DIVERSITY: IS THERE MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE? A Longitudinal Study of the Impact of Technology Support on Teams with Differing Diversity Laku Chidambaram Traci Carte University of Oklahoma, Michael F. Price College of Business, Norman, OK 73072 <laku, tcarte>@ou.edu ABSTRACT Previous research on groups with diverse membership indicates that they generally exhibit high levels of conflict and experience low levels of cohesion; however, they also tend to outperform their homogeneous counterparts. Based on an extensive review of three research streams—group diversity, group development and collaborative technologies—we develop an integrated model of ongoing team interaction which describes how collaborative technologies can help leverage the positive aspects of diversity while limiting its negative aspects. We then test this model using a longitudinal field experiment involving virtual and collocated teams with differing levels of diversity. We conclude by discussing the results and examining their implications for research and practice. 1. INTRODUCTION Managing diverse teams is fast becoming one of the most pressing challenges facing modern organizations. With a growing array of business activities involving people with varying skills, from different functional areas, and having varied backgrounds, organizational teams have, of necessity, become increasingly diverse. These teams are often supported by a variety of collaborative technologies (CTs) including e-mail, audio- and video-conferencing systems, project management tools, and groupware tools. Considerable research has been conducted to understand differences in the development and performance of diverse teams in comparison to their homogeneous counterparts, and much of the research effort in this area has been predicated on the belief that diversity in work teams, while difficult to manage, can be leveraged (Williams & O’Reilly, 1998). Empirical evidence presents an interesting paradox: Some studies (e.g., Hambrick, Cho & Chen, 1996; Dailey & Steiner, 1998) indicate a positive relationship between diversity and team performance, while others (e.g., Watson, Kumar & Michaelsen, 1993) indicate a negative relationship between diversity and group interaction processes. This paradox suggests that organizations seeking to exploit the performance advantages of diversity need to first address the inherent interaction challenges facing such teams. 2. RESEARCH MODEL Drawing from the existing body of research on collaborative technologies as well as the research on group diversity, we develop a theoretical model of how collaborative technologies, as an intervention, can be useful in mitigating the negative aspects of diversity while simultaneously leveraging its positive aspects. Previous research suggests that time plays a dual role in such relationships: First, by moderating the impact of diversity on group outcomes (Harrison, Price, Gavin & Florey, 2002) and second, by mediating the effect of collaborative technologies on group processes (Gopal, Bostrom, & Chin, 1992-3). Based on these premises, this paper addresses the following fundamental question: How will collaborative technologies impact groups of differing diversity over time? A graphical representation of the research model is presented in Figure 1 and each component of the model is described below. The research model provides a graphical summary of the extant literature in this area. It is not our intent to test the proposed relationships (they have been empirically substantiated by other authors), but instead we investigate how the early introduction of technology may impact the relationship between diversity and the group process and outcome variables. Insert Figure 1 about here 2.1. Diversity and Its Perception Diversity within a work group refers to its composition in terms of the distribution of demographic traits and cognitive differences manifested as surface-level or deep-level attributes (see Table 1). Research on work groups suggests that diversity impacts both the group’s relational development and its performance. Relational development is impacted by diversity in two ways: diverse groups tend to be less cohesive (Harrison et al., 1998), and they tend to exhibit more conflict (Pelled, 1996). Further, studies investigating the impact of diversity on relational development have found surface-level traits immediately salient and deep-level traits salient over time. For example, Harrison et al. (1998) found that gender diversity 0-7695-2268-8/05/$20.00 (C) 2005 IEEE Proceedings of the 38th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2005 1