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7 (1) 2017

Knowledge sharing in virtual teams: A research in information technology companies in Vietnam


Author - Affiliation:
Huynh Thi Minh Chau - Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam National University, HCMC , Vietnam
Nguyen Manh Tuan - Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam National University, HCMC , Vietnam
Hang Le Cam Phuong - Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam National University, HCMC , Vietnam
Corresponding author: Huynh Thi Minh Chau - htmchau@hcmut.edu.vn

Abstract
Nowadays, virtual teams bring both benefits and drawbacks to companies, especially to information technology companies. Improving virtual team performance is a requisite to speed up the development of information technology companies. This article conducts quantitative research on virtual team members in Vietnam’s information technology companies to investigate the relationships between social capital, risk of opportunistic behaviors, knowledge sharing, and team performance in the situation of virtual teams. The study uses SPSS and AMOS to analyze data collected from 268 valid samples. We find out a reliable 15-variable scale which can be used to measure structural social capital, cognitive social capital, rational social capital, risk of opportunistic behaviors, knowledge sharing and virtual team performance. The results show the positive effects of structural social capital and cognitive social capital on knowledge sharing and virtual team performance. The findings also reveal the negative effects of risk of opportunistic behaviors on knowledge sharing and virtual team performance and a positive correlation between knowledge sharing and virtual team performance. This article can be used as a reference for managers to build solutions for improving virtual team performance in information technology companies in Vietnam.

Keywords
knowledge sharing; social capital; risk of opportunistic behaviors; team performance; virtual team.

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