THE DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSACTIVE MEMORY SYSTEM IN COMPUTER-MEDIATED VERSUS FACE-TO-FACE TEAMS: A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Research has been inconclusive on the development of transactive memory system in computer-mediated settings. On one hand, some researchers found that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for teams in computer-mediated settings to form and develop effective transactive memory system. On the other hand, other researchers showed that teams would be able to adapt to computer-mediated settings and develop effective transactive memory system. Optimally, the explanations should be sought to account for these inconsistencies. Drawn on media richness theory and social information processing theory, this research proposed that the inconsistent findings might be resolved by considering time effects. A quasi-experiment with repeated measures was conducted to empirically test the proposition. Results showed that computer-mediated teams, comparing with face-to-face teams, were at a disadvantage position at the initial development of transactive memory system. However, “time” neutralized the negative effect of computer-mediated setting. Further, computer-mediated teams benefited from face-to-face meetings in the early phase of the project