Media Synchronicity, Communication Style and Task: A Dyadic Analysis of Text-based Online Live Chat Customer Services

The Internet has created an environment where many technologies are used to provide net-based customer services. Recently, Online Live Chat Customer Service (OLCCS) has been adopted widely and rapidly on many websites. OLCCS extends traditional customer service channels by using live chats to deliver real-time help and on-demand assistance to online customers’ inquiries. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the moderating effects of dyadic communication style and task on the relationship of media synchronicity and performance. Based on Media Synchronicity Theory, lower media synchronicity (text only) will be more appropriate for response tasks; while higher media synchronicity (text and co-browsing) is more likely to improve the performance of procedural tasks. The nature of the dyadic communication style, either implicit or explicit, will also affect the connection between media synchronicity and performance. In addition, the analysis of this dissertation focuses on the level of dyad (representative and customer) that uses text and co-browsing in live chats. The research site selected for this dissertation is a large university library located in the northeastern United States. Excerpts of transcripts were collected from 362 chat sessions in 2004. Content analysis will be used to code these excerpts. Values for the constructs will be assigned based on the coding. ANOVA and multiple regressions will be performed to test the proposed hypotheses

A Study on Interaction Factors Influencing Use Intention of Interactive Video Service: Focusing on Media Synchronicity

Interactive Video Services (IVS) are a new type of media service that enables users to cast and watch videos as well as exchange messages with others. Three factors that influence IVS usage, which are technology factor, communication factor, and contents factor, were derived from the theory of interactivity. Dimensions of each factor were identified through qualitative study. We constructed a structural model of use intentions of IVS, followed by a survey conducted to statistically verify the structural model. The model reflects one of the key traits of IVS, media synchronicity, as a moderating variable. Our findings presented that each factor has a significant effect on use intentions of IVS and that the degree of effect is moderated by media synchronicity according to the differences between real-time and non-real-time IVS

Media Synchronicity and Stress in Online Interview Settings

New communication tools allow organizations to take advantage of global talent and minimize location-specific risks; however, they also present new challenges. One such challenge is that the communication tools individuals are using are often not a good fit with their tasks. Unfortunately, stress is one of the negative outcomes from poorly fit communication tools. We ran two experiments to better understand stress in new online interview settings. We first found that computer-based interviewers were more stressed than interviewees. Further, interviewers that were FTF experienced less stress than did interviewers in computer-mediated interview teams. In the second experiment, we looked at the influences of interview structure and two different types of low synchronicity media on stress. Initial findings showed that interviewers performing structured and unstructured tasks had a similar amount of stress, however interviewers using email were more stressed than were interviewers using instant messaging

Rethinking Media Synchronicity Theory: Examining the Cooperative Assumption

Much of information systems (IS) literature assumes team members have completely aligned goals. In practice, people interpret goals to suit personal agendas, even when they are collaborating. This motivates our examination of the cooperative assumption in Media Synchronicity Theory (MST)-”a leading IS theory of communication performance. We assess the boundaries of MST by relaxing the assumption of cooperation. Our results support MST for explaining communication and task performance in a cooperative context. However, MST was insufficient to capture how media capabilities influence performance in a non-cooperative context. Our study shows that relaxing the assumption of cooperation changes MST in profound ways-”altering which media capabilities are central to the model and the very processes that underlie communication

Virtual Team Collaboration: A Review of Literature and Perspectives

Along with the widespread use of information technologies (IT) and the increasing geographical span of tasks held by various organizations, Virtual Teams (VTs) rose as an alternative organizational form which has the potential to deeply change the workplace. This article provides a review of previously published work on collaboration in VTs. The review is organized around two perspectives adopted by scholars, namely technological and managerial. This analysis underlines two major constructs that leads to an efficient VT collaboration, i.e. the context in which the collaboration is held and the collaboration style. While the former is illustrated by knowledge and team characteristics, the latter is identified by technological media and leadership. Building on this classification, we suggest a model and explore future research directions with a particular attention to the implications for collaboration in organizations.Collaboration, Virtual Team, Knowledge Sharing, Literature Review

Relationship Quality in the Context of Computer-Mediated Communication - A social constructionist approach

This paper contributes to possible answers to the question: What are the effects of computermediated communication on relationship qualities in organizations? To answer this question without oversimplifying the phenomena an adequate research methodology has to be found. First, the interrelationship between computer-mediated communication (CMC) and relationship quality is reviewed. CMC-theory will be described from three main perspectives and the risks and chances for relationship quality will be shown. The review indicates that most studies in the field are founded on a positivistic basis. Relationships are treated as static dyads neglecting contextual factors. Thus, the insight into relational processes in computerized environments remains limited. As an alternative a research methodology based on the epistemological stance of social constructionism is proposed. It will be explained, how the researchers’ view can be broadened by applying the method of the ‘narrative interview’ in practice based studies in computer-mediated contexts. In the concluding part, the contribution of this approach to research and practice will be discussed.Computer-mediated communication, relationship quality, social constructionism

Communication Media for Distributed Software Design

As virtual software projects are becoming more popular, it is also more common for software design, one of the key activities in software development process, to be conducted in the distributed context. Previous research has shown that communication media had an impact on the development of shared-understanding among team members in virtual teams. However, how communication media influences the development of shared-understanding among team members in software design, an activity where communication among team members are intense and complicated, is not well-understood. Therefore, within the scope of this study, we would like to conduct a case study to examine how virtual software development teams use communication media in their software design activities and how their usage influence their shared-understanding of the user requirements and design solutions. The outcome of the study is expected to validate the Media Synchronicity Theory in the distributed software design context as well as informing practitioners of the appropriate communication media usage for conducting distributed software design

Application of Media Synchronicity Theory to Creative Tasks in Virtual Teams Using the Example of Design Thinking

Today in many industries it is common to work in virtual teams. At the same time companies must innovate to retain their market share and stay in the market. One possible method to come up with innovations is Design Thinking. However, this method is originally not intended to be used in a virtual team. The objective of this research is to provide a guideline on how to practice Design Thinking in a remote setup, thus travel expenses and planning efforts could be saved. This guideline is based on the media synchronicity theory which is applied to the process of Design Thinking. As a result, it is deduced that the diverging phases in Design Thinking are best supported with asynchronous media. In contrast to the converging phases which are supported best by synchronous media. These results could be used by practitioners to choose the best fitting media for each phase

Automated Feedback as a Convergence Tools

This study evaluates two content delivery options for teaching a programming language to determine whether an asynchronous format can achieve the same learning efficacy as a traditional lecture (face-to-face) format. We use media synchronicity theory as a guide to choose media capabilities to incorporate into an asynchronous tutorial used asynchronously. We conducted an experiment with 49 students from three classes of a web development class at an American university. Our results suggest that an asynchronous tutorial can achieve the same learning outcomes as a traditional lecture format by using automated feedback for convergence. Somewhat surprisingly, we found that performance did not improve when students received both the tutorial and the lecture. Our results demonstrate that technical material can be effectively delivered asynchronously