The medium matters: Mining the long-promised merit of group interaction in creative idea generation tasks in a meta-analysis of the electronic group brainstorming literature

  • Authors:

  • Darleen M. DeRosa;Carter L. Smith;Donald A. Hantula

  • Affiliations:

  • Right Management Consultants, 100 Prospect Street, South Tower, Stamford, CT 06901, USA;BioVid Corp., 5 Vaughn Drive, Suite 111, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA;Department of Psychology, Temple University, Weiss Hall (265-67), Philadelphia, PA 19122 6085, USA

  • Venue:
  • Computers in Human Behavior
  • Year:
  • 2007

Quantified Score

Hi-index 0.00

Visualization

Abstract

This meta-analysis examines the influence of electronic communication media on group idea generation tasks. Data from the following three areas of the brainstorming literature are synthesized to assess differences across performance variables and group member satisfaction: (1) electronic brainstorming (EBS) groups versus traditional face-to-face (FTF) interacting groups, (2) EBS groups versus nominal groups, and (3) EBS versus electronic nominal (e-nominal) groups. The results of this integration show that EBS groups are more productive and more satisfied with the interaction process than FTF groups. Additionally, large EBS groups outperformed nominal groups, whereas small nominal groups outperformed EBS groups. These findings have important implications for electronic collaboration and teamwork in both academic and organizational settings, especially given the recent proliferation of virtual teamwork.