Leading the creative process: the case of virtual product design

Abstract

Motivated by an acknowledged need to study creativity in the context of virtual project teams (VPTs), in this article, we contribute to theory by analysing the role that leadership plays for creativity in the different phases of the creative process in VPTs. We draw on a qualitative case study with 49 members who worked in six VPTs as part of an Industry‐Academia collaboration. Using the longitudinal approach, we study each phase of the virtual product design process using interviews, observations and other materials (e.g. project documentation). We find that, in the virtual design context, creativity is best understood as a process and comes in different shapes as this process evolves. We also pinpoint that different, though complementary, leadership skills are necessary in order for VPTs’ creative potential to be unleashed. These findings highlight the heterogeneous character of leadership at the different phases of the creative process in VPTs.

Reimagining e-leadership for reconfigured virtual teams due to Covid-19

“… Carson et al (2007) argue that having multiple leaders ‘from within’ leads to higher levels of performance and benefits that exceed the work tasks in question. Taking these findings a step further, Chamakiotis and Panteli (2017) argue that different members may emerge as leaders due to their expertise in a specific task. These emergent leaders may (informally) assume the responsibility for a specific task and then bestow their leadership position to someone else as the VT lifecycle unfolds (an example of shared leadership ), or work in parallel with another member who has assumed the responsibility for another task that is being accomplished at the same time (an example of co-leadership ).…”

The role of temporal coordination for the fuzzy front-end of innovation in virtual teams

“…There is agreement in the VT literature that VTs are different from traditional, physically collocated teams because of their unique characteristics: they are technology-dependent and dispersed in terms of geography (comprising geographically dispersed members), organization (comprising members of different parent organizations), and temporal differences. VTs, irrespective of their lifespan, may constitute ideal environments for innovation, due to their potential to access geographically dispersed talent, thus connecting members with expertise which is not (Chamakiotis et al, 2013;Chamakiotis & Panteli, 2017;Chen et al, 2014;De Leede, Kraan, Den Hengst & van Hooff, 2008;Kratzer et al, 2006). Thus, VTs can be highly creative due to the interdependencies that are formed among the specialized team members, like other temporary project teams (Manning & Sydow, .…”

“…There is widespread recognition that innovation related projects take place in geographically dispersed, technology-mediated, thus virtual teams (VTs) (Chamakiotis & Panteli, 2017;Olaisen & Revang, 2017). Within this context, researchers have studied how innovation develops (e.g.…”

Fostering work engagement in geographically-dispersed and asynchronous virtual teams

“…Cheng et al , 2016, 2017) to real life business settings (e.g. Chamakiotis and Panteli, 2017). We deployed the three main data collection methods in qualitative research, namely, interviews, participant observation and documentation analysis (Bryman, 1989).…”

“…Technologies, both synchronous and asynchronous, enable organizations to gather dispersed talent regardless of location and distance. The opportunity that such technological capabilities provides is that VTs are not just responsive to organizational needs, for they can also bring creativity due to the unique skills and knowhow that is brought together to fulfill project requirements (Chamakiotis and Panteli, 2017). Further, owing to their project nature, VTs predominantly represent a temporary form of work arrangement, where members come together for a period of time or until project completion and then disassemble.…”