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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/2451/27758
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| Title: | Information, Technology and Information Worker Productivity |
| Authors: | Aral, Sinan
Brynjolfsson, Erik
Van Alstyne, Marshall |
| Keywords: | Social Networks
Productivity
Information Worker
IT
Multitasking
Production Function |
| Issue Date: | 10-Nov-2008 |
| Series/Report no.: | CeDER-PP-2006-10 |
| Abstract: | We study the fine-grained relationships among information flows, IT use,
and individual information-worker productivity, by analyzing work at a
midsize executive recruiting firm. We analyze both project-level and
individual-level performance using: (1) direct observation of over
125,000 e-mail messages over a period of 10 months by individual workers
(2) detailed accounting data on revenues, compensation, project
completion rates, and team membership for over 1300 projects spanning 5
years, and (3) survey data on a matched set of the same workers’
IT skills, IT use and information sharing. These detailed data permit us
to econometrically evaluate a multistage model of production and
interaction activities at the firm, and to analyze the relationships
among communications flows, key technologies, work practices, and
output. We find that (a) the structure and size of workers’
communication networks are highly correlated with their performance; (b)
IT use is strongly correlated with productivity but mainly by allowing
multitasking rather than by speeding up work; (c) productivity is
greatest for small amounts of multitasking but beyond an optimum,
multitasking is associated with declining project completion rates and
revenue generation; and (d) asynchronous information seeking such as
email and database use promotes multitasking while synchronous
information seeking over the phone shows a negative correlation.
Overall, these data show statistically significant relationships among
social networks, technology use, completed projects, and revenues for
project-based information workers. Results are consistent with simple
production models of queuing and multitasking and these methods can be
replicated in other settings, suggesting new frontiers for bridging the
research on social networks and IT value. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/2451/27758 |
| Appears in Collections: | CeDER Published Papers
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