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Korean Academic Society of Business Administration
[ Article ]
korean management review - Vol. 54, No. 6, pp.1779-1801
ISSN: 1226-1874 (Print)
Print publication date 31 Dec 2025
Received 24 Aug 2025 Revised 11 Sep 2025 Accepted 15 Sep 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17287/kmr.2025.54.6.1779

Team Knowledge-sharing in Virtual Teams: Evidence from Virtual R&D Teams in South Korea

Byungheon Lee ; Donghyun Choi ; Changsu Kim
(First Author) Kwangwoon University bhlee@kw.ac.kr
(Corresponding Author) ChungAng University dchoi@cau.ac.kr
(Co-Author) Sogang University cskim@sogang.ac.kr
이병헌 ; 최동현 ; 김창수
(주저자) 광운대학교 경영학과
(교신저자) 중앙대학교 국제물류학과
(공저자) 서강대학교


Copyright 2025 THE KOREAN ACADEMIC SOCIETY OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

In recent years, the volume of remote R&D projects has increased substantially in South Korea as organizations seek to adapt to globalization and digital collaboration. While virtual teams are often considered catalysts for innovation, empirical evidence on how their structural and relational characteristics influence knowledge creation remains limited. The primary purpose of this study is to examine how organizational structures, social capital, and team capabilities jointly enhance the innovation performance of virtual R&D teams. Drawing on data from 73 virtual R&D teams in South Korea, we analyze innovation performance as measured by scientific papers and patents produced. The findings demonstrate that diverse team expertise significantly enhances paper publications, while adaptive learning exhibits a marginally positive effect on paper publication. Interestingly, prior ties demonstrate a negative association with paper publications, suggesting that over-embeddedness may impede creativity by restricting the introduction of fresh perspectives. These results underscore the importance of balancing capability development with the cultivation of novel linkages to maximize innovation outcomes. The study makes two key contributions: theoretically, it extends prior research by empirically identifying team-level drivers of performance within virtual R&D contexts; practically, it offers guidance for managers and policymakers in designing and supporting virtual R&D projects to foster innovation more effectively.

Keywords:

adaptive learning, innovation performance, South Korea, social capital, team capability, virtual R&D teams

Acknowledgments

The present research has been conducted by the partial support from the Research Grant of Kwangwoon University in 2024.

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∙ The author Byungheon Lee is a professor at the School of Business, Kwangwoon University. He received both Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Strategic Management from the KAIST Graduate School of Management. He is a full member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea and currently serve as a member of the Presidential Committee for Balanced National Development.

∙ The author Donghyun Choi is an Associate Professor at the Department of International Logistics, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea. He received his Ph.D. in Management from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, and his B.A. and M.A. degrees in Business Administration from Yonsei University. His research interests include supply chain management, global value chains, and airport and port logistics.

∙ Changsu Kim is Associate Professor of International Business at Sogang University, Korea. He earned his doctoral degree at Rutgers University. His research interests include cross-border alliances, learning and innovation, and foreign direct investment from emerging markets.