Tables

Time
Temporary Permanent
Distance Co-located Virtual community Traditional community
Dispersed Virtual community Virtual community

(Table A: Traditional vs. virtual community)

S. No. Journal Number of papers
1 Organization Science 14
2 MIS Quarterly 12
3 ICIS Proceedings 11
4 Information Systems Research 8
5 Journal of Management Information Systems 8
6 Management Science 7
7 Administrative Science Quarterly 6
8 AMCIS Proceedings 6
9 Academy of Management Journal 3
10 Book chapters 2
11 IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering 3
12 International Journal of Electronic Commerce 2
13 Research Policy 3
14 Decision Sciences 2
15 Human Computer Interaction 2
16 Information and Management 2
17 Information Systems Journal 2
18 Journal of Business Communication 2
19 Journal of Research on Technology in Education 2
20 Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings 1
21 British Journal of Management 1
22 Communication Research 1
23 Decision Support Systems 1
24 Human Communication Research 1
25 IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management 1
26 IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 1
27 Journal of Organizational Behavior 1
28 Journal of Organizational Change Management 1
29 Journal of Research on Computing in Education 1
30 Journal of Strategic Information Systems 1
31 Management Communication Quarterly 1
32 Production Planning and Control 1

(Table 1: List of journals from which we drew the papers in the review)
S. Nature of data Method of data collection Percentage of
No. papers (%)
1 Quantitative Experiment
• Cross-sectional 10.91
• Longitudinal 2.73
• Quasi-experimental field 1.82
study
Survey 40.91
Archival data 16.36
2 Qualitative Interview 15.45
Ethnography 5.45
Action-research-based 2.73
ethnography
Case study 27.27
Self-recorded diary 0.91
Archival data 10.91
3 Modeling Analytical 0.91
Simulation 1.82

(Table 2: Research methods that were used in the papers)

(Note: the percentages do not add up to 100% since some papers have used more than
one method)

S. No. Level of analysis Percentage of papers (%)

1 Individual 50.91
2 Group 20
3 Project 10.91
4 Organization 19.09

(Table 3: Unit of analysis in the papers)

 Community purpose
Discussion / Collaborative Knowledge resource
communication work
Technology Internet- • Email • Web-based • Intranet
used based • Email list open source • FTP
• Web-based system software • Web-based
• Usenet / bulletin- collaboration virtual learning
board • Intranet environment
• Intranet • Web-based
• Chat / instant systems
messenger
• Web-based virtual
learning
environment
Non- • Groupware • Collaboration • Software
internet • Classroom with tools repositories
based computers • Classroom • Communication
• Computer-aided with GDSS and publishing
system for problem- • Voicemail system for
solution and • Telephone scientists
exchange • Video- • Computer-aided
• Videoconferencing conferencing system for
• Voicemail problem-solution
• Telephone and exchange
• CASE tool
• Database
• Directories
• Repository
• Voicemail
• Telephone
Partial use • Individuals / • Individuals / • Patent citation
of employees students network
technology communicating employees • Ego-centric
face-to-face and interacting via network
also via technology general means • Individuals /
• Individuals / students
employees employees
collaborating interacting via
face to face general means
• Groups
interacting with
others via
general means
(Table 4: Types of virtual communities studied in the papers)
S. Dependent Theme Covered Missing aspects
No. variable aspects
1 Individual A single individual’s Identity, Coordination
learning effect learning within a virtual learning,
community context communication
2 Group Team members learning Coordination, Identity,
performance from each other or learning communication
effectiveness and outsiders
efficiency
3 Knowledge Decision-making group Identity, Communication
sharing activity learning,
(Group level) coordination
4 Knowledge Team members learning Learning, Communication
sharing activity from each other coordination,
(Organization identity
level)
5 Knowledge Identity-driven Learning, Communication
contribution knowledge contribution identity,
coordination
6 Knowledge Shopping for knowledge Learning, Communication
acquisition from providers identity,
coordination
7 Decision to Identity-driven decision Learning, Communication
acquire to acquire knowledge identity,
knowledge coordination
8 KM system Coordination for KM Coordination, Learning,
implementation success identity communication
success
9 Long-term KM Overall integration of all Learning,
success components of the KM coordination,
process for KM success identity, and
communication
10 Community Overall integration of all Learning,
development components of the KM coordination,
(organization process for community identity, and
level) development communication
11 Community Coordination affecting Coordination, Learning
development community evolution communication,
(project and identity
group levels)

(Table 5: Research on different dependent variables and the knowledge process

components touched upon by various papers)
S. Independent Theme Covered aspects Missing aspects
No. variable
1 Group / network Community size matters Coordination, Communication,
size for coordination and learning identity
learning
2 Individual factors Knowing how to help Identity, Communication
facilitates learning learning and
coordination
Closeness to others Coordination,
facilitates the complete communication,
knowledge process in learning and
terms of coordination, identity
communication and
learning
Wanting to help Identity, Communication
facilitates learning learning and
coordination
3 Organization- Active organization Coordination,
related support is critical for all learning,
characteristics aspects of the identity and
knowledge process, viz., communication
coordination, learning,
and communication
4 Social context Identity facilitates Communication,
cues / social communication, coordination,
presence learning and and learning
coordination
5 Technology-use Adaptation of Communication Learning,
mediation / social technology facilitates identity,
construction of communication coordination
technology
6 Nature of work / Coordination processes Communication, Identity
Task facilitate coordination
interdependence communication and and learning
learning
7 Characteristics of Knowledge Communication, Coordination,
knowledge characteristics facilitate learning identity
content communication and
learning

(Table 6: Research on different independent variables and the knowledge process

components touched upon by various papers)
 Level of community distance
Low Medium High
Context General Co-located Distributed team Unconnected individuals /
team employees
Particular • Co- • Open-source • Consulting firms
located software • R&D workers
software project • Market research
project • New product professionals
• In-class development • Individuals engaged in a
learning team specific task in
• Distributed experiment
class learning • Workers in a plant
• Software developers
• Other specific situations

(Table 7: Various contexts of organizational virtual communities)