Relativity of Space and Time Constraints in Dispersed Collaboration: Theoretical Explanation and an Empirical Investigation

Globally distributed collaboration is becoming increasingly common nowadays, yet research on this topic has remained limited. Literature on global collaboration can be classified into two streams: pessimistic and optimistic perspectives on the impact of distance and time zone differences. Researchers in the pessimistic tradition found support for the proposition that collaboration suffers from dispersion. The optimistic stream of research provides anecdotal and empirical evidence of projects where people were not hindered by constraints, or even used them to their advantage. Research is needed to explain this difference. A similar debate has emerged in literature on media use, between proponents of Media Richness Theory and social communications theories. The recent status of this debate suggests that