Research Note. The Illusion of Electronic Brainstorming Productivity: Theoretical and Empirical Issues

After discussing how group size might affect the effectiveness of electronic brainstorming (EBS) as an idea generating tool, Dennis and Valacich (1999) conclude that EBS is not likely to surpass nominal brainstorming for small groups, but that for large groups (i.e., nine or more members), “EBS offers clear performance benefits over nominal group brainstorming, as well as verbal brainstorming.” However, in our view, the existing theoretical and empirical evidence does not provide sufficient justification to clearly establish EBS' superiority over nominal brainstorming for large groups.