Text-Based Collaborative Work and Innovation: Effects of Communication Media Affordances on Divergent and Convergent Thinking in Group-Based Problem-Solving

This experimental study explores the relationship between text-based computer-mediated communication and innovative thinking in problem-solving groups. The research objective is to investigate how various levels of synchronicity, parallelism, and identification influence the divergent and convergent focus of the group members. An experiment involving group-based problemsolving by use of text-based communication tools was conducted. Manipulation of the communication tools ensured variation in the participants’ perceptions of synchronicity, parallelism, and identification. The results of the experiment revealed few overall differences between the communication affordances on their effects on innovative thinking processes, implying that neither the divergent nor the convergent focus of the participants was influenced by different levels of synchronicity, parallelism, and identification. However, a significant effect between synchronicity and convergent focus opposite to the hypothesized direction was found. This suggests that low synchronous interaction may enhance convergent thinking for individuals with low preferences for evaluation.