Available online at www.sciencedirect.com COINs2009: Collaborative Innovation Networks Conference 1877-0428 © 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.04.065 Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 2 (2010) 6551–6560 COINs2009: Collaborative Innovation Networks Conference Correlating Survey Data and Network Data to Understand Performance in Global Virtual Teams Julia C. Gluesing a* , Kenneth R. Riopelle b a,b Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 48201 USA Elsevier use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here Abstract This paper presents results of an exploratory study of eight graduate student teams who were working as global virtual teams over a five-month period as part of a three-university (University of Cologne, Helsinki University of Technology, Savannah College of Art and Design) online course conducted in collaboration with instructors from MIT’s Center for Collective Intelligence. The purpose of the study was to compare the use of an online survey self-assessment instrument with assessment of email gathered through automated means to evaluate team performance. Findings show that the assessment methods are complementary and can be used to understand the development and functioning of global virtual teams over time. Both assessments indicate that it is important for global virtual teams to have a clear mission and objectives that all team members understand and can commit to carrying out if global teams are to perform successfully. Automated tools that analyze email communication, both structure and content, can help managers and team members alike monitor and quickly evaluate the activity of global virtual teams, and a self-assessment can be a supplementary diagnostic tool to enhance performance. Keywords: global virtual teams; performance assessment; email analysis; semantic analysis 1. Introduction Two general questions have led to the study reported in this paper. First is the question of the relationship between people’s perceptions of their team processes and performance and what can be known more objectively about a team’s interaction patterns and performance by examining network data gathered through automated means. A second research question explores the efficacy of a Global Virtual Teams Self-Assessment Survey tool developed from qualitative data gathered from ethnographic fieldwork (Gluesing, 1995; Gluesing et al., 2003). For purposes of this paper, a globally distributed team is defined as an interdependent work group comprised of culturally diverse members based in two or more nations who share a collective responsibility for making or implementing decisions related to an organization’s global strategy (Cohen & Mankin, 1999). Organizations that are global in nature respond to the shift from production to knowledge-intensive work, and the need for greater flexibility to access * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-248-210-7640; fax: +1-248-879-9081. E-mail address: j.gluesing@wayne.edu. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.