IGI Global, 2011. — 386 p. — ISBN: 1609607597.
With the advancement of information and communication technology, virtual teams are becoming more popular as geographical constraints in collaboration have become a non-issue. Features of the technology and characteristics of the group influence interaction processes and outcomes. Two elements are the focus of this paper. The first is anonymity, which has been made feasible by technology. The other concerns gender. Gender is an important research target, and its role in groupwork must not be overlooked. Both elements have aroused much interest across multiple research fields. The existing literature shows their potential in influencing team collaboration processes, satisfaction, and performance. In this paper, the authors present a process-based interpretation of virtual team collaboration, incorporating the anonymity of technology and the gender difference of team members. Using a multiple case study approach, the paper identifies a key set of process variables that shape team performance. The study also examines the interdependencies among the processes. Task-related activity that occurred during team discussion was affected by gender anonymity, and this influenced group performance and members’ satisfaction toward the collaboration process. Group dynamics, including member awareness, leader emergence, and member’s conformity, are salient process variables that affect the virtual team performance as well.
Despite continued public interest in issues relating to gender and computing, there exists a relative scarcity of texts on this topic.
Gender and Social Computing: Interactions, Differences and Relationships provides an overview of the major questions that researchers and practitioners are addressing, outlining possible future directions for theory development and empirical research on gender and computing. This comprehensive reference focuses on three areas of research on gender and computing: gender and computing in the work arena, gender and computing in cyberspace, and gender in eDating.
Celia Romm Livermore is professor at Wayne State University (Detroit, USA). She has published five books: Virtual Politicking (1999), Electronic Commerce: A Global Perspective (1998), Doing Business on the Internet (1999), Self Service on the Internet (2008) and Social Networking and eDating (2008). She also published over a hundred and fifty journal articles, chapters in collective volumes and conference papers. Dr. Romm-Livermore received her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto (Canada, 1979) and has been a lecturer, consultant and visiting scholar in Israel, Japan, Germany, Canada, USA and Australia. Her research interests and areas of publication over the years included: culture and its impact on implementation of information systems, politics and social aspects of virtual communities, virtual work, e-commerce, computer mediated communication and IT/IS education. Dr. Romm Livermore’s current research focuses on the social dynamics and politics of social networking communities.
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