Too Much Workplace Collaboration May Hinder Employee Innovation, AI Could Help Preserve Independence, Finds IIM Indore Study
· Free Press Journal
Indore (Madhya Pradesh): While workplace collaboration encourages knowledge sharing and problem-solving, excessive social interaction can sometimes restrict employees' independence and willingness to innovate.
A study by the Indian Institute of Management Indore (IIM Indore) finds that artificial intelligence (AI)-based knowledge management systems may help employees retain autonomy in highly interactive work environments.
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Titled Does Social Interaction Foster or Hinder Innovation? The Role of AI-Based Knowledge Management Systems, the study is co-authored by Prof Jatin Pandey of the Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management (OB & HRM) area and Prof Rayees Ahmad Sheikh of the Economics area. It has been published in the Journal of Innovation and Knowledge.
Knowledge management systems (KMS) help organisations store, retrieve and share information and expertise. Unlike traditional systems, which primarily store information for employees to locate and interpret, AI-based systems can analyse data, identify patterns and provide relevant insights, enabling more independent access to knowledge.
The researchers note that although social interaction facilitates knowledge sharing and idea generation, frequent consultations, coordination demands and pressure to reach consensus can restrict independent thinking and decision-making.
AI may preserve employee autonomy
The researchers conducted a scenario-based experiment involving 282 participants from the UK and the US working in creative fields such as copywriting, marketing and communications.
Participants imagined developing an innovative marketing strategy and were assigned scenarios combining traditional or AI-based knowledge systems with low or high social interaction.
Remote work represented low interaction, while office-based collaboration represented high interaction.
The findings revealed that high social interaction reduced perceived autonomy, particularly under traditional knowledge management systems. This loss of independence also lowered participants' reported willingness to innovate.
Under AI-based systems, the negative indirect relationship between social interaction and innovation through reduced autonomy was weaker and not statistically significant. This suggests that AI-supported knowledge access may help employees retain independence while collaborating.
However, AI did not increase autonomy across all workplace settings, and evidence that it weakened the impact of high social interaction was marginal.
Implications for managers
The study highlights the need to balance collaboration with independent decision-making.
AI-based systems may reduce employees' dependence on colleagues for information, allowing them to explore alternatives and develop original solutions.
Organisational culture, job complexity and employees' trust in AI could also influence these benefits.
Since the study measured responses to hypothetical situations rather than actual innovation outcomes, further research across workplaces and occupations is needed.
The research underscores that effective collaboration requires giving employees the freedom to think and act independently.
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