Introduction to the Information Issues in Supply Chain and in Service System Design Minitrack

Cognitive effort and knowledge sharing play a critical role in the successful completion of knowledge intensive collaborative tasks. Such tasks require extensive coordination and sense making to facilitate joint problem solving and the creation of shared mental models. Furthermore, multiple heads often come with multiple stakes and perspectives, which can lead to conflict and often require trust building and negotiation. Therefore, the cognitive load involved in collaborative tasks is likely to be higher than in individual tasks, and requires special attention when designing collaboration support. Understanding cognitive load and cognitive activities involved in collaboration may offer insight into design principles that enable efficient and effective use of cognitive capacity. The intent of this minitrack is to provide an outlet for such research and encourage research that explores the individual cognitive perspective when studying collaboration.