System Match Theories

Abstract

The idea that the characteristics of collaboration technology should match the requirements of task and context seems to be very basic and plausible. Many empirical studies and much theorising have been devoted to the question of precisely which factors determine this match. The idea of “match” or “fit” implies a relation between two sets of characteristics, i.e. those of the tools and those of the context, i.e. of the users, the tasks and the groups. Many properties of CT-tools have been identified (see Section 5.2). The concept of media richness in particular has drawn attention and stimulated many studies (see Section 5.3).