Virtual teams and transformational

leadership: An integrative literature

review and avenues for further research

Prepared by:

Hanan Gad Mostafa Nora

Hassan Aly
Radwa Anwar
Khaled Mostafa
Aim of the research
 This study conducts a literature review integrating
virtual teams and transformational leadership,
identifying team, leadership, and motivation factors
in the existing literature. The paper challenges an
established leadership model under exceptional
economic circumstances and identifies research
gaps within team, leadership, and motivation
factors.
 Due to the COVID-19 crisis, rethinking leadership
has required transitioning from a physical to an
entirely virtual work environment to respond to the
COVID-19 crisis, accelerating and increasing the
relevance of exclusively virtual communication.
 The virtual working environment will influence the
future of work, this study paves the way for further
research on transformational leaders and their
influence on virtual teams.
 Leadership in a virtual environment: the existing
literature analysis and implications for the practice
of transformational leadership theory in virtual
teams are scarcely comparable to those for a face-
to-face environment because virtual work is a
relatively new phenomenon in leadership research.
 leadership in a virtual environment is an evolving
human resource development topic in literature that
 has gained new relevance due to the digital
transformation and has been accelerated by the
COVID-19 pandemic and its work-from-home
consequences.
 Since a transformational leadership model can be a
strong motivator in a face-to-face environment, the
researchers aim to integrate the existing literature
to provide a basis for a solid leadership model within
a virtual working environment that can adapt to
changing circumstances.

Variables
transformational leadership
 Transformational leadership describes an approach
whereby leaders motivate followers to align with the
organisation's aims and interests to achieve
performance that exceeds expectations.
 Transformational leadership can be defined based
on its impact on followers through charisma,
inspiration, intellectual stimulation, or individualized
consideration. These four factors are the main
characteristics of transformational leaders.

Virtual teams
 A group of people who work together geographically
dispersed locations through electronic
communication such as video conferencing and
audio conferencing.
  Virtual team interaction gained new visibility and
became perceived differently during and since the
outbreak of COVID-19 when regulations led to
physical distancing and related guidelines (e.g.,
wearing face masks).

Motivation factors
 Motivation factors play a role in engaging employees
in their work, energizing their efforts, increasing
their dedication, and driving their performance.
Motivation factors are tied to employee needs.
Employee motivation is greater when employee
needs are being met. Motivation factors include
Satisfaction, Rewards, Feedback, Sense of
purpose, Motivation and Trust.

Methodology
 The research design of an integrative literature
review is a suitable approach for a new perspective
on a current topic that is still evolving in literature.
For instance, integrative literature reviews have
been published on evolving topics like contingent
work and new employment relationships, new forms
of organizations, and training concepts.
 Moreover, journal publications have indicated that
integrative literature reviews are a valuable
approach for human resource development-related
topics that entail the investigation of team dynamics
and leadership.
  For the content analysis of the literature, the
researchers applied an inductive qualitative
approach to concept development. The grounded
theory approach, which starts with data collection
and not hypothesis building, is suitable for
generating new concepts and ideas.
 The researchers first identified target articles in the
data selection process. Afterward, they
systematically developed a concept from the
literature, as outlined below.

 Data collection:
Using the data collection approach, 13 target articles
were identified (see Table 1 below). To narrow down the
literature sample size for subsequent analysis, the data
collection and selection process for the target
literature's inclusion in the study was conducted in three
sequential steps: (i) searching the pre-selected databases
with keyword combinations, (ii) executing a quality
threshold, and (iii) screening the literature manually and
analyzing the content (see Fig. 1 below).

Table 1. Target articles resulted from the literature search.

Author(s) and Title Journal Empirical Empty Cell
year study
(primary
research)

Balthazard et Predictors of The Leadership Yes Yes

al. (2009) the emergence Quarterly
of
transformationa
l leadership in
virtual decision
teams.

Ben Sedrine et Leadership Journal of Yes Yes

al. (2020) style effect on Management
virtual team Development
efficiency: trust,
operational
cohesion and
media richness
roles.

