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Group Support Systems
Chapter 13
Information Systems Management In Practice 5EMcNurlin & Sprague
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-2
I. What are Group Support Systems?
Groups, rather than individuals, and the systems and technologies that support the communication and interaction among people as they work as groups
Key differences between GSS and GDSS are more recognizable when divided into two generic categories
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-3
I. What are Group Support Systems?: Key Differences Between GSS, GDSS
Communication: the transmission of information from one person to another or several others; and interaction: repetitive, back-and-forth communication over time
Decision making or problem solving: members of a group reach a decision or form a consensus; encompasses communication, to aid coordinating activities
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-4
Computer-supported cooperative work Work group computing Collaborative computing Cooperative computing Interpersonal computing Coordination technology Decision conferencing
Names used to refer to systems that support group work
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc.
Names used to refer to systems that support group work (cont.)
Computer conferencing Computer-supported groups Group decision support systems Computer-assisted communication Augmented knowledge workshops Inter-functional coordination Data interpretation systems, ….and
others
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-6
Framework for Group Decision Support
Figure 13-1: A matrix showing intersection of proximity of group members (together or dispersed) with duration of their interaction (limited or ongoing)
Figure 13-2: Predominant characterization: time (same time/different time) on one dimension and place (same place/different place) on the other.
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-7
Characteristics of Groups
Membership: groups can be open, where almost anyone can join, or closed, where membership is restricted
Interaction: group can be loosely coupled, where the activity of each member is relatively independent of the other members, or tightly coupled, such as a project team where the work of each member is tied closely with the work of the other members
Hierarchy: group can be just one part of a “chain of command”; ex. conference planning committees
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-8
Types of Groups
Authority groups: involve formal authority (and often hierarchy), such as boss and subordinates; membership closed; coupling tight
Intradepartmental groups: can have members all doing essentially the same work, often under the same boss; membership closed; interaction can range from tight to loose coupling; hierarchy
Project teams: generally have members who work full-time to accomplish a goal within a specific schedule; membership closed; coupling tight; hierarchy
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-9
Interdepartmental work groups: pass work from department to department (purchasing, receiving, accounts payable) in a chain, forming a super group; membership closed; coupling tight; no hierarchy
Committees and task forces: formed to deal with a subject area or issue, then disband; does not require full-time work by the members; membership not too closed; interaction not as tightly coupled
“Communities of practice”: group of people who work or play together for so long that they have developed an identifiable way of doing things; ex. volunteer organization
Types of Groups (cont.)
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-10
Business relationship groups: relationships with customers, groups of customers, suppliers, and so on; membership open; interaction loosely coupled; no hierarchy
Peer groups: meet to exchange ideas and opinions; activities of each member are largely independent of the activities of the other members; membership can range; interaction loosely coupled; no hierarchy
Types of Groups (cont.)
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-11
Networks: groups of people who socialize, exchange information, and expand the number of their personal acquaintances
Electronic groups: include chat rooms, multi-user domains, user groups, and virtual worlds, all forms of groups that have formed on the Internet to socialize, find information, entertain themselves, gain comfort, or just experiment with the new online world; membership wide open; no hierarchy; loosely coupled
Types of Groups
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-12
Why are Group Systems Important?
Teams may be the basis for future organizations: organization will be composed mainly of specialists who direct their own performance through feedback from others (colleagues, customers, HQ); like a hospital Move being driven by three factors:
Knowledge workers are becoming the dominant portion of labor, and they resist the command-and-control form of organization
All companies need to find ways to be more innovative and entrepreneurial
Information technology is forcing a shift Thus, organizations are becoming flatter, with fewer HQs
staff and many specialists out in operating units
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-13
Coordination theory may guide organizational design: use of IT to reduce costs of coordination could have these effects (in sequential order): IT replaces some forms of human coordination,
such as middle management May increase the overall amount of coordination May encourage a shift toward more
coordination-intensive organizational structures, such as highly networked, decentralized organizations
Why are Group Systems Important?
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-14
Companies want to “manage” knowledge tacit knowledge exists within a person’s mind and is
private and unique to each person; explicit knowledge has been articulated, codified, and made public; ex. “The Rudy Problem.”
Discovering “who” has the problem is a step in the right direction. Create environment that supports knowledge sharing and emergence of knowledge brokers.
Successfully transferring knowledge depends 90% of having the right culture, and 10% on technology.
Buckman Labs case online forums capture information,volunteer experts identify valuable knowledge and streams of reasoning-build knowledge base.
