Fine-tuning group collaboration environments: How differences in general causality orientation and performance targets shape interaction and performance

Technology-supported work teams are increasingly used by organizations to support various business processes. Previous literature has examined the influence of various factors on team performance; yet, differences in participants' individual motivational orientation have received little attention. In this study, we aim to understand the effects of differences in motivational orientation on performance; this will allow for the design of information systems to account for such individual differences, increasing performance within the context of computer-mediated collaboration. Using computer-mediated idea generation as an instantiation of collaboration systems, we test the interacting effects of performance targets and differences in motivational orientation in a controlled laboratory experiment. Overall, our results provide support for the importance of considering individual differences in the design of human-computer interfaces of collaboration environments, and we conclude our study with a discussion of implications for the design of human-computer interfaces for computer-mediated collaboration. © 2012 IEEE.