Abstract

With the advent of social applications, the question arises of how organizations can utilize such technology for improving task performance. While social applications certainly bear the potential to trigger the development of radically new business models and business processes, we seek to study how the enrichment of IT-based routine work (simple tasks) by complementing social features (audience condition) may advance performance. In 280 experiments with altogether 40 participants, we investigate the impact of a) monitoring, b) measurement, and c) feedback dialogs on performance of simple IT-based tasks. We compare the effects of these three treatments in a setting of physical presence and in a setting of virtual presence. The results show that monitoring has the strongest effect in the physical presence setting while, in the virtual presence setting, both monitoring and feedback dialogs can improve task performance significantly. Theory-wise, we draw on social psychology and develop a (design) theory of virtual social facilitation that bears major implications for designing routine work information systems and technology.

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When Routine Work Becomes Social: How Virtual Social Facilitation Increases Performance on Simple IT-Based Tasks

With the advent of social applications, the question arises of how organizations can utilize such technology for improving task performance. While social applications certainly bear the potential to trigger the development of radically new business models and business processes, we seek to study how the enrichment of IT-based routine work (simple tasks) by complementing social features (audience condition) may advance performance. In 280 experiments with altogether 40 participants, we investigate the impact of a) monitoring, b) measurement, and c) feedback dialogs on performance of simple IT-based tasks. We compare the effects of these three treatments in a setting of physical presence and in a setting of virtual presence. The results show that monitoring has the strongest effect in the physical presence setting while, in the virtual presence setting, both monitoring and feedback dialogs can improve task performance significantly. Theory-wise, we draw on social psychology and develop a (design) theory of virtual social facilitation that bears major implications for designing routine work information systems and technology.