better together: exploring the effects of knowledge application, support for innovation and team...

University of Innsbruck School of Management

Information Systems

Better Together: Exploring the Effects of Knowledge Application, Support for

Innovation and Team Characteristics on Team Performance

46th HAWAII INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SYSTEM SCIENCES

Processes and Technologies for Small and Large Team Collaboration

January 10, 2013, Wailea, Maui, Hawaii

Isabella Seeber, Gabriela Waldhart, Ronald Maier, Maximilian Hecht, Andreas Kaschig, and Janez Hrastnik

HICSS 46 on January 10, 2013 - Better Together: ... - Isabella Seeber and Gabriela Waldhart 2

Agenda

What is the problem? What are the results?

What do we conclude and where do we go

from here?

How did we investigate?

HICSS 46 on January 10, 2013 - Better Together: ... - Isabella Seeber and Gabriela Waldhart

What is the problem … (1/2)

3

Collaboration Research support for collective working

Knowledge Management flow of knowledge throughout the

organization Innovation Management levels of support and the quality of

innovation


What is the problem … (2/2)

4

Kno

wle

dge

Man

agem

ent Knowledge

Application “the phase in which existing knowledge is brought to bear on the problem at hand” [2]

H1: A higher level of knowledge application in teams affects team performance positively.

Inno

vatio

n M

anag

emen

t Support for Innovation “the expectation, approval and practical support of attempts to introduce new and improved ways of doing things in the work environment” [41]

Col

labo

ratio

n R

esea

rch

Task Non-Routineness “the degree to which they [i.e., team members] perceived the group’s problem to be non-routine” [29]

IT support

Task Organization

Integration of Expertise

is understood as information technology that is designed to support the creation and storage of knowledge as well as communication, sharing and the application of existing knowledge among team members [10, 25].

“mechanistic coordination among team members involving, e.g., role assignment, division of labor, ground rules and routines” [14]

“synthesis of individually held specialist expertise at the project level” [39]

H2: A higher level of support for innovation in teams affects team performance positively.

H3: A higher level of <team characteristic> affects team performance positively.

Team Performance comprises the achievement of goals and objectives, as well as staying on time and working within budget [35]


How did we investigate?

… mixed methods approach

QUANTITATIVE Study – Knowledge intensive work in collaborative teams Online survey with 32 question

items to measure 7 factors on seven-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree)

203 respondents from two organizations

One-way and 2x2 factorial ANOVAs

QUALITATIVE Study – Enablers, barriers and solutions affecting team performance

focus group interviews

structured with thinkLets 4x2 focus groups à 4

participants in two organizations

narrative analysis to interpret original voice and paper based focus group output

University of Innsbruck School of Management

Information Systems

What are the results?

6


Effects of Knowledge Application - Task Non-Routineness and IT-Support -

7

H1 (knowledge application) supported

H3 (for task organization) supported


Effects of Support for Innovation - with Task Organization and Integration of Expertise -

8

H2 (support for innovation) supported

H3 (for task organization) supported


Focus Groups

9


Recommendations from Focus Groups

Knowledge application Provide reliable, solid, up-to-date, accessible and trustable knowledge. Support formal learning for competence development. Foster proficient leadership in terms of decision making, communication and

task management.

Support for innovation Establish specified roles that monitor the market and support the adoption of

selected developments. Provide an environment that challenges existing practices, products, or

services. Promote creative abilities of employees. Endorse going the extra mile.

10


What do we conclude and where do we go from here?

positive effects of knowledge application, support for innovation, task organization and IT support (partially) on team performance

organization can draw on recommendations from (perceived) high performing teams

11

continue the joint investigation of team characteristics, knowledge application and innovation

examine the potential adaptation of IT-based and organizational measures


Thank you for your attention!

Contact us: [email protected], [email protected]

www.aristotele-ip.com

www.uibk.ac.at/iwi


References

[2] Alavi, M., and Tiwana, A., "Knowledge Integration in Virtual Teams: The Potential Role of KMS", Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 53(12), 2002, pp. 1029-1037. [10] Choi, S.Y., Lee, H., and Yoo, Y., "The Impact of Information Technology and Transactive Memory Systems on Knowledge Sharing, Application, and Team Performance: A Field Study", MIS Quarterly, 34(4), 2010, pp. 855-870. [14] Espinosa, J.A., Cummings, J.N., and Pickering, C., "Time Separation, Coordination, and Performance in Technical Teams", IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 59(1), 2012, pp. 91-103. [25] Lee, H., and Choi, B., "Knowledge Management Enablers, Processes, and Organizational Performance: An Integrative View and Empirical Examination", Journal of Management Information Systems, 20(1), 2003, pp. 179-228. [29] Majchrzak, A., Malhotra, A., and John, R., "Perceived Individual Collaboration Know-How Development through Information Technology Enabled Contextualization: Evidence from Distributed Teams", Information Systems Research, 16(1), 2005, pp. 9-27. [39] Tiwana, A., and Mclean, E.R., "Expertise Integration and Creativity in Information Systems Development", Journal of Management Information Systems, 22(1), 2005, pp. 13-43. [41] West, M.A., and Farr, J.L., Innovation and Creativity at Work: Psychological and Organizational Strategies, John Wiley & Sons, 1990.

13


Questionnaire Items

14

Construct

Cro

nbac

h’s

alph

a va

lue

Min

. cor

rect

-ed

item

-tota

l co

rrel

atio

n

Items

Team performance [35]

.812 .551 This team has been effective in reaching its goals in the past. This team is currently meeting its business objectives. This team is generally on time, when completing its work. This team is generally within the budget, when completing its work.

Knowledge application [18]

.928 .688 This team has processes for applying knowledge learned from mistakes. This team has processes for using knowledge to solve new problems. This team matches sources of knowledge to problems and challenges. This team uses knowledge to improve efficiency. This team is able to locate and apply knowledge to changing competitive conditions.

Support for innovation [3]

.927 .730 This team is always moving toward the development of new answers This team is readily available to assist in developing new ideas This team is open and responsive to change This team is always searching for fresh, new ways of looking at problems. This team takes the time needed to develop new ideas This team co-operates in order to help develop and apply new ideas. This team provides and shares resources to help in the application of new ideas. This team provides practical support for new ideas and their application.

Task organization [14]

.825 .628 In this team we assign roles for who was responsible for what In this team we have substantial agreement on goals, strategies and processes. In this team we distribute responsibilities so that we could work somewhat independently from each other. In this team we have established ground rules, routines and meeting schedules to facilitate our team.

Task non-routineness [29]

.851 .687 This team is dealing with a non-routine problem. This team is using a non-routine process to address the problem. This team is addressing questions that have never been asked in quite that form before.

Integration of expertise [39]

.894 .745 Members in this team synthesize and integrate their individual expertise at the project level. Members in this team span several areas of expertise to develop shared project concepts. Members in this team can clearly see how different pieces of this project fit together. Members in this team competently blend new project-related knowledge with what they already know.

IT support [10]

.917 .779 This team is provided with IT support for collaborative work regardless of time and place. This team is provided with IT support for communicating among team members. This team is provided with IT support for searching and accessing necessary information. This team is provided with IT support for systematic storing.