic of successful
leaders. Self-motivation was an important component of the characteristic due to multiple
demands on participant’s time and the freedom associated with the role. Being passionate about
the role, enjoying oneself in the role and having fun contributed to being personally invested.
Finding 11: Participants Were Open to Change
Being a successful global team leader required the leader to be flexible. In participants’
minds this meant being willing to grow or change. I first review statistics related to this finding
and then review the finding itself.
A statistical review of the codebook revealed that 16 of 18 participants shared that this
finding was a key personal characteristic required for their success (range = 0–9, mode = 1,
median = 3, mean = 3.11, SD = 2.4). Twelve of 18 participants mentioned this as an important
factor more than once. I found the importance of this finding, by type of participant, by
measuring the frequency of times discussed. Table G11 in Appendix G provides additional
descriptive statistics.
Being adaptable or willing to change was regarded as an important characteristic of
leaders. Leaders needed to recognize that their initial plan might not be the best approach. For
example, Liam commented
I think that you have to understand that you have to be a student of the firm and the
client. You can’t assume, because you know how things worked before, that it is going to

6
Henry shared the Post-it note and it reflected his comments.
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work on this account. And you also can’t assume that just because something worked
yesterday it is going to work today. You have to look at how the dynamics are changing
within the organization, both because people come and go, but also because people have
new parameters that are put around them so you’re constantly have to be stepping back
and saying, well, not just “what am I doing today, but what should I be doing
differently?” You have to constantly be in that learning mode.
Moreover, recognizing that one’s initial plan might not be the best approach also entailed
the participant appreciating that their approach might be wrong, rather than sub-optimal. For
example, Lucas observed
Well, of course, you need to be smart in understanding things when they change, and to
be able to react quickly, and also to listen to people. Because, I mean, I’m not so able to
react quickly, but I’m able to listen. And in many, many cases, I avoided big mistakes
because I listened to someone else. So, I think it’s always important to give credit to what
people are saying. You really need to listen to what they say, starting from the fact that
they may be right. So, what they are saying, maybe it’s the right things. Then of course,
you have to have your own judgment, and maybe that is bullshit, but when they start to
think, you cannot judge immediately. I always say, “Okay, maybe he’s right, I’m wrong.”
So, I always think that in any occasion, also, when I speak about something technical
with one of my colleagues, and I have my own idea, and his idea is totally different, I’m
not the one saying, “Okay, it’s wrong.” I mean, maybe he’s right, let’s think about it once
more.
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Openness to change also required the ability to reflect. This gave the leader and the team
the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and avoid repeating them. For example, Ethan
observed
So, we look at why it wasn’t successful. And we have the discussion with the team. We
have an honest discussion, and we figure out what are the external reason that we cannot
change, right, that’s beyond our control. What’s the reasons that is because of our own
internal stuff. Whether it’s collaboration or people just don’t put the priority on the
certain agreed strategy that we are going to do.
Conversely, inflexibility was perceived to be a negative trait. Participants viewed
inflexibility as potentially contributing to failure. For example, James made a direct connection
between the lack of flexibility and failure:
They used to do a lot of things and then they started to lose. I think that they were not
sufficiently flexible with the client, in terms of how the client would like to do things.
Mainly, I think the failure to read what was happening in the request from the client and
the need to adapt—I said, you need to do things differently.
Moreover, mental flexibility and openness to change was a continual state to avoid
complacency. For example, Ethan observed
Yeah, I think when things go well, you don’t want to change, but sometimes you
definitely need to anticipate and take action proactively rather than following your own
model. In particular, under this new world, things change so fast. You say in my country,
things change very quickly, but it applies globally. And not even technology, people
thinking and perception or beliefs, there are changes happening very fast and we just
need to be alert and not be complacent about where we are today. And we need to prepare
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for change, and we need to make changes to happen as well. And it’s very difficult to
convince people to change a winning formula, but there’s a lot of examples—not me
personally, but we can see where things are going so well, all of a sudden one event
happen, the whole thing just collapsed totally. So, we need to always have a plan B when
things don’t go well, what we do, or we need to think ahead, what will be things that we
need to change from now to make sure we will continue to have the good result going
forward.
Yet, flexibility or openness to change did not mean avoiding making final decisions.
Leaders needed to ultimately make a decision to be successful. Accordingly, participants needed
to finalize their thinking and make a decision. For example, Alex shared
But also, as the ultimate leader, it’s key that you can come to a decision. You’re not
going to keep everybody happy. You’ve got to come to a decision that’s fair, and fairness
between both the firm and the client, equally fairness amongst the various countries
involved in the account, understanding that you’ll always upset some degree of people in
terms of coming to those decisions, but you’ve got to be able to explain to them the
reasons for that decision, why you got to the decision, and why it was the thing we
needed to do in order to move on.
An additional benefit of mental flexibility was personal. Participants commented on the
strain that the role could sometimes entail and the potential impact on health. Participants
highlighted the importance of taking care of themselves. Regarding mental health, participants
acknowledged that the role of global team leader was a challenging one and setbacks were
possible. Regarding the benefit of flexibility to personal well-being, Ethan observed
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Need to be resilient because you know the business we are in, it could be very stressful
and there’s a lot of up and downs, there are always going to be issues. So, we just need to
remain calm and resilient to get through all the difficulties.
Participants were open to change. This meant being willing to admit that their way might
not be the most appropriate approach, questioning the status quo, challenging one’s own
decisions, and learning from mistakes.
A Potential Grounded Theory
Employing selective coding results in a model that facilitates building theory. A model
centers on a core concept that ties all data together. (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). Figure 10 states
the model used to develop the grounded theory.
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Figure 10
Model Used to Explain Phenomenon Based on Data

The central concept, or phenomenon, is social awareness and the theory proposed is that a
global virtual team leader must be socially aware to be successful. Social awareness ties all data
collected together most meaningfully through concepts such as social-emotional awareness,
social learning, and cultural intelligence. Social awareness took place in the context of multiple
cultures, a positive team environment, and relationships. Social awareness was caused by
cognitive features of the participant related to being able to understand others, self-regulation,
Consequences
Successful
leaders and
outcomes
Strategies
Employed by
participants
Phenomenon
Social
awareness
Causal
conditions
Cognitive
aspects of
participants
Intervening conditions that impact strategy selection – knowledge of what to do, extent of
interpersonal skills, continued willingness to grow and lead
Context – multiple cultures, positive team environment, relationships
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reflection, and self-motivation. Strategies employed by the participant as a result of social
awareness included (a) bringing a focus to interactions; (b) engendering a sense of respect; (c)
appreciating cultural differences; and (d) selecting effective communication. Intervening
conditions, which impact the strategies selected by participants, included (a) knowledge of what
was needed to be successful; (b) the extent of the participant’s interpersonal skills; and (c) a
continued willingness to grow and lead. Consequences of social awareness included (a)
achieving objectives the participant set for themselves; (b) being successful according to goals
established by the organization; (c) feeling; (d) being supported by the organization; and (d)
maintaining a successful team environment. I next expand on each element of the model that
supports the proposed theory.
The phenomenon, or central idea, emerging from the data was social awareness.
Participants were able to appreciate other people’s perspectives and integrate that understanding
into the way that they act. This incorporates concepts of self-regulation, reflection, and an
understanding of the role of emotion. These concepts repeated themselves through many of the
themes and findings and connected causes and outcomes. Social awareness underlined the
factors that participants attributed their success to. Social awareness took place in, or occurred in
the context of, specific situations.
Social awareness occurred in the context of relationships and a positive team
environment. This context was supported by theme 8 (relationships) and finding 5 (participants
needed a positive team environment to be successful). The data suggested that social awareness
was heightened by in person interactions. Social awareness was caused by a number of factors.
Social awareness arose due to a number of factors. The causal conditions, or factors
influencing the phenomenon, were grounded in the participant. These factors included
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comprehension, mental flexibility, personal investment, self-regulation, and self-reflection.
Comprehension involved understanding the objective set for the participant, why parties might
be acting the way they do, and how to build relationships. Mental flexibility involved being open
to change, resilience, and humility. Personal investment involved self-motivation, enjoyment,
and a sense of balance. Self-reflection and self-regulation involved reflecting on one’s
experiences and considering how to act or respond before doing so. These causal conditions were
supported by themes (theme 1—understanding where team members were coming from and
theme 9—understanding what is success) and findings (finding 8—participants were able to
build relationships, finding 10—participants were personally invested in the role, and finding
11—participants were open to change). The causal conditions resulted in social awareness.
Moreover, participants undertook various strategies as a result of social awareness.
Strategies employed by participants as a result of social awareness were focused on using
knowledge created through social awareness to achieve objectives. These strategies were
activities to build an effective team, choosing how to communicate, and acting with positivity.
Building an effective team incorporated task effectiveness and accountability as well as
engendering respect for all team members and shared objectives. Choosing how to communicate
involved the mode, content, and tone of communication. Communication considered the other
party’s needs and perspectives and was underlined by cultural awareness and empathy. Acting
positively involved both verbal and nonverbal behaviors aimed at generating trust and team
efficacy. These strategies were evidenced in themes (theme 4—being a good communicator and
theme 5—being effective) and findings (finding 1—behave in a positive manner when
communicating, finding 2—maintain an effective team environment, finding 3—leaders must
engender respect and appreciate team member backgrounds, and finding 6—shared objectives
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are an important part of a successful team environment). These strategies were undertaken in
response to social awareness. However, the strategies were impacted by intervening conditions
or broader factors inherent in participants.
The intervening conditions, or attributes of the participant, that impacted strategies were
innate characteristics of the participants. These mediated how the participant designed and
executed particular strategies. The attributes included willingness and ability. Willingness meant
to willingness to grow and lead. Ability comprised the array of interpersonal skills that the
participant had and knowledge of how to achieve objectives. The intervening conditions were
supported by themes (theme 3—willing to lead and theme 7—willing to grow) and findings
finding 7—participants had interpersonal skills and finding 9—participants knew how to achieve
their goals). These conditions informed how the participant executed strategies. Social
awareness, occurring within specific contexts, created by causal factors, and creating strategies
as mediated by attributes of participants gave rise to consequences.
Common consequences of the strategies related to the participant, the team, and the
objectives. Participants felt they met objectives they considered important and supported by their
organization. Moreover, participants believed that the team existed in an environment that was
collaborative and unified, and objectives established by the organization were met. These
consequences were supported by themes (theme 2—making team feel like a team and theme 6—
feeling supported by the wider organization) and findings (finding 4—participants were
supported by their organization). The consequences arose because of environmental and
behavioral factors and the characteristics and strategies of the participants.
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The model provides a framework for understanding factors that lead to the success of
global virtual team leaders. The model is supported by the data and generates a theory that can
explain the circumstances in which a global virtual team leader can be successful.
Summary
The purpose of Chapter Four was to state findings. This chapter first presented
visualization of the data to assist the reader in assessing the validity and generalizability of the
findings. Next, the chapter reviewed themes that emerged from the data. Next the chapter
reviewed findings related to the three research questions. Finally, the chapter concluded with a
grounded theory that used selective coding to explain what was happening.
Identified themes arose in more than one finding and in more than one research question
indicating their broad relevance. Findings were consistent with the purpose of the study. The
proposed theory, that that a global virtual team leader must be socially aware to be successful,
followed a model that explained the relationship between the data based on a core concept, social
awareness. I next review recommendations and areas for further research.

