Title
Electronic Meeting Systems: Evidence From A Low Structure Environment
Abstract
The research literature to date on electronic meeting systems (EMS) has been dominated by studies of high structure systems. High and low structure are defined here in terms of the preponderance of influence that technology and groups exert on each other. High structure EMS attempt to directly influence group structure and processes through explicit rules and procedures embedded in the software. Low structure EMS do not explicitly build in rules or procedures that govern group interaction. Low structure EMS are hypothesized to increase task focus through the use of shared flexible software tools and shared views of joint work. Results of two experiments, that compare low structure EMS-supported groups to manually-supported groups on equality of participation, degree of task focus, task performance and member satisfaction, for two different tasks, are reported. The experiments found that this low structure EMS had no effect on participation equality or member satisfaction. Contrary to the hypotheses, the EMS was found to decrease task focus. The EMS led to marginally better task performance on a simple evaluative task, and to worse performance on a complex generative task. A revision of the study's theoretical model is developed which takes into account the nature of the task.
Year
DOI
Venue
1992
10.1287/isre.3.3.195
INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH
Keywords
Field
DocType
Electronic meeting systems, GDSS, Structure, Participation equality, Task focus
Group structure,Computer science,Knowledge management,Software,Group interaction,Generative grammar
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
3
3
1047-7047
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
50
6.18
14
Authors
2
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Poppy Lauretta McLeod117939.53
Jeffrey K. Liker211914.20