Welcome The Impact of Task Experience, Task Setting and Problem Relevance on the Quantity and Quality of Ideas in Face to Face Verses Electronic Brainstorming Dave Roach, Arkansas Tech University and Ronald McGaughey, University of Central Arkansas

Collaborative Work Systems Collaborative Work Systems are computer based communication systems designed to support local or distributed group work. CWS can support point to point or multipoint communications in a synchronous (chat) or asynchronous (E- mail) mode.

Motives for Research  CWS technology is improving rapidly, costs are coming down, and use is expanding.  CWS are an important research topic (we believe CWS issues will continue to be important in the foreseeable future).  We, like many others, believe that significant benefits can accrue from CWS use.  We wish to explore how university stakeholders might benefit from CWS use in our classes and in other mission-related university activities (research, committee work, enrollment management, etc.).

 Expand our knowledge of CWS (literature, products, and use).  Increase student exposure to CWS.  Generate ideas for future research.  Make “Intellectual Contributions” to our respective fields of study (MIS and Org. Behavior). Goals of Our First Study

The First Study  Explores the relationship between collaborative work setting and outcomes.  Explores the relationship between personal task relevance and outcomes.

Methods Overview  126 participants were randomly assigned to 42 groups of 3—effective sample size was 42.  2 X 2 experimental design with one between subjects variable (setting) and one within within subjects variable (task experience).  General Linear Model employed to test 24 hypotheses.  True score estimates used (indices of convergent validity, discriminant validity and source bias were all acceptable suggesting that the 4 dependent variables were valid, distinct measures).  Hypotheses for each dependent variable examined separately.

Basic Experimental Design Setting: Computer Mediated or Face-to-Face Personal Task Relevance: High or Low Quality of Causes and Solutions Identified. Number of Causes and Solutions Identified

Independent Variables  Setting Computer Mediated (Net Meeting Chat Feature Employed) groups of 3 students. Face-Face Groups comprised of 3 students.  Personal Task Relevance Case on Market Share for Kroger in Springfield MO. Case on Starting Salaries of Tech Grads Compared to those of the Grads of other Arkansas Universities.

Dependent Variables  Number of Causes and Solutions Identified. Counted number of distinct causes identified. Counted number of distinct solutions identified.  Quality of Causes and Solutions Identified. Rated Causes using: Quality of Analysis/ Diagnosis. Richness of Analysis. Rated Solutions using: Practicality of Solutions. Creativity of Solutions.

Findings Summarized Personal relevance seems to mediate the extent to which setting and experience affect performance. Subjects identified more causes and solutions when the worked in a CWS setting than when they worked on a similar problem in a face-to- face setting. Impact of setting was particularly strong when the problem was one that was personally relevant.

Finding Setting: Computer Mediated or Face-to-Face Personal Task Relevance: High or Low Quality of Causes and Solutions Identified Number of Causes and Solutions Identified

Possible Future Projects  Replicate this study using other CWS features in control of setting.  Focus only on CWS: examine the impact of individual individual characteristics (and perhaps experiences) on attitudes towards CWS use, features preferred, individual perceptions regarding group processes and outcomes, and measurable outcomes (quantity and quality).  Examine problems of free-riding and social loafing and how their impact might be lessened in a CWS setting.