An Exploratory Study of the Impact of IT Capabilities Adaptation on Shared Mental Models Similarity

Developing an effective IT use strategy to achieve its potential is a central concern in organizations. As teams are essential in accomplishing projects and tasks, it becomes relevant to understand the nature of IT use by teams. In this study, we propose a new term, IT capabilities adaptation (ITCA), which represents an emergent view with regard to patterns of successful IT use in teams. By incorporating the construct shared mental models (SMM) as the dependent variable, we develop and pilot test a theoretical model to examine the impact of ITCA on SMM similarity. The model is constructed and examined at the team level. Based on findings in previous studies, we specify four salient properties of IT capabilities adaptation. The findings suggest that the SMM similarity index is significantly associated with IT usage experience and change of perceived complexity.