Why are Group Systems Important?
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-15
Group computing as a new frontier People spend 60 to 80% working with
others People seem to feel most productive when
working alone New organizational structures need to be
created to support: emergence of teams, need to manage computer-based conversations among people and machines, and interest in supporting group processes
Why are Group Systems Important?
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-16
Time/Place Matrix - Fig.13.2
“Same time, same place” cell: in upper left for face-to-face meetings (electronic meeting support system used by Burr-Brown)
“Same place, different times” cell: in upper right for supporting teams in one locale by giving them room tools to use in their team room at different times
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-17
“Same time, different places” cell: in lower left for cross-distance meetings (audio conferencing, video conferencing, and screen sharing)
“Different times, different places” cell: in lower right for ongoing coordination, it incorporates communication-oriented systems such as electronic mail, computer conferencing, and group editing
Time/Place Matrix - Figure 13.2
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-18
“Platforms” for Group Support Systems
Advanced Workstations: run on IBM compatible PCs or Apple Macintosh. In the future, more powerful workstations and high end PCs will be needed to handle the display, storage, and transfer of multimedia documents
Local Area Networks (LAN): dominant communication infrastructure. High speed data transfer among workstations, continue development of client/server and cooperative processing architectures
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-19
Operating Environments: collection of software layers defining environment within which user gets things done on the computer. It includes functions that have been performed by the operating system, plus a set of “middleware,” plus the “look and feel” of the user interface
Integrated Office Suites: final piece of technical infrastructure. They have been around in the form of DEC’s All-in-1, Wang’s Office, IBM’s Professors and Office Vision, and HP Desk. New ingredient is UNIX
“Platforms” for Group Support Systems
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-20
Types of Group Support Systems
Supporting Same Time/Same Place Groups: The problem with meetings: no agenda, or only a
superficial one; key people arrive late or not at all Information technology can help:
Eliminate some meetings: meetings that don’t call for a group decision, when key people can’t attend, when needed info is not available
Better preparation for meetings: computer conferencing; encourage better planning for those meetings that must be held
Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of meetings: group commitment happens more quickly
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-21
Case example: Burr-Brown
24 IBM PS/2 48 people, 2 per workstation Electronic Brainstorming - to generate
ideas, simultaneously and anonymously Issue Analyzer - to organize ideas Voting tool - to rank ideas Topic commenter to attach ideas
already in system Policy formation software to study
alternatives
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-22
Case example - Burr-Brown, Reactions to use of group support
system
It increased involvement - decision room allowed them to do in three days what would have taken them months
The planning process was more effective - because of anonymity and planning process itself was educational
Brainstorming effective, anonymity elicited candor and objectivity
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-23
Types of Group Support Systems
Supporting Presentations and Discussions: More opportunities for discussion: using a GSS would
eliminate the need to divide available airtime among potential speakers because participants could contribute simultaneously
More equal participation: because the GSS provides many parallel communication channels, loud or strong personalities probably would not dominate the discussion
Permanent record of discussion: GSS would capture a permanent electronic transcript of the online discussion
Improved feedback to presenters: presenters anticipated more comments as well as more detail in those comments
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-24
Supporting Presentations and Discussions: Improved learning: GSS was expected to reduce
attention blocking (the loss of attentiveness caused by people trying to remember what they want to say during the presentation)
Remote and asynchronous participation: people who don’t attend a presentation could still benefit by reading and contributing after the event
Potential negative effects: online discussions might distract participants to the point where they lose the thread of the presentation
Types of Group Support Systems
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-25
Supporting Dispersed Groups: Development of virtual teams: usually disband
after their project is complete Same time/same place: team meets face-to-
face initially to develop the basic plan and objectives
Different time/different place: then they communicate by e-mail and do data gathering and analysis separately
Same time/different place: may have audio or video conferences to discuss developments and progress toward goals
Types of Group Support Systems
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-26
Groupware on the Internet
Three Major Categories of Use:1 To support project team activities: used the
groupware to plan face-to-face non-groupware meetings
2 To support education: to supplement face-to-face teaching or training
3 To replace e-mail listserv systems: to support discussions of special interest groups
2002 by
Prentice Hall, Inc. 13-27
Advantages of Web-Based Groupware: Open network standards Open client standards Minimal individual learning Transformations Functions Setup costs
Disadvantages of Web-Based Groupware: Features Network speed and reliability Network security Operating costs Group learning Lack of access
Groupware on the Internet