Abstract
Although the satisfaction–performance relationship has been well-established in the context of traditional face-to-face teams, prior research has largely overlooked the context of global virtual teams (GVTs). As the COVID-19 pandemic has given virtual teams a further boost and increased their relevance, it is unclear whether findings based on traditional teams are generalizable to GVTs. Our multilevel analysis, based on a sample of 2,756 participants working in 689 teams, examines the relationship between satisfaction and both individual and team performance in GVTs. Our results show that increased individual satisfaction with the team’s effort and performance is negatively associated with individual performance in GVTs. In contrast, average satisfaction within the team leads to higher team and individual performance. The results show that satisfaction positively mediates the effects of team motivation and technical expertise, and negatively mediates the effect of conflict and individual and team performance. Our study contributes to the “Holy Grail”-literature by extending the satisfaction–performance relationship to the contemporary setting of GVTs and enriches the current literature by examining the mechanisms contributing to high individual performance in GVTs.