A Study on Virtual Team Trust Mechanism and Its Construction Strategies

Trust is a critical success factor (CSF) of virtual team, and successful virtual team needs the support of trust construction and maintenance. Based on Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), the connotation and conceptual model of trust are systematically analyzed, and virtual team trust construction mechanism is discussed by combining with its essential characteristics and its relationship to communication, collaboration, and team performance. The two essential characteristics of virtual team trust are pointed out, which are ldquoswift trustrdquo and ldquocognition-based trustrdquo. In virtual teams, trust can be swiftly developed, but it is very fragile. In virtual context, the cognitive element is more important than the affective element of trust. Finally, several management principles and specific strategies for trust construction and maintenance in virtual teams are presented.