An experimental investigation of the effects of group size in an electronic meeting environment

Author

Dennis, Alan R. ; Valacich, Joseph S. ; Nunamaker, J.F., Jr.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Manage. Inf. Syst., Arizona Univ., Tucson, AZ, USA

Volume

20

Issue

5

fYear

1990

Firstpage

1049

Lastpage

1057

Abstract

This research used a laboratory experiment to investigate the effects of group size on idea-generation performance and member satisfaction in an electronic meeting room in which computer-supported electronic communication replaced direct verbal communication. Three group sizes were studied: small (three-member), medium (nine-member) and large (18-member). The findings of this study contradict those of prior non-computer-supported idea-generation studies: in this electronic meeting environment, larger groups generated more ideas of greater quality, and were more satisfied than smaller groups

Keywords

behavioural sciences; groupware; human factors; teleconferencing; computer-supported electronic communication; electronic meeting environment; group size; idea-generation performance; member satisfaction; teleconferencing; Business; Computer networks; Councils; Information technology; Intelligent networks; Laboratories; Management information systems; Medical services; Strategic planning; Workstations;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Systems, Man and Cybernetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9472

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/21.59968

Filename

59968