limhuimui - tanpuisan chap 8

7/28/2019 LimHuiMui - TanPuiSan Chap 8

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Group Decision SupportSystem (GDSS)

Chapter 8


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Presented By:

Tan Pui San (204647)1

Lim Hui Mui (203812)2


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Chapter Outline

8.1 What Are Group DSS?

8.2 Why Group DSS Now?

8.3 Group Versus Individual Activities

8.4 Media Richness and Task Types

8.5 Types of Group DSS

8.6 Groupware

8.7 Group DSS in Use Today

8.8 Groupware Products


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A group decision support system

(GDSS) is:-

A decision support system whichdesign, structure and usage reflect

the way which a person interact to

make certain decision


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Supportsgroup

decisionprocesses

Communication

File sharing

Modeling ofgroup activities

Aggregation ofindividual

perspectivesinto group

perspective

Other activities

that involvegroupinteraction


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Used by more than one person.

Example: A group of factory managers got together

to choose a factory floor layout.

The members includes:

Stockroom supervisor

Milling room supervisor

Assembly supervisor

Paint room supervisor

Shipping supervisor


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GDSS is a DSS with capabilities designed to

support the processes needed for group

activity.


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Organizational

Factors

Technical

Factors

2 factors that lead

to the increase

usage of GDSS:-


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Most organizational decisions

are group decisions both fortask-related reasons and

organizational reasons.


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is related with thefunctionalrequirements of

making decision

Task-relatedreasons

is related with

reflecting peoplesdesire to be involve inthe decision.

Organizationalreasons


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The Organizational Reasons for GDSS Growthare:

Changes in the waymanagement makes decisions

Changes in organizationalculture


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Changes in the way managementmakes decisions due to

More complexdecision

environmentswhich require

multiple

perspectivesof different

people

Specializationof decision

makers

Emphasis ontime as a

competitive

resource

Forcingmultipledecision

makers tobreak tasksinto smaller

subtasks andsolve thosesubtasks in

parallel.


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Changes in organizationalculture due to

Increased needto make a job that

satisfy workers

needs for self-actualization

Desire to achievebenefits ofparticipativemanagement

such as improved

morale anddecisionacceptance by allgroup members

Overcoming theshortcomings ofgroup meetings

such asgroupthink and

dominance byone or fewindividuals


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Groupthink

The tendency of groupmembers to fall intosimilar thought patterns

and to disapprove,implicitly or explicitly, of

opinions that do notconform to these

patterns.

GDSS make it lessthreatening for groupmembers to violate

group norms by statingnew opinions or

disagreeing with them.


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Technical Reasons forGroup DSS Growth:

Wide area telecommunications links

becoming less expensive

Wide area telecommunications linksbecoming less expensive

More organizations have gateways andlocal area networks to bring high-speedlinks to decision makers desktops


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8.3 Group Versus Individual Activites

The key difference between groupactivities and individual activities is

that for individuals to accomplish

their task in group activities, they

must interact with other individual in

the group.


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In group activities:

The knowledgenecessary to

complete the taskmay be distributedamong the group

members

A task can be

distributed amonggroup members

into subtasks whichmembers work

together to

integrate all resultsand work out theoverall solution.

This type ofinteractions cannotbe achieved whena single decision

maker is involved.


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When implementing this process,splitting the overall task into subtasks

which map precisely into the knowledge

of individual members can allow each

decision makers to seek help from

members which have information beyond

their domain knowledge.


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A group directory can provide informationabout the group members, skills and other

requests to all other members via email or in a

discussion group. This will lead to a higher form of information

sharing which involve publishing what they

learned and make it directly accessible overinternal network such as an intranet.


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How to motivate group members to cooperate?

How to ensure the information truthfulnes?

How to ensure that there is no free riding?

Challenges in

design andimplement

GDSS


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Defined as potentialinformation-carrying capacityof a data transmission medium

Measured by number ofavailable communicationchannels as well as immediacyof feedback provided todecision makers

Used in groups may determinehow information is processed

MediaRichness


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Communication Medium Richness Table


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The levelof mediarichnessfrom high

to low

Electronic mail(low richness)

Conveys

information butrequires longertime of responsebetween members

Facialexpression andtone of voice

(medium) Conveys

information thatprovidesimmediatefeedback

Easy to gauge

understanding andcorrectinterpretations

Face-to-face(high richness)

Allows

simultaneousdisplay of multiplecommunicationcues such aswords used, bodylanguage, facialexpressions, toneof voice


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TaskGDSS designers have used

McGraths classifications(circumplex) frequently to

design GDSS to match task

requirement.


