GVTs have been studied from a different perspective such as the role of channels of communication in a virtual environment, interpersonal relationships among members of a single GVT, etc. The purpose of our study is to capture the process of relationship development in GVTs over the life of different projects for the same GVT. This longitudinal study spanned over three years applies the interpretative approach to the data gathered from 70 global virtual GVTs comprising of more than 380 individuals belonging to 20 different nationalities dispersed in 4 northern European countries.

Results show that over a longer period, even when the duration of projects itself is short, members of global virtual GVTs enable their relationships not only through task related trust but different behaviors are rather important and take a greater influencing role with the passage of time. Initially, relations are built around the emergence of routines while dealing with influences of virtuality, but as the GVTs mature, individual perceptions and ways of communication of GVT members take precedence over other factors to guide the relationship development.