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Chapter Five: Discussion
This chapter reviews recommendations. Recommendations are based on the findings
stated in Chapter Four. This chapter has four parts. Part 1 discusses the findings and how they
relate back to literature reviewed in Chapter Two, the conceptual framework, and the problem of
practice. Part 2 contains recommendations. Part 3 discusses a potential implementation plan and
approach to implementation. Part 4 expands certain limitations and delimitations initially
reviewed in Chapter Three based on the completion of field work. Part 5 contains suggestions for
future research. The chapter concludes with a review of the study and its importance.
Discussion of Findings
I first evaluate how findings relate to the conceptual framework and literature. I then
review the grounded theory model and its relationship to the conceptual framework. Finally, I
evaluate how the findings address the problem of practice.
The findings were consistent with the conceptual framework and reviewed literature.
Collectively, findings incorporated all elements of the conceptual framework and literature. No
part of the conceptual framework or literature was missing from the collective findings. Table 14
depicts the meaningful consistencies between findings and both the conceptual framework and
literature.

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Table 14
Evaluation of Consistency of Findings With Conceptual Framework and Literature
# Finding Consistencies with conceptual
framework
Consistencies with
literature

1 It is important to behave
in a balanced, positive
manner when
communicating
1. Social cognitive theory
2. Leadership behaviors
3. Leader characteristics
1. The environment of
global virtual teams —
trust
2. The environment of
global virtual teams —
knowledge sharing
3. Factors within the
leader—cultural
intelligence
4. Self-reflection and self-
regulation

2 Maintaining an effective
team contributes to
success
1. Expectancy value theory
2. Micro-environment of the
team
3. Leadership behaviors
1. The environment of
global virtual teams —
collaboration
2. The environment of
global virtual teams —
knowledge sharing
3. The environment of
global virtual teams —
team efficacy
4. Leadership behaviors
—shared leadership
5. Leadership behaviors
—effective leadership
6. Leadership behaviors
—focus on task
effectiveness
7. Factors within the
leader—cultural
intelligence

3 Leaders must engender
respect for team
members and appreciate
their cultural
background
1. Social cognitive theory
2. Micro-environment of the
team
3. Leadership behaviors
1. The environment of
global virtual teams —
collaboration
2. The environment of
global virtual teams —
team efficacy
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# Finding Consistencies with conceptual
framework
Consistencies with
literature

3. Leadership behaviors
—relational focus
4. Factors within the
leader—openness to
new ideas
5. Factors within the
leader—cultural
intelligence
6. Self-reflection and self-
regulation

4 Participants were
supported by their
organization
1. Expectancy value theory
2. Macro-environment of the
global professional services
firm
1. The structural
environment—cultural,
economic, and
regulatory pressures
2. Factors within the
leader—expectancies

5 Participants needed a
positive, inclusive, in
person team
environment
Micro-environment of the team

1. The environment of
global virtual teams—
collaboration
2. Leadership behaviors—
relational focus
3. Factors within the
leader—cultural
intelligence

6 Shared objectives are an
important part of a
successful team
environment
1. Social cognitive theory
2. Micro-environment of the
team
1. The structural
environment—cultural,
economic, and
regulatory pressures
2. The environment of
global virtual teams—
collaboration
3. The environment of
global virtual teams—
team efficacy
4. Leadership behaviors—
shared leadership

7 Participants had
interpersonal skills
1. Social cognitive theory
2. Personal characteristics
1. Leadership behaviors—
relational focus
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# Finding Consistencies with conceptual
framework
Consistencies with
literature

2. Factors within the
leader—cultural
intelligence
3. Self-reflection and self-
regulation

8 Participants were able to
build relationships
1. Cultural diversity and
intelligence
2. Personal characteristics
3. Self-reflection
1. The environment of
global virtual teams—
trust
2. Factors within the
Leader—cultural
intelligence
3. Factors within the
leader—role models
4. Self-reflection and self-
regulation

9 Participants understood
how to achieve
objectives
1. Expectancy value theory
2. Learning appropriate
behaviors
3. Self-reflection
1. The structural
environment—cultural,
economic, and
regulatory pressures
2. Leadership behaviors—
focus on task
effectiveness
3. Factors within the
leader—expectancies

10 Participants were
personally invested in
the role
1. Motivation to lead
2. Grit
3. Personal characteristics
1. Factors within the
leader—motivation to
lead
2. Factors within the
leader—grit
3. Factors within the
leader—self efficacy

11 Participants were open to
change
1. Social cognitive theory
2. Personal characteristics
3. Learning appropriate
behaviors
4. Self-reflection
1. Factors within the
leader—openness to
new ideas
2. Self-reflection and self-
regulation

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Yet, the findings also demonstrated nuances not expected as a result of the literature
review. Literature suggested that the cultural, economic, and regulatory pressures that a global
professional services firm is subject to would be a significant limitation to success factors
reported by global virtual team leaders. However, while such pressures did form part of the basis
for findings four, six, and nine, most participants were able to adapt their approach and remain
successful by accommodating those pressures. This suggests that, while this literature remains
valid and relevant, the impact of the macro-environment may not be as significant as expected.
Literature also suggested that team leaders across the world display similar characteristics and
behaviors. Each finding was generally supported regardless of geography; the findings were
consistent with expectations based on literature. However, some of the findings also revealed
differences of emphasis or perceived significance based on geography. This suggests that while
the findings are consistent with literature, they potentially extend the literature by providing
additional limitations on the generalizability of the literature. Literature also suggested that
cultural diversity within the team could negatively impact leader success. The findings, while
acknowledging that factors related to diversity (such as language, different cultural approaches to
specific issues, and cultural sensitivities) could create challenges, all leaders believed that
cultural diversity enhanced their success. This suggests that while the literature is relevant
because it describes challenges, the findings reframe cultural diversity as a factor in a more
positive light. Even with these nuances, which impact implementation of recommendations,
rather than the recommendations themselves, the findings were consistent with the conceptual
framework and literature. I viewed the findings as being consistent with, or extending, literature.
Beyond the findings, the grounded theory model potentially extended the literature by
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uncovering a central phenomenon that made sense of the findings and the interrelationship of the
literature.
The model was consistent with the conceptual framework and literature, but it
emphasized a core phenomenon of social awareness. The model consolidated themes of
communication, relational focus, cultural intelligence, and self-regulation from the data in a way
that literature did not highlight as a potential, overarching, significant factor in the success of
global virtual team leaders. The benefit of the model is to present a way to make sense of the
interrelationship of the body of literature and distill the importance of findings to a major
concept. The model is therefore consistent with the conceptual framework and literature. The
model helps address the problem of practice and illustrates an approach global professional
services firms could undertake to replicate success factors across global virtual team leaders.
The model assists a reader to understand how to make sense of the literature and findings
and addresses the problem of practice. It suggests that social awareness should be the primary
focus of effort if an organization wishes to replicate success factors across global virtual team
leaders. This should help an organization evaluate how best to replicate success factors in the
most efficient way by focusing on the most important factors first. The model addresses the
problem of practice. Collectively, the conceptual framework, literature, findings, and the model
generate recommendations for practice that address the problem of practice
Recommendations for Practice
Recommendations are based on the findings generated through the study and the
grounded theory which suggests that social awareness is a core concept that explains success of
global virtual team leaders. The recommendations focus on replicating social awareness across
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global virtual team leaders to increase their success. Figure 11 depicts the three fields of
recommendations and their interrelationship.

Figure 11
Areas of Recommendation and Their Relationship to Each Other

Assessment
Institutional support Ongoing development
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Assessment is designed to help the organization determine whether leaders are likely to
be successful and identify areas for improvement to facilitate replicating success factors.
Ongoing Development recommendations are intended to support the leader replicate success by
improving their social awareness skills. Institutional Support recommendations are designed to
address how the organization could better support leader success. These target the causal
conditions and strategies supporting the model. The three groups of recommendations reinforce
each other. Although the data suggested a range of recommendations, this part focuses on six
recommendations that address multiple. These recommendations are summarized in Table 15.

Table 15
Recommendations
Area Recommendation Recommendation

Assessment 1 Assess leader skills pre-appointment

Ongoing development 2 Provide leaders with training
3 Institute formal mentoring program
4 Build leader community

Institutional support 5 Clearly articulate organizational support
6 Re-evaluate appropriateness of goals

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Recommendation 1: Assess Leader Skills Pre-appointment
According to the model, social awareness is the central phenomenon that accounts for
success that global virtual team leaders report. The recommendation is to evaluate the leader’s
capacity for social awareness prior to appointment to the role of leader. Pre-testing leaders prior
to their appointment affords the organization a perspective on the likelihood of the leader to be
successful and potential opportunities for targeted assistance that will help replicate success
factors. Because pre-testing is the first in a series of recommendations, care should be taken in
selecting what to pre-test. As such, pre-testing should relate specifically to significant themes
and findings in the data. Pre-testing can support broad themes and findings, as stated in Table 16,
to ensure relevance.

Table 16
Recommendation Supports or Is Relevant to Various Findings and Themes
Findings Themes

1: Understanding where team members are
coming from
1: It is important to behave in a balanced
manner when communicating.
2: Making the team feel like a team 2: Maintaining an effective team contributes
to success.
3: Willing to lead 3: Leaders must engender respect for team
members and appreciate their cultural
background.
4: Being a good communicator 5: Participants needed a positive, inclusive,
in person team environment.
5: Being effective 7: Participants had interpersonal skills.
7: Willing to grow 10: Participants were personally invested in
role.
8: Relationships 11: Participants were open to change.

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A synthesis of themes and findings reveals that evaluation should focus on four elements:
(a) cultural intelligence; (b) social intelligence; (c) team leadership; and (d) emotional
intelligence or self-regulation. These areas should be evaluated using an instrument that has been
assessed for validity and reliability. Table 17 states potential instruments for an evaluator to
consider.

Table 17
Potential Instruments
Focus Literature regarding potential instrument

Cultural intelligence BCIQ instrument (Alon et al., 2016).
Social intelligence Rahim social intelligence test (Rahim et al., 2018).
Team leadership Team excellence survey (Larson et al., 1989; Northouse, 2018).
Emotional intelligence Emotional intelligence measure (Carson et al., 2016).

