Leadership effectiveness in virtual teams: A quantitative analysis of the impact of perception

The primary purpose of this correlative and non-experimental quantitative research study was to investigate the impact of negative team member perception on leadership effectiveness within virtual teams. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) was the survey instrument used to collect the data analyzed in this study. The research study sample consisted of 108 randomly selected participants that ranged between the ages of 18 to 65 years old, located within the U.S., with a minimum of 2 years of experience as a virtual team member. A simple regression analysis was used to test the significance of the hypotheses by comparing the correlative relationship between perception and leadership effectiveness. The research results revealed that a significant positive relation existed between perception and leadership effectiveness. This study also investigated the correlative relationship between virtual team leadership style and perception enhancement. A positive correlative relationship was also found to exist between virtual team leadership style and perception enhancement. The study findings concluded that perception has a correlative impact on leadership effectiveness and virtual project success. The study also concluded that the enhancement of negative perception is contingent upon a virtual team leaders' ability to implement the appropriate management style needed to improve perceptional differences amongst team members.