Group Support Systems for Strategic Planning

The Effects of National Culture and Anonymity on Flaming and Criticalness in GSS-Supported Discussions

Technologies for supporting collaborative work are often developed to improve various aspects of group performance such as idea generation and decision quality; however, less attention has been given to the effects that such technology has upon the nature of group communication. In this article, we examine the phenomena of flaming and comment criticalness in computer-mediated communication as they occur in group support systems (GSS) supported discussions. A 2 X 2 factorial experimental design was used to examine the effects of national culture (U.S. and Hong Kong) and anonymity (identified and anonymous pen name) on the number of comments classified as flames and on the number of comments classified as critical in 39 GSS discussions. Experimental results indicate that both national culture and anonymity influence the number of critical comments occurring in such discussions. However, the findings were not significant with respect to the number of comments categorized as flames.

A Critical Analysis of Decision Support Systems Research Revisited: The Rise of Design Science

In 2005 the Journal of Information Technology article ‘A critical analysis of decision support systems research’ analyzed 1020 decision support systems (DSS) articles from 1990 to 2003. Since 2003 business intelligence (BI) and business analytics have gained popularity in practice. In theory and research the period since 2003 has seen a change in the decision-making theory orthodoxy and the codification and acceptance of design science. To investigate the changes in the DSS field, a number of expectations were derived from previous literature analyses. These expectations were assessed using bibliometric content analysis. The article sample to 2010 now includes 1466 articles from 16 journals. The analysis of the expectations yields mixed results for the DSS field. On the negative side, there has been an overall decline in DSS publishing, the relevance of DSS research published in journals to IT professionals has declined, and the rigor of DSS research designs has not improved. On the positive side, there has been improvement in relevance to managers, grant funding of DSS research has increased, there has been a positive shift in judgment and decision-making foundations, BI publishing has increased, and group support systems publishing has reduced to a more balanced level. An important result from the analysis of the last 7 years of DSS research is the significant increase in DSS design-science research (DSR) to almost half of published articles. It is clear from the analysis that DSS is undergoing a transition from a field based on statistical hypothesis testing and conceptual studies to one where DSR is the most popular method.

Planners' Perspectives on Using Technology in Participatory Processes

This study examined potential opportunities and constraints related to the development and deployment of technology in participation processes, including resources available, benefits and outcomes of technology, and technology implementation. On the basis of a survey of planners relative to eleven technology scenarios, varied access to staff, hardware, and software resources was reported. Potential perceived benefits of technology use included providing information and, to a lesser extent, fostering discussion and attracting additional participants. The findings suggest the greatest potential is for more basic technologies including websites that provide information, as opposed to more advanced technologies that would have greater potential to enhance collaborative and interactive participation approaches. Concerns about equitable access to technology for both planners and participants are also noted by survey respondents. The findings emphasize the importance of using technology as an enhancement to, rather than a replacement for, more traditional participation efforts.