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The recommendation is consistent with the conceptual framework. The conceptual
framework is based, in part, on social cognitive theory. Social cognitive theory highlights the
importance of the person, their personal characteristics and behaviors, and self-regulation. The
conceptual framework incorporated the team environment, characteristics of the leader, and
diversity and global mindset. These are addressed by the recommended areas of assessment. The
recommendation is also consistent with literature. Literature identified 19 features that impact
the success of global virtual team leaders and this recommendation enables the organization to
assess the leader’s capabilities related to 14 of those 19 identified features: (a) trust; (b)
collaboration; (c) knowledge sharing; (d) communication; (e) shared leadership; (f) relational
focus; (g) effective leadership; (h) focus on task effectiveness; (i) motivation to lead; (j) grit; (k)
self-efficacy; (l) openness to new ideas; (m) cultural intelligence; and (n) self-reflection and self-
regulation.
Although themes and findings did not reveal the concept of pre-testing, pre-testing is
important for two reasons. First, findings reported these skills to be important to a leader’s
success. Accordingly, understanding if these items are present in each leader is important as an
organization seeks to replicate success across all leaders. Second, pretesting supports a training
needs assessment. A training needs assessment will enable the organization to focus on the most
relevant items and tailor programs to increase the effectiveness of any training (Kraiger &
Aguinis, 2013; Lepicki & Boggs, 2014; Surface et al., 2012).
Recommendation 2: Provide Leaders With Training
According to the model, skills related to social awareness are important factors in the
success of leaders. Based on the model, the recommendation is to provide ongoing training that
targets needed skill improvements as identified in the training needs assessment. The training
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should be provided by role model global virtual team leaders and should connect the training
directly to the trainee’s career progression. The training should form part of a continuous
program. Participants advocated for this recommendation.
When asked what more the organization could do to support leaders, participants
mentioned focused training. Consistent with comments from other participants, Jack commented
“I think it would be excellent … if we have a more sophisticated training program for younger,
well, potentially global [virtual team leaders] on how to deal with these types of roles, how to do
the role in fact.” Consistent with the need for training that demonstrated how-to skills, William
shared “so how do you build up your confidence to go into a meeting or something you don’t
know anything about, or how do you deal with a really difficult conflict, or how do you deal with
somebody on your team who is not pulling their weight? Or how do you deal with a multi-
jurisdictional opportunity? You’re trying to [deal with] these different questions that come up all
the time. Something that helps convene a group of people to have those sorts of discussions.”
Underlining the importance of training, Ava commented “a handbook on how to be a [global
virtual team leader] would help. Especially when you’re new—what’s expected of you, what
does success look like, what should your goals be and then the facilitators—how can you do it
well.”
The recommendation is consistent with the conceptual framework. The conceptual
framework is based on social cognitive theory and expectancy value theory. Social cognitive
theory highlights the importance of observational learning in social contexts. The conceptual
framework incorporated learning appropriate behaviors. Moreover, literature has identified that
people strive for outcomes based on observing role models (Bandura, 1986; Schunk &
DiBenedetto, 2020). Expectancy value theory, as it relates to training, focuses on the motivation
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to learn and states that motivation will be highest when the training goals are valued by learners
and their expectancies for success and utility are high (Ambrose et al., 2010; Brand, 2016;
Wigfield et al., 2017). Demonstrating relevance of the material to the trainee’s prospects and
current work will increase the value of the training (Brand, 2016; Brooks et al., 2016; Curado et
al., 2015).
Training is an effective way to improve performance by replicating success factors.
Training is an appropriate intervention when a checklist or job aid is insufficient because the
skills require demonstration, practice, or an experienced person’s feedback on performance
(Clark & Estes, 2008). Research has shown a correlation between training and organizational
performance (bin Atan et al., 2015; Esteban-Lloret et al., 2018; Sendawula et al., 2018).
However, determining improvement attributable to training is challenging because although
literature demonstrates a correlation, returns to training vary significantly depending on the
context and specificity of the training.
Although it is not possible to precisely quantify the benefits of a training program,
literature in the education field has attempted to quantify the improvement arising from training
programs. Although this literature did not relate to global virtual team leaders in global
professional firms it is useful as an indication of the potential benefit of implementing a training
recommendation to help replicate success factors. The literature did cover a range of issues
which suggests that a training recommendation is appropriate for this study. For example, an
analysis of crime prevention training programs estimated that such programs reduce crime by 5 –
15% (Welsh et al., 2015). An evaluation of a job training program revealed an increase in
earnings of 5.8% (Vinokur et al., 1991). An evaluation of a mental health training program
assessed the impact to be a reduction in sick leave of 0.28% (Milligan-Saville et al., 2017). An
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evaluation of a range of job training programs established under the Job Training Partnership Act
revealed an average increase in earnings of 7% (Bloom et al., 1997). A meta-analysis of small
business training programs between 2014 to 2020 determined that such programs increased
revenues of participants by 5% (McKenzie, 2021). An evaluation of a training program in the IT
industry estimated that one training program increases employee performance by approximately
2% (Bapna et al., 2013). An evaluation of training programs at a large multinational over a 6-
year period estimated performance growth of 3.6% annually (Bartel, 1995). Yet, a meta-analysis
of 18 trials assessing the effectiveness of the Mental Health First Aid training program on
improving mental health knowledge could not confirm any benefit from the training programs
after 12 months (Morgan. et al., 2018). However, Morgan et al.’s analysis is consistent with
research that suggests that training needs to be repeated to be effective (Devine et al., 2012).
Table 18 summarizes these studies, which revealed a mean improvement rate of approximately
5%.

Table 18
Estimated Benefits of Training Programs
Study Interpreted improvement rate

Morgan et al. (2018) 0%
Milligan-Saville et al. (2017) 0.28%
Bapna et al. (2014) 2%
Bartel (1995) 3.6%
McKenzie (2021) 5%
Vinokur et al. (1991) 5.8%
Welsh et al. (2015) 5%, 15%
Bloom et al. (2017) 7%

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Recommendation 3: Institute Formal Mentoring Program
According to the findings, appropriate relationships are reported as an important factor in
the success of global virtual team leaders. Participants mentioned the importance of mentors in
their success. Based on the findings, the recommendation is to institute a mentoring program for
global virtual team leaders. The mentoring program would pair leaders with appropriate mentors
that can provide advice and guidance in an informal, confidential setting. Appropriate mentors
would be drawn from the global virtual team leader community.
Participants mentioned the benefit that mentoring has conferred on leaders. For example,
William observed
There was a program a few years ago called [the group] in the firm, which essentially
was [leaders] helping other [leaders] to deal with issues that they were grappling with.
You had a champion and then participants. … And it’s probably the one meeting that
pretty much everybody turns up to every single week. Because they’ve always got things
to talk about … we talk about the stuff that people are finding difficult. … And
replicating that in the [global team leader] context so that you’re not just focusing on the
biggest sale you just had, but you’re actually dealing with the trade craft side of things.
But the value of the [group] to me is it’s being able to have a conversation about
something that either you don’t want to ask somebody publicly, or you are potentially
embarrassed about asking somebody publicly for fear of recrimination. So, there’s an, as
I said, an organizational psychology. So, I know that people want to have a safe space.
And often in organizations, you don’t feel like you’ve got that because of reporting
hierarchies and what people are expecting you to do that sort thing. So, creating a safe
space where people can say in a confidential environment, here’s something that has
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really gone wrong for me. Or I just don’t know how to do this. Or I’m working with this
person and they’re driving me wild. Just a safe space to be able to have an open dialogue
that can help them advance something that they’re really struggling with. That if they
can’t have that open conversation, they’ll continue struggling with it. It’s partly a role
model, its partly expertise, its partly experience, but it’s underpinned by safety and trust
in a conversation where they can be vulnerable on something that’s going wrong.
There are many forms of mentoring. Literature has suggested that peer mentoring can be
the most successful form and generate significant growth in leadership skills at a statistically
significant level (Bachkirova et al., 2015; Bachkirova et al., 2016; Eby et al., 2008; Grant, 2016;
McManus & Russell, 2007; Ruland & Lachter, 2015). Peer mentoring involves a one-on-one
relationship between a mentor and mentee at the same level in the organization where peers draw
on their own experiences and act as role models (O’Brien et al., 2012). Peer mentoring is the
recommended method of mentoring because literature shows that how leaders see themselves,
compared to role models, is significant in impacting leadership and the likely success of a leader
(Guillén et al., 2015; Osland et al., 2017; Schyns et al., 2020).
Research shows that benefits accrue to the organization, the mentor, and the mentee
(Shook & Keup, 2012). Although it is not possible to precisely quantify the benefits of a
mentoring program, literature has attempted to estimate the benefits of mentoring programs.
Although this literature did not relate to global virtual team leaders in global professional firms it
is useful as an indication of the potential benefit of implementing a mentorship recommendation
to help replicate success factors. The literature did cover a range of issues which suggests that a
mentorship recommendation is appropriate for this study. For example, an evaluation of a
student peer-mentoring program found pass rates improved approximately 7% (Carmichael,
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2003). An improvement in passing grades could be analogized to success rates as a leader. An
earlier evaluation of student peer-mentoring found failure rates decreased 20% (Shrestha, 1999).
A decrease in failure rates is like moving the same percentage of less successful leaders to the
successful leader category. A more recent study found that peer mentoring increased the number
of credits earned (i.e., classes passed) by online students by approximately 7% (Hardt et al.,
2020). An analysis of a two-year peer mentoring program at an undergraduate health science
program found the program contributed to a decrease in failure rates of 8% and 18% in each year
(Hryciw et al., 2013). An evaluation of a peer-tutoring program on student academic
performance in an engineering course found the program increased pass rates by 8% (Chiew et
al., 2021). The mean improvement approximated 11%. Analyses from the education sector are
appropriate because this recommendation focuses on the incremental benefit from learning from
peer-mentors. Table 19 summarizes these studies.

Table 19
Studies Illustrating Benefit of Mentoring
Study Interpreted improvement rate

Carmichael (2003) 7%
Hardt (2020) 7%
Hryciw et al. (2013) 8%, 18%
Chiew (2021) 8%
Shresthra (1999) 20%

