The role of computer support tools and gender composition in innovative information system idea generation by small groups

The climate in which business currently functions is marked by ever-increasing complexity. As such, collaborative work and creative thought are essentials in the operations of organizations. Computer software is available to meet these needs. Specifically, organizations can presently obtain Group Support System (GSS) software, which is designed to foster group collaboration, and Creativity Support System (CSS) software, which is designed to enhance creative performance. Use of these systems has the potential advantage of minimizing problems related to gender composition and other limitations of traditional group interaction. This paper investigates the effect of three different types of computer support — GSS, CSS, and no support — on small group performance with respect to the generation of innovative information system ideas. This study also compares the ideas of all-female, all-male, and mixed-gender groups in the three support settings. The innovativeness of the information system idea was measured by its novelty, usefulness, feasibility, and overall creativity (global measure) and by a composite novelty–usefulness–feasibility item. The results indicated that small groups using GSS and no computer software support tools generated ideas that were more useful and more novel–useful–feasible (composite) than those ideas generated by groups using CSS. When group gender composition was considered, the study showed that same gender groups generated more novel and overall creative ideas when no computer software support was present. However, mixed-gender groups generated their most novel ideas when using CSS. With respect to overall creativity, mixed-gender groups performed equally well when using either GSS or CSS.