Eisenberg et al. Team Small Group Yes Yes

(2019) Dispersion and Research
Performance:
The Role of
Team
Communication
and
Transformation
al Leadership.

Hambley et al. Virtual team Organisational Yes Yes

(2007) leadership: The Behaviour &
effects of Human Decision
leadership style Processes
and
communication
medium on
team
interaction
styles and
outcomes.

Hoyt and Transformation Small Group Yes Yes

Blascovich al and Research
(2003) transactional
 leadership in
virtual and
physical
environments.

Kahai et al. Effects of The Leadership Yes Yes

(2003) leadership Quarterly
style,
anonymity, and
rewards on
creativity-
relevant
processes and
outcomes in an
electronic
meeting system
context.

Kahai et al. Interaction Group & Yes Yes

(2012) Effect of Organisation
Leadership and Management
Communication
Media on
Feedback
Positivity in
Virtual Teams.

Kelloway et al. Remote Leadership & Yes Yes

(2003) transformationa Organisational
l leadership. Development
Journal

Maduka et al. Analysis of Benchmarking: Yes Yes

(2017) competencies An International
for effective Journal
virtual team
leadership in
building
successful
organisations.

Purvanova and Transformation The Leadership Yes Yes

Bono (2009) al leadership in Quarterly
context: Face-
to-face and
virtual teams.
Sosik et al. Effects of Journal of Yes Yes
(1997) leadership style Applied
and anonymity Psychology
on group
potency and
effectiveness in
a group
decision
support system
environment.

Sosik et al. Computersuppo Computers in Yes Yes

(1998) rted work group Human
potency and Behaviour
effectiveness:
the role of
transformationa
l leadership,
anonymity, and
task
interdependenc
e.

Strang(2011) Leadership Project Yes Yes

substitutes and Management
personality Journal
impact on time
and quality in
virtual new
product
development
projects.
  Conceptualization of the literature:
After identifying a phenomenon of interest and defining
the relevant set of data the results were outlined using
the labelling methods of “first-order categories”,
“second-order themes”, and “aggregate dimensions” in a
systematic data tree (see Fig. 2 below).

Fig. 2. Applied conceptual framework of Gioia et al. (2013).

The three developed overarching theoretical dimensions,
(i.) team perspective, (ii.) leadership perspective, and
(iii.) motivation factors are indicators for the relationship
within the predefined categories and themes.
 integration of the literature:
Following the conceptual framework of Gioia et al.
(2013), three dependant dimensions were discovered
Team perspective, Leadership perspective and
Motivation factors. The interrelation between the
dimensions becomes more apparent by looking closely at
the developed matrix (see Table 2 below). (i.)Team
perspective includes Team performance, Team
communication, Team atmosphere and Team location.
(ii.) Leadership perspective includes Leadership
characteristics and Demographic leadership factors. (iii.)
Motivation factors include Satisfaction, Rewards,
Feedback, Sense of purpose, Motivation and Trust.

