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

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.