The quest for factors influencing worker productivity in videoconferencing meetings: a case study of a professional services firm

Abstract

Professional service firms are exploring ways to cut operating costs by investing in information technologies (IT). Among many IT solutions, videoconferencing systems (VCSs) have been widely adopted. However, within business settings and the information system (IS) literature inconsistent evidence exists in relation to the benefits of VCSs. Evidence from previous studies suggests that, if used properly, VCSs can enhance workplace communications and the quality of decision making. However, other studies have found no evidence to suggest that VCSs increase the performance of workers. To date, scant research has investigated the influence of work-related factors and VCSs on the productivity of workers. To fill this gap, this study conducted field research to examine the factors influencing worker productivity when workers use VCSs for different types of business tasks. Data was collected from archival datasets, interviews and a focus group of employees of a professional services firm in Australia. While prior research has shown that IT, as a whole, has a positive influence on productivity at a group or firm level, the findings of this research suggest that this relationship becomes more complicated when the problem is investigated at a more granular level. Specifically, it appears that regardless of the type of task conducted by workers, daily worker productivity always increases when workers use VCSs. However, the use of VCSs may increase or decrease workers' task productivity. The direction of the effect appears to depend on a variety of factors, including the characteristics of the task, the technology, the worker and the social and work environment. Show more