Factors Influencing Adoption And Non-Adoption Of Cyberinfrastructure By The Research Community

Technology adoption has received a great deal of research attention in information systems. While the results are quite consistent in workplace settings, only limited attention has been paid to assessing the conditions – e.g., adopters, context – that influence relationships in existing models. Cyberinfrastructure -- integrated computing, storage, and collaborative infrastructure – represents an under explored technology. Likewise, the adopters of this technology, i.e., researchers, represent an under explored audience for technology adoption. In order to understand the factors influencing adoption of this technology by these users, we employ an open-ended interview among members of a scientific research community. The goal of the interview is to elicit researchers’ beliefs in order to understand the reasons they do and do not choose to participate in cyberinfrastructure projects. The focus of this research is one particular cyberinfrastructure known as the iPlant Collaborative. The results of this research-in-progress will contribute to the literature on technology adoption and provide valuable guidance for research institutes and governments that fund large-scale cyberinfrastructure projects to support multi-disciplinary collaborative research

(Virtual) Identity Communication: Motivations and Contextual Factors

Although prior literature has explored the important process of identity communication in face- to-face settings, significant changes in how work is accomplished in modern organizations require the development of new theory. Building on extensive identity research in non-virtual settings, this paper develops and justifies a new theoretical model that better explains the antecedents of virtual identity communication. The model explores how identity motives lead to identity communication, and how virtual communication environments alter these processes. We summarize our data collection methodology and the results of a preliminary data collection and conclude by discussing theoretical and practical contributions. The concepts and relationships presented here can help theorists and managers better address identity issues faced by modern, technology-infused organizations.

Perceptions of Virtual Team Communication Effectiveness: The Role of Team Member Identity Motives and Media Characteristics

Although much research has examined how individuals convey their identities to others at work and outcomes related to identity communication, we know little about outcomes associated with identity communication in virtual settings. In this study, we examine the relationship between professionals’ motives for communicating their identities to others and their perceptions of virtual team communication effectiveness. In doing so, we consider the moderating role of features of the communication media (information control, reach, reprocessability) on these relationships. We find that three motives (self-protection, self-creation, and self-enhancement) relate to team members’ perceptions of communication effectiveness. We also find evidence for the influence of communication media features on several of these relationships. We provide an overview of our data collection methodology and results, concluding with theoretical and practical implications

Impression Formation and Durability in Mediated Communication

Using literature from impression formation and social information processing theory, we examine the impact of communication style on impression formation and durability in a mediated environment. We leverage common writing styles found in workplace emails—emoticons, uppercase, lowercase, typographical errors—to examine how message receivers evaluate senders using these styles. Via a lab experiment with 748 subjects, including undergraduate students, graduate students, and working professionals, we found that impressions were associated with writing style beyond the email content. Receivers perceived senders of emails containing emoticons, errors, or written entirely in uppercase or lowercase as less functionally competent. They also perceived senders as less methodologically competent when emails used emoticons and less politically competent when emails were all lowercase or contained errors. They perceived senders using a neutral writing style as less sociable than senders using emoticons. In contrast to impression durability in face-to-face environments, receivers positively revised impressions when senders changed their style to neutral from any of the non-neutral styles. We attribute this difference to two characteristics of the IT artifact: symbol variety and reprocessability

Identity Communication in Virtual Teams: Insights from Interviews with Working Professionals

Organizations are increasingly using virtual teams to gain competitive advantages in the marketplace, but managers face a tradeoff between the benefits that such virtual teams provide and their inherent weaknesses. This paper examines identity communication in virtual environments, arguing that identity communication can counteract some of the negative aspects of virtual teamwork. Using coded transcriptions from 35 semi-structured interviews with working professionals who participate in virtual teams, we explore the process of identity communication in virtual teams and the role of technology in influencing and enabling these processes. Using established identity and media theories as a guide, we formulate, and then refine, a framework to summarize consistent themes in the interview data. Our findings lay the groundwork for future theoretical development in this relevant area of research, and we argue that further advances in this domain will allow organizations to more effectively leverage a virtual workforce with effective collaboration technologies

Examining Predictors and Outcomes of Identity Communication in Virtual Teams

Virtual teams play an increasingly important role in the modern economy, and many organizations struggle to overcome the weaknesses inherent in technology-mediated work. Identity communication has been shown to greatly improve individual- and group-level outcomes in offline settings, but these benefits have not been investigated in the context of virtual teams, where mediated interaction can affect the opportunity for identity communication. This research-in-progress paper proposes a theoretical model and experimental design that investigates the predictors and outcomes of identity communication in virtual teams. Our anticipated findings should have important implications for researchers seeking to understand identity communication via technology and for practitioners hoping to improve virtual team communication and collaboration.

Do faultlines hurt or help? exploring distance, identity, task conflict, and individual performance in diverse groups

We introduce the concept of faultline distance that reflects the extent to which subgroups formed by faultlines diverge as a result of accumulated differences across them (e.g., two members of age 20 are closer in age to two members of an opposing faultline of age 25 than of two members of age 50). We further extend faultline theory by showing how different faultline bases (information-based and social category faultlines) have differential effects on outcomes. Using a sample of 76 workgroups from a Fortune 500 information processing company, we examine the relationships between group faultlines, shared identity, work-related conflict, and multiple individual performance indicators. The results reveal that members of groups with strong information-based faultlines had high levels of performance ratings, while members of groups with strong social category faultlines had low levels of bonuses. Faultline distance further exacerbated the negative effects in groups with strong social category faultlines and reversed the positive effects in groups with information-based faultlines. A sense of strong superordinate identity among group members enhanced members\u27 performance. Finally, mediated moderation was confirmed for the groups with strong social category faultlines; such groups had low levels of conflict which then resulted in low levels of bonuses

The Value of External Hires: Effects of External Versus Internal CEO Successors on Firm Performance over Time

Managing the talent pipeline is a critical risk area for organizations in today’s business environment. Chief Human Resource Officers are particularly concerned with ensuring the organization has a deep talent bench to replace executives who depart or retire. Both internal and external hires are likely to bring significant benefits to the organization. The most important consideration, however, should be a focus on the capabilities needed in the role for which an individual is to be hired

Toward a Temporal Theory of Faultlines and Subgroup Entrenchment

A wealth of scholarship shows that faultlines drive important outcomes for groups. However, despite mounting calls for incorporating time in the group literature, our understanding of faultlines is bound by assumptions that constrain our ability to incorporate the crucial role of time as it relates to faultlines and their effects. Drawing together guidance for exploring temporal phenomena, with the faultline and group literatures, we embark on an understanding of the temporal nature of faultlines. We distinguish faultlines from specific subgroup configurations by introducing the concept of subgroup entrenchment – the agreement among group members about the existence and composition of strong and stable subgroups. We highlight how a group’s history influences its current and future experience of faultlines and subgroups, by exploring concepts such as duration, temporal alignment, and sequencing patterns. Our theory highlights how the dynamic features of multiple faultlines can influence subgroup entrenchment at any point in time