Challenges, trust and performance in virtual teams: examining the role of openness to experience and preference for virtual teams

Purpose Building on the complex adaptive systems (CAS) framework, this paper aims to investigate the detrimental effect of virtual teams’ (VTs) challenges and the upholding role of trust on the members’ ratings of VTs’ performance. Also, the study examines the mediating role of the preferences for VTs and investigates the moderating function of the openness to experience personality trait on the relationship between challenges, trust and preference for VTs. Design/methodology/approach Cross-sectional survey data were collected from a sample of 498 university students in Romania and path analysis was used for data analysis. Findings The results show evidence of the harmful effect of VTs’ challenges on members’ ratings of VTs’ performance and reveal that trust boosts members’ ratings of VTs’ performance. The findings highlight the mediating role of members’ preference for VTs and show evidence that the openness to experience personality trait strengthens the negative effect of the challenges on members’ preference for VTs. Research limitations/implications Given the cross-sectional design of the study, inferences regarding the causal relationship between the variables cannot be made, and further longitudinal research is called for. Originality/value The study builds on the CAS framework and addresses the call for research to explore the variables that might contribute or impede VTs’ performance.