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Recommendation 4: Build Leader Community
According to the findings, establishing a community of like-minded, similarly tasked,
leaders is an important factor in the success of leaders. As such, the recommendation is to create
or enhance a community for leaders. This recommendation relates to Finding 8, which revealed
that participants felt that a community of like-minded leaders was important to their success.
Consistent with other participants’ views on the benefit, Emma noted “I think what would be
helpful a more regular exchange between the other global [virtual team leaders]. So, I think some
of the experience should be more or less the same and I think you would need also better
distinguish between other global clients. I think it makes a difference whether you have [client
based in my country or in another].” Emma continued “yeah, that is also true what I said before,
maybe to improve the knowledge sharing between global [virtual team leaders].”
The recommendation is consistent with the conceptual framework. The conceptual
framework is based, in part, on social cognitive theory. Social cognitive theory highlights the
importance of the environment and posits that individuals give attention to specific social
behavior. The social context of the recommendation is also consistent with sociocultural theory
and social learning theory. Sociocultural theory states that social context mediates learning
(Vygotsky, 1978). Vygotsky believed that social interaction and cooperative learning facilitates
new knowledge. Social learning theory, which expanded Vygotsky’s work, emphasizes the
importance of observation and role models (Bandura, 1977). Collectively, this research shows
that leaders will benefit from interacting with other, similar leaders. Developing the community
so that leaders can interact with other leaders will help replicate success factors.
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Recommendation 5: Clearly Articulate Organizational Support
Finding four revealed that participants believed that they were supported by the
organization. Yet, finding four and theme six indicated that participants were not always sure
how to access that support or could point to consistent, overt support. This provided causal
conditions and led to strategies that were evidenced in the model. As such, the recommendation
is to fully articulate organizational supports available to leaders and ensure that they understand
how to access support. This recommendation was supported by participants.
When asked what more the organization could do to facilitate success, participants agreed
that a clearer articulation of the support available to them would aid their success. Jack observed
“let’s say for me, I think because of the network I have myself, I feel pretty comfortable in what
I can get done and getting the support from [ the global organization] or my own firm. But I
sometimes worry about, let’s say other [global virtual team leaders], younger generation
[leaders] in other countries who may not have that network and the connects.” Consistent with
comments about documented support, Ethan noted “there’s not a lot of formalized procedure or
support that you can rely on to make sure—I would say there’s no standardized procedures,
standardized approach to make sure the [leader] will be successful”.
This recommendation is consistent with the conceptual framework. The conceptual
framework is based, in part, on expectancy value theory. Expectancy value theory posits that
achievement can be linked to the leader’s understanding of the cost of investing their time and
effort in attaining goals. As such, clearly identifying available support will reduce the cost of
attainment. Support may be documented and made available via job aid. A job aid is appropriate
when a person requires information but does not require training to use that information (Clark
& Estes, 2008). Such job aid could list the forms of support available and how to access them.
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Recommendation 6: Re-evaluate Appropriateness of Goals
Finding nine revealed that participants clearly understood the primary measure of
success. Yet, finding nine indicated nuance in the finding in three significant aspects: (a)
participant’s goals were not consistent; (b) participants were not always clear on their goals; and
(c) some participants believed that alternative metrics would better capture important indicators
of their success. As such, the recommendation is for the organization to re-evaluate the goals it
sets for global virtual team leaders to ensure that there are consistent goals, where possible, and
that the goals best measure what the organization wishes to achieve. This recommendation was
supported by participants.
When asked what more that organization could do to facilitate success, participants
agreed that greater clarity about goals would support their success. For example, Ava
commented “I was given no particular mandate or guidance around what I should be doing, and
the role—I think I defined my own success, which in a way is liberating. It lets you go, ‘where
can I make an impact and what can I do?’”. Ethan noted “from my personal point of view, I think
integrating what the global firm wants a [global virtual team leader] to do with what the local
country firm wants that particular person to do [is important]”.
The recommendation is consistent with the conceptual framework. The conceptual
framework employed social cognitive theory. Social cognitive theory posits, in part, that
individuals modify their behavior based on how their perceptions of utility and benefit of those
behaviors. The conceptual framework also identified expectancy value theory as one of the
theoretical frameworks. Literature identified that the environment may impose costs that a leader
considers when striving for goals. Specific to global professional services firms, the cost inherent
in regulatory and legal framework applying to such firms may impact a leader’s assessment of
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the value or cost of acting or thinking globally. It is important to consider the feasibility of
implementation when considering the appropriateness of the recommendations.
Implementation Plan and Approach to Evaluation
I employed member checking to determine that the six recommendations were an
appropriate way to address the problem of practice and determined that the recommendations
were consistent with literature. Implementing the recommendations will require investment of
time and resources. As such, ABC Professional Services Co, or any organization that faces the
same problem, needs to develop an appropriate plan that builds support for implementing the
recommendations and leads to the intended outcomes. This part reviews a potential approach to
implementation as depicted in Figure 12.

Figure 12
Potential Approach to Implementation

Step 1
•Identify project owner and their accountability
Step 2
•Build financial case
Step 3
•Build accountablity, implementation, communication, and evaluation plans
Step 4
•Pilot
Step 5
•Implementation
Step 6
•Reporting
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Identify Project Owner and Accountability Plan
ABC Professional Services Co must develop an overall plan to solve the problem of
practice. The first step is to assign a project owner who will be responsible for the success of the
program. As part of this, ABC Professional Services Co needs to determine what the project
owner will be accountable for and articulate that accountability to the project owner.
Accountability comprises both ontological and epistemological accountability (De Langhe et al.,
2011; Dubnick, 2014; Stecher et al., 2004; Vibert, 2014). The accountability plan should
consider both process and outcome accountability (Frink et al., 2008; Hall et al., 2017). The
accountability plan may need to be updated after the project owner develops the financial case
and the overall implementation plan is agreed.
Financial Case
Successful implementation will require dedication of appropriate resources. The project
owner must develop the financial case to implement the recommendations. Developing the
financial case requires an economic evaluation of the overall program and its individual
recommendation which considers the expected financial benefits and related costs (Levin et al.,
2017). The financial case should also include a logic model that shows that the resources
requested in the financial case are sufficient to achieve the required outcomes.
The first step in developing the financial case is to determine if an economic evaluation is
necessary (Levin et al., 2017). Obtaining costs may be difficult and estimating revenue growth
attributable to solving the problem is speculative. ABC Professional Services Co should be able
to assist in estimating both the costs and revenues. Yet, an evaluation will be beneficial. The
program is likely to vie with other programs for resources; as such an economic evaluation will
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enable executives to determine how to evaluate the benefit of this program, prioritize allocation
of resources, and help executives appreciate the importance of solving the problem (Levin et al.,
2017; Wheelan, 2019).
The second step is to confirm the theory of change, intended audience, and selection of
type of analysis to use (Levin et al., 2017). The theory of change should match the framework of
this dissertation. The intended audience would be executives who can determine whether to fund
the recommendations. As these executives should be financially literate and tasked with
prioritizing use of limited resources, a financially based business case is appropriate. A cost-
feasibility analysis will help executives determine whether it has the resources to devote to
implementation. A benefit-cost analysis will help executives compare the benefits of the
recommendations against the benefits of other requests for resource allocation. The benefit-cost
analysis will also assist executives determine whether to implement all or only certain
recommendations.
Implementation Plan
Based on the agreed financial case, the next step is to develop an implementation plan.
The project owner should select an appropriate organizational change strategy that will shape the
entire implementation plan. The implementation plan should have four sections: (a)
accountability; (b) execution; (c) communication; and (d) evaluation.
The accountability section should describe the various dimensions of accountability as it
impacts the successful implementation of the recommendations. The purpose of this section of
the plan is to identify important relationships and how parties in those relationships must interact
for the recommendations to be successfully implemented. Dimensions include ontological
relationships, the type of relationship, the accountability binary, the epistemology, and
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challenges in the relationships that might impact successful implementation (Bovens &
Schillemans, 2014; Stecher et al., 2004).
The execution section will show how the agreed recommendations will be executed. As
such, the execution section should state significant tasks and milestones from inception through
operation of the overall project. The execution section should also state responsibilities for each
element of execution.
Communication will be important to overall success. Given the significance of the
problem at ABC Professional Services Co, it is likely that the program will have high visibility.
As such, the project owner should identify stakeholders and develop a communication plan that
states progress, success, cadence of communication (Lewis, 2019). The communication plan
should also address key performance indicators that the project owner will use to communicate
success of the program.
Finally, it will be important to be able to assess the overall effectiveness of the project.
Effectiveness is measured using an evaluation plan (Clark & Estes, 2008). The evaluation plan
should enable the project owner to determine if the project has delivered the outcomes it
intended, whether any plan refinements are needed, and cost effectiveness.
Pilot
Prior to implementing a full version of the program covering all relevant global virtual
team leaders, it will be wise to consider piloting the program on a subset of leaders. This will
allow the project owner to assess the various components of the plan and make any changes prior
to full rollout. After the pilot, the project owner should re-evaluate the implementation plan and
report back to their sponsor.
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Implementation
During this phase the program is implemented.

Reporting
To maintain stakeholder interest in, and commitment to, the program, it will be important
to communicate progress and success as documented in the communication plan and whether the
program is meeting its expectations. As such, reporting on return on expectation is a key element
of the overall implementation and should be visually compelling (Kirkpatrick & Kayser
Kirkpatrick, 2016). Kirkpatrick and Kayser Kirkpatrick suggest the use of visuals (such as traffic
lights or arrows) to summarize key performance indicators, testimonials, and supporting tables of
data for any that wish to examine progress in greater detail. Reporting will follow the items
evaluated in the evaluation plan.
Limitations and Delimitations
Limitations are influences outside the control of the researcher. Delimitations are choices
the researcher makes which impact the study. Chapter Three stated methodological limitations
and delimitations inherent in the study. Table 20 summarizes critical limitations together with
delimitations and reflections on the potential impact of the limitations at the conclusion of this
study.

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Table 20
Summary of Limitations
Potential
limitation
Summary Delimitations or reflections on potential
impact

Selection of
qualitative
study
Opportunity for
misinterpretation
1. Qualitative study consistent with purpose to
understand leaders’ perspectives on what
contributes to success
2. Member checking at five separate occasions
to validate interpretations (at transcripts,
themes, findings, model, and
recommendations)
3. Constant comparative method of data
analysis employed
4. Post analysis review for consistency with
literature

Minimum
variation
Selecting successful leaders
limits opportunity for
divergent views
1. Selecting successful leaders is consistent
with purpose of understanding success
factors.
2. Successful leaders were selected with
regional variation consistent with
addressable population based on literature
review

Confidentiality Participant concerns about
confidentiality might
impact responses
Individual discussion offered with each
participant to explain how confidentiality
planned

Number of
participants
Further interviews might
provide more data
1. Interviews continued until no new data
obtained
2. Decision to only interview leaders as study
focused on their perspectives

Selection of
one site
Interviewing participants in
one business unit might
reduce generalizability
Purpose of study to assess factors reported by
successful global virtual team leaders.
participants met all requirements

Length of
study
Design, data collection, and
analysis comprised less
than two years
Data collection continued until saturation
achieved. Analysis used computer-assisted
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Potential
limitation
Summary Delimitations or reflections on potential
impact

qualitative data analysis software to increase
efficiency and consistency.

The threshold determination to employ a qualitative study is consistent with identifying
and understanding the meaning participants ascribe to factors they believe are important to their
success rather than specifying the quantitative impact of each factor in the leader’s overall
success. The research design supported that purpose, and the number of opportunities to either
member check of compare data against other data and literature reduced the risk of
misunderstanding or misinterpretation. Literature indicated the importance of extending analysis
beyond North American participants due to the impact of culture and diversity (Vijayakumar et
al., 2018). This study followed Vijayakumar et al.’s recommendation to extend participation
beyond North American participants to approximate the diversity represented in the addressable
population. In this way the study was designed to gain an understanding that could more fully
benefit ABC Professional Services Co and guard against the researcher’s potential bias of
ethnocentricity. Finally, the transparency employed in the study should assist readers in
determining potential generalizability. Yet, although this study is complete and addresses the
problem of practice, the study reveals areas for future research.
Recommendations for Future Research
Two areas of research emanate from this study. One is theoretical and one is grounded in
the data. Both validate the selection of grounded theory and conceptual framework for this study.
I first review the potential theoretical direction for future research.
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The study resulted in a grounded theory based on the phenomenon of social awareness.
This is consistent with the theoretical frameworks employed in this study. The findings
demonstrated consistency with social cognitive theory: the importance of understanding the
environment, behaviors, the individual themselves, and the interaction of the foregoing three
elements and self-reflection. The findings were also consistent with expectancy value theory,
which links achievement, motivation, and choices to the person’s expectancies and the value that
the person places on relevant outcomes. Accordingly, both theoretical frameworks have been
validated by the data collected in this study. However, the grounded theory model suggested
further research to evaluate whether social awareness can be recognized as the core concept that
predicts success of global virtual team leaders. As such, further consideration of additional
theoretical frameworks would be appropriate. For example, social awareness theory may uncover
additional theoretical analysis. I next review potential areas for further research based on the
data.
The data revealed 11 findings supported by substantial data. Research has suggested that
leaders in both the East and West generally display similar behaviors (Agrawal & Rook, 2014).
The findings are consistent with Agrawal and Rook’s work and suggest that leaders also have
similar characteristics and work in similar environments. However, the data also reveals
differences of emphasis by participants, depending on their individual characteristics. Table 21
depicts the findings where particular characteristics of participants resulted in a degree of
emphasis of more than 10 percent to what might be expected if all participants had a uniform
number of comments. This validates Vijayakumar et al.’s (2018) finding that extending research
beyond purely North American participants is appropriate. Yet, the findings also suggest that
further investigation of specific subpopulations may add to the body of research and provide
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more targeted recommendations for specific subpopulations. For example, finding eight had the
most variation across characteristics, with six of the seven characteristics demonstrating
variations of 10 % or more. Across all findings, variations of 10% or more arose most often
within the characteristics of region and number of teams committed to, with each revealing
variances in seven of the 11 findings.

