Collaboration Technology Support for Knowledge Conversion in Virtual Teams: A Theoretical Perspective

Collaboration technologies (CTs) are making it feasible for organizations to rapidly bring together dispersed Corkers into virtual teams that perform a variety of tasks. Group support systems (GSS) are a type of CT that is often deployed to facilitate virtual team operations, which typically involve an exchange of knowledge among team members. This paper builds on Nonaka's theory of organizational knowledge creation, and other research, to present a theoretical framework that links the factors that are most relevant to knowledge conversion in GSS-aided virtual teams. The paper advances some research propositions that suggest a positive contribution of GSS to knowledge conversion and the levels of shared understanding and performance that could emerge in virtual teams. In addition, the propositions indicate positive relationships between member perceptions of the virtual work environment, their willingness to share knowledge, and the processes of knowledge conversion in those teams