Past studies and reviews on the role of Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) mediums on unique information pooling and decision quality in virtual teams has largely been inconsistent and, at times, contradictory. In this study I argue that the inconsistency in past findings is due to a flawed interpretation of CMCs as being equivalent forms of communication, when they should instead be viewed as distinct mediums varying in media richness. In this study I present a new model of decision-making whereby the media richness of the CMC being used and the team’s level of CMC competence will predict decision quality through unique information pooling. Results indicated that there were significant differences in unique information pooled between high and low media richness conditions, with teams in the high media richness condition pooling significantly more unique information. However, team CMC competence was not found to predict unique information pooling, and unique information pooling was not found to predict decision quality.
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