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HICSS-51 MINITRACK PROPOSAL

Social & Psychological Perspectives in Collaboration Research

In the "Collaboration Systems & Technologies Track"

Triparna de Vreede, Gert-Jan de Vreede, Paul Spector

University of South Florida

Introduction

Technology supported collaboration and communication between individuals entails complex social and psychological situations. An understanding of social and psychological aspects of collaboration is essential to creating productive work environments. The use of collaboration and communication systems and the consequences of such use are framed by the psychological and social factors concerning the users and their work environment. It is important to understand these factors to successfully facilitate the sustained implementation and use of these technologies. Further, knowledge of the psychological, social, and cognitive aspects of technology-supported collaboration and communication also assists in detecting, avoiding, and effectively resolving the issues that may arise from using such technologies.

This proposed minitrack is especially timely in the context of the increased use of virtual collaboration technologies and social media by organizations and individuals. Specifically, social media offer various ways to connect, collaborate, form communities and dynamic crowds, and share information and knowledge. As many organizations are figuring out productive ways to create value from social media, researchers have intensified efforts to understand and design ways in which social media can support both work-related and pleasure related activities. Such research often involves or requires psychosocial and cognitive perspectives.

Short Minitrack Description

This minitrack focuses on the social, psychological, and cognitive factors that can affect the design, development, use, and application of collaboration and communication technologies. We seek papers that address the social and psychological perspectives, concepts, and theories of collaboration and communication technologies, including social media applications and Web 2.0 technologies. Of particular interest are papers that study an IS phenomenon with Sociology/Psychology/Cognition as a referent discipline as well as papers that study a Sociology/Psychology/Cognition phenomenon situated in an IS domain or application.

Specifically, the "Social & Psychological Perspectives in Collaboration Research" minitrack focuses on but is not limited to:

1.      Personality, behavioral, cognitive, and social factors related to communication and collaboration in co-located and distributed groups

2.      Social and psychological effects of collaboration technologies

3.      Attractions and affiliations in groups arising from use of collaboration technologies

4.      Team/group psychology and use of collaboration technologies

5.      Effects and consequences of personality on system design and use

6.      Psycho-social and cognitive factors influencing acceptance and implementation of collaboration technologies

7.      Leadership issues involved in collaboration

8.      Aggression and violence in online collaboration

Minitrack Scope

The scope of this minitrack concerns the various social and psychological issues that surround the design, deployment, and use of collaboration and communication technologies. This minitrack will host research papers and presentations that provide a social/psychological perspective on studying issues related to the dynamic interplay between people, their environment, and the collaboration technologies they use to create collaborative value. Examples of relevant areas and theories in psychology that fit within this minitrack's scope include, but are not limited to:

Personality

Cultural psychology

Social psychology

Cognitive psychology

Diversity

Leadership

Prejudice and discrimination

Attitudes and social intelligence

Social learning theory

Self efficacy

Behavioral theories

Violence and aggression

Attractions and affiliations in groups

Group psychology

A minitrack on psycho-social perspectives will be appealing and inclusive for many researchers who do not operate in the core of the (M)IS discipline yet conduct research with social media, for example researchers in media and arts, human factors, social psychology, informatics, innovation, communication, information science, etc. In other words, this minitrack will attract two types of contributors: (a) IS researchers and researchers in related disciplines who are using psychology as referent discipline, and (b) psychology researchers who are using IS/IT as an application domain. This will help HICSS expand its horizon and attract a larger audience to include, for example Industrial/Organizational psychologists, learning/behavioral researchers, Management researchers and many others.

Previous Minitracks

This topic was first part of the 2012 HICSS-45 conference. This minitrack was highly successful, attracting 16 submissions and attendants at the conference. The conference attracted attendees from business schools, IS researchers with psychological focus, and management researchers. Papers related to personality theories, motivation, addiction, trust, and web psychologies were presented.  The success of minitrack continued in the HICSS-46-50 conferences. At HICSS-46 a paper from this minitrack was honored as the best paper in the Collaboration Systems and Technologies Track.

Organization Support

The University of South Florida endorses their minitrack chairs both in terms of infrastructure and finances to organize this minitrack.

Biographical Statements

Triparna de Vreede is an instructor at the Muma College of Business at the University of South Florida. She holds a PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She has published her research in the Journal of the Midwest Association for Information Systems and has presented numerous papers at HICSS and ICIS on social/psychological studies of collaboration-related phenomena. Currently, her research focuses on creativity in groups, crowdsourcing, and other collaboration-related phenomena.

Gert-Jan de Vreede is a Professor of Information Systems at the Muma College of Business at the University of South Florida. His research focuses on the design of transferable practitioner-driven collaboration processes, the facilitation of group meetings, and the application, adoption, and diffusion of collaboration technology in organizations. He is co-founder of the Collaboration Engineering field and co-inventor of the thinkLets concept. His articles have appeared in various journals, including Journal of Management Information Systems, Communications of the ACM, Small Group Research, DataBase, Group Decision and Negotiation, International Journal of e-Collaboration, Group Facilitation, Journal of Creativity and Innovation Management, Journal of Decision Systems, Simulation & Gaming, Simulation, and Journal of Simulation Practice and Theory. Since 1996, he has organized over 30 minitracks at HICSS.

MINITRACK DESCRIPTION FOR PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT (150 Words)

This minitrack seeks papers that address social, psychological, and cognitive perspectives, concepts, and theories of collaboration and communication technologies. Papers which have IS as a core issue and Psychology as a referent issue as well as papers which have Psychology as core issue with IS applications are invited. This minitrack focuses on the workings of the social, psychological, and cognitive factors that can affect the design, development, use, and application of collaboration and communication technologies.

