The Psychology of Collaboration

As in most cases where groups of people are involved, it is not mostly about the technology.  We used Greif's work in the 80s about 'Computer  Supported Cooperative Work', a term little used today.  We addressed different scales of problems from tiny remote groups, to merged companies, to entire enterprises.  This is a good interview article:

The Psychology of Collaboration
An IBM researcher examines the limitations of collaborating through software. In the 1980s, long before the rise of online social networks, Irene Greif helped found the field of computer-supported coöperative work (CSCW), which explores how technology helps people collaborate. Today Greif is an IBM fellow, the company's highest technical honor, and director of collaborative user experience in IBM Research. Jodi Slater, who worked with Greif at Lotus Development after it was bought by IBM in the 1990s and later cofounded the business consultancy MarketspaceNext, recently spoke with Greif for Technology Review about why some of the hardest collaboration problems have nothing to do with technology .... "