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Table 21
Characteristics Where a Dimension of That Characteristic Had a >10% Variance
Finding Gender Region % time
committed
Team
size
Teams
committed
to
Time
in
role
Education Variances

1 X X X X 4
2 X X 2
3 X X X X 4
4 X 1
5 X 1
6 X X X X X 5
7 X 1
8 X X X X X X 6
9 X X X X 4
10 X X X X X 5
11 X X X X 4

Variances 1 7 5 6 7 5 6

Conclusion
The purpose of the study was to identify factors that leaders of global virtual teams report
are important to their success. The study used a constructivist paradigm and employed a
qualitative approach, grounded theory, to understand participant perspectives and develop a
potential contribution to theory. The findings were consistent with literature yet pointed to
potential extensions of existing research.
The study is important given the realities of business today. Research has indicated that
professionals increasingly work from anywhere (Agrawal & Rook, 2014; Browne, 2018; Bullock
& Klein, 2011; Gallup, 2020; Johnson & Christensen, 2019; Meluso et al., 2020). Such teams
span the globe, bring different cultures and ways of working, and challenges to success. If
187

businesses are to continue using globally distributed teams so that they access the best talent, it is
vital that they understand how to maximize the success of leaders of such teams.
By interviewing successful global virtual team leaders from around the world, the
researcher contributes to research that can support analysis of leaders’ perspectives regardless of
their location. The benefit of this contribution is that it enables a global professional services
firm to appreciate potential cultural similarities, sensitivities, and differences as it evaluates how
to replicate success factors. Further, the study presents recommendations that both ABC
Professional Services Co and any other global professional services organization could choose to
implement. These recommendations are feasible, practical, and implementable and enable a
global professional services organization to replicate success factors across all leaders of such
teams. In this way, the study should support a global professional services firm’s desire to serve
its clients better. That should result in increased revenues, profitability, and positive perception
in the marketplace. In contrast, failing to understand and replicate success factors will continue
to contribute to the perception that global, virtual teams do not perform to expectations, leading
to team member and organizational dissatisfaction with work-output and financial results of the
efforts of such teams (Tucker et al., 2014).
Yet, at the theoretical level, the study also contributes to literature by developing a
grounded theory to explain why leaders of global virtual teams are successful. Researchers have
identified a number of models, theories, and concepts that seek to explain success (Park et al.,
2018; Reiche et al., 2019; Vijayakumar et al., 2018). These cannot always be reconciled or
prioritized into a system. As such, researchers have demanded that additional empirical research
be undertaken (Mendenhall et al., 2016). Building on this research, the study proposes a model
that integrates literature and the conceptual framework based on findings that can help any
188

professional services firm make sense of the interaction of the literature and the extensive list of
factors that global virtual team leaders report as important to their success. This model may assist
future researchers evaluate the most significant factors in the success of global virtual team
leaders.

189

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Appendix A: Interview Instrument
Respondent (code used to avoid identification):
Location of interview:
Time in/time out:
Scene Setting
Thank you for agreeing to participate in my study. I appreciate the time that you have set
aside to answer my questions. As I mentioned when we last spoke, the interview approximates
2025 questions and should take about an hour, does that still work for you?
Before we get started, I want to remind you about this study, the overview for which was
provided to you in the Study Information Sheet and answer any questions you might have. The
purpose of this study is to understand and name key factors and behaviors in the success of
global [team leaders] for my University of Southern California doctoral program. I may also
make my aggregated, non-attributable, observations available to the firm as the firm is interested
in understanding and replicating success factors. I want to assure you that I am strictly wearing
the hat of researcher today. It is not to evaluate you, how you lead your team, or whether your
team is successful.
This interview is confidential. That means that your real name will not be shared with
anyone. The data for this study will be compiled into a report and while I do plan on using some
of what you say as direct quotes, no data will be directly attributed to you. I will use a
pseudonym to protect your confidentiality and will try my best to de-identify all data. This also
means that I do not want to collect any firm confidential or client confidential information; I am
interested in your experiences alone.
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I will keep the data in a password protected computer and all data will be destroyed after
three years. I want to ensure that I stay focused on the interview rather than taking notes and I
would like your permission to record the interview. The recording will not be made available to
anyone else. The recording is solely for my purposes to best capture your perspectives and will
not be shared with anyone else. May I have your permission to record our conversation?
Last, but most importantly, I want to remind you that your participation is completely
voluntary. We can skip any questions you want to skip, and we can stop at any time. Might you
have any questions about the study before we get started?
Introduction
Ok, I plan to start by asking some questions about you and the role. Then, I’ll ask some
questions about personal characteristics and behaviors that you believe are important to your
success. I’ll then ask about how your firm and the global firm helps you succeed. Finally, I’ll ask
you for any other perspectives we have not covered.
1. Tell me about your background at [ABC Professional Services Co].
2. Tell me about your team. Potential follow up: How many countries?
3. How long have you led this team?
4. How many teams are you on? Potential follow up: About how much time do you
devote to this team?
Questions About the Role
Ok. I’d now ask questions about the role itself
5. What do you enjoy about the role of global [team leader]?
6. What are the standards for success in this role? Potential follow up: How do you
know that those are the standards for success?
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Questions About Personal Characteristics
Now I’d like to ask questions about personal characteristics that you believe are
important to success in this role.
7. Some would say that the account leaders’ personal characteristics are critical to the
success of the role. If someone was to ask you what personal characteristics are
important to success in this role, what would you say? Follow up: If you had to order
those in order of importance to success, how would you do that? Follow up: I’d like
to get some more of your perspective on each of those personal characteristics.
Starting with (first listed by participant), in what ways is that personal characteristic
important to your success in this role? (Repeat for each characteristic mentioned).
Questions About Personal Leadership Behaviors
Now I’d like to ask about personal leadership behaviors that you believe are important to
success in this role.
8. Can you walk me through what I’d observe you do if I were to attend one of your
team meetings?
9. Think back to a project your team needed to complete. What in your opinion caused
the team to meet or fail to meet its objectives? Potential follow up: In hindsight, what
would you have done differently to change or improve outcomes?
10. Think back to an example where your team was initially not succeeding but ending up
succeeding. What behaviors did you change to help the team move from not
succeeding to succeeding? Potential follow up: In what ways did those behaviors
change the outcome?
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11. Now let’s reverse that last question. Think back to an example where your team was
initially succeeding but ending up not succeeding. What could you have done to help
the team return to success? Potential follow up: In what ways did those behaviors
change the outcome?
12. Some would say that how a leader behaves in any given situation is critical to the
success of the role. If someone was to ask you what behaviors are important to
success in this role, what would you say? Follow up: If you had to order those in
order of importance to success, how would you do that? Follow up: I’d like to get
some more of your perspective on each of those behaviors. Starting with (first listed
by participant), in what ways is that personal behavior important to your success in
this role? (Repeat for each behavior mentioned).
Questions About Your Team Itself
Now I’d like to ask questions about your team itself.
13. Some would say that environmental factors within the team itself that are critical to
the success of the role. If someone was to ask you what environmental factors are
important in this role, what would you say? Follow up: If you had to order those in
order of importance to success, how would you do that? Follow up: I’d like to get
some more of your perspective on each of those environmental factors. Starting with
(first listed by participant), in what ways is that factor important to your success in
this role? (Repeat for each characteristic mentioned).
14. How does the fact that there are multiple cultures represented on your team impact
the success of the team—if at all?
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15. How does the fact that the team operates virtually, rather than in person, impact the
success of the team—if at all?
Questions About Member Firm Supports
Now I’d like to ask questions about how your member firm supports you in our role.
16. In your opinion, how does your country unit facilitate success in this role – if at all?
Follow up: If you had to order those in order of importance to success, how would
you do that? Follow up: I’d like to get some more of your perspective on each of
those environmental factors. Starting with (first listed by participant), in what ways is
that personal characteristic important to your success in this role? (repeat for each
characteristic mentioned).
17. What more could the firm do to make you more successful in the role?
18. In your opinion, how does succeeding in this role impact career progression—if at
all?
Questions about how the global organization supports you
Now I’d like to ask you about how the global organization supports you in your role.
19. Tell me about how the global firm offers support to facilitate success in this role – if
at all? Follow up: What more could the firm do to make you more successful in the
role? Follow up: I’d like to get some more of your perspective on each of those
environmental factors. Starting with (first listed by participant), in what ways is that
personal characteristic important to your success in this role? (Repeat for each
characteristic mentioned).

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Reflection
I would now like to reflect on everything we have talked about to check we covered all
your thoughts.
20. Thinking about all that we have discussed over the last hour, are there any other
personal characteristics that you think are important to your success.
21. Thinking about all that we have discussed over the last hour, are there any other
personal behaviors that you think are important to your success.
22. Thinking about all that we have discussed over the last hour, are there any other ways
that your firm supports you that you think is important to your success.
23. Thinking about all that we have discussed over the last hour, are there any other ways
that the global firm supports you that you think is important to your success.
Close
I’d now like to bring us to a close.
24. What else, if anything, should we have discussed today?
25. Think about your fellow [global team leaders]. Can you recommend any others who
might have insights valuable to this study?
26. As you think about all we have covered today, do you have any documents that you
would feel comfortable sharing with me that could help this study?
Conclusion
Thank you for your time today. Your responses were very thoughtful and insightful. As
you think through everything we have discussed today, are there any other items that you think
would be useful to discuss, or concepts useful to expand on? (Pause).
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I would also like to give you the opportunity to review my notes from this interview to
ensure that I have correctly captured your perspectives and my summary of research in case this
triggers any additional thoughts. Would you be willing to review those notes later?

223

Appendix B: Protocol for Previously Prepared Documents

Protocol title: Factors in the Success of Leaders of Global Teams in Global
Professional Services Firms
Principal Investigator (PI)

Name: Rodney J. Lawrence
Department: USC Rossier School of Education
Telephone Number: (312) 342 5115
Email Address: rodneyla@usc.edu
Objectives
This section reviews the purpose, objectives, and research questions.
1. The purpose of the study is to contribute to literature and to assist a specific global
professional services firm understand success factors and develop a strategy to
replicate those success factors across other leaders.
2. The dissertation will describe an independently conducted research study to
understand factors contributing to the success of leaders of global virtual teams at a
global professional services firm.
3. There are three research questions: (a) what behaviors do global team leaders report
are important in succeeding in the role of global team leader; (b) what in the
environment do global team leaders report facilitates success in the role of global
team leader; and (c) what personal factors do global team leaders report are important
in succeeding in the role.

