Collaboration Information Systems David Kroenke Using MIS 3e Chapter 2

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-2 One of the best ways of improving team meetings is to use collaboration information systems, as you’ll learn in this chapter. We begin by defining and describing collaboration. Given that definition, we’ll then look at the five components of a collaboration system and consider the procedure and people components in particular. Then, we’ll examine how three different types of collaboration system can be used to facilitate communication, manage the team’s work product, and control team workflow. We’ll then consider collaboration in the business context. We’ll examine how information systems improve collaboration for problem solving, project management, and decision making. As you read this chapter, keep in mind (from Chapter 1) that collaboration is one of the four critical skills that Robert Reich identified for twenty-first-century workers. As you’ll see, the ability to use collaboration systems is a key part of modern collaboration skills. Chapter Preview

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-3 Q1 What is collaboration? Q2. What are the components of a collaboration information system? Q3. How can you use collaboration systems to improve team communication? Q4. How can you use collaboration systems to manage content? Q5. How can you use collaboration systems to control workflow? Q6. How do businesses use collaboration systems? Q ? Study Questions

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-4 Does that FlexTime meeting sound like meetings you have with fellow students? It doesn’t have to be that way. One of the best ways of improving team meetings is to use collaboration. Chapter Opening Scenario

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-5 Collaboration occurs when two or more people work together to achieve a common:  Goal  Result  Work product Greater than individuals working alone Involves more than coordination and communication alone What Is Collaboration?

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-6 Feedback and iteration provide an opportunity for team members to:  Proceed in a series of steps (iterations) by continuously reviewing and revising one another’s work.  Learn from one another rather than working in isolation.  Change the way they work and what they produce.  Ultimately, produce a product that’s greater (and better) than an individual could accomplish working alone. Importance of Feedback and Iteration

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-7 Effectiveness of a collaborative effort is driven by three critical factors: 1.Communication 2.Content management 3.Workflow control Critical Collaboration Drivers

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-8 Communication skills and abilities of group members Key Elements  Ability to give and receive critical feedback?  Availability and use of effective communication systems Communication

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-9 Users need to manage content in order to avoid conflicts. Need to know who made what changes, when, and why. Content-management systems track and report such data. Members have different rights and privileges.  Information systems play a key role in enforcing such restrictions. Content Management

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-10 Workflow is a process or procedure to create, edit, use, and dispose of content. It specifies the particular ordering of tasks. It includes processes for handling rejected changes and exceptions. It ensures tasks are completed in an orderly manner. Ad hoc groups—communication most important drive, rather than formalize workflows. Workflow Control

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-11 Q1 What is collaboration? Q2. What are the components of a collaboration information system? Q3. How can you use collaboration systems to improve team communication? Q4. How can you use collaboration systems to manage content? Q5. How can you use collaboration systems to control workflow? Q6. How do businesses use collaboration systems? Q ? Study Questions

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-12 Hardware  Client hardware Computers and other communication devices (iPhones, Blackberries)  Server hardware Computers installed and operated by IT professionals that support the collaboration system. Components of a Collaboration Information System

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-13 Google Docs & Spreadsheets  Free, only need Web browser to use Microsoft Groove  Must be installed on the client computers of all group members Microsoft SharePoint  Setup on a server computer  User need only browser to use  Integrated with Microsoft Office  Can be expensive for business users Software

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-14 Components of a Collaboration Information System

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-15 Collaboration data consists of documents, discussions, tasks lists, and other types of team data. Google Docs & Spreadsheets will store and manage Word and Excel documents. Groove allows users to store almost any kind of computer file including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Acrobat, pictures, drawings, other document types, multiparty chat, chat session logs, VoIP. SharePoint can store discussion lists, task lists, announcements, calendars, and more. SharePoint supports team Wikis and team member blogs. Data

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Procedures for using the collaboration software:  Perform basic tasks like creating announcements, reading and storing documents, adding items to lists, responding to surveys and so forth. 2.Procedures for conducting a collaborative project:  Concerns how the team will perform its collaborative work. Types of Collaboration Procedures

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-17 Starting phase Planning phase Doing Wrapping-up Iteration and feedback—loop is nature and power of collaboration Collaboration Procedures

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-18 Set ground rules Consider team authority—set goal/objectives and determine how to accomplish them Set expectations for team members  Role each will play  Authority for each member Establish procedures for meetings Starting Phase

