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Connecting the dots in counterterrorism: The consequences of communication setting for shared situation awareness and team performance
Author(s) -
Valaker Sigmund,
Hærem Thorvald,
Bakken Bjørn Tallak
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of contingencies and crisis management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.007
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1468-5973
pISSN - 0966-0879
DOI - 10.1111/1468-5973.12217
Subject(s) - convergence (economics) , terrorism , psychology , face (sociological concept) , social psychology , knowledge management , business , computer science , political science , sociology , economics , social science , law , economic growth
Shared situation awareness ( SSA ) is critical for counterterrorism teams. We examined whether a rich media condition (co‐located face to face) and a lean media condition (distributed email) differentially influence SSA at levels 1, 2, and 3 and team performance, in 24 co‐located and 27 distributed teams. SSA at level 2—knowing who the terrorist is and their location—mediated and SSA at level 3—projecting future terrorist actions—marginally significantly mediated, a positive relationship between media richness and team performance. SSA at level 1—knowing objects—did not mediate such a positive effect. A co‐located setting leads to more convergence on situation awareness at levels 2 and 3, whereas a distributed setting leads to more convergence on level 1.