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Article of Volume 9, Issue 2, June 2014

Preventing undesirable effects of mutual trust and the development of skepticism in virtual groups by applying the knowledge and information awareness approach

Authors: Tanja Engelmann, Richard Kolodziej, Friedrich W. Hesse

Abstract: Empirical studies have proven the effectiveness of the knowledge and information awareness approach of Engelmann and colleagues for improving collaboration and collaborative problem-solving performance of spatially distributed group members. This approach informs group members about both their collaborators’ knowledge structures and their collaborators’ information. In the current study, we investigated whether this implicit approach reduces undesirable effects of mutual trust and mutual skepticism. Trust is an important influencing factor with regard to behavior and performance of groups. High mutual trust can have a negative impact on group effectiveness because it reduces mutual control and, as a result, the detection of the others’ mistakes. In an empirical study, 20 triads collaborating with the knowledge and information awareness approach were compared with 20 triads collaborating without this approach. The members of a triad were spatially distributed and participated in a computer-supported collaboration. The results demonstrated that the availability of the knowledge and information awareness approach overrides the negative impact of too much mutual trust and counteracts the development of mutual skepticism. This study contributes to further clarifying the impact of trust on effectiveness and efficiency of virtual groups depending upon different situational contexts.

Keywords: Computer-supported collaborative problem solving, Group awareness, Knowledge and information awareness, Mutual skepticism, Mutual trust

Citation: Engelmann, T., Kolodziej, R., & Hesse, F. W. (2014) Preventing undesirable effects of mutual trust and the development of skepticism in virtual groups by applying the knowledge and information awareness approach. ijcscl 9 (2)

DOI: 10.1007/s11412-013-9187-y

Preprint: Acrobat-PDF engelmann_kolodziej_hesse_9_2.pdf

About this article at link.springer.com [http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11412-013-9187-y] including a link to the official electronic version.