Nesma El Melligi 900021688 Dr. Dina Rateb MOIS 433 The Adoption and Use of GSS in Project Teams Toward More Participative Processes and Outcomes Nesma El Melligi 900021688 Dr. Dina Rateb MOIS 433

The Article The Adoption and Use of GSS in Project Teams: Toward More Participative Processes and Outcomes By: Alan R. Dennis Monica J. Garfield Published in MIS Quarterly, June 2003.

Outline Introduction Hypotheses to be tested Previous Theory and Research Data Sources Analysis Limitations Conclusion

Introduction This research focuses on how a GSS can impact project teams over time. It is a report on a field study of six project teams (each from 6 to 8 members) from the Department of Nursing in American Medical Center (AMC) 3 used traditional meeting processes 3 used GSS

Previous Theory and Research GSS : Structural features: specific components and capabilities Spirit: the general intent of the structural features Participativeness can be increased through: Parallelism Anonymity Meeting memory

Hypotheses to be tested H1a: if teams faithfully appropriate a GSS, work processes will be more participative. H1b: if teams faithfully appropriate a GSS, the products they produce will reflect the more participative nature of their work processes

Hypotheses to be tested H2a: project teams that use GSS will experience an initial period of turmoil in with members’ attitudes toward team performance and other team members will drop H2b: Overtime, GSS team members’ attitudes toward team performance and other team members will increase to level at least similar to that of traditional teams.

Data Sources Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected Observation and detailed notes of the meetings Transcripts of electronic comments Interviews for each team leader Interviews for the VP and Director of the research

Data Sources Quantitative: Perceived equality Cohesiveness Perceived effectiveness Satisfaction Post-study questionnaire Importance of the four GSS structural features

Analysis Leadership processes Traditional: GSS: The leader was presumed to be the director in the 3 teams. GSS: G1: 3 leaders (the director, a coordinator, a different member) G2: the director after a series of challenges G3: the director was presumed to be the leader

Analysis Decision processes Traditional: GSS: The leader guided the discussions in the 3 teams. GSS: G1: e-communication dominated and verbal communication was only for coordination. G2: some discussed verbally and others typed G3: shifted to leader-led verbal discussion

Hypotheses Testing H1a: if teams faithfully appropriate a GSS, work processes will be more participative. H1b: if teams faithfully appropriate a GSS, the products they produce will reflect the more participative nature of their work processes

Hypotheses Testing H2a: project teams that use GSS will experience an initial period of turmoil in with members’ attitudes toward team performance and other team members will drop H2b: Overtime, GSS team members’ attitudes toward team performance and other team members will increase to level at least similar to that of traditional teams.

Limitations Researchers’ biases Small sample size (decrease generalizability) Other limitations (the experiment's controls)

Conclusion GSS use enables teams to turn more equal participation into more participative processes and outcomes

Thank You Questions?