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Far but Near or Near but Far?: The Effects of Perceived Distance on the Relationship between Geographic Dispersion and Perceived Diversity

Published: 07 May 2016 Publication History

Abstract

Geographic dispersion has been proposed as one means to promote cooperation and coordination in teams high in perceived diversity. However, research has found mixed support for this assertion. This study proposes that the inclusion of perceived distance helps to explain these mixed results. To test this assertion, we examined 121 teams-62 collocated and 59 geographically dispersed. Results demonstrate that perceived distance explains when geographic dispersion benefits teams high in perceived diversity. Results also indicate that the type of perceived diversity matters (surface-level vs. deep-level diversity). This study contributes to our understanding of distance and diversity in teams.

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cover image ACM Conferences
CHI '16: Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
May 2016
6108 pages
ISBN:9781450333627
DOI:10.1145/2858036
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Published: 07 May 2016

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Author Tags

  1. distance
  2. geographic dispersion
  3. perceived distance
  4. perceived diversity
  5. team diversity
  6. virtual teams

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