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Nader Ale Ebrahim on 07 Aug 12"Virtual Teams: Selection and Assessment of Team Members Stephen M. Urquhart Webster University Abstract This paper reviews current literature spanning theoretical and practical research of virtual teams. Ultimately, the paper will identify the most likely predictors of success to aid in the selection and assignment of employees and other members to a virtual team. Four key areas of research are covered: the virtual team environment; critical success factors in a virtual team; individual behaviors and success factors; and current practices for vetting and assigning virtual team members. Finally, a research approach is proposed to build on the currently defined success factors, measured in the context of how they would be applied in a virtual team setting. Introduction "Ever-greater virtualization is eating away at organizational structures and replacing them with networks of free agents." - Michael Malone, The Virtual Corporation (Ante, 2009) The concept of virtual teams has existed for more than two decades (Terrie, 1987; Kirkman, Rosen, Gibson, Tesluk and McPherson, 1995; Coyle and Schnaar, 1995), however, the technology to fully optimize the benefits of a team with members in different parts of the world in support of a common set of goals is relatively new and appears to be evolving. It is conceivable that the pace of technology has in some ways outstripped the capability of workers to keep up and adapt in a way where they can make a proactive and substantive contribution to organizational goals. Based on initial research into this area of concern, there appears to be insufficient guidance available to human resource (HR) practitioners and business managers in determining which employees are a good fit for a virtual team, what predictors can be used to accurately determine suitability, and how to effectively evaluate candidates for virtual assignments in advance to avoid failures and degraded productivity. This paper will evaluate the current lite