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Background
The study seeks to identify factors leading to the success of global virtual team leaders in
global professional services firms (a global professional services firm is a firm that provides
legal, accounting, consulting, or engineering services to clients in more than one country). The
rationale for the study is to help a particular global professional services firm—ABC
Professional Services Co—understand why some leaders are successful and to determine an
approach to replicating those success factors across all leaders of global virtual teams. PI has
identified no literature assessing factors successful leaders of global virtual teams within global
professional services firms attribute their success to. Research has instead mainly focused on
causes of failure: individual challenges and responses to those challenges. For example, research
has uncovered, and focused on, the specific challenges inherent in the structure of such firms that
inhibit success (Belal et al., 2017; Boussebaa, 2009; Boussebaa, 2012; Boussebaa, 2015; Brock
& Alon, 2009; Faulconbridge & Muzio, 2016; Klimkeit & Reihlen, 2016; Spence et al., 2015). In
the field of research related to global virtual teams, research has shown that there are four large
groupings of challenges to the successful leadership of global virtual teams:
1. The environment of global virtual teams. Literature shows that global virtual teams
present their own, unique challenges. These range from misunderstanding cultural
cues and needs, to the impact of virtual communication on knowledge sharing, to the
challenges of building team trust, to cohesion, and to team efficacy. The literature
suggests that leaders of such teams require additional skill sets over and beyond those
needed to lead purely in-person teams (Anantatmula & Thomas, 2010; Barnwell et
al., 2014; Schmidt, 2014).
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2. Leader behaviors. In response to the environmental challenges, leaders can employ a
number of behaviors to improve the likelihood of the team being successful.
Researchers recognize that they cannot characterize teams as either wholly in-person
or wholly remote and have started to measure the impact of those behaviors along the
continuum of virtuality. This acknowledges teams are neither completely in-person or
virtual and adds a further dimension of complexity to analysis (Cagiltay et al., 2015;
Lilian, 2014; Palupi et al., 2017).
3. Factors inherent in the leader. Research has shown a variety of personal
characteristics that the leader must have to have the greatest likelihood of success.
These include cultural intelligence—knowing how to effectively relate to and manage
different cultures—self-efficacy, openness to ideas, role model congruency, and
motivation to lead. The research has also shown that expectancies related to success
important (Badura et al., 2020; Osland et al., 2013; Schimschal & Lomas, 2019; Yoon
& Han, 2018).
4. Self-regulation. Tying the above fields together is research on the importance of self-
regulation and self-reflection as a way that leaders become more successful global
leaders (Carleton et al., 2018; Cseh et al., 2013; Yeow & Martin, 2013).
This study will contribute to existing literature by focusing on success factors, rather than
challenges and solutions to those challenges, that lead to successfully leading global virtual
teams within global professional services firms.
Selection Criteria
PI will request relevant, pre-existing surveys and analysis of global virtual teams that the
research site has previously prepared. PI will ask ABC Professional Services Co to redact any
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personal identifying information prior to providing that material. PI will also, during participant
interviews, to aid triangulation, ask participants if they have any documents or other artifacts
they would wish to share. No new documents will be prepared or requested by the PI to be
prepared for this purpose.
Resources for Existing Materials
Data
Until the PI requests pre-existing documents from the research site, or invites participants
to share further documents, PI does not know what documents will be provided. However, these
are not likely to be publicly available data. PI will obtain permission to access the data for
research purposes. As the study is a qualitative study, PI expects that the research site will have
survey data, that is anonymized and aggregated. Any documents obtained will be examined for
consistencies or inconsistencies with data collected in the interviews.
Biospecimens
There are no biospecimens.
Study Timeline and Data Analysis
Documentation review will occur after interviews and observations (if any). The purpose
of the document review will be to confirm or disconfirm data obtained through the interview
process. The documents, if any, will be maintained in an encrypted file. Only the PI will access
to the documents and only the PI will have the code to unlock the encrypted file. The material
will be kept as required by Rossier policy, if any, to support the analysis.
Informed Consent
PI will obtain consent prior to reviewing any documents. Participants are
employers, rather than employees. None of the following protected classes of data will be
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collected: medical record data, social media posts, school records, employee records,
economic survey data, judicial records, data sets from other research studies.
HIPAA

No protected health information will be accessed, used, or collected.

228

Appendix C: Information Sheet

229

230

Appendix D: Code Names Assigned to Participants
To protect participants, I assigned pseudonyms based on the most popular baby names in
the United States in 2020. Assignment was based on gender identified by the participant. The
complete list of pseudonyms is in Table D1.

Table D122
Pseudonyms Used
Female Male

Ava Alex
Charlotte Ben
Emma Elijah
Olivia Ethan
Henry
Jack
James
Leo
Levi
Liam
Lucas
Noah
Oliver
William

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Appendix E: Code Book Arranged by Theme
Table E1 depicts the code book arranged by theme. I extracted the first level of category
and the description from the code book. I have not reproduced codes not relevant to themes.

Table E1 23
Code Book Arranged by Theme
Theme Category Description

1: Understanding where
team members are
coming from
Act with cultural
humility
Being sensitive in the moment to other
cultures
Everyone being
flexible
Team members being flexible when
objective changes.
Diversity in team The significance or otherwise of
diversity on the team
Respect for each
other
Significance of respect by and for
fellow team members
Managing emotions Managing the temperature of the team
in various situations
Importance of
patience
Benefit of being patient
Listening to two
sides
Not coming to a discussion with a
preformed view. Open to changing
views based on discussion between
adverse parties.
Cultural
Intelligence
Being sensitive to other cultures, rather
than being mono cultural. Direct
experience with other cultures
Different styles can
work
There may be no one uniform style
that is most effective in all teams
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Theme Category Description

Demonstrating
empathy
Being empathetic
2: Making the team feel
like a team
Celebrating success
or giving
recognition
Opportunities to enjoy shared
successes
Empowering people Not being a controller, allowing others
to flourish, enabling, sharing
leadership
Engendering
respect
Fostering respect within the team
Instil sense of one
team
Building the team to focus on a team
outcome
Making everyone
on team feel
welcome or
creating safe
space
Bringing people onto the team and
making them welcome. Creating a
safe space feeling for team. Or
supported
Developing or
Motivating the
Team
Taking deliberate actions to foster the
team
Collaboration and
Cohesion
Team working together, is that
important
Focus on what’s
important
Not overwhelming people with the
small stuff; focusing on the
objective
Knowledge sharing Sharing items within the team
Right team
members
Having the right people on the team.
Shared goals or
beliefs. Team
Efficacy
About the team having a shared
perspective
Personal Agendas The importance of appreciating team
members’ own needs and agendas
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Theme Category Description

Agree with
objective or
purpose
Whether team members agree with
planned outcomes.
Having fun Focusing not only on work objective
Importance of
commitment
How important is it for team members
to be committed
Importance of Trust The significance of trust—within the
team or with other stakeholders
Virtual v in person Importance of physical space of team
Being a good
communicator
Importance of the being able to
communicate with team
Being a good
listener
Having strong listening skills
Being outgoing Enjoying other people, or members of
the team. Being willing to engage
3: Willing to lead Lead by example See from others perspective, don’t ask
people to do what you would not.
Able to decide Being willing to make a decision
Being a problem
solver
Solving problems rather than process
Being competitive Not be complacent, want to win
Being inspiring Inspiring others to achieve
Being passionate
about job
Having a sense of passion, not
checking the box
Being self-
motivated
Not ticking the box. Putting effort into
something. Self-motivated. Make an
effort
Business savviness Having a business approach to
dealings
Enjoying job Importance of liking what you do
234

Theme Category Description

Having fun or keep
sense of
perspective or
balance
Having a sense of humor. Not taking
things too seriously
Open to new things Not necessarily being one minded;
flexible enough to change course
should it warrant
Knowing what
talking about
Being technical or viewed as someone
who can lead on a topic
Selflessness. Being
comfortable in
role or with self
Working for the better of the entire
team
Taking
responsibility
How the leader should assume
responsibility
Positivity Should the leader be a cheerleader?
4: Being a good
communicator
Being prepared Being organized, pre thinking things
through
Communication Communication by/with the leader or
by with team or other stakeholders
Feedback Giving or receiving feedback
Importance of level
headedness
The impact of emotion, or reacting
Using stakeholder
validation in
team interactions
Using the client, or other external
stakeholder in the process
Communication
within team
Impact of differing styles on
communication
Frequency of
Communication
Cadence within team
Being inquisitive Being inquiry based or asking
questions, or genuinely interested
235

Theme Category Description

5: Being effective Being proactive Getting ahead of things in order to
support the team and its objectives
How to run a team
interaction
Approach to running the team
Importance of
Monitoring
Following up with team members,
making sure things are being
achieved
Task effectiveness
or accountability
Making sure things are done, figuring
out how things get achieved.
Instilling a sense of accountability.
Thinking long term Importance of short-term gain v long-
term approach
Lead through
gaining support
Can the leader enforce matters or does
leader need to be more of a
diplomat?
Attention to detail Being prepared as a leader
Pers. Being
effective
Focusing on solutions, or the end result
which benefits the team objective
Being honest or
trustworthy.
Integrity
Being able to be honest about what is
happening, or has happened
Importance of
transparency
Being open with team members or
other stakeholders
Being likeable A person people like to be around or
interact with
Importance of
persistence
Quality of giving up, or not
6: Feeling supported by
the wider organization
Support How do the organization or external
stakeholders help?
Visibility of the
team and its
objectives
How important is external recognition
of the team?
236

Theme Category Description

7: Willing to grow Culture of curiosity Inquiring mindset
Being adaptable.
Learning from
mistakes
Being able to change depending on
what the role requires.
Being willing to ask
for help
Showing vulnerability
Having a mentor Importance of mentor in success
Impact of role
models
The importance of role models to the
person
Self-reflection Looking at self or team introspectively
to determine causes for things
Self-regulation Stopping initial impulses and
considering what to do next.
8: Relationships Importance of
relationships
Focusing on the relational side, rather
than pure business
Two-way street Leadership thinking being about not
only receiving, but what you can do
for team members.
9: Understanding what is
Success
Expectancies and
standards for
success
Environmentally, how is the leader
judged

237

Appendix F: Code Book Arranged by Research Question
Table F1 depicts the codebook arranged by research question. I extracted the first level of
category by finding and the description from the code book. I have not reproduced codes not
relevant to themes.

