Leveraging Group Knowledge: The Effects of Collaborative Technology Appropriation on Group Outcomes

Abstract

Organizations are increasingly relying upon groups aided by information technology to complete tasks requiring coordinated action and knowledge sharing (Jehn and Mannix, 2001; Sarker et al., 2002). As such, the importance of group-level theory and research aimed at understanding the manner in which collaborative technologies can be used to aid these processes and improve group outcomes has also increased. In this study I argue that a group's knowledge of the capabilities of the collaborative technologies at its disposal impacts the manner in which those technologies are appropriated. Further, the manner in which a group appropriates such technologies impacts its ability to effectively tap into the task knowledge embedded in individual group members--a critical factor in determining group outcomes in distributed environments. In short, I argue that a group's knowledge of its collaborative technology can unlock its knowledge concerning the task. In order to test these ideas, a longitudinal field study was conducted. Data analysis using partial least squares (PLS) lends strong support to these arguments, suggesting that those organizations which focus on task knowledge while ignoring knowledge of collaborative technologies will fail to fully leverage group capabilities in distributed environments.