Appendix – Concept Call for Papers

HICSS-51 Call for papers for the minitrack on:

"SOCIAL & PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

IN COLLABORATION RESEARCH"

Part of the Collaboration Systems and Technology Track

of the Fifty First Annual

Hawai'i International Conference on Systems Sciences (HICSS)

Big Island - January 3-6, 2018

Papers are invited for the minitrack on "Social & Psychological Perspectives in Collaboration Research" as part of the Collaboration Systems and Technology Track at the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS).

One of the major assets of any organization is its people. Understanding of the people and their social, psychological, cultural, and emotional environment helps organizations develop systems and processes that can lead to a productive workplace. Changes in technology, globalization, and increased competition have all created an environment in which an understanding of people is the critical link that is needed in order to survive and thrive in today's competitive environment.

Technology supported collaboration and communication between individuals entails complex social and psychological situations. An understanding of social and psychological aspects of collaboration is essential to creating and sustaining productive work environments. The use of collaboration and communication systems and the consequences of such use are framed by the psychological and social factors concerning the users and their work environment. It is important to understand these factors to successfully facilitate the sustained implementation and use of these technologies. Further, knowledge of the psycho-social aspects of technology-supported collaboration and communication also assists in detecting, avoiding, and effectively resolving the issues that may arise from using such technologies. Thus, it is essential to study the psycho-social issues surrounding the design and usage of these technologies.

Modern collaboration technologies, including but not limited to Social Media and Web 2.0, offer various ways to connect, collaborate, form communities, and share information and knowledge. As many organizations are figuring out productive ways to create value from collaborative networks, researchers have intensified efforts to understand and design ways in which communication technologies can support both work-related and pleasure related activities. Such research often involves or requires psychosocial perspectives.

Thus, this minitrack provides one of the key international platforms to host research papers and presentations that provide a social/psychological perspective on studying issues related to the dynamic interplay between people, their environment, and the collaboration technologies they use. Some examples of areas which can be a part of the minitrack include:

Personality, behavioral, and social factors related to communication and collaboration in co-located and distributed groups

Social and psychological effects of using systems to support collaboration

Attractions and affiliations in groups arising from use of social networks

Team/group psychology and use of communication technologies

Effects and consequences of personality on system design and use

Psycho-social factors influencing acceptance and implementation of collaboration technologies

Virtual leadership and leadership at a distance

Online aggression and violence

Motivating employees to adopt, create, use collaborative work practices

Correlations between organizational performance and attention to human capital

Influence of communication technologies on perceptions of self and others

Emotion and networking technologies

Social and interpersonal implications of communications over cyberspace

Internet dependencies and addictions

Online evaluations and assessments of social and psychological well being

Interpersonal treatment with the use of online technologies

Human Resource practices online (e.g. performance appraisal, hiring and firing, job analysis)

Altruism, conformity, and other social factors in online communications

However, the above examples do not provide a comprehensive overview. We invite any paper that contains original research highlighting the human component in collaboration and communication technologies. There are no preferred methodological stances for this minitrack: this minitrack is open to both qualitative and quantitative research, to research from a positivist, interpretivist, or critical perspective, to studies from the lab, from the field, design-oriented or developmental in nature.

Broad themes and topics of relevance to this minitrack include, but are not limited to (related topics not listed are especially welcome):

Social psychology (e.g. Motivation, Trust, Social learning, Self efficacy, Behavioral theories)

Organizational psychology (e.g. Self monitoring, Interpersonal treatment, OCBs, Globalization)

Cultural psychology

Personality

Leadership

Prejudice and discrimination

Attitudes and social intelligence

Violence and aggression

Attractions and affiliations in groups

Group psychology (e.g. Social loafing,

Mood and emotions

Diversity

Internet use and social/psychological well being

Sexual harassment

Performance appraisal

MINITRACK COORDINATORS:

Triparna de Vreede (primary contact)

Information Systems & Decision Sciences Department

University of South Florida

tdevreede@usf.edu

Gert-Jan de Vreede

Information Systems & Decision Sciences Department

University of South Florida

gdevreede@usf.edu

Paul Spector

Department of Psychology

University of South Florida

pspector@usf.edu

The purpose of HICSS is to provide a forum for the interchange of ideas, research results, development activities, and applications among academicians and practitioners in computer-based systems sciences. The conference consists of tutorials, advanced seminars, presentations of accepted papers, open forum, tasks forces, and plenary and distinguished guest lectures. There is a high degree of interaction and discussion among the conference participants because the conference is conducted in a workshop-like setting.

Instructions for submitting papers:

1.      Submit an electronic copy of the full paper, 10 pages including title page, abstract, references and diagrams using the review system available at the HICSS site- http://www.hicss.hawaii.edu/, make sure that the authors' names and affiliation information has been removed to ensure an anonymous review.

2.      Do not submit the paper to more than one minitrack. The paper should contain original material and not be previously published or currently submitted for consideration elsewhere.

3.      Provide the required information to the review system such as title, full name of all authors, and their complete addresses including affiliation(s), telephone number(s) and e-mail address(es).

4.      The first page of the paper should include the title and a (max) 300-word abstract.

DEADLINES:

Anytime:         OPTIONAL: Abstracts submitted to Minitrack Chairs for guidance, indication of appropriate content and to receive instructions on submitting full paper.

June 15:          Full papers uploaded in the directory of the appropriate minitrack.

August 15:      Notification of accepted papers mailed to authors.

September 15:           Accepted manuscripts, camera-ready, uploaded; author(s) must register by this time.

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