Increased global
competitions have urged small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to develop
new products faster. Virtual research and development (R&D) teams in
SMEs can offer a solution to speed up time-to-market of new product
development (NPD). However, factors that affect the effectiveness of
virtual teams for NPD are still not adequately verified. This paper
presents the correlations between virtual R&D team constructs and
virtual team effectiveness by developing a “Virtual Research and
Development Team” (ViR&DT) model. The items, which may influence the
effectiveness of virtual teams, are taken from the literature. Through
an online survey and by application of structural equation modeling
(SEM) technique, the proposed model (ViR&DT) has been tested. The
results suggest that the process construct is strongly correlated to the
effectiveness of virtual teams. Therefore, NPD managers in virtual
R&D teams should concentrate on the process of new product
development rather than simply equipping the teams with the latest
technology or employing highly qualified experts. Further empirical
research is recommended to fully explore and appreciate the breadth of
application of the ViR&DT model.