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

How did we investigate? What is the problem?

What are the results?

Agenda

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

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

What is the problem (1/2)

Knowledge Management

flow of knowledge throughout the Innovation Management support for collective working organization levels of support and the quality of innovation

Collaboration Research

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

What is the problem (2/2)

Innovation Management Knowledge Management Knowledge Application
the phase in which existing knowledge is brought to bear on the problem at hand [2]

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]

Collaboration Research

IT support
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].

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

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

Task Non-Routineness
the degree to which they [i.e., team members] perceived the groups problem to be nonroutine [29]

Task Organization Team Performance

comprises the achievement of goals and objectives, as well as staying on time and working within budget [35] mechanistic coordination among team members involving, e.g., role assignment, division of labor, ground rules and routines [14]

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

Integration of Expertise
synthesis of individually held specialist expertise at the project level [39]
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HICSS 46 on January 10, 2013 - Better Together: ... - Isabella Seeber and Gabriela Waldhart

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 4 participants in two organizations narrative analysis to interpret original voice and paper based focus group output

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

University of Innsbruck School of Management Information Systems

What are the results?

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

H1 (knowledge application) supported H3 (for task organization) supported

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

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

H2 (support for innovation) supported H3 (for task organization) supported

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

Focus Groups

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

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.

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

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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

continue the joint investigation of team characteristics, knowledge application and innovation examine the potential adaptation of IT-based and organizational measures

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

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Thank you for your attention!

www.aristotele-ip.com

www.uibk.ac.at/iwi

Contact us: Isabella.Seeber@uibk.ac.at, Gabriela.Waldhart@uibk.ac.at

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

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. 91103. [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.
HICSS 46 on January 10, 2013 - Better Together: ... - Isabella Seeber and Gabriela Waldhart 13

Questionnaire Items
Min. corrected item-total correlation
.551 .688 .730 .628 .687 .745 .779

Team .812 performanc e [35] Knowledge .928 application [18]

Cronbachs alpha value

Construct

Items

Support for .927 innovation [3]

Task .825 organization [14]

Task non- .851 routineness [29] Integration .894 of expertise [39]

IT support [10]

.917

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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.

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

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