Distributed group support systems: Social dynamics and design dilemmas

A “distributed group support system”; includes decision support tools and structures embedded within a computer‐mediated communication system rather than installed in a “decision room.”; It should support groups who are distributed in space but not time ("synchronous”; groups), as well as “asynchronous”; groups whose members participate at different times. Pilot studies conducted in preparation for a series of controlled experiments are reviewed in order to identify some of the problems of implementing such a system. Many of the means used by groups meeting in the same place at the same time to coordinate their activities are missing. Embedding decision support tools within a different communications medium and environment changes the way they “work.”; Speculations are presented about software tools and structuring or facilitation procedures that might replace the “missing”; coordination channels.     

Distributed group support: The effects of voting Tools on group perceptions of media richness

Decision groups distributed both temporally and geographically encounter a multitude of coordination problems. This experiment used a set of GDSS Tools called List and Vote, and alternative interaction management procedures, as mechanisms for coordinating distributed groups using a computer conferencing system and for structuring group processes. The study examined media richness using a modification of the adjective-pairs developed by Zmud, Lind, and Young (1990). The Tools significantly improved subjective perceptions of media richness. The attempted manipulation of the presence or absence of sequential procedures for the most part was not effective in creating significant differences in group perception of media richness.