Decision Support and Business Intelligence Systems (9 th Ed., Prentice Hall) Chapter 10: Collaborative Computer- Supported Technologies and Group Support Systems

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 10-2 Learning Objectives Understand the basic concepts and processes of groupwork, communication and collaboration Describe how computer systems facilitate communication and collaboration in enterprises Know the concepts and importance of the time/place framework Be aware of the underlying principles and capabilities of groupware (e.g., GSS) Know the process gains and losses and how GSS increases/decreases each of them Describe indirect support for decision making, especially in synchronous environments

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 10-3 Learning Objectives Become familiar with the GSS products of the major vendors (e.g., Lotus, Microsoft, WebEx, Groove) Understand the concept of GDSS and describe how to structure an electronic meeting in a decision room Describe the three settings of GDSS Describe how a GDSS uses parallelism and anonymity and how they lead to process/task gains and losses Understand how the Web enables collaborative computing and group support of virtual meetings Describe the role of emerging technologies Define creativity and explain how it can be facilitated by computers

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 10-4 Opening Vignette: “Procter & Gamble Drives Ideation with Group Support Systems” Company background Problem description Proposed solution Results Answer and discuss the case questions

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 10-5 Collaboration What is it? “… making joint effort toward achieving an agreed upon goal.” Meeting is a common form of collaboration Why collaborate?

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 10-6 Why Collaborate? Review Share Work Share the Vision Socialize Build Consensus Solve Problems Make Decisions Synergy Share Information Build Trust

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 10-7 Collaboration is Difficult Waiting to speak Domination Fear of Speaking Misunderstanding Inattention Lack of Focus Inadequate Criteria Premature Decisions Missing Information Distractions Wrong People Groupthink Poor Grasp of Problem Ignored Alternatives Lack of Consensus Poor Planning Hidden Agendas Conflict Inadequate Resources Poorly Defined Goals Ineffective Collaboration

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 10-8 Collaboration is Expensive  15 Million formal Sessions / day  ? Million Informal Sessions / day  4 Billion Sessions / year  30-80% Manager’s time Fortune 500 Companies 3M Corporation Study

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 10-9 Collaboration is Essential No one has all the … Experience Knowledge Resources Insight, and Inspiration …to do the job alone Bottom line: Collaboration is difficult, expensive, and yet essential for today’s organizations

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall How Do People Collaborate? Level 1 Collected Work : Uncoordinated Individual Efforts Level 2 Coordinated Work: Coordinated Individual Efforts Level 3 Concerted Work: Concerted Team Effort Sprinters Relay 3 Levels of Collaboration Capability Crew High Low Degree of CollaborativeEffort

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall  Joint activity  Equal or near equal status  Outcome depends on participant’s knowledge, etc.  Outcome depends on group composition  Outcome depends on decision-making process  Disagreement settled by rank or negotiation Meetings (a form of collaboration)

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall  Dozens of people attends  Everyone … talks at once talks at once hears everything hears everything understands understands remembers remembers  The impossible dream? The Ideal Meeting

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Traditional Meetings Only ONE person can speak at a time

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall GSS Meetings By using the computer everyone can SPEAK and be understood simultaneously

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Communication Support Vital Needed for collaboration Modern information technologies provide inexpensive, fast, capable, reliable means of supporting communication Internet / Web

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall  Evolution of Communication  Word of mouth  Delivery persons  Horseback  Snailmail  Telegraph  Telephone  Radio  Television  Videoconferencing  Internet / Web… Supporting Communication

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall A Time/Place Communication Framework

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall  Lotus Notes / Domino Server Includes Learning Space  Netscape Collabra Server  Microsoft NetMeeting  Novell Groupwise  GroupSystems  TCBWorks  WebEx Groupware

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall  Goal: to support groupwork  Increase benefits / decrease losses of collaboration  Based on traditional methods  Nominal Group Technique “Individuals work alone to generate ideas which are pooled under guidance of a trained facilitator”  Delphi Method “A structured process for collecting and distilling knowledge from a group of experts by means of questionnaires”  Electronic Meeting System (EMS) Group Support Systems

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Process Gains:  Parallelism( simultaneous contributions )  Larger groups can participate  Anonymity( promotes equal participation )  Focus on content not personalities  Triggering ( stimulates thinking )  Synergy ( integrates ideas )  Structure ( facilitates problem solving )  Record keeping ( promotes organizational memory ) Process Loses:  Free-riding  Flaming GSS – Important Features

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Benefits of Anonymity Ideas considered on merit not source Ideas considered on merit not source Overcome fear of speaking up Overcome fear of speaking up More ideas leads to more quality ideas More ideas leads to more quality ideas Defuses tough political discussions Defuses tough political discussions

