The effects of individual differences in two persons on the distributed and cooperative KJ method in an anonymous environment

Abstract

The effects of three kinds of individual differences (a difference in the knowledge domain, a difference in the Big Five personality, and a difference in nationality) on a knowledge collaboration of the distributed and cooperative KJ method were examined with a groupware in an anonymous environment. The collaboration method has three steps: brainstorming, grouping, and writing. Twelve individuals participated in the experiment, eight of whom were Japanese and the other four were Chinese. The experimental results revealed the following: (1) Brainstorming by a pair in the interdisciplinary knowledge domain (humanities and sciences) led to the generation of more ideas than by a pair in the homo knowledge domain. (2) Persons possessing a factor called agreeableness in the Big Five factors of personality kept working until the final step. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.