A Social Capital Perspective on Computer-Mediated Group Communication and Performance: An Empirical Study

Abstract

In light of the pervasiveness of collaborative decision making and technology in organizations, this research examines computer mediated collaboration using the lens of social capital. We draw from the Distributed Cognition Theory and others for our socio-technical investigation that incorporates the technical component as the artifact of electronic memory (group memory), and the social component as the history of interactions between members (group history). We study these under the mediating influence of the relational social capital dimensions of relational closeness and relational trust. Our study shows how social capital adds an important flavor to collaborative performance. We highlight how the traditional premise of memory being an unequivocal enhancer of group performance gets altered if one fails to consider the influence of relational social capital in the equation. We propose to practitioners that collaborative technology that offers memory cannot be viewed independently, but as a vehicle that impacts performance through the dynamics of social capital of the group. Most importantly, our research reinforces the need for a novel perspective to collaborative development. With the diaspora of technological advancement, there needs to be a transition in perceiving collaborative development as a concurrent, rather than a sequential, process of discussion and development of group activity.