Title: Virtual team tools: a case study of graduate student experiences and their perceptions of positive group work outcomes

Authors: Patricia D. Rafferty

Addresses: Erivan K. Haub School of Business Saint Joseph's University, 5600 City Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Abstract: This paper forms part of an exploration into how graduate business students in the USA experience group work within a part-time MBA programme. A single case, embedded study was conducted in 2011, which reveals new insight and understanding into the manner in which virtual team tools enhance the perception of positive group work outcomes for graduate business students. Study findings indicate the incorporation and teaching of virtual team tools enhances the perception of positive group work outcome for students. These benefits extended beyond the graduate classroom, with study participants reporting the value of these tools in relation to their world of work and professional life. Within this context, this paper also provides understanding into the manner in which educators can serve as facilitators of group work by the introduction of virtual team tools.

Keywords: virtual team tools; group work outcomes; MBA student experiences; geographically dispersed teams; virtual group projects; MBA projects; technology; teaming; teamwork; dispersed MBA group work; virtual project teams; virtual teams; online teams; web based teams; graduate students; business education.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMILE.2013.055738

International Journal of Social Media and Interactive Learning Environments, 2013 Vol.1 No.3, pp.315 - 325

Received: 03 Nov 2012
Accepted: 09 Jan 2013
Published online: 28 Feb 2014 *

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