Group Decision Support and Groupware Technologies

1. Group Decision Support and Groupware Technologies Chapter 5 Dr. Fadi Fayez Updated by: Ola A. Younis

2. Group Decision Making • Many of the decisions in today's workplace are made by groups of individuals • Groups bring many advantages to the choice process: • Multiple source of knowledge and experience • A wider variety of prospectives • Potential synergy associated with collaborative activity • Some times too many decision makers result in either a bad decision or no decision at all. • Group in term of decision making can be defined as : a collective entity that is independent of the properties of its members. • Multiparticipant decision maker (MDM): An activity conducted by a collective entity composed of two or more individuals and characterised in terms of both the properties of the collective entity and of its individual members

3. Classification of MDM structures • Decision structure, two types: • Collaborative • Group decision structure: Formal participants and multiple decision maker • Negotiation decisions • Majority decisions • Noncollaborative • Team decision structure: Formal participants and single decision maker • Negotiation decisions • Majority decisions • Individual decision structure

4. Communication Networks • The structure of an MDM is primarily based on the interaction and flow of communication among the various members. • Communication can be thought as any means by which information is transmitted to one or more members of the MDM. • Basic Types of Networks Structures • Wheel Network • Chain Network • Circle Network • Completely Connected Network

5. Classification of networks according to centrality • Highly Centralised • They are efficient to routine and recurring decisions. • They tend to strengthen the leadership position of the central members. • They tend to result in a stable set of interactions among the participants. • They tend to produce lower average levels of satisfaction among the participants. • Highly Decentralised • They tend to produce higher average levels of satisfaction among participants. • They facilitate nonroutine or nonrecurring decisions. • They promote innovation and creative solutions.

6. Factors used in determining Decision Structure • The importance of the quality of the decision. • The extent to which the decision maker possess the knowledge and expertise to make the decision. • The extent to which potential participants have the necessary information. • The degree of structuredness of the problem context. • The degree to which the acceptance or commitment is critical to successful implementation. • The probability of acceptance of an autocratic decision. • The degree of motivation among the participants to achieve the organisational goals. • The degree of potential conflicts among the participants over a preferred solution.

7. Problems with Group Decisions • Size • The most widely studied and consequential component of group decision making. • Studies show that as the size of a group increases, individual satisfaction tends to decrease. • As the size increases, the less active members tend to become noticeably less productive. • Logic suggests that the management of an MDM requiring consensus or majority is easier when the size is small.

8. Problems with Group Decisions: Size.. • Member cohesiveness decreases as MDM size increases. When membership is high, subgroups and internal coalitions tend to form that serve redirect the focus of the participant away from the common goal. • The increased likelihood for certain members of large MDMs to feel threatened reluctant to participate because the size magnifies the impersonal nature of the problem context. • Despite the disadvantages when the size of the MDM increases, in certain situations such as quantitative judgment in statistics, the larger the membership of the MDM, the more likley it is that the results of the judgment must be made.

9. Effects related to MDM size • Participant interaction tends to decrease as size increase. • Affective or emotional relationships tend to decrease as size increases. • Central, dominant leadership tend to increase as size increases. • Conflicts is resolved with political rather than analytical solutions as size increases. • Despite the disadvantages when the size of the MDM increases, in certain situations such as quantitative judgment in statistics, the larger the membership of the MDM, the more likely it is that the results of the judgment must be made.

10. Problems with Group Decisions 2. Groupthink: a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group. • The more friendly and cooperative the members of a group, the greater the likelihood that independent critical thinking will be suspended in deference to group norms. • Unfavourable outcomes associated with Groupthink • Tends to prevent a complete open-mind analysis of opportunities in the development of objectives. • Holds back a meaningful search for information and tends to bias any searches toward a self fulfilling selectivity. • Limits the participant’s ability to appraise possibilities associated with the cost of failure. • Tends to eliminate the formation of incident of fallback position.

11. Problems with Group Decisions 3. Other Social issues • Conflict • The desire to be viewed as a “good” member and to be accepted by the other participants often leads to conflict avoidance. • Natural group dynamics such as struggle of power can result in some form of conflict. • Anonymity • One common method used to control sources of potential conflict and to support other MDM processes is participant anonymity, i.e. vote. • In many cases anonymity results in the generation of more and better information.

12. :MDM Support Technologies • Tools used in MDM environment to support the processes and activities related to the decision making process. • Usual group meeting description ….. (Gray 1981). • New technologies and telecommunications …… • MDM support technologies can be classified based on decision maker styles .

13. MDM Support Technologies The four basic levels of MDM technology: • Organisational Decision Support System (ODSS): A complex system of computer based technologies- including those that facilitate communication- that provides support for decision makers. • Group Support Systems (GSS): A collective of computer based technologies used to aid MDM in identifying and addressing problems, opportunities, and issues. • Group Decision support System (GDSS):A collective of computer based technologies designed to support the activities and processes related to MDM. • Decision Support System (DSS): a computer program under the control of one or more persons that provides staff within organisations with support tools capable of enhancing the results of the decision making process.

14. Gains and Losses Associated with MDM Activities Some of the Gain • Collective has greater knowledge than a single participant. • Allows for synergistic results. • Interaction stimulates the generation of knowledge. • Participants can improve individual performance through learning from others. Some of the Losses • Can block the production of ideas. • Can produce information overload much faster. • Relative collection of speaking time is reduced with MDM size • Increase opportunities of socialising over goal focus.

15. Types of MDM Support Technologies Types by features offered in support of the multi-participant decision-making activities: • Reduce communication barriers. • Reduce uncertainty and noise. • Organize decision process.

16. Types of MDM Support Technologies Types by technology used: • Electronic boardroom. • Teleconference room. • Group network. • Information centre . • Collaboration laboratory. • Decision room.

17. Collaborative Support Technologies Groupware: A particular type of MDM support technology specifically focused on issues related to collaborative processes among people. You can think of it as a tool that, when deployed and used appropriately, positively affects that way people communicate with each other, resulting in an improvement in the way people work. Current market leaders of Groupware: • Lotus Notes • Microsoft Exchange • Oracle Office • GroupWise • Team Office