LOCATION:
Naval Postgraduate School
Glasgow East, Room 203

SPEAKERS:
Dr. Paul A. Pavlou bio
University of California, Riverside
paul.pavlou@ucr.edu

Dr. Angelika Dimoka bio
University of California, Riverside
dimoka@ucr.edu

Dr. Thomas J. Housel bio
Naval Postgraduate School
tjhousel@nps.edu

ABSTRACT
This research focuses on the role of collaborative Information Technology (IT) tools to enhance the effectiveness of Hastily Formed Networks (HFNs) at the group level. Collaborative IT tools are an integrated set of functionalities that enable collaboration among inter-connected entities. Despite their widely touted potential to enhance various types of planned and ad hoc networks (e.g., HFNs), we still know little about whether, how, and why these IT tools can support HFNs, especially in the information-intensive environments that characterize most Naval operations.

This paper first introduces the construct of ‘Collaborative IT Tools Leveraging Capability' as the ability of work groups to effectively leverage collaborative IT tools to enhance their group activities to support HFNs. Collaborative IT Tools Leveraging Capability is conceptualized as a second-order construct formed by the group's effective use of six key IT functionalities - workspace sharing, conferencing, file sharing, scheduling, chat, and email – that are commonly present in collaborative IT tools.

This study then examines ways to enhance the effectiveness of HFNs through the user's effective leveraging of collaborative IT tools by examining the following network performance outcomes - (a) HFN efficiency, (b) situational awareness of the HFN, (c) and HFN project effectiveness. The proposed effects of ‘Collaborative IT Tools Leveraging Capability' on HFN performance is hypothesized to be more pronounced in information intensive environments.

Finally, to enhance a group's ability to effectively leverage collaborative IT tools, the study proposes a set of enabling factors: customization of the collaborative IT tools, group habits in using collaborative IT tools, the group's perceived usefulness and ease of use of collaborative IT tools, the group member's mutual trust, and the degree of environmental intensity.

Data from 365 group managers support the proposed structural model with the nature, antecedents, and consequences of Collaborative IT Tools Leveraging Capability at different levels of environmental intensity. The paper discusses the study's contributions to our better understanding the nature of Collaborative IT Tools Leveraging Capability in the context of HFNs, its impact on HFN performance, and how it can be enhanced to facilitate HFN.

Paul A. Pavlou is an Assistant Professor of Information Systems at the University of California at Riverside. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in 2004. His research focuses on online marketplaces and e-commerce, collaborative IT tools, and information systems strategy. His research has appeared in ISR, MISQ, and JAIS, among others. His work has been cited over 200 times by the Institute of Scientific Information and over 600 times by Google Scholar. Paul won the ‘Best Doctoral Dissertation Award' of the 2004 ICIS Conference. Paul also received the 2003 MISQ ‘Reviewer of the Year' award, and the ‘Best Reviewer' award of the 2005 Academy of Management Conference. He sits on the Editorial Board of MISQ and JAIS.
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Angelika Dimoka is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Information Systems at the University of California at Riverside with a joint appointment at the School of Engineering. She received a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in 2006. Her research focuses on the quantitative analysis of uncertainty in online marketplaces, the use of collaborative IT tools, and experimental neuroeconomics for understanding the use of IT in organizations and markets. Her research has been published in Information Systems Research and the Journal of Neuroscience Methods.
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