Working Together as Equals: Assessing Computer Self-Efficancy in a Task Interdependent is Simulation
Kathleen Wright
Information technology has been shown to promote business productivity through the use of organizational level systems that integrate business processes and promote cross-functional collaboration and communication. This article describes an innovative integrated information system simulation, developed as a classroom exercise, in which students are assigned specific roles within a team to perform interdependent technical tasks and data analysis to solve business problems. The exercise was used in a quasi-experimental study across two sessions with multiple observation points. Results suggest that students appeared to cognitively identify with group performance. Although students generally experienced an increase in computer self-efficacy, females, who initially indicated significantly lower efficacy beliefs, increased their perceptions to a larger degree, eliminating sex differences by the beginning of the second session. Implications for incorporating interdependent exercises into technical training exercises are discussed.
Keywords:self-efficacy, team performance, training, ERP, gender
Kathleen Wright is an associate professor in Information Systems at Salisbury University. Her current research focus is on the relationship of group efficacy perceptions to IS task performance on interdependent systems.
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