{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T03:02:59Z","timestamp":1787022179159,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,12]],"date-time":"2025-09-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1757635200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["72342029"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["72342029"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Together with unstoppable trend of business going digitally global in recent years and the worldwide spread-out of COVID-19 since 2020, virtual teams have gradually garnered considerable attention in academia. Yet, the question of how to boost virtual team effectiveness remains underexplored. This study adopts a leadership perspective to examine the role of E-leadership in enhancing virtual team effectiveness. Gathered survey data from 74 virtual teams of Chinese manufacturing firms and employed an integrated fsQCA and NCA method, this study unravels two primary results. First, Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) identified the sufficient combinations of E-leadership dimensions to promote virtual team effectiveness. Second, Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA) specifies the quantitative thresholds a E-leadership dimension\u2019s value must be to render different levels of virtual team effectiveness. The conclusions of this research offer valuable insights into the theoretical and managerial implications of E-leadership in virtual teams.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0331500","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,12]],"date-time":"2025-09-12T18:01:32Z","timestamp":1757700092000},"page":"e0331500","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Unmasking the effects of E-leadership on virtual team effectiveness by an integrated fsQCA and NCA method"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Yining","family":"He","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cong","family":"Cheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8878-9525","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Limin","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0331500.ref001","first-page":"182","article-title":"The role of temporal coordination for the fuzzy front-end of innovation in virtual teams","volume":"50","author":"P Chamakiotis","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int J Inform Manag"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0331500.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"479","DOI":"10.1016\/j.im.2016.10.005","article-title":"Virtual team effectiveness: The role of knowledge sharing and trust","volume":"54","author":"M Alsharo","year":"2017","journal-title":"Inform Manag"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0331500.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"551","DOI":"10.1108\/LODJ-01-2019-0035","article-title":"Emotional intelligence and transformational leadership in virtual teams: lessons from MMOGs","volume":"41","author":"S Mysirlaki","year":"2020","journal-title":"Leadersh Organ Develop J"},{"key":"pone.0331500.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"578","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jbusres.2020.12.030","article-title":"Impact of self-leadership and shared leadership on the performance of virtual R&D teams","volume":"128","author":"S Castellano","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Bus Res"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0331500.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"615","DOI":"10.1016\/S1048-9843(00)00062-X","article-title":"E-leadership","volume":"11","author":"BJ Avolio","year":"2000","journal-title":"Leadersh Q"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0331500.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"60","DOI":"10.5465\/amp.2007.24286164","article-title":"Leading Virtual Teams","volume":"21","author":"A Malhotra","year":"2007","journal-title":"Acad Manag Perspect"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0331500.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1693","DOI":"10.19030\/jabr.v31i5.9384","article-title":"Virtual R&D Project Teams: From E-Leadership To Performance","volume":"31","author":"DB Bonet Fernandez","year":"2015","journal-title":"J Appl Bus Res"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0331500.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"853","DOI":"10.1111\/puar.12980","article-title":"Defining E\u2010leadership as Competence in ICT\u2010Mediated Communications: An Exploratory Assessment","volume":"79","author":"AV Roman","year":"2018","journal-title":"Public Administ Rev"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0331500.ref009","first-page":"569","article-title":"Virtual teams in organizations","volume":"27","author":"JH Dulebohn","year":"2017","journal-title":"Hum Resour Manag Rev"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0331500.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"791","DOI":"10.1287\/orsc.10.6.791","article-title":"Communication and Trust in Global Virtual Teams","volume":"10","author":"SL Jarvenpaa","year":"1999","journal-title":"Organ Sci"},{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0331500.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1151","DOI":"10.1037\/apl0000113","article-title":"Does trust matter more in virtual teams? 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