A theory of virtual culture formation
Date
2021
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Abstract
This research focused on the formation of organisational culture in virtual work teams that exist within the context of a virtual organisation. The concept of organisational culture has been studied since the late 1970s in traditional work contexts. Several studies have subsequently been carried out on the factors influencing and the processes involved in the formation of culture within the context of traditional brick and mortar workplaces. This study focused on the formation of culture in virtual organisations, which have become commonplace in the 21st century and whose key
characteristics are technological enablement as well as geographic and spatial distribution. A sensitising literature review was presented to locate the study within the current discourse of organisational culture, process theory and virtual work teams within virtual organisations. A constructivist grounded theory study was carried out to investigate the phenomenon of culture formation in virtual organisations using respondents who were at the time working as part of a virtual team within a virtual organisation. Data from 18 interviewed participants and five sets of archival records
were collected and analysed theoretically. The results of the study were integrated with extant literature to find that organisational culture within virtual contexts developed through managing the core theme of virtuality and by dealing with virtuality while maintaining organisational effectiveness and managing interpersonal relationships. The findings from this research are expected to inform stakeholders so that they may
better anticipate, facilitate and r respond to organisational culture development within a
virtual organisation context.
Description
A thesis submitted to the School of Business Administration at the University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Johannesburg, 2021
Keywords
culture formation, Virtual organisation, Organisational culture, Organizational culture, Virtual organization, Virtual teams, Virtuality, Process theory, Dynamic evolution, Grounded theory
Citation
Chitondo, Margaret Zvobgo. (2021). A theory of virtual culture formation [PHD, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WireDSpace.