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Class 3 Systems Support to Work Groups

Asper School of Business - MBA Program 6150 Management of Information Systems & Technology April-June 2009 Instructor: Bob Travica. Asper School of Business 9.614 Information Age Organizations Part-Time MBA, April 2002 Instructor: Bob Travica. Class 3 Systems Support to Work Groups.

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Class 3 Systems Support to Work Groups

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  1. Asper School of Business - MBA Program 6150 Management of Information Systems & Technology April-June 2009 Instructor: Bob Travica Asper School of Business 9.614 Information Age Organizations Part-Time MBA, April 2002 Instructor: Bob Travica Class 3 Systems Support to Work Groups Updated April 2009 6150 Management of Information Systems and Technology

  2. Outline • Workgroup Concepts • Group Support Systems (Types, examples) • Team-Based Organization, Virtual Team • Evidence in cases • Messages for change leadership 6150 Management of Information Systems and Technology

  3. Workgroup Concepts • Workgroup: • Collection of people working together on a • specific task. An organization in small with shorter life. - task, goals, division of labor (roles) - interdependence (sequential, parallel, reciprocal) • Key aspects: - composition, communication, leadership - synergy vs. losses (free ride, groupthink, extremeness) - cohesion (rational, emotional factors) - place (collocated vs. distributed teams) 6150 Management of Information Systems and Technology

  4. Workgroups Types (Some) • Project Teams (R+D, marketing, civil construction, • public accounting industry, software developers; • disband when project ends; Boeing-Rocketdyne) • Groups embedded in organizational structure • (managers at CFFI, cases in slides 6 & 7) • Communities of practice/learning (informal, peers, • knowledge creation/sharing driver; Daimler-Chrysler) • Network-like gatherings (Open Source movement) 6150 Management of Information Systems and Technology

  5. Types of Group Support Systems • Time & Space-based typology of GSS (Fig. 13-1, p. 475) • Functionality/Purpose based typology of GSS: • 1. Communication for collaboration and knowledge sharing • (e.g., private email, el. bulletin boards; slides 6 & 7) • 2. File Sharing, Application Sharing(Boeing-Rocketdyne, Open Source) • 3. Workflow Support(e.g., procurement process; slide 6, Boeing-Rocketdyne) • 4. Decision Making (group brainstorming and selection via GDSS; • CFFI case, Burr-Brown) • 5. Project support (most of the above; Boeing-Rocketdyne) 6150 Management of Information Systems and Technology

  6. W. Orlikowski, “Evolving from Notes: Organizational change around groupware technology”, 1996. GSS for Workflow Support • Organization: Help Desk in a U.S. software firm • GSS: Incident Tracking Support System using Lotus Notes software • (a database of problem solving procedures + communication support). • Effects: • Opportunistic changes in distribution of work (division of work: • front-line, back-line, and intermediary staff) • Unexpected reluctance of front-end workers to involve back-end • Self-motivated learning in free time 6150 Management of Information Systems and Technology

  7. C. Ciborra, “Mission critical: Challenges for groupware in a pharmaceutical company”, 1996. GSS for Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing • Organization: Hoffman-La Roche, pharmaceuticals, Switzerland • GSS: Cosis – proprietary, a laptop & Lotus Notes-based database and • communication system for maintenance of medical instruments • Users: Maintenance workers (300, globally) enter daily the content • of their visits to a full text database. All can read the database. • Effects: • Cosis improved practices of sharing experience, war stories… • Keys to success: Compact user group, evolutionary system. 6150 Management of Information Systems and Technology

  8. Team-Based Organization • Basis in project-driven organizations • Emphasizing teamwork in functional organization • (education, cultural change) • Virtual Team (kind of virtual organization; • different or same organization - Boeing-Rocketdyne; • learning to work together and to use technology; • selective use of functionality, intellectual property) • Using technology for team support (management • challenge: aligning social & technical) 6150 Management of Information Systems and Technology

  9. Mini-cases • Boeing-Rocketdyne • Daimler-Chrysler • Burr-Brown • Open Source Movement • (programming code is open to any developer complying with • ground rules – not proprietary ) 6150 Management of Information Systems and Technology

  10. Messages for Change Leadership • Challenge of predicting outcomes from implementing GSS; groups dynamics • hard to predict/control • Train/cultivate people for teamwork and GSS (facilitate “buy-in”=adoption) • Be vigilant about outcomes of using GSS, continuous management care needed • GSS is an enabler to group work not a total solution to an organizational problem • Define problem clearly and match it with appropriate GSS (if any) • Eliminate alternative technologies to ensure adoption of the target GSS • Have complete strategy of implementing GSS, don’t stop at first obstacles (CFFI)

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