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Group Task Circumplex


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2Dimensions

4 BasicTasks

Circumplex(8 Classesof Tasks)


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Cooperationto conflict

Behavioral(involve

physical

actions) to

cognitive

(inviolve

mental activity

& information)

2 Dimensions


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Involve physicalactivity

Resolve conflicts ofviewpoints (cognitiveconflict tasks)

Resolve conflicts ofinterest (mixed-motivetasks)

Tasks that havecorrect answer

(intellective task)Involve issues withoutright answer (decisionmaking tasks)

Generating plans(planning tasks)

Generating ideas(creativity tasks)

GeneratingTasks

ChooseTasks

Execute

Tasks

Negotiate

Tasks

4B

asicT

asks


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Task and Media Fit (Task-Media Fit)Defined as the fit between a task and a

medium which means what type of

media best fit each type of task

Determining the correct richness of its

communication media is important

aspect of designing a GDSS to

implement in any organization


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Low richnessis required

StructuredTask

High richnessis requiredUnstructuredTask


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Example: If an organization is implementing aGDSS that allows members to communicate,

should provide video teleconferencing if

group is engaged in. During discussion, a

written record of what others suggested,

allows time to consider their suggestions and

provides a way to add to the discussion

without peer pressure. It may work better aswell as being less expensive


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8.5 Type of GDSS

GDSS can categorize in terms of how they dealwith the content and the information flow of

decisions.

The information flow axis shows the degree to

which the GDSS is aware of how the groupworks and supports that style of work directly.

The content axis starts with the DSS hierarchy

from Chapter 4.

The content-free zero level is added, which

means GDSS with no decision making can be of

use if they perform a useful function along the

second, information flow, dimension.


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Suggestion system

Optimization system

Representation system

Accounting models

Analysis information

system

Data analysis system

File drawer system

No task content

Level 1

Connection

management

Level 2

Communication

management

Level 3

Content

management

Level 4

Process

management

Group Decision

Support System(GDSS)

Two Dimensional GDSS Spectrum


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8.5 Type of GDSS

Level 1: Connection Management SystemProviding a physical mechanism through which

people involved in a decision communicate

e.g: WAN architecture

Level 2: Communication Management

Enhance information flow by means of facilities to

store, reply, forwarde.g: electronic mail packages and discussion

groups


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8.5 Type of GDSS

Level 3: Content Management SystemProvides intelligent routing- the system knows where a

document goes after its current user finishes with it, or

where the messages should go once it is entered.e.g: decision conference system

Level 4: Process Management

Considering the content of the information in theflow in deciding what to do with it.


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8.6 Groupware

The term groupware came into popular use inthe early 1990s.

It related to, but not identical with group DSS.

Groupware is the technology that group use.

The field that studies how people use

groupware is called compute-supported

cooperative work (CSCW).


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8.6 Groupware

Computer-based systems that support groups ofpeople engaged in a common task (or goal) and

provide an interface to a shared environment

Groupware facilitates the work of the group.

It helps a group reach decisions more quickly,easily, or inexpensively.

e.g. calendar programs

Calendar program are a common elementarygroupware application. Keep track of eachmembers schedule commitments.


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8.6 Groupware

Calendar program + electronic mail capabilities = it cannotify required and optional participants of meetings,schedule conference rooms and other requiredresources, collect information, generally simplify the

process of meeting administrationsCategories of groupware products include:

e-mail and messaging

conferencing tools

GDSS toolsGroup document handling tools

Workflow tools


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Relationship Among DSS, GDSS, and Groupware


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8.7 GDSS Use Today

8.7.1 Electronic meeting systems:

Also known as a electronic boardroom or warroom

Provide same time sameplace meeting

Each participant has a microcomputer, connectedby a high-speed local network

Also have a large screen display, located where itcan be seen by all participants

Meeting facilitator guides the electronic aspect ofthe meeting, can view any participants computerdisplay and show it on a large screen


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8.7 GDSS Use Today

Electronic meeting room s/ware tools for planning the

session (propose agenda item), during meeting(organize and structure members comments), after

meeting (recorded data)

Three styles of electronic meeting:

chauffeured: display screen is control by one person.

