Collaboration Through Virtual Teams: Towards an Operational Model for Virtual Project Leadership in the Automotive Industry

Companies from various sectors of the economy are confronted with the new phenomena of digitalization and globalization, and are faced with the challenges of formulating and implementing new business models, updated strategies and different ways of working. In the automotive sector, globalisation has required new developments in project management practices and support technologies, notably those relating to the challenges of collaborating over distance between and within dispersed teams. Researchers and practitioners have started to think more comprehensively about the complexity of projects with dispersed teams, and how best to manage them. This interim paper is the result of the distillation of relevant literature relating to virtual teams. It presents a set of critical success factors for virtual teams and outlines a provisional model for virtual team leadership and management. This model is currently being evaluated and developed through in-depth interviews with field practitioners working in the automotive sector. The confirmed model will provide operational guidance for practitioners and an analytical framework for further research studies.