Collaborate.com

Today as I was googling the 'general theory of collaboration', I accidentally found this site collaborate.com

There is an interesting article about Generational Trust and Collaboration written by John Coleman, which is exactly what I am trying to investigate in my thesis.

Generational differences can be categorised in terms of four broad generations, the Seniors, the Baby Boomers, the Gen Xers and the Gen Yers. Although the article combines Gen Xers and Yers into the same group, majority of researches treat them differently. Distinctive characteristics of each generation have an influence on their perception of the use of mass collaborative technology and collaborative behaviour, yet the relationships between generational differences and collaborations have merely been discussed in the literature, especially in the context of an organisation.

Further more, the term 'Net Generation' is loosely defined. They are suggested to be the generation who were growing up digital. However, as John Coleman describes, many Boomers and Gen Xers, who only adopt digital technology in their early or late adulthood, share similar characteristics of the Net Geners. So who belongs the Net Gen?

While the observations presented in this article illustrate how different generations have a different levels of trust in the online world, and the younger generations are more likely to engage in collaborative behaviour, these observations are presumably based on socialising online community. As we think of collaboration in an organisation, are people (across generations) still likely to engage in collaborative behaviour? Is trust the antecedent of collaboration in an organisation? What is the implications of this?

They are the questions that need to be investigated.