Information, Technology, and Information Worker Productivity
We econometrically evaluate information worker productivity at a midsize executive recruiting firm and assess whether the knowledge that workers accessed through their electronic communication networks enabled them to multitask more productively. We estimate dynamic panel data models of multitasking...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/87556 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8031-6990 |
| _version_ | 1811073932803964928 |
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| author | Aral, Sinan Brynjolfsson, Erik Van Alstyne, Marshall |
| author2 | Sloan School of Management |
| author_facet | Sloan School of Management Aral, Sinan Brynjolfsson, Erik Van Alstyne, Marshall |
| author_sort | Aral, Sinan |
| collection | MIT |
| description | We econometrically evaluate information worker productivity at a midsize executive recruiting firm and assess whether the knowledge that workers accessed through their electronic communication networks enabled them to multitask more productively. We estimate dynamic panel data models of multitasking, knowledge networks, and productivity using several types of micro-level data: (a) direct observation of more than 125,000 email messages over a period of 10 months; (b) detailed accounting data on individuals' project output and team membership for more than 1,300 projects spanning five years; and (c) survey and interview data about the same workers' IT skills, IT use, and information sharing. We find that (1) more multitasking is associated with more project output, but diminishing marginal returns, and (2) recruiters whose network contacts have heterogeneous knowledge—an even distribution of expertise over many project types—are less productive on average but more productive when juggling diverse multitasking portfolios. These results show how multitasking affects productivity and how knowledge networks, enabled by IT, can improve worker performance. The methods developed can be replicated in other settings, opening new frontiers for research on social networks and IT value. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:40:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/87556 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:40:27Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/875562022-09-30T16:06:13Z Information, Technology, and Information Worker Productivity Aral, Sinan Brynjolfsson, Erik Van Alstyne, Marshall Sloan School of Management Brynjolfsson, Erik We econometrically evaluate information worker productivity at a midsize executive recruiting firm and assess whether the knowledge that workers accessed through their electronic communication networks enabled them to multitask more productively. We estimate dynamic panel data models of multitasking, knowledge networks, and productivity using several types of micro-level data: (a) direct observation of more than 125,000 email messages over a period of 10 months; (b) detailed accounting data on individuals' project output and team membership for more than 1,300 projects spanning five years; and (c) survey and interview data about the same workers' IT skills, IT use, and information sharing. We find that (1) more multitasking is associated with more project output, but diminishing marginal returns, and (2) recruiters whose network contacts have heterogeneous knowledge—an even distribution of expertise over many project types—are less productive on average but more productive when juggling diverse multitasking portfolios. These results show how multitasking affects productivity and how knowledge networks, enabled by IT, can improve worker performance. The methods developed can be replicated in other settings, opening new frontiers for research on social networks and IT value. 2014-05-28T16:06:04Z 2014-05-28T16:06:04Z 2012-09 2009-11 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1047-7047 1526-5536 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/87556 Aral, Sinan, Erik Brynjolfsson, and Marshall Van Alstyne. “Information, Technology, and Information Worker Productivity.” Information Systems Research 23, no. 3-part-2 (September 2012): p. 849–867. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8031-6990 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/isre.1110.0408 Information Systems Research Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ application/pdf Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) SSRN |
| spellingShingle | Aral, Sinan Brynjolfsson, Erik Van Alstyne, Marshall Information, Technology, and Information Worker Productivity |
| title | Information, Technology, and Information Worker Productivity |
| title_full | Information, Technology, and Information Worker Productivity |
| title_fullStr | Information, Technology, and Information Worker Productivity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Information, Technology, and Information Worker Productivity |
| title_short | Information, Technology, and Information Worker Productivity |
| title_sort | information technology and information worker productivity |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/87556 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8031-6990 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT aralsinan informationtechnologyandinformationworkerproductivity AT brynjolfssonerik informationtechnologyandinformationworkerproductivity AT vanalstynemarshall informationtechnologyandinformationworkerproductivity |