Table F1 24
Code Book Arranged by Research Question
Research
question

Finding Category Description
1: Behavior Selecting
appropriate
communication
(Finding 1)
Celebrating success or giving
recognition
Opportunities to
enjoy shared
successes
Communication Communication
by/with the
leader or by
with team or
other
stakeholders
Feedback Giving or
receiving
feedback
Importance of level headedness The impact of
emotion, or
reacting
Lead by example See from others
perspective,
don’t ask
people to do
what you would
not
Making everyone on team feel
welcome or creating safe space
Bringing people
onto the team
and making
them welcome.
Creating a safe
space feeling
238

Research
question

Finding Category Description
for team. Or
supported
Positivity Should the leader
be a cheerleader
Effective team
management
(Finding 2)
Being prepared Being organized,
pre thinking
things through
Being proactive Getting ahead of
things in order
to support the
team and its
objectives.
How to run a team interaction Approach to
running the
team
Importance of Monitoring Following up with
team members,
making sure
things are being
achieved
Instil sense of one team Building the team
to focus on a
team outcome
Task effectiveness or
accountability
Making sure
things are done,
figuring out
how things get
achieved.
Instilling a
sense of
accountability.
Thinking long term Importance of
short-term gain
v long term
approach
3: Appropriately
treating people
Act with cultural humility Being sensitive in
the moment to
other cultures
Empowering people Not being a
controller,
allowing others
to flourish,
enabling,
239

Research
question

Finding Category Description
sharing
leadership
Engendering respect Fostering respect
within the team
Using stakeholder validation in
team interactions
Using the client,
or other
external
stakeholder in
the process
Developing or motivating the team Taking deliberate
actions to foster
the team
2: Environment 4: Feeling
supported by
the wider
organization
Support How does the org
or external
stakeholders
help?
Visibility of the team and its
objectives
How important is
external
recognition of
the team?
5: Creating a
team
environment
Everyone being flexible Team members
being flexible
when objective
changes.
Collaboration and Cohesion Team working
together, is that
important
Communication within team Impact of
differing styles
on
communication
Frequency of Communication Cadence of
communication
within the team
Culture of curiosity Inquiring mindset
Diversity in team The significance
or otherwise of
diversity on the
team
Knowledge sharing Sharing items
within the team
Lead through gaining support Can the leader
enforce matters
240

Research
question

Finding Category Description
or does leader
need to be more
of a diplomat?
Respect for each other Significance of
respect by and
for fellow team
members
Managing emotions Managing the
temperature of
the team in
various
situations
Right team members Having the right
people on the
team
Having fun Focusing not only
on work
objective
Importance of commitment How important is
it for team
members to be
committed
Importance of Trust The significance
of trust—within
the team or
with other
stakeholders
Virtual v in person Importance of
physical space
6: Team efficacy Focus on what’s important Not
overwhelming
people with the
small stuff;
focusing on the
objective
Shared goals or beliefs. Team
efficacy
About the team
having a shared
perspective
Personal Agendas The importance of
appreciating
team members’
own needs and
agendas
241

Research
question

Finding Category Description
Agree with objective or purpose Whether team
members agree
with planned
outcomes
3: Personal
characteristics
7: Able to interact
with others
Importance of patience Is patience
important?
Listening to two sides Not coming to a
discussion with
a preformed
view. Open to
changing views
based on
discussion
between
adverse parties.
Attention to detail Being prepared as
a leader
Being a good communicator Importance of the
being able to
communicate
with team
Being honest or trustworthy.
Integrity
Being able to be
honest about
what is
happening, or
has happened
Being a good listener Value of listening
over talking
Importance of transparency Being open with
team members
or other
stakeholders
Being inquisitive Being inquiry
based or asking
questions, or
genuinely
interested
Being inspiring Inspiring others to
achieve
Being likeable A person people
like to be
around or
interact with
242

Research
question

Finding Category Description
Being outgoing Enjoying other
people, or
members of the
team. Being
willing to
engage
Cultural Intelligence Being sensitive to
other cultures,
rather than
being mono
cultural. Direct
experience with
other cultures
Different styles can work There may be no
one uniform
style that is
most effective
in all teams
Demonstrating empathy Being empathetic
Importance of persistence Quality of giving
up, or not
8: Having
appropriate
relationships
Having a mentor Importance of
mentor in
success
Impact of role models The importance of
role models to
the person
Importance of relationships Focusing on the
relational side
rather than pure
business
Two-way street Leadership
thinking being
about not only
receiving, but
what you can do
for team
members.
9: Focusing on
objectives
Able to decide Being willing to
make a decision
Being a problem solver Solving problems
rather than
process
243

Research
question

Finding Category Description
Being competitive Not be
complacent,
want to win
Being effective Focusing on
solutions, or the
end result
which benefits
the team
objective
Business savviness Having a business
approach to
dealings
Expectancies and standards for
success
Environmentally,
how is the
leader judged
Taking responsibility How the leader
should assume
responsibility
10: Enjoying
oneself
Being self-motivated Not ticking the
box. Putting
effort into
something.
Self-motivated.
Make an effort
Enjoying job Importance of
liking what you
do
Having fun or keep sense of
perspective or balance
Having a sense of
humor. Not
taking things
too seriously
11: Creating
space for self
to grow as
leader
Being adaptable. Learning from
mistakes
Being able to
change
depending on
what the role
requires
Being willing to ask for help Showing
vulnerability
Knowing what talking about Being technical or
viewed as
someone who
can lead on a
topic
244

Research
question

Finding Category Description
Selflessness. Being comfortable in
role or with self.
Working for the
better of the
entire team
Open to new things Not necessarily
being one
minded;
flexible enough
to change
course should it
warrant
Self-reflection Looking at self or
team
introspectively
to determine
causes for
things
Self-regulation Stopping initial
impulses and
considering
what to do next
245

Appendix G: Tables of Additional Descriptive Statistics for Each Finding
This appendix provides additional descriptive statistics for each finding. A table of
statistics is provided for each finding. Participants were stratified based on attribute. The table
states the number of references supporting the finding by attribute and classification of
participant and compares the number of references to the total number of participants to derive
an under-representation or over-representation statistic. An over-representation suggests that
participants with a particular classification referenced the finding more than would be expected if
all participants uniformly had the same reaction. An under-representation suggests the reverse:
that participants with a particular classification within an attribute referenced the finding less
than would be expected if all participants uniformly had the same reaction.
Table G1 depicts additional descriptive statistics for Finding 1. It shows the following
classifications that had a different emphasis, by 10 percentage points or more, compared to what
might be expected if all participants had a similar reaction: region, size of team, teams
committed to, and length of time as leader.

246

Table G1 25
Finding 1: Number of References by Classification
Attribute Classifications Percentage of
participants
Percentage
of times
finding
referenced
Percentage
points
(under)/over
representation

Gender Female 22% 23% 1
Male 78% 77% (1)
100% 100% 0

Region North America 28% 48% 20
Europe 50% 36% (14)
Asia Pacific 17% 11% (6)
Middle East 5% 5% 0
100% 100% 0

% time commitment <5 17% 13% (4)
5–9 11% 17% 6
10–19 11% 6% (5)
20–50 44% 45% 1
>50 17% 19% 2
100% 100% 0

Size of team < 10 5% 3% (2)
10–19 45% 37% (8)
20 or more 50% 60% 10
100% 100% 0

Teams committed to 0 39% 38% (1)
<5 33% 23% (10)
5–9 22% 27% 5
10–15 6% 12% 6
100% 100% 0

Time in role < 5 years 44% 36% (8)
5–9 years 44% 60% 16
10–20 years 12% 4% (8)
100% 100% 0

Education Law 39% 41% 2
Business 22% 23% 1
Law and business 27% 28% 1
Business & other 12% 8% (4)
247

Attribute Classifications Percentage of
participants
Percentage
of times
finding
referenced
Percentage
points
(under)/over
representation

100% 100% 0

Table G2 highlights additional descriptive statistics for Finding 2. It depicts the following
classifications that had a different emphasis, by 10 percentage points or more, compared to what
might be expected if all participants had a similar reaction: region, and size of team.

248

Table G2 26
Finding 2: Number of References by Classification
Attribute Classifications Percentage of
participants
Percentage
of times
finding
referenced
Percentage
points
(under)/over
representation

Gender Female 22% 19% (3)
Male 78% 81% 3
100% 100% 0

Region North America 28% 34% 6
Europe 50% 54% 4
Asia Pacific 17% 7% (10)
Middle East 5% 5% 0
100% 100% 0

% time commitment <5 17% 9% (8)
5–9 11% 16% 5
10–19 11% 11% 0
20–50 44% 48% 4
>50 17% 16% (1)
100% 100% 0

Size of team < 10 5% 3% (2)
10–19 45% 37% (8)
20 or more 50% 60% 10
100% 100% 0

Teams committed to 0 39% 33% (6)
<5 33% 41% 8
5–9 22% 14% (8)
10–15 6% 12% 6
100% 100% 0

Time in role < 5 years 44% 43% (1)
5–9 years 44% 41% (3)
10–20 years 12% 16% 4
100% 100% 0

Education Law 39% 35% (4)
Business 22% 16% (6)
Law and business 27% 33% 6
Business & other 12% 16% 4
249

Attribute Classifications Percentage of
participants
Percentage
of times
finding
referenced
Percentage
points
(under)/over
representation

100% 100% 0

Table G3 depicts additional descriptive statistics for Finding 3. It highlights the following
classifications that had a different emphasis, by 10 percentage points or more, compared to what
might be expected if all participants had a similar reaction: percentage of time commitment, size
of team, number of teams committed to, and education.

250

Table G3 27
Finding 3: Number of References by Classification
Attribute Classifications Percentage of
participants
Percentage
of times
finding
referenced
Percentage
points
(under)/over
representation

Gender Female 22% 13% 9
Male 78% 87% (9)
100% 100% 0

Region North America 28% 31% 3
Europe 50% 50% 0
Asia Pacific 17% 13% (4)
Middle East 5% 6% 1
100% 100% 0

% time commitment <5 17% 6% (11)
5–9 11% 14% 3
10–19 11% 10% (1)
20–50 44% 57% 13
>50 17% 13% (4)
100% 100% 0

Size of team < 10 5% 6% 1
10–19 45% 33% (12)
20 or more 50% 61% 11
100% 100% 0

Teams committed to 0 39% 27% (12)
<5 33% 35% 2
5–9 22% 31% 9
10–15 6% 7% 1
100% 100% 0

Time in role < 5 years 44% 36% (8)
5–9 years 44% 45% 1
10–20 years 12% 19% 7
100% 100% 0

Education Law 39% 50% 11
Business 22% 12% (10)
Law and business 27% 24% (3)
Business & other 12% 14% 2
251

Attribute Classifications Percentage of
participants
Percentage
of times
finding
referenced
Percentage
points
(under)/over
representation

100% 100% 0

Table G4 depicts additional descriptive statistics for Finding 4. It highlights that one
classification, region, had a different emphasis, by 10 percentage points or more, compared to
what might be expected if all participants had a similar reaction.

252

Table G4 28
Finding 4: Number of References by Classification
Attribute Classifications Percentage of
participants
Percentage
of times
finding
referenced
Percentage
points
(under)/over
representation
Gender Female 22% 25% 3
Male 78% 75% (3)
100% 100% 0

Region North America 28% 34% 6
Europe 50% 50% 0
Asia Pacific 17% 7% (10)
Middle East 5% 9% 4
100% 100% 0

% time commitment <5 17% 14% (3)
5–9 11% 8% (3)
10–19 11% 13% 2
20–50 44% 44% 0
>50 17% 21% 4
100% 100% 0

Size of team < 10 5% 4% (1)
10–19 45% 51% 6
20 or more 50% 45% (5)
100% 100% 0

Teams committed to 0 39% 38% (1)
<5 33% 39% 6
5–9 22% 19% (3)
10–15 6% 4% (2)
100% 100% 0

Time in role < 5 years 44% 46% 2
5–9 years 44% 42% (2)
10–20 years 12% 12% 0
100% 100% 0

Education Law 39% 32% (7)
Business 22% 16% (6)
Law and business 27% 32% 5
Business & other 12% 20% 8
100% 100% 0
253

Table G5 depicts additional descriptive statistics for Finding 5. It highlights one
classification, number of teams committed to, that had a different emphasis, by 10 percentage
points or more, compared to what might be expected if all participants had a similar reaction.

