Management control “packages” in virtual teams
Abstract
Studies on the management of virtual teams emerged in the international literature debate since the last decade of XX century. The Covid-19 pandemic turn the spotlight on this topic since many organizations had to transform their face-to-face teams into virtual ones through the adoption of remote working modes – at least during lockdown restriction periods. Previous literature on virtual teams has devoted scant attention to management control issues. This research aims to fill this gap by exploring how management control “packages” changed – and are still changing – to cope with virtual teams. To do that, this work undertakes a cross-sectional field study based on semi-structured interviews with 27 managers of different companies. As a result, it emerges that the control of virtual teams requires the adoption – or strengthening – of mechanisms to compensate for the reduced availability of cultural controls.
Keywords: Management control, virtual teams, smart working, remote working, packages
