Abstract

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in groups in business and other organizations. Concepts such as interactive meetings, empowered work teams, participative management, and total quality management have altered the dynamics and significance of group work within organizations (Finley 1992; Hunt 1993). Most managers agree that both formal and ad hoc groups significantly influence the behavior of individuals in larger organizations in which they work. The impactof groups on the organization is so pervasive that rarely will managers spend an entire day without attending at least one group meeting (White and Bednar 1991). Drucker (1988) suggested that the "new organization" would consist of groups of "knowledge specialists" and that the traditional command and control organization was on the way out. According to Finley (1992), the new ethic for success in business is that every person has to contribute to team decisions. This focus on teams has provided a challenge to information system (IS) specialists as far as providing necessary facilitative technology to fulfill the needs of companies focusing on groups and group work. George, Nunamaker, and Valacich (1992) suggested that one of the most promising trends for the IS field was this focus on groups and group work. The technology that supports the group decision making process has been referred to as group support systems. Most of the research in the GSS area has focused on decision room technology and most of this research has focused on theoretical, conceptual, and empirical research concerned with the design, implementation, and impact on the group process and outcomes (cf, Jelassi and Beauclair 1987, Gray 1987, DeSanctis and Gallupe 1985, Gallupe and McKeen 1990). Little research has been conducted concerning the impact of decision room use on the organization; specifically how the use of decision room use impacts the organization's design, its nature, and its decision making process. In 1993, Huber, Valacich,and Jessup, proposed a theory for the impact of GSS on an organization. Their theory consisted of four concepts: a) availability of GSS leads to use of GSS;b) use of GSS leads to increased information accessibility;c) increased information accessibility leads to changes in organizational design;d) increased information accessibility and changes in organizational design lead to improvements in the effectiveness of intelligence development and decision making

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