254

Table G5 29
Finding 5: Number of References by Classification
Attribute Classifications Percentage of
participants
Percentage
of times
finding
referenced
Percentage
points
(under)/over
representation

Gender Female 22% 28% 6
Male 78% 72% (6)
100% 100% 0

Region North America 28% 31% 3
Europe 50% 52% 2
Asia Pacific 17% 13% (4)
Middle East 5% 4% 1
100% 100% 0

% time commitment <5 17% 14% (3)
5–9 11% 12% 1
10–19 11% 17% 6
20–50 44% 44% 0
>50 17% 13% (4)
100% 100% 0

Size of team < 10 5% 12% 7
10–19 45% 44% (1)
20 or more 50% 44% (6)
100% 100% 0

Teams committed to 0 39% 32% (7)
<5 33% 43% 10
5–9 22% 19% (3)
10–15 6 % 6% 0
100% 100% 0

Time in role < 5 years 44% 46% 2
5–9 years 44% 41% (3)
10–20 years 12% 13% 1
100% 100% 0

Education Law 39% 36% (3)
Business 22% 17% (5)
Law and business 27% 28% 1
Business & other 12% 19% 7
255

Attribute Classifications Percentage of
participants
Percentage
of times
finding
referenced
Percentage
points
(under)/over
representation

100% 100% 0

Table G6 depicts additional descriptive statistics for Finding 6. It highlights following
classifications that had a different emphasis by 10 percentage points or more, compared to what
might be expected if all participants had a similar reaction: region, size of team, teams
committed to, time in role, and education.

256

Table G6 30
Finding 6: Number of References by Classification
Attribute Classifications Percentage of
participants
Percentage
of times
finding
referenced
Percentage
points
(under)/over
representation

Gender Female 22% 20% (2)
Male 78% 80% 2
100% 100% 0

Region North America 28% 17% 20
Europe 50% 60% (14)
Asia Pacific 17% 22% (6)
Middle East 5% 1% 0
100% 100% 0

% time commitment <5 17% 16% (1)
5–9 11% 20% 9
10–19 11% 15% 4
20–50 44% 40% (4)
>50 17% 9% (8)
100% 100% 0

Size of team < 10 5% 11% 6
10–19 45% 54% 9
20 or more 50% 35% (15)
100% 100% 0

Teams committed to 0 39% 29% (10)
<5 33% 48% 15
5–9 22% 17% (5)
10–15 6 % 6% 0
100% 100% 0

Time in role < 5 years 44% 55% 11
5–9 years 44% 36% (8)
10–20 years 12% 9% (3)
100% 100% 0

Education Law 39% 28% (11)
Business 22% 21% (1)
Law and business 27% 27% 0
Business & other 12% 24% 12
257

Attribute Classifications Percentage of
participants
Percentage
of times
finding
referenced
Percentage
points
(under)/over
representation

100% 100% 0

Table G7 depicts additional descriptive statistics for Finding 7. It highlights that one
classification, percentage of time committed to the team, had a different emphasis, by 10
percentage points or more, compared to what might be expected if all participants had a similar
reaction.

258

Table G7 31
Finding 7: Number of References by Classification
Attribute Classifications Percentage of
participants
Percentage
of times
finding
referenced
Percentage
points
(under)/over
representation

Gender Female 22% 26% 4
Male 78 % 74% (4)
100% 100% 0

Region North America 28% 36% 8
Europe 50% 46% (4)
Asia Pacific 17% 16% (1)
Middle East 5% 2% (3)
100% 100% 0

% time commitment <5 17% 16% (1)
5–9 11% 11% 0
10–19 11% 17% 6
20–50 44% 49% 5
>50 17% 7% (10)
100% 100% 0

Size of team < 10 5% 11% 6
10–19 45% 47% 2
20 or more 50% 42% (8)
100% 100% 0

Teams committed to 0 39% 36% (3)
<5 33% 32% (1)
5–9 22% 29% 7
10–15 6 % 3% (3)
100% 100% 0

Time in role < 5 years 44% 50% 6
5–9 years 44% 42% (2)
10–20 years 12% 8% (4)
100% 100% 0

Education Law 39% 44% 5
Business 22% 19% (3)
Law and business 27% 21% (6)
Business & other 12% 16% 4
259

100% 100%

Table G8 depicts additional descriptive statistics for Finding 8. It highlights the following
classifications that had a different emphasis, by 10 percentage points or more, compared to what
might be expected if all participants had a similar reaction: gender, region, percentage of time
commitment, number of teams committed to, length of time in role, and education.

260

Table G8 32
Finding 8: Number of References by Classification
Attribute Classifications Percentage of
participants
Percentage
of times
finding
referenced
Percentage
points
(under)/over
representation

Gender Female 22% 9% (13)
Male 78 % 91% 13
100% 100% 0

Region North America 28% 38% 10
Europe 50% 50% 0
Asia Pacific 17% 9% (8)
Middle East 5% 3% (2)
100% 100% 0

% time commitment <5 17% 9% (8)
5–9 11% 16% 5
10–19 11% 7% (4)
20–50 44% 62% 18
>50 17% 6% (11)
100% 100% 0

Size of team < 10 5% 2% (3)
10–19 45% 42% (3)
20 or more 50% 56% 6
100% 100% 0

Teams committed to 0 39% 21% (18)
<5 33% 42% 9
5–9 22% 27% 5
10–15 6 % 10% 4
100% 100% 0

Time in role < 5 years 44% 32% (12)
5–9 years 44% 50% 6
10–20 years 12% 18% 6
100% 100% 0

Education Law 39% 48% 9
Business 22% 9% (13)
Law and business 27% 32% 5
Business & other 12% 11% (1)
261

Attribute Classifications Percentage of
participants
Percentage
of times
finding
referenced
Percentage
points
(under)/over
representation

100% 100% 0

Table G9 depicts additional descriptive statistics for Finding 9. It highlights the following
classifications that had a different emphasis, by 10 percentage points or more, compared to what
might be expected if all participants had a similar reaction: region, percentage of time
committed, number of teams committed to, and education.

262

Table G9 33
Finding 9: Number of References by Classification
Attribute Classifications Percentage of
participants
Percentage
of times
finding
referenced
Percentage
points
(under)/over
representation

Gender Female 22% 22% 0
Male 78% 78% 0
100% 100% 0

Region North America 28% 25% (3)
Europe 50% 63% 13
Asia Pacific 17% 10% (7)
Middle East 5% 2% (3)
100% 100% 0

% time commitment <5 17% 14% (3)
5–9 11% 25% 14
10–19 11% 10% (1)
20–50 44% 41% (3)
>50 17% 10% (7)
100% 100% 0

Size of team < 10 5% 9% 4
10–19 45% 42% (3)
20 or more 50% 49% (1)
100% 100% 0

Teams committed to 0 39% 27% (12)
<5 33% 40% 7
5–9 22% 12% (10)
10–15 6% 21% 15
100% 100% 0

Time in role < 5 years 44% 45% 1
5–9 years 44% 49% 5
10–20 years 12% 6% (6)
100% 100% 0

Education Law 39% 29% (10)
Business 22% 15% (7)
Law and business 27% 34% 7
Business & other 12% 22% 10
263

Attribute Classifications Percentage of
participants
Percentage
of times
finding
referenced
Percentage
points
(under)/over
representation

100% 100% 0

Table G10 depicts additional descriptive statistics for Finding 10. It highlights the
following classifications that had a different emphasis, by 10 percentage points or more,
compared to what might have been expected if all participants had a similar reaction: region, size
of team, number of teams committed to, time in role, and education.

264

Table G10 34
Finding 10: Number of References by Classification
Attribute Classifications Percentage of
participants
Percentage
of times
finding
referenced
Percentage
points
(under)/over
representation

Gender Female 22% 17% (5)
Male 78% 83% 5
100% 100% 0

Region North America 28% 25% (3)
Europe 50% 63% 13
Asia Pacific 17% 10% (7)
Middle East 5% 2% (3)
100% 100% 0

% time commitment <5 17% 19% 2
5–9 11% 12% 1
10–19 11% 8% (3)
20–50 44% 48% 4
>50 17% 13% (4)
100% 100% 0

Size of team < 10 5% 7% 2
10–19 45% 33% (12)
20 or more 50% 60% 10
100% 100% 0

Teams committed to 0 39% 25% (14)
<5 33% 33% 0
5–9 22% 37% 15
10–15 6% 5% (1)
100% 100% 0

Time in role < 5 years 44% 41% (3)
5–9 years 44% 57% 13
10–20 years 12% 2% (10)
100% 100% 0

Education Law 39% 45% 6
Business 22% 10% (12)
Law and business 27% 26% (1)
Business & other 12% 19% 7
265

Attribute Classifications Percentage of
participants
Percentage
of times
finding
referenced
Percentage
points
(under)/over
representation

100% 100% 0

Table G11 depicts additional descriptive statistics for Finding 11. It highlights the
following classifications that had a different emphasis, by 10 percentage points or more,
compared to what might be expected if all participants had a similar reaction: size of team,
number of teams committed to, time in role, and education.

266

Table G11 35
Finding 11: Number of References by Classification
Attribute Classifications Percentage of
participants
Percentage
of times
finding
referenced
Percentage
points
(under)/over
representation

Gender Female 22% 30% 8
Male 78% 70% (8)
100% 100% 0

Region North America 28% 31% 3
Europe 50% 48% (2)
Asia Pacific 17% 15% (2)
Middle East 5% 6% 1
100% 100% 0

% time commitment <5 17% 14% (3)
5–9 11% 13% 2
10–19 11% 17% 6
20–50 44% 42% (2)
>50 17% 14% (3)
100% 100% 0

Size of team < 10 5% 12% 7
10–19 45% 55% 10
20 or more 50% 33% (17)
100% 100% 0

Teams committed to 0 39% 34% (5)
<5 33% 52% 19
5–9 22% 8% (14)
10–15 6 % 6% 0
100% 100% 0

Time in role < 5 years 44% 55% 11
5–9 years 44% 33% (11)
10–20 years 12% 12% 0
100% 100% 0

Education Law 39% 24% (15)
Business 22% 26% 4
Law and business 27% 31% 4
Business & other 12% 19% 7
267

Attribute Classifications Percentage of
participants
Percentage
of times
finding
referenced
Percentage
points
(under)/over
representation

100% 100% 0

Abstract (if available)

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Asset Metadata

Creator Lawrence, Rodney John (author)

Core Title Success factors for global virtual team leaders: a qualitative study of leaders of global virtual teams in a global professional service firm employing grounded theory

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)

Degree Conferral Date 2022-05

Publication Date 04/25/2022

Defense Date 03/21/2022

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag expectancy value theory,global professional services firms,global virtual team leaders,OAI-PMH Harvest,social awareness,social cognitive theory,success factors

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Hyde, Corinne E. (committee chair), Datta, Monique C. (committee member), Picus, Lawrence O. (committee member)

Creator Email rodney_lawrence@msn.com,rodneyla@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC111117870

Unique identifier UC111117870

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

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Type texts

Source 20220427-usctheses-batch-933 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

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