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall  Decision room  Multiple use facility  Web-based GSS Enabling Technologies

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall  12 to 30 networked personal computers  Usually recessed into the desktop  Server PC  Large-screen projection system  Breakout rooms  Need a Trained Facilitator for Success The Decision (Electronic Meeting) Room

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall IBM Corp. Cool Decision Rooms

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall US Air Force Cooler Decision Rooms

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Murraysville School District Bus Mobile Decision Rooms

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall On-Demand Decision Rooms

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall  High Cost  Need for a Trained Facilitator  Requires Specific Software Support for Different Cooperative Tasks  Infrequent Use  Different Place / Different Time Needs  May Need More Than One Few Organizations Use Decision Rooms

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall  Multiple Use Facility  Cheaper  Still need a facilitator  Web-based  Cheaper: no extra hardware needed  Still need facilitator Other Technologies

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall  From GroupSystems.com, Tucson, AZ  Comprehensive groupware  Windows and Web versions  Leading software ThinkTank  Tool: ThinkTank GroupSystems, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall ThinkTank: Supported Activities  Supported tools and activities:  Agenda and Other Planning Activities  Electronic Brainstorming  Group Outliner  Topic Commenter  Categorizer  Vote  Others…

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall GSS Meeting Process Iterate until the solution is reached…

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Visit a GSS Meeting

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Step 1: Prepare an Agenda Prepare an agenda …

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Step 2: Collect Information … think about the risks to the company if they launch a new line of sports drinks… Brainstorm Risk Brainstorm Risk Think about the risks to company if they launch a new line of products Think about the risks to company if they launch a new line of products

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Step 3: Refine Information Gather Additional Information Gather Additional Information Capture important issues for the listed items Capture important issues for the listed items

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Step 4: Prioritize Options Prioritize Risk Based on Likelihood and Impact Prioritize Risk Based on Likelihood and Impact Use of Alternative Analysis Ballot for two Criteria Use of Alternative Analysis Ballot for two Criteria

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Step 5: Review Prioritized Options View and Discuss Results of Voting View and Discuss Results of Voting …

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Step 5: Review Prioritized Options… Chose Risks for Further Analysis… Chose Risks for Further Analysis…

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Step 5: Review Prioritized Options… Collect Additional Input On Risks Collect Additional Input On Risks Collect additional comments on top three risks… Collect additional comments on top three risks…

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Step 5: Review Prioritized Options… Review Comments on Risks… Review Comments on Risks…

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Step 6: Create an Action Plan Create an Action Plan… Create an Action Plan…

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Step 7: Distribute Session Transcripts Create and Distribute a Final Report… Create and Distribute a Final Report…

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall  Why Successful?  Parallelism  Anonymity  Synergy  Structure  Record keeping  Needs…  Organizational commitment  Executive sponsor  Dedicated well-trained facilitator  Good planning Last Words about GSS?

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Collaborative Networks Integrated supply-chain Collaborative planning, forecasting, and replenishment (CPFR) Collaborative design and product development Vendor Managed Inventories Wal-Mart, … Collective Intelligence Animal Intelligence (swarm intelligence)

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment (CPFR) An industry-wide project in which suppliers and retailers collaborate in planning and demand forecasting in order to ensure that members of the supply chain will have the right amount of raw materials and finished goods when they need them

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Collective Intelligence A shared intelligence that emerges from the intentional cooperation, collaboration, and/or coordination of many individuals. Examples: Wikipedia, video games, online advertising, learner-generated context, … In order for CI to happen: Openness Peering Sharing Acting globally For more info see Center for Collective Intelligence at MIT (cci.mit.edu)

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall A Taxonomy of Collective Intelligence

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Creativity Is it a fundamental human trait or something that can be learned? Definition: Creativity is a characteristic of a person that leads to production of acts, items and/or instances of novelty Creativity is the product of … a genius vs. an idea generation environment Creative people tend to have creative lives CREATIVITY  INNOVATION Idea Generation via Electronic Brainstorming

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Creativity… What variables affects creativity 1. Cognitive variables: intelligence, knowledge, skills, etc. 2. Environmental variables: cultural and socioeconomic factors, working conditions, etc. 3. Personality variables: motivation, confidence, sense of freedom, etc. Creativity is fostered by Freedom Permission-to-fail Allow and Enable rather than Structure and Control

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Creativity… Software that shows creativity Intelligent Agents (Softbots) Creativity is an intelligent behavior Software that facilitates human creativity ThoughtPath: promotes outside-the-box thinking Creative WhackPack (Creative Think): whack you out of your habitual thought process IdeaFisher: provides language specific universality - thesaurus  Freedom, Collaboration, Prototyping