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-19 Determine “who will do what and by when” Identify task dependencies Evaluate alternatives Make clear assignments of tasks to team members:  To ensure that team members know when, and by whom, tasks will be accomplished. Planning Phase

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-20 Ensure that tasks are accomplished on time Identify schedule problems as early as possible Add, delete, modify tasks, change task assignments, add or remove task labor and so forth, as necessary Doing

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-21 Document results Document the “learnings” for future teams Close down the project and disband Wrapping-Up

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-22 Decisions and Procedures for Project Phases

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-23 Important and Not-Important Characteristics of a Collaborator

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-24 Q1 What is collaboration? Q2. What are the components of a collaboration information system? Q3. How can you use collaboration systems to improve team communication? Q4. How can you use collaboration systems to manage content? Q5. How can you use collaboration systems to control workflow? Q6. How do businesses use collaboration systems? Q ? Study Questions

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-25 Synchronous communication  Team members meet at the same time, but not necessarily at the same geographic location.  It may include conference calls, face-to-face- meetings, or online meetings. Asynchronous communication  Team members do not meet at the same time or in the same geographic location.  It may include discussion forums or exchanges. Types of Communication

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-26 Technology Available to Facilitate Communication

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-27 Don’t require everyone to be in same place at same time Virtual meeting tools  Conference calls—can be difficult to arrange the right time  Multiparty text chat—easier to arrange if everyone has mobile texting  Videoconferencing—requires everyone to have the proper equipment  —most familiar but has serious drawbacks in content management  Discussion forums—content is more organized than  Team surveys—easy to manage but don’t provide very much interactive discussion Virtual Meetings

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-28 Group calendar—Outlook, EviteEvite Virtual meetings—Synchronous  Conference calls  Webinars—WebEx, SharedViewWebExSharedView  Multiparty text chat—GrooveGroove Videoconferencing—Live MeetingLive Meeting Students Should Forgo Face-to-Face Meetings

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-29 Figure 2-5 User Participating in NetMeeting

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall  Problem of too much freedom, too easy to hide  Discussion threads disorganized, disconnected  Difficult to find particular s, comments, or attachments Communicating Asynchronously

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-31 Fig 2-6 Example of Discussion Forum Example of Discussion Forum

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-32 Portion of Sample Team Survey

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-33 Q1 What is collaboration? Q2. What are the components of a collaboration information system? Q3. How can you use collaboration systems to improve team communication? Q4. How can you use collaboration systems to manage content? Q5. How can you use collaboration systems to control workflow? Q6. How do businesses use collaboration systems? Q ? Study Questions

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-34 Three Categories of Sharing Content Your choice depends on the degree of control your team needs to complete their tasks

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall attachments are most primitive and have numerous problems.  Someone may not receive the , ignores it, doesn’t notice it, or does not save the attachments.  Difficult to manage attachments. Shared file server provides a single storage location for all team members.  Uses FTP technology to access files  Known location for finding documents  Problems can occur if multiple team members try using same file at same time. Shared Content with No Control

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-36 Version management—track changes to documents and provide features and functions to accommodate concurrent work Three version-management systems 1.Wikis 2.Google Docs & Spreadsheets 3.Microsoft Office Groove Shared Content with Version Management

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-37 Wikis are shared knowledge bases, repositories of team knowledge that can track changes. Simplest version-management systems Most famous wiki is wikipedia.orgwikipedia.org Publicly available general encyclopedia Tracks who created entry, date of creation, identity of who changed entry, date, and possibly other data. Some users are given permission to delete wiki entries. Wikis (We-keys)

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-38 Figure 2-9

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-39 Access at with a Google account (not same as Gmail account) Google account can be affiliated with whatever account you provide. Documents are stored on Google servers making them accessible from anywhere. Team members can track revisions and review change summaries. A free service but you must use Google programs for processing. Google Docs & Spreadsheets

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-40 Sample Google Docs & Spreadsheets Document Versions Revisions Shared by Three People

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-41 A user creates a workspace and invite others to join. Workspace has a collection of tools Automatically propagates changes to workspace to all group members’ computers. Show all work that was done while user was away Does concurrent update control Multiuser chat, VoIP Use it asynchronously or synchronously Use any computer or server to access workspaces Each user must have a license and install it on each computer (may be exceptions). Microsoft Office Groove

