A Double-Edged Sword: Multilevel Identification in Global Virtual Teams

Abstract

Organizations increasingly rely on global virtual teams due to the need to provide employees with more flexible work arrangements while leveraging high-quality talent from around the world. As a result, many employees plan to work remotely and be part of global virtual teams. Therefore, it is crucial to understand what team members can do to enhance performance in these global virtual teams. Team researchers have recognized team identification as an essential emerging state that can favorably influence team outcomes. While research on team identification exists in other contexts, understanding team identity in global virtual teams has received far less attention. In this study, I theorize and empirically test the hypothesis that identification in GVT acts as a double-edged sword, enhancing the team’s performance while simultaneously diminishing individual performance. Adopting a multilevel approach, I investigate the influence of team members’ cultural intelligence on member identification and the bottom-up process relating to team member identification to team performance. Results from 751 team members working in 223 global virtual teams reveal that a member’s cultural intelligence positively affects the member’s identification with the team via the team members’ motivation. Results also indicate that team identification is associated with motivation and performance at the team level. Finally, findings show that identification with the team has an overall negative impact on a team member’s performance but a positive impact on team performance. This paper advances knowledge about the antecedents, processes, and multilevel effects of team members’ identification.