Group interaction constructs for hands-on LAN projects: an initial investigation

Group work has long been an effective approach to solving organizational problems and making high quality management decisions. This has been particularly true for information systems projects. This research effort attempts to define the constructs for group interaction as it pertains to small groups (i.e. 3-7 members). The subjects were students who were placed into groups and then assigned a short technology-intensive LAN building project. Five constructs were identified as comprising group interaction for IT projects, including: 1) group cohesion; 2) group communication problems; 3) group conflict; 4) member encouragement; and 5) group leadership. These factors were then contrasted with previous research on group interaction where the groups faced an intellectual (decision making) task, not a short technology-intensive task. The factors comprising the constructs from the two studies were different.