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-42 Each user must purchase a license for Groove. Groove must be installed on each member’s computer. Member creates a workspace, which is a collection of tools, documents, and users. The creator of the workspace invites others to join by sending them an . Invitee accepts to join the workspace and can view all workspace contents, including documents, schedules, drawings, announcements of meetings, and so forth. When a user changes a document, Groove automatically propagates that change to workspaces on other users’ computers. Supports multiuser text chat and Voice over IP (VoIP). Downside of Groove

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-43 Fig 2-11 Example Groove Workspace Example of Groove Workspace

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-44 Each team member is given an account with a set of permissions. More control over changes to documents.  Uses shared directories (a.k.a. libraries) to store documents.  Users are given permissions that limit what they can do with the documents.  Permissions—user might have read-only permission for library 1; read and edit permission for library 2; read, edit, and delete permission for library 3; and no permission even to see library 4.  Requires users to check out documents and check them back in. Shared Content with Version Control

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-45 Fig 2-11 Example of Document Checkout

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-46 Microsoft SharePoint is the most popular for business use. SharePoint  Requires a publicly accessible server  Difficult to install  Has features for creating and managing team work products: surveys, discussion forums, wikis, member blogs, member Web sites, and workflow Master Control Document Locator CVS—software team useCVS Subversion—control versions of software code, test plans, and product documentationSubversion Version-Control Applications

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-47 Figure 2-12 Checking Out Document Problem_Definition_Ricky

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-48 Q1 What is collaboration? Q2. What are the components of a collaboration information system? Q3. How can you use collaboration systems to improve team communication? Q4. How can you use collaboration systems to manage content? Q5. How can you use collaboration systems to control workflow? Q6. How do businesses use collaboration systems? Q ? Study Questions

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-49 Sequential workflow  When a document is reviewed by one group member, then another, and so forth Parallel workflow  When documents are reviewed simultaneously by multiple members SharePoint site  Workflows can be defined and SharePoint ensures team members perform required tasks Types of Workflow

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-50 Fig 2-13 Sample Sequential Workflow

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-51 Fig 2-14 SharePoint Workflow Form

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-52 Fig 2-15 SharePoint Sequential Workflow

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-53 Q1 What is collaboration? Q2. What are the components of a collaboration information system? Q3. How can you use collaboration systems to improve team communication? Q4. How can you use collaboration systems to manage content? Q5. How can you use collaboration systems to control workflow? Q6. How do businesses use collaboration systems? Q ? Study Questions

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-54 Problem:  Perceived difference between what is and what ought to be  Different people can define/perceive a problem differently  Tara defines the problem as Felix doesn’t regularly come to meetings. Felix defines the problem as the team is focused on cost savings when it should be focused on revenue. Other team members might have other definitions. Using Collaboration Systems for Problem Solving?

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-55 Using Collaboration Systems for Project Management Procedures and Decisions for Project Phases

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-56 Operational decisions  Concern day-to-day activities—How many widgets should we order from vendor A?  Obtain data from transaction processing systems  Require very little collaboration Managerial decisions  Focus on the allocation and utilization of resources—How many engineers should we assign to project B?  Require some collaboration Strategic decisions  Are broader in their scope and center around organizational issues—Should we start a new product line?  Are almost always collaborative Using Collaboration Systems for Decision Making?

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-57 Structured Decisions  Have an understood and accepted method for making decisions  Have optimal solution  Require very little collaboration Unstructured Decisions  No agreed-on decision-making method  No proven optimal solution  Are often a collaborative process Two Decision Processes

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-58 Operational decisions tend to be structured. Strategic decisions tend to be unstructured. Managerial decisions tend to be both structured and unstructured. Unstructured operational decision: “How many taxicab drivers do we need on the night before the homecoming game?” Structured strategic decision: “How should we assign sales quotas for a new product?” Relationship Between Decision Type and Decision Process

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-59 Fig 2-18 Decision Process and Decision Type

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-60 Few structured decisions need collaboration.  No feedback or iteration are necessary  Collaboration in routine, structured decisions is expensive, wasteful, and frustrating. Unstructured decisions  Feedback and iteration are crucial  Different perspectives required  Communications systems are very important to the process. Decision Making and Collaboration Systems

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-61 Fig 2-19 Collaboration Needs by Decision Types

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-62 Q1 What is collaboration? Q2. What are the components of a collaboration information system? Q3. How can you use collaboration systems to improve team communication? Q4. How can you use collaboration systems to manage content? Q5. How can you use collaboration systems to control workflow? Q6. How do businesses use collaboration systems? Q ? Study Questions

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-63 Face-to-face meetings (F2F) will be rare. Employees not needed to be present on site will work at home, either full time or at least several days a week. Nearly all corporate training will be online, mostly asynchronous. Business travel will be a shadow of its former self. Travel industry will re-organize for nearly exclusively for recreational travel. Conventions will become virtual. How Will Collaboration Change By 2020?

