GSS meeting productivity and participation equity: a US and Mexico cross-cultural field study

This study is a cross-cultural GSS (group support systems) field investigation which compared group productivity levels and participation equity perceptions within and between US and Mexican groups. Two identical field studies were undertaken at matched US and Mexican sites to measure the effects of national culture upon group productivity levels and perceptions of participation equity within GSS and non-GSS environments. Across both cultures, the results indicate that US and Mexican GSS groups generated more ideas per participant than traditional manual groups. In all but one category, both US and Mexican GSS groups also generated more “unique” or non-redundant ideas per group. A comparison between cultures reported that US groups generated more comments per participant and more unique ideas per group than Mexican groups when the identity of the participants was not anonymous. US groups reported no differences in perceived participation equity between treatments, while Mexican GSS groups reported higher perceived participation equity than Mexican manual groups. A comparison study revealed that Mexican GSS groups perceived higher participation equity levels than US GSS groups, with the main effects recorded for the cultural factor