Toward a Unified Approach to Conceptualizing and Measuring Virtuality

Contemporary organizations are increasingly implementing virtual work arrangements where employees are geographically distributed and/or rely primarily on electronic, rather than face-to-face, communication. Despite the recent growth in research related to virtual work, researchers have yet to reach consensus on a common approach to conceptualizing and measuring the construct of “virtuality.” This potentially limits research in this area by making it difficult to integrate theoretical perspectives and compare findings across studies. Accordingly, the purpose of the proposed panel symposium is to convene a gathering of interested parties to debate, discuss, and try to bring some closure to key issues related to conceptualizing and measuring virtuality. The focal questions we seek to address include: (1) What key dimensions underlie the construct of virtuality? (2) What is the best approach to measuring these dimensions of virtuality? (3) Are objective or perceptual measures more appropriate for measuring virtuality? (4) How do researchers determine the most appropriate level of analysis at which to measure virtuality (e.g., individual, dyad, team)?