Understanding Coordination in IT Project-Based Environments: An Examination of Team Cognition and Virtual Team Efficacy

Research has demonstrated how successful coordination can lead to greater organizational performance. In information technology (IT) project-based environments, coordinating the knowledge needed to perform activities is a particularly salient issue. Indeed, research has demonstrated how team cognition, or the awareness team members have about each other's capabilities, is a critical factor for project success. Recently, more advanced technologies have emerged which allow team members to share knowledge effectively in distributed and dynamic environments (e.g. Web 2.0). This study demonstrates how project coordination is a function of both the team cognition each member has as well as their ability to use these technologies in a way that will allow them to harness each others' knowledge. In addition, this relationship is influenced by the nature of the project task environment. A structural model is constructed based on the survey results of 235 project team members to demonstrate the findings.