Assessing Online Learning Ability From a Social Exchange Perspective: A Survey of Virtual Teams Within Business Organizations

Abstract

Drawing on social exchange theory, this study proposes a model by postulating critical antecedents and mediators as the key drivers of online learning ability. In the model, online learning ability is affected indirectly by trust via 3 mediators simultaneously, including team commitment, task conflict, and relationship conflict, whereas trust is impacted directly by expressiveness interdependence, outcome interdependence, and task interdependence. Empirical testing of this model, by investigating the personnel of virtual teams from information technology organizations, confirms the applicability of social exchange theory in understanding online learning ability. This study contributes to the virtual team learning literature by extending social exchange theory to the rarely explored area of online learning ability of organizational teams and validating idiosyncratic drivers of online learning ability. Last, this article provides managerial implications and limitations of the research.