Formation Mechanism And Path Of Virtual Team’s Innovative Performance

Virtual Team is such a kind of team-making type that it consists of members from different space, time and regions and completes tasks through communication and collaboration with the help of modern information technology. With the globalization of information and knowledge, Virtual Team, as a new type of human resource allocation model, is widely applied in more and more enterprises.On the basis of the existing literatures, we present a conceptual model that the social capital of virtual team promotes innovative and performance improvement through knowledge integration. We completed the empirical research on the relationship among social capital, knowledge integration, and innovation performance by collecting data from enterprise in Zhejiang province. The empirical analysis is divided into two stages.The first stage is exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of small sample data. Based on30valid questionnaires, we process data by SPSS, with the standard of correct-item total correlation (CITC) and Cronbacha to purify measurement items, and then by means of EFA. The conclusion is that:The pre-test can select out9principal component factor, namely the structural dimension of social capital, including the interaction strength, interaction quality, interactive manner; relations dimension of social capital, including the relationship of trust and mutual assistance; cognitive dimension of social capital, including the similar values and team identity; knowledge integration and innovative performance. We further screen to form the final questionnaire with good reliability credibility and validity for the large sample test.The second stage is the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on large sample. Based on 187data collected in the Zhejiang region, the reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity of each dimension are strictly checked by means of CFA with the AMOS. And then by means of multiple linear regression, the structural, relational, cognitive dimension of social capital are all proved significantly positive to innovative performance through knowledge integration. That is, knowledge integration is a mediator variable. Finally, the conceptual model is analyzed and tested by SEM (structural equation model). We verify that the each dimension of social capital, which including the interaction strength,interaction quality, interactive manner, the relationship of trust and mutual assistance, the similar values and team identity, are all affecting innovative performance through the knowledge integration.Concluding from the paper we find that:virtual team’s social capital have a significant positive impact on innovative performance through the knowledge integration. Therefore, in order to improve innovative performance, enterprises should be more active to cultivate and develop the social capital, meanwhile encourage sharing and integrating more knowledge among teams.