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-64 Virtual—“Something appears to exist that does not exist in fact.”  Is everyone present?  Is everyone really who they say they are? (No spoofing)  Is everyone invited who should be?  Was everyone, in fact, notified?  Is it illegal to spoof someone?  Are your ethics virtual? If others cheat on an online exam, are you justified to cheat too? Ethics Guide: Virtual Ethics?

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-65 Collaboration systems pose serious security risks. All documents are stored on Google computers, which are located, well, who knows where? Does Google protect those computers appropriately? If those computers are located in, say, San Francisco, will they survive an earthquake? Wireless traffic is unprotected from wireless snoopers. Are you processing that data at a local coffee shop? Do you care that anyone in that shop can copy your data? Guide: Securing Collaboration

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-66 You post data in a Groove workspace so both your advertising agency and marketing guru can view it. You have just violated corporate security. Marketing guru makes a copy and uses it to improve her knowledge of consumer behavior. Unknown to you, she also consults for your chief rival and uses that knowledge to benefit your competitor. SharePoint has extensive security features, if administrator implemented a proper security plan. But, SharePoint makes it easy to download data. Guide: Securing Collaboration

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-67 Egocentric thinking  Centers on self  “I’m right, everyone else is wrong.”  “I believe sales are declining because our price is too high. We need to cut the price.” Empathetic thinking  “My view” is one possible interpretation.  Take time to learn what others are thinking.  Take time to understand the problem domain as a system. (What factors can affect sales?) Ethics Guide: Egocentric vs. Empathetic Thinking 2-67

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-68 “Professor Jones, I couldn’t come to class last Monday. Did we do anything important?” Egocentric thinking  Implies the student isn’t accountable for his actions  Implies professor lectured on nothing important  Doesn’t take into account professor’s view of absences  Assumes the professor has time to rehash the class discussions and activities one-on-one  Puts responsibility on the professor to remember everything said in class Egocentric Thinking 2-68

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-69 “I couldn’t come to class, but I got the class notes from Mary. I read through them, and I have a question…Oh by the way, I’m sorry to trouble you with my problem.” Empathetic thinking approach  Takes personal responsibility  Minimizes impact of absence on someone else  Considers impact from professor’s side  Considers that the professor must interrupt their other work to give extra help so you can recover from your absence Empathetic Thinking 2-69

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-70 Q1. What is collaboration? Q2. What are the components of a collaboration information system? Q3. How can you use collaboration systems to improve team communication? Q4. How can you use collaboration systems to manage content? Q5. How can you use collaboration systems to control workflow? Q6. How do businesses use collaboration systems? Q ? Active Review

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-71 Operates a network of 21 hospitals with over 2,300 staffed hospital beds 130,000 patients and delivered 33,000 babies Has more than 150 clinics and employs more than 30,000 people Provides free private Web pages for patients or family members to communicate patient care and health matters to one another Provides a facility by which family and friends can send s to patients that are printed and delivered to patients Web-based portal that patients use to view test results, make appointments, view medical records, and conduct other healthcare matters. Provides a Web nursery of photos of recently born babies Case Study 2: Microsoft SharePoint at Intermountain Healthcare

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-72 Microsoft SharePoint at Intermountain Healthcare

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-73 Publishes traditional business documents such as announcements, policies, forms, pay schedules, consolidated business reports under a SharePoint umbrella Employees have one place to go to find and produce reports that they want. Result is reduced costs and better information for employees Employees can post new procedures or techniques or new ways of solving problems and can describe them on SharePoint sites. Made it easy for users to create Team Spaces where teams could collaborate on documents, share calendars, and perform other collaboration functions No formal user training; created a short video that walked users through process Thousands of employees contribute online now Microsoft SharePoint at Intermountain Healthcare

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-74 Microsoft SharePoint at Intermountain Healthcare

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2-75 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall