Electronic Meetings and Subsequent Meeting Behaviour: Systems as agents of change

Abstract

The intent of this empirical study was to examine to what extent the use of group support systems (GSSs) in meetings modifies individual and group behaviour in subsequent manual meetings. Because meetings occupy a significant amount of organisational resources, yet are perceived to be mostly unproductive, it would seem that improving the effectiveness of meetings would lead to positive and lasting organisational productivity gains. The study utilised a cross-sectional survey design to compare the differences between GSS-influenced meetings and traditional manual meetings on several composite measures. Results showed that the two groups were significantly different and that the GSS group rated their subsequent meetings as more productive and satisfying. New behaviours may have been learned as a result of the technology-supported meetings as these behaviours were applied to subsequent meetings.