Team perspective
A strong interrelation was discovered between team
performance, communication, and atmosphere (Table 2
above) and a lack of research on team location.
Moreover, the three most represented variables within
this dimension interplay more with the leadership
perspective than motivation factors (Table 2 above).
Team performance
 Team performance can measure the success of a
virtual team. The target literature outlines that
transformational leadership has a more substantial
effect in virtual - rather than in face-to-face - team
interactions.
 Another measurable variable is individual
performance, which indicates an individual's success
within the team and can be added to team
performance
 Like in a face-to-face environment, performance can
be measured by different methods. Performance can
be measured by quantitative performance indicators
or by qualitative performance factors. Quantitative
performance indicators, which interact with a
transformational leadership style and the
communication medium, include factors like task
performance, task interdependence, time
performance, and task time. One qualitative success
factor of an individual team member within the
group can be self-efficacy.
 In summary, it is evident that transformational
leadership in a virtual setting has a similar impact
on team and individual performance in many ways.
Team communication
  Team interaction styles are dependent and can be
defined by the frequency of participation and the
initiation of ideas
 Within virtual team interactions, the activity level of
team members, especially in written communication,
favours transformational leadership.
 In general, the spectrum of media richness can
range between richer communication mediums,
such as videoconferencing, and poorer
communication mediums, such as written
communication in the form of instant messaging or
chats.
 The literature indicates that transformational
leadership greatly influences teams working with
computer-mediated communication and the more
precise influence is dependent on and can be
distinguished by media richness. On the other hand,
the impact of transformational leadership on teams
working in richer or poorer communication mediums
is marginal. In the field of written communication,
linguistic quality plays a significant role and
interplays with transformational leadership. Here,
the effect is also marginal, differences depend on
media richness - for instance, team cohesion is
higher in videoconferencing than in chat teams.
Team atmosphere
 Team atmosphere is an essential topic within a
virtual working environment and cannot be
considered independently from motivation factors.
  Group atmosphere can measure how a team is
united and connected, which - in a virtual
environment - is dependent on social presence
Team location
 As per the initial definition of virtual teams, the
location of the team members plays a vital role in
remote working.
 Literature indicates that a transformational leader
can reduce the adverse effects of dispersion in
teams. In highly dispersed teams, transformational
leadership is less effective since it is difficult for
leaders to facilitate team communication. This
contradicts the point that transformational
leadership is stronger when written communication
tools are used.
 The team location - which, in the initial definition, is
a reason for virtual interaction - influences all the
outlined factors of team communication,
performance, and atmosphere, making a team's
location or geographical dispersion related to
transformational leadership.
 Given the required virtual working situation during
the COVID-19 crisis and a future trend toward a
more individual option of working from any location,
the choice of location within teams has the potential
to be a broad research topic.

Leadership perspective
Leadership characteristics
  leaders who increase their transformational
leadership in virtual teams are more successful than
those who do not.
 When it comes to transformational leadership
characteristics in a virtual setting, a leader's
personality and attributes influence team
performance and atmosphere.
 The target literature examined the leadership
attributes and personality characteristics of
transformational leaders that interact with the
communication medium as variables of extraversion,
conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness to
experience, emotional stability, interpersonal
justice, continuity, commitment, and solution
originality.
 Beyond the more general leadership personality
characteristics, there are also attributes related to a
transformational leadership style, such as idealized
influence or charisma, inspirational motivation,
intellectual stimulation, and individualized
consideration
 The literature describes transformational leadership
as occurring less often in virtual than face-to-face
project teams
Demographic leadership factors
 A leader evolves and sustains an individual
leadership style through their characteristics and
personality. These leadership personalities and
related characteristics are shaped by demographic
 factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, or level of
education
 The literature indicates that certain demographic
factors influence the transformational leader: female
leaders, for instance, tend to act more
transformationally.
Motivation factors
Satisfaction
 For a transformational leader in a virtual working
environment, satisfaction is the basis for motivating
a team. The identified literature demonstrates that a
transformational leadership style leads to higher
supervisory satisfaction, and the satisfaction of team
members in a virtual setting is contingent on the
satisfaction of supervision and leadership.
 Team project satisfaction is the same whether the
working environment is face-to-face or virtual. The
satisfaction of each individual team member is also
correlated with variables of job satisfaction, project
satisfaction, and satisfaction with the task.

Rewards

 Rewards are an essential component of motivation

factors. Likewise, rewards can never be seen as
independent of other motivation factors.
  The literature studies the effect of individual and
group rewards on the variables of transformational
leadership style.
 Rewards should be considered for further research
regarding virtual teams led by transformational
leaders.

Feedback

 Continuous feedback is thus a valuable indicator for

adjusting motivation and leadership style.
 In a virtual setting using instant messaging, the
transformational leadership style is influenced by
constructive feedback.
 Another critical motivator is the receipt and
provision of positive feedback from both the leader
and the peer team

Sense of purpose

 In a virtual working environment, a leader's setting

a vision and leading by example can give a team a
sense of purpose.
 transformational leaders can establish a sense of
purpose within virtual teams by setting goals and
developing agendas to achieve them
 A sense of purpose was identified as an essential
motivator for the team and each individual in
general, particularly in daily tasks.
  Sense of purpose can have a different meaning in a
virtual setting since it is, for instance, independent
of going to a work location every day.

