Despite the limited number of experiments, the research provides theoretical and practical insights. On the theoretical side, the research offered experimental support to the argument that richness is not an invariant property of the communication medium, but its effectiveness depends on components of the social context, like trust, shared values and pre-existing group identity. The finding that trust can be transferred from a face-to-face to a computer-mediated context confirmed the hypothesis on transferability of trust. It implies that face-to-face communication might acquire a necessary and symbolic role in the emerging virtual organization, sustaining important elements to elicit and enhance cooperation, such as history, routine, norms, social relationships, and shared behavioral and interpretive contexts (McKenney et al, 1992). The implication for practice is that CMC technologies can not be optimally used without complementing them with face-to-face meetings. The experiments showed that activities such as brainstorming can be more effective using CMC technologies. However the integration of face-to-face and CMC interactions might optimize group performance along the entire process of decision making and cooperation. Face-to-face episodes should be introduced to support critical stages of group life, including group formation and renewal, before performing cooperative tasks in electronic contexts.
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