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Doodle polls reveal how culture impacts online collaboration

February 20, 2013

A recent research project by representatives from Harvard and the University of Zurich has uncovered some interesting details about the way in which various cultures impact international collaboration on the Internet.

To investigate the influence of national culture on people’s scheduling behavior, the team analyzed more than 1.5 million anonymized  meeting polls from 211 countries that were initiated on Doodle.

Here are just some of the highlights from the comprehensive project:

         People from countries with strong economies schedule more meetings.

         Countries that plan their events far in advance (such as Switzerland and Germany) take the most time to respond and decide on a time.

         In comparison to individualist societies (such as the US), community-oriented countries (such as China and Japan) respond to meeting polls earlier and make more of an effort to select times that will work for the entire group.

         Only 2% of meeting polls contain 5, 10, or 15 minute meeting time options (such as 4:15 PM).

The full report can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/DoodlePaper-pdf.