IMPACT OF COMMUNICATION MEDIUM AND COMPUTER SUPPORT ON GROUP PERCEPTIONS AND PERFORMANCE - A COMPARISON OF FACE-TO-FACE AND DISPERSED MEETINGS

Economic, social, and political institutions worldwide are relying inc reasingly on communication technology to perform a variety of function s: holding electronic town meetings where hundreds of people in numero us cities participate simultaneously; forging strategic links with bus iness partners, thereby forming ''virtual corporations'' that can be i nstantly disbanded; redefining the conventional notion of a college ca mpus by offering classes via interactive media to non-traditional stud ents; and enabling consumers with personal digital assistants to remai n connected with their children and families at all times. In this env ironment, where geographic and temporal boundaries are shrinking rapid ly, electronic meeting systems (EMS) are playing an important role. Th is study examines the impact on teams of using EMS in dispersed and fa ce-to-face settings. The results suggest that EMS can be effective in augmenting traditional audio-conferencing by strengthening the medium and allowing additional communication cues to be exchanged among parti cipants. They also indicate that EMS can improve decision-making perfo rmance, given proper task-technology fit and adequate facilitation. As businesses expand globally, such systems will provide instant communi cation capabilities and help coordinate dispersed decision-making acti vities.