Emerald Management Review:
Contribution behaviours in distributed environments

Abstract:

Purpose - To develop a model of why and how people make contributions in distributed organizations where contributions are often IT-enabled.

Design/methodology/approach - A review of the literature of individuals' helping behaviours toward peers in their immediate work environment is presented. Presents a conceptual framework for contribution behaviours based on three mediating mechanisms (awareness, searching and matching, formulation and delivery) and illustrates its applicability by developing theoretical propositions regarding the antecedents of contributions that result from direct requests for help.

Findings - The results indicated that the proposed model is particularly suitable for specifying the cognitive/motivational elements involved in the contribution behaviour mechanisms and the role played by IT in facilitating contributions.

Research limitations/implications - The research was limited by: the focus on contribution behaviours in organizations; the focus on geographically dispersed organizations; and the use of the individual level of analysis.

Originality/value - Provides an approach that differs from others by focusing on three independent but critical mediating mechanisms in contribution behaviours, by integrating cognitive and motivational theories, and by developing the role of technology in contribution behaviours.

Keywords:

Article Type:

Research paper

Reference:

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