Motivation

 One driver in a virtual setting is the motivation of

each individual within a team setup.
 Literature predicts that higher motivation will lead
to better individual and group performance in
virtual settings with a transformational leader.
 The team's performance and atmosphere depend on
the individual's motivation within a virtual team.
 The motivation of the individual has a high impact
on the motivation of the group, the interplay of
individual and group motivation.

Trust

 In a relationship between leaders and their

followers, trust plays a vital role in sustaining and
building new relationships.
 The literature demonstrates trust's important
mediational role for virtual-led teams. Trust is a
crucial indicator not only for team interaction and
atmosphere but also for the relationship between
leaders and their followers.

Results
  The dispersion of teams interacting with a new type
of leadership embedded in a working environment of
motivation and trust, regardless of distance by
location, is a wide-open field for possible academic
research.
 Taking all three perspectives into account with the
knowledge of the importance of team motivation in a
virtual setting, we considered which factors, in
particular, warrant further investigation.
Geographical team dispersion
 After taking a closer look at the interrelationship
variables of team location, a lack of interrelationship
with team atmosphere was discovered and all
outlined motivation factors.
 Based on this observation, one potential research
field could be how team location influences the team
atmosphere and motivation factors in a team setting.
 More precisely, this includes factors such as how
team location influences not only the place but also
the space of working (i.e. a home office setting).
Moreover, within virtual and hybrid settings, how a
team is located and geographically dispersed affects
virtual interactions and opens a field of research
that can be explored in more detail.
 Virtual working methods and team dispersion can
allow organizations to hire talent worldwide. For
example, considering that candidates may be
restricted to a particular home location for various
 reasons, applying for a job no longer depending on
its location.
Leadership diversity
 Investigating demographic leadership factors and
their impact on team interaction can be a profound
indicator of the variables of motivation and trust.
 Since diversity encompasses a wide range of factors,
it should not be limited to leadership characteristics
and should also include the diversity of team
members and diversity within a team, as well as
cooperation and organization.
Motivation and trust
 When leaders and followers rely on virtual
communication tools to stay connected, they must
outperform in already critical skills such as good
communication and empathic relationship building
to form and maintain a trustful relationship based on
motivation.
 Studies revealed superior sought-after
competencies like relationship building in diverse
management teams mixed by age, gender, and
cultural background.
 In a work environment that requires life-long
upskilling, training, and learning, leaders and
followers should be equipped with skills and
competencies that provide respite from their daily
work routine. Not only competencies and hard skills
related to a job can be learned but also soft skills
 like motivation and trust, which can build
relationships and bring a team's dynamics to a new
level.

Conclusion
 Virtual communication opens up a global job market
and hiring process and allows for intercultural
diversity within a transformational-led team that can
form and maintain a trusting relationship based on
motivation.
 In this integrative literature review, literature gap
variables within motivation factors and demographic
leadership factors were discovered. The results are
based on the interrelation and interplay of the three
methodologically discovered angles of (i) team
perspective, (ii) leadership perspective, and (iii)
motivation factors.
 In addition to its contribution to research, this study
provides managerial implications. The labour market
is changing since the onset of the COVID-19
pandemic-there is a lack of qualified workforce, it is
difficult to retain and attract employees across all
sectors, and there is less time to search for qualified
staff due to cost pressure and workload-making it
even more important to keep employees satisfied.
Therefore, having cognizance of motivation factors
can help companies attract and maintain talent.
 This study has some limitations owing to a limited
number of researchers and papers, as well as the
 lack of an existing theoretical framework for virtual
teams and transformational leadership.
 A virtual working environment is a concept of a
sustainable future, and transformational leadership
skills and personalities are a proven approach to
motivating a team. For these reasons, our work
entailing outlooks for further research and
discussion not only opens the door for further
academic research but can also offer beneficial
opportunities and implications in practice.