Abstract
Today’s complex business environment calls for both collaborative work and creative (novel) thought in organizational operations. This research evaluates small group performance in generating novel ideas with three different types of support: Group Support Systems (GSS) software, Creativity Support Systems (CSS) software, and no computer software support tools. All-female, all-male, and mixed gender groups are compared in these three support settings. A 3 X 3 completely randomized factorial design with repeated measures was used. Consistent with our hypothesis, the results of the study indicate an interaction effect between group support tool and group gender composition. Specifically, this study reveals that same gender groups (both female and male) generate more novel ideas when no computer software support is present. For mixed gender groups, however, computer software support is essential for novel idea generation. Computer software support appeared to mediate the undesirable consequences of group interaction associated with mixed gender groups.
Recommended Citation
Klein, Esther and Dologite, Dorothy, "Software Support to Mediate the Effects of Mixed Gender Groups" (1998). AMCIS 1998 Proceedings. 162.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis1998/162