Although videoconferencing has become a billion-dollar industry, it leaves distant decision-makers less likely to make sound judgments, according to a study published in a journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). The research has implications for those business continuity managers who have built videoconferencing into crisis management plans.

The claim is contained in the paper ‘Videoconferencing in the Field: A Heuristic Processing Model’ by Professor Carlos Ferran of Pennsylvania State University Great Valley and Professor Stephanie Watts of Boston University. It appears in vol. 54, number 9 of the INFORMS flagship journal ‘Management Science'.

The researchers find that attendees of videoconferences must work harder to interpret information delivered during a conference than they would if they attended face-to-face.

“Important decisions may suffer if videoconferencing is used to make them without adjusting the process to take its differences into account,” says Professor Ferran.

Professors Ferran and Watts offer guidelines for understanding when videoconferencing is most appropriate and for improving the design of videoconferencing equipment:

* Videoconferencing may not be appropriate for decision making when some stakeholders are present face-to-face and others attend via video, because these two groups are likely to process information differently.

* Videoconferencing equipment may be improved by the addition of features that reduce cognitive workload, such as support for turn taking, audio localization, and personal distance location.

* Videoconference presenters can use heuristic cues to increase the influence of their message.

www.informs.org

•Date: 30th October 2008• Region: US/World •Type: Article •Topic: Crisis management
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