ABSTRACT
Based on a broader, inductive study of twenty-nine managers leading thirty five virtual teams in the Swiss Information Technology (IT) industry, the aim of this chapter is to explore how managers are currently leading virtual teams, what types of communication technologies they use in order to manage their teams, and what constitutes effective virtual team management. Findings suggest that each manager develops a signature “virtual leadership portfolio” comprised of idiosyncratic combinations of managerial practices and implicit theories of virtual leadership (ITVLs). Findings further show that managers can be categorized into one of four virtual leadership portfolios based on the number of ITVLs that they develop and that these virtual leadership portfolios may be related to managers’ use of communication technology. Lastly, the study suggests that high virtuality teams led by managers with broad virtual leadership portfolios may have higher levels of performance than high virtuality teams led by managers with narrow portfolios.