~Work quite well with small groups but was ineffective

with large one.

supported: all group member can write on the

blackboard ~Work well between small and large group

interactive: most highly computerized, hardly anyone

speaks ~Preferred for large group

8 GDSS U T d


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8.7 GDSS Use Today

Benefits:

As the group become larger, independently of

the meeting style.

Negatives:

Most people can talk faster than they can type-

depend highly on the meeting style.


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Group CommunicationGrid

8 7 GDSS U T d


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8.7 GDSS Use Today

8.7.2 Work Flow System

Can be thought of as intelligent electronic mail, the

systems knows what the flow of information in a

decision-making situation is supposed to be androutes information accordingly

This corresponds to either level 3 content

management, or level 4 process management, of

the group DSS hierarchy. Route work using forms and scripts

A form corresponds to a paper form

A script defines the routing of the form

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8.7 GDSS Use Today

Major characteristics of work flow development tools are :

they can move various types of objects forms,documents, technical drawings, fax etc

they can route information objects automatically fromperson to person according to a programmed plan

information can be processed at any point. Applicationsdevelopers have flexibility in the type of processingthey specify

tracking can show who has done what and wherethings are being held up

information moved using electronic maile.g. BeyondMail, WorkFlo, Cooperation, WorkMAN,

TeamRoute, INConcert, Notes

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8.7 GDSS Use Today

Work flow facilitate information Compared to traditional communications where one

must find out who has information, request it, and

finally get it.

Work flow often associated with imageprocessingIt is incontestable that may work flow applications.

However, the two concepts are separateand should be considered separately.

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8.8.1 Collaborative Authoring:a) Dolphin:

From German firm GMD

S/ware system that supportscollaborative authoring in a distributedor face to face environment

Supports the phase of collaborativewriting that requires intense meetings

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Provide multiple cursors to show who isworking on part of the shared document

Allow member to access a shared

workspace from remote sites, exchangeannotations and engage in discussions

Uses replication to replicate the changes

Utilize locking in the transaction-processing sense to control concurrency

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b) MERMAID (Multimedia Environment for

Remote Multiple Attendee Interactive Decision

Making)

Develop by Nippon Electric Corp (NEC)

Supports a wide range of cooperative work in adistributed environment including collaborative

authoring

Used for technical discussions, s/waredevelopment by groups whose members are

distributed, joint system design, joint document

editing

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Can accommodate WAN and multiple LAN

using any networking technology

Provides multiwindow user interface with pull-

down and pop-up menus that can be controlled

by using the keyboard and mouse User friendly easy for non-technical office

workers using this program

Multiple authors can co-edit documents in a realtime using the shared document editor while

they can have a conversation using the video

and audio-enabled conferencing facility.

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8.8.2 Lotus Notes

From IBM subsidiary Lotus Development

Corporation

Notes way to organize documents and make

them available to groups of people

Not a relational database (not allow the user to

enter data in a field in one file and then use the

same field in another, not automatically update) Can store compound documents and do

periodic, but not immediate updates

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Not suitable for applications that needs instanceupdate airline ticketing

Provide many features serial routing and statuschecking

Build around four core technologiessecurity,

compound documents basic component of ad/base, consist many types of information

replication several copies of the d/base exist indifferent location

development tools allows Notes system to becustomized to the needs of a particularorganization



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p

8.8.3 InConcert Work Flow

Work flow management system for complex

production-level work flows

Provides the platform for building specific

applications that help groups work together tosolve problem

Uses its object technology to associate an

unlimited number of attributes and external datawith processes and tasks.

Operates in a client/server environment

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Packages includes the server s/ware,

developers kit and the optional tools and add-

on modules

Code using C++ object-oriented programming

language Provides security by restricting access to the

users who do not have appropriate access

privileges

Is a process management system along the

horizontal axis of the GDSS hierarchy


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limhuimui - tanpuisan chap 8

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