The analysis and study of the impact of technology on groups: a conceptual framework

摘要

This paper examines how various aspects of technology, group and task interplay, affect group processing and performance. Efforts to provide groups with technological support are driven by three basic ideas: improving group task performance, overcoming time and space constraints on group collaborative efforts, and increasing the range and speed of access to information. These are discussed together with three conceptual frameworks within which groupware (defined as computer-based systems that support the efforts of groups engaged in common tasks) can be developed. A conceptual framework is developed within which information systems for assisting groups electronically can be designed and measured. The paper concludes with an agenda for further research.