ARISTOTELE Presentation at the 46th HAWAII INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SYSTEM SCIENCES Processes and Technologies for Small and Large Team Collaboration. Learn more on http://www.aristotele-ip.eu/

1. 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

2. 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?

3. 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

4. HICSS 46 on January 10, 2013 - Better Together: ... - Isabella Seeber and Gabriela Waldhart
What is the problem … (2/2)
4
Knowledge
Management
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.
Innovation
Management
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
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]

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

6. University of Innsbruck
School of Management
Information Systems
What are the results?
6

7. HICSS 46 on January 10, 2013 - Better Together: ... - Isabella Seeber and Gabriela Waldhart
Effects of Knowledge Application
- Task Non-Routineness and IT-Support -
7
 H1 (knowledge
application) supported
 H3 (for task organization)
supported

8. 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 -
8
 H2 (support for
innovation) supported
 H3 (for task organization)
supported

9. HICSS 46 on January 10, 2013 - Better Together: ... - Isabella Seeber and Gabriela Waldhart
Focus Groups
9

10. 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.
10

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

12. HICSS 46 on January 10, 2013 - Better Together: ... - Isabella Seeber and Gabriela Waldhart
Thank you for your attention!
Contact us: Isabella.Seeber@uibk.ac.at, Gabriela.Waldhart@uibk.ac.at
www.aristotele-ip.com
www.uibk.ac.at/iwi

13. 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. 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.
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14. HICSS 46 on January 10, 2013 - Better Together: ... - Isabella Seeber and Gabriela Waldhart
Questionnaire Items
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Construct
Cronbach’s
alphavalue
Min.correct-
editem-total
correlation
Items
Team
performanc
e
[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.