When Do Virtual Teams Benefit from Digital Disclosure? The Role of Power and Status Hierarchies

Digital collaboration tools (DCTs), such as Microsoft Teams and DingTalk, are essential in the functioning of virtual teams. However, existing research on how these technologies influence coordination among virtual team members remains underexplored. This study investigates how DCT-enabled disclosure awareness—the extent to which virtual team members are aware of each other’s personal information via DCTs—influences team functioning. Drawing on adaptive structuration theory, we argue that DCT-enabled disclosure awareness positively affects team coordination and, subsequently, team performance. In addition, we propose that power and status hierarchies moderate this relationship, such that the positive impact of DCT-enabled disclosure awareness is stronger when power hierarchy is low or status hierarchy is high. Our hypotheses are supported by multi-source, multi-wave field survey data from 130 virtual teams. These findings provide new insights into virtual team management in the era of organizational digitalization, specifically highlighting how virtual teams can leverage digital technologies to improve performance.