Locus of control and attitudes to working in virtual teams

Global projects using new computing and communication technologies for at-distance communication and coordination are increasingly popular. As a result, team members are often located geographically and temporally apart, while working towards a common project goal. This paper takes a micro-level look at those actively involved in distributed team working. For the first time within the project team context, this paper uses the locus of control (LOC) construct to examine the influence of individual workers’ general control expectancies on their attitudes towards distributed working. Decisions and actions of management and team colleagues are perceived and interpreted by team individuals as either enabling or constraining their own performance. This in turn, can affect their behaviour towards others. With its basis in reinforcement or learning theory, LOC offers a robust theoretical framework to research the virtual project team and inform business practice.The paper first reports the results of a prior survey of project professionals’ LOC affect on perceived role conflict and job satisfaction. A subsequent case-study provides a deeper understanding of the issues that individuals face when working in this extended environment, which could not be fully explored by the scope of the original quantitative study. Findings from both the survey and case study demonstrate LOC attitudinal differences. The survey results signal the important relationship between workers’ locus of control and job satisfaction; in particular, contrary to conventional team findings, those with a sense of internal control appear directly affected by role conflict. In the case study, this may be explained by internals’ willingness to take ownership of their surroundings and actions. This study’s integrative approach highlights the importance of understanding workers’ locus of control orientations and their implications for distributed team member motivation and development.