1. Group Decision Support Systems
Week 9

2. P&G “Procter & Gamble Drives Ideation with Group Support Systems”
Company background
Problem description
Proposed solution
Results

3. Collaboration What is it?
“… making joint effort toward achieving an agreed upon goal.”
Meeting is a common form of collaboration
Why collaborate?

4. Socialize Why Collaborate? Make Decisions Share the Vision Review
Build Trust
Synergy
Share the Vision
Share Information
Share Work
Solve Problems
Socialize
Build Consensus

5. Collaboration is Difficult
Waiting to speak
Wrong People
Domination
Groupthink
Fear of Speaking
Poor Grasp of Problem
Misunderstanding
Ignored Alternatives
Inattention
Ineffective
Lack of Consensus
Lack of Focus
Collaboration
Poor Planning
Inadequate Criteria
Hidden Agendas
Premature Decisions
Conflict
Missing Information
Inadequate Resources
Distractions
Poorly Defined Goals

6. 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

7. 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

8. How Do People Collaborate?
3 Levels of Collaboration Capability
Low
Level 1 Collected Work :
Uncoordinated Individual Efforts
Sprinters
Degree of
Collaborative
Effort
Level 2 Coordinated Work:
Coordinated Individual Efforts
Relay
Level 3 Concerted Work:
Concerted Team Effort
Crew
High

9. Meetings (a form of collaboration)
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

10. The Ideal Meeting Dozens of people attend Everyone … talks at once
hears everything
understands
remembers
The impossible dream?

11. Only ONE person can speak at a time
Traditional Meetings
Only ONE person can speak at a time

12. GSS Meetings By using the computer everyone can
SPEAK and be understood simultaneously

13. Communication Support
Vital
Needed for collaboration
Modern information technologies provide inexpensive, fast, capable, reliable means of supporting communication
Internet / Web

14. Supporting Communication
Evolution of Communication
Word of mouth
Delivery persons
Horseback
Snailmail
Telegraph
Telephone
Radio
Television
Videoconferencing
Internet / Web…

15. A Time/Place Communication Framework

16. Groupware Lotus Notes / Domino Server Netscape Collabra Server
Includes Learning Space
Netscape Collabra Server
Microsoft NetMeeting
Novell Groupwise
GroupSystems
TCBWorks
WebEx

17. Group Support Systems 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)

18. GSS – Important Features
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

19. Benefits of Anonymity Ideas considered on merit not source
Overcome fear of speaking up
More ideas leads to more quality ideas
Defuses tough political discussions

20. GSS Enabling Technologies
Decision room
Multiple use facility
Web-based

21. The Decision (Electronic Meeting) Room
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

22. Decision Rooms
IBM Corp.

23. More Decision Rooms
US Air Force

24. Murraysville School District Bus
Mobile Decision Rooms
Murraysville School District Bus

25. On-Demand Decision Rooms

26. Few Organizations Use Decision Rooms
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

27. Other Technologies Multiple Use Facility Web-based Cheaper
Still need a facilitator
Web-based
Cheaper: no extra hardware needed
Still need facilitator

28. GroupSystems, Inc. From GroupSystems.com, Tucson, AZ
Comprehensive groupware
Windows and Web versions
Leading software
Tool: ThinkTank

29. ThinkTank: Supported Activities
Supported tools and activities:
Agenda and Other Planning Activities
Electronic Brainstorming
Group Outliner
Topic Commenter
Categorizer
Vote
Others…

30. GSS Meeting Process
Iterate until the solution is reached…

31. Step 1: Prepare an Agenda…

32. Step 2: Collect Information
Brainstorm Risk
Think about the risks to company if they launch a new line of products
… think about the risks to the company if they launch a new line of sports drinks…

33. Step 3: Refine Information
Gather Additional Information
Capture important issues for the listed items

34. Step 4: Prioritize Options
Prioritize Risk Based on Likelihood and Impact
Use of Alternative Analysis Ballot for two Criteria

35. Step 5: Review Prioritized Options
View and Discuss Results of Voting …

36. Step 5: Review Prioritized Options…
Chose Risks for Further Analysis…

37. Step 5: Review Prioritized Options…
Collect Additional Input On Risks
Collect additional comments on top three risks…

38. Step 5: Review Prioritized Options…
Review Comments on Risks…

39. Step 6: Create an Action Plan

40. Step 7: Distribute Session Transcripts
Create and Distribute a Final Report…

41. Last Words about GSS? Why Successful? Needs… Parallelism Anonymity
Synergy
Structure
Record keeping
Needs…
Organizational commitment
Executive sponsor
Dedicated well-trained facilitator
Good planning

42. 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

43. Creativity… What variables affects creativity
Cognitive variables: intelligence, knowledge, skills, etc.
Environmental variables: cultural and socioeconomic factors, working conditions, etc.
Personality variables: motivation, confidence, sense of freedom, etc.
Creativity is fostered by
Freedom
Permission-to-fail
Allow and Enable rather than Structure and Control

44. 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