Information Quality in Wikipedia: The Effects of Group Composition and Task Conflict.

Author List: Arazy, Ofer; Nov, Oded; Patterson, Raymond; Yeo, Lisa;
Journal of Management Information Systems, 2011, Volume 27, Issue 4, Page 71-98.
The success of Wikipedia demonstrates that self-organizing production communities can produce high-quality information-based products. Research on Wikipedia has proceeded largely atheoretically, focusing on (1) the diversity in members’ knowledge bases as a determinant of Wikipedia’s content quality, (2) the task-related conflicts that occur during the collaborative authoring process, and (3) the different roles members play in Wikipedia. We develop a theoretical model that explains how these three factors interact to determine the quality of Wikipedia articles. The results from the empirical study of 96 Wikipedia articles suggest that (1) diversity should be encouraged, as the creative abrasion that is generated when cognitively diverse members engage in task-related conflict leads to higher-quality articles, (2) task conflict should be managed, as conflict —notwithstanding its contribution to creative abrasion—can negatively affect group output, and (3) groups should maintain a balance of both administrative- and content-oriented members, as both contribute to the collaborative process.
Keywords: co-creation;cognitive diversity;collaboration;community-based production;group composition;information quality;task conflict;Wikipedia
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#45 0.247 community communities online members participants wikipedia social member knowledge content discussion collaboration attachment communication law virtual membership structures forms activities
#265 0.116 collaborative groups feedback group work collective individuals higher effects efficacy perceived tasks members environment writing experiment did task intelligence compared
#115 0.113 quality different servqual service high-quality difference used quantity importance use measure framework impact assurance better include means van dimensions assessing
#238 0.086 shared contribution groups understanding contributions group contribute work make members experience phenomenon largely central key common especially major conceptualizing study
#66 0.078 conflict management resolution conflicts resolve interpersonal consensus robey strategies interdependence optimistic occur degree diversity resolving agreement 1993 1982 distributed issues
#191 0.069 model models process analysis paper management support used environment decision provides based develop use using help literature mathematical presented formulation
#173 0.068 effect impact affect results positive effects direct findings influence important positively model data suggest test factors negative affects significant relationship