Danielle Taylor successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled “Managing Language Diversity in Global Virtual Teams: The Role of Trust and Team Cohesion” on 15 December 2022 in front of a jury composed of:

• Sabine CARTON (Professor at Université Grenoble Alpes, president of the jury)
• Hervé LAROCHE (Professor at ESCP Business School, reviewer)
• Eric MILLIOT (Professor at Nantes Université, reviewer)
• Anne-Wil HARZING (Professor at Middlesex University, examiner)
• Anne BARTEL-RADIC (Professor at Sciences Po Grenoble – UGA, thesis supervisor)
• Isabelle CORBETT-ETCHEVERS (Maître de conférence HDR at Université Grenoble Alpes, thesis co-supervisor)

 

Abstract: A shifting work environment has made today’s teams increasingly diverse with much of the work being done online. While language diversity in global virtual teams can be a barrier, it can also have strong positive effects for organizations if it is properly managed. Looking at how multilingual global virtual team members work together, this research aims to better understand the influence of language diversity on team processes related to tasks and emotions in the online environment. This thesis is composed of three studies: exploratory interviews, a novel online serious game that simulates teamwork in a multilingual virtual team, and 18 months of ethnographic observations of a team in a European University Alliance. The key findings of this thesis demonstrate that high-performing multilingual virtual teams are those where trust and team cohesion have been established by successfully managing communication processes.