Internet Use, Users, and Cognition: Determination of the Cognitive Relationships Between Internet-Based Technology and Internet Users

This study aims to investigate growing Internet use in relation to cognition. Existing literature suggests human capability to utilize the Internet as an external (transactive) memory source. Formational mechanisms of such transactive memory systems and comparative effects of Internet use on transactive memory and semantic memory are both relatively unknown points of research explored in this study.This study comprises two experimental memory task surveys, confirming and yielding findings in memory research. Semantic memory is negatively affected by notions of information saved online. An adaptive dynamic is also revealed—1) as users often have a vague idea of desired information before searching for it on the Internet, first accessing semantic memory serves as an aid for subsequent transactive memory use and 2) successful initial transactive memory access eliminates the need for subsequently accessing semantic memory for desired information. Internet users form and reinforce transactive memory systems with the Internet by repeatedly defaulting to first accessing semantic memory then transactive memory or to accessing transactive memory only, and decrease reliance on transactive memory systems by repeatedly defaulting to only semantic memory. Users have some degree of control over transactive memory systems they engage in, a phenomenon to be potentially explored in future research directions.

Improving knowledge transfer through enterprise social media: the mediating role of transactive memory

PurposeEnterprise social media can be the organizational transactive memory in which the knowledge dialogue provides users with the metaknowledge to support knowledge transfer. The purpose of this study is to examine a mediation model to show how perceived critical mass, openness and affiliation climate affect organizational knowledge transfer through the mediation of improving the metaknowledge of who knows what and whom.Design/methodology/approachTo test the mediation model and corresponding hypotheses, this study employs structural equation modeling analysis using 264 valid questionnaires.FindingsThe study found the two mediators fully explained the effects of the three preconditions on knowledge transfer.Originality/valueThese results help us to better understand the benefits of enterprise social media and the functions of transactive memory in organizations.

Influence of transactive memory systems and strategic orientations on the performance of hospitality firms

PurposeSince the hospitality industry is driven by people, effective utilization of knowledge among various organizational units is required to ensure guest satisfaction and in turn superior performance. Research trying to find the implications of transactive memory systems (TMSs), an integrative mechanism for knowledge management in organizations, has yielded ambiguous and mixed results, leading the researchers to believe that the linkages may not be as straightforward as previously imagined. In this study, the authors theoretically build their arguments based on the knowledge-based view of the firm and empirically test these linkages using data collected from the small hotels of India.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from the owner-managers or senior executives of small hotels operating in the Uttarakhand state of India, and analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) and Hayes process macro.FindingsIt was found that for the hospitality firms, the TMS is an enabler for performance only when the focus of knowledge creation and utilization is on building effective strategic orientations. Further, the technology orientation (TO) and learning orientation (LO) of the hotel mediate the relationship between the TMS and firm performance.Practical implicationsEffective knowledge sharing among employees helps availability of credible and crucial information about customers, which eventually helps in long-term mutually beneficial relationships with the customers, leading to greater economic value creation for the hotel.Originality/valueBy establishing theoretical links between knowledge creation and utilization, and validating these linkages using data collected from the hotel industry in India, this study offers unique and useful insights for the theoretical advancement of the hospitality literature. This study also makes a case that small hotels investing their energy and resources into the creation of a transactive memory systems could reap benefits through appropriate strategic postures.

EXPLORING THE ROLE OF TRANSACTIVE MEMORY SYSTEMS IN TEAM DECISION-MAKING DURING IDEATION PHASE

Team collaboration is a critical necessity of the modern-day engineering design profession. This is no surprise given that teams typically possess more task-relevant skills and knowledge than individuals (Levine & Choi, 2004). Advancements in digital media provide new opportunities for collaboration across the design lifecycle. However, early stages of the design process still pose challenges to digitally mediated design collaboration due to greater representational abstraction and the presence of multiple modalities for design ideation. Usually, design teams spend a substantial amount of time generating a broad set of ideas that can lead them to a wide range of design solutions during the ideation phase. However, sooner or later, teams should narrow down their vision for a final solution. What factors influence team members to eliminate or select an idea? Our study is an attempt to demonstrate some examples of this challenge. By drawing on research in team cognition, particularly the concept of transactive memory system (TMS) we studied a design teams' communication and media use during the ideation phase. The goal was to see if media type and communication modes can predict a team's decisions on selecting and eliminating ideas.

Social Media Affordances and Transactive Memory Systems in Virtual Teams

Recent advances in social media technologies offer a variety of tools for virtual teams to share knowledge among their team members and develop transactive memory systems (TMS). Adopting the media affordances lens, the current study investigates how social media affordances affect individual evaluations of TMS development and perceived team effectiveness in virtual teams. Survey data from 339 virtual team members across 92 hackathon events reveal that types of affordances have differing impacts on each of the three dimensions of TMS (perceptions of accuracy, sharedness, and validation). Furthermore, each dimension of perceived TMS mediates the relationship between its related social media affordance types and perceived team effectiveness. These findings suggest that virtual teams may need to adopt different social media technologies depending on which aspect of TMS development is prioritized.