| Introduction to the Special Issues | | BIB | iii | |
| Baldev Singh; Andrew B. Whinston | |||
| Organizational Computing: Definitions and Issues | | BIB | 1-10 | |
| Lynda Applegate; Clarence Ellis; Clyde W. Holsapple; Franz J. Radermacher; Andrew B. Whinston | |||
| Technology Support for Cooperative Work: A Framework for Studying Introduction and Assimilation in Organizations | | BIBAK | 11-39 | |
| Lynda M. Applegate | |||
| This article draws on published research on the nature of the innovation
process and exploratory field research in 10 companies to develop a framework
for research on organizations' introduction and assimilation of
computer-supported cooperative work technologies. The research reported in
this article, part of a much larger study of the general process of innovation
in organizations, focuses specifically on the transfer and assimilation of new
technology innovations.
Technologies to support group process, communication, and coordination in face-to-face group meetings [electronic meeting support systems (EMSS)] were chosen to illustrate the use of the research framework. The article focuses on the transfer of these technologies from R&D units to target organizational units and the alignment of group, technology, and task during assimilation by end-user groups. Research propositions are developed and discussed. Future articles will present the findings from current research that utilizes the frameworks presented in this article to study the introduction, transfer, and assimilation of EMSS in organizations. Keywords: Computer-supported cooperative work, Group decision support, Technology
transfer, Diffusion of innovation, Innovation, Groups, Group process, Work
teams | |||
| Coordination in Shared Facilities: A New Methodology | | BIBAK | 41-59 | |
| John O. Ledyard | |||
| Shared facilities are a good example of the difficulties inherent in
coordination problems and the benefits to be derived from creative solutions.
Traditional methods employed by engineers and others, because they ignore an
important aspect of the problem, can yield solutions that appear successful but
which significantly underutilize these facilities. This article is intended to
be an introduction to the types of problems that can arise and to a new method
for systematically studying these problems. The method is illustrated with the
results of a study done for NASA, on the coordination of the use of a Space
Station, which produced a new computer-assisted institution that outperforms
existing institutions. Keywords: Coordination, Shared facility, Experimental economics, Group decision
support system, Knapsack problem, Mechanism design | |||
| User-Centered Design of Collaboration Technology | | BIBAK | 61-83 | |
| Gary M. Olson; Judith S. Olson | |||
| Groupware, like other forms of information technology, should be designed
with the users' needs and capabilities as the focus. User-centered system
design consists of observation and analysis of users at work, assistance in
design from relevant aspects of theory, and iterative testing with users. We
illustrate the various stages of this approach with our development of
groupware for software designers. We have extensive studies of designers at
work, have developed the beginnings of a theory of distributed cognition, and
are at the first stages of iterative testing and redesign of a prototype of a
shared editor to support their work. Keywords: Design, Collaboration, Software engineering, Cognition | |||
| Computer-Mediated Communication Requirements for Group Support | | BIBAK | 85-113 | |
| Murray Turoff | |||
| This article presents an overview of the historical evolution of
computer-mediated communication (CMC) systems within the context of designing
for group support. A number of examples of design features to support specific
group tasks are illustrated. The result of this is the synthesis of a number
of observations on the assumptions and goals for the design of CMC systems. An
emphasis is placed on the advantages offered groups by asynchronous support of
the communication process, self-tailoring of communication structures by users
and groups, and the integration into the communication system of other computer
resources and information systems. The systems that have been developed
recently at New Jersey Institute of Technology (EIES2, TEIES, and Personal
TEIES) are used to illustrate the translation of design objectives into
specific features and functions. Keywords: Computer-mediated communications, Groupware, GDSS, CSCW, Computerized
conferencing, Message systems, Electronic meeting systems, Hypertext | |||
| Cooperative Communication: Computerware and Humanware | | BIBAK | 115-123 | |
| T. Vamos | |||
| This article emphasizes the combined requirements of computer systems and
humanistics. In cooperative computing, negotiations can be used as a basic
paradigm by which different roles and their requisites can be identified -- the
facilitator, the mediator, and the negotiator. The negotiation-cooperation
process has a logical sequence of agreements, definition of terms, objectives,
mode of operation, common security measures concerning integrity and liability,
handling protocols, etc. The cooperation is based on models of the subject and
the partners -- i.e., a minimum of three models should be matched. The usual
methods of human negotiations supported by metacommunication should have a
computer-realizable substitute. All these subjects are outgrowths of recent
research in artificial intelligence (knowledge-based systems) and cognitive
psychology; some experiences are reported in the field. However, the main task
is human-oriented -- education of people for this new powerful means of
coexistence. Keywords: Networks, Cooperative communication, Negotiation, Human aspects, Artificial
intelligence | |||
| Two-Level Perspective on Electronic Mail in Organizations | | BIBAK | 125-134 | |
| Lee Sproull; Sara Kiesler | |||
| Organizational computing tools are often developed and managed with an eye
toward increasing efficiency. Yet today's most widespread organizational
computing tool, electronic mail, has an impact that goes well beyond efficiency
effects. This article summarizes a two-level perspective on organizational
computing and reviews research results demonstrating strong organizational
effects of electronic mail. From these results, we draw some lessons for the
next generation of organizational computing. Keywords: Electronic communication, Electronic mail, Social implications of computing | |||
| Distributed Group Support Systems: Social Dynamics and Design Dilemmas | | BIBAK | 135-159 | |
| Starr Roxanne Hiltz; Donna Dufner; Michael Holmes; Scott Poole | |||
| 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. Keywords: Group decision support systems, Computer-mediated communication systems | |||
| Issues and Obstacles in the Development of Team Support Systems | | BIBAK | 161-186 | |
| Elizabeth Busch; Matti Hamalainen; Yongmoo Suh; Andrew Whinston; Clyde W. Holsapple | |||
| This article presents issues and obstacles important when developing team
support systems: information systems designed to support organizational teams.
Drawing on the accomplishments of economics, organization theory, artificial
intelligence, and computer-supported cooperative work, key issues of interest
are discussed. The desirable qualitative properties of a team support system
are set forth as well as its generic functional requirements. Several ideas
for experimental directions are also described. Keywords: Team support systems, Computer-based information systems, Groupware,
Computer-supported cooperative work | |||
| A Layered Model of Organizations: Communication Process and Performance | | BIBAK | 187-203 | |
| James H. Bair | |||
| Modeling organizations is most useful for predicting the outcome of
decisions and courses of action. However, the tendency has been to view an
organization too narrowly, thus overlooking critical variables. For example,
financial models are based on abstract indicators and do not adequately
describe human factors. This article offers a five-layer, multidisciplinary
model, where each layer defines units of analysis and subsystem boundaries.
The layers (behavior-motion, activity, process-procedure, function, mission)
define arenas of practical action, ranging from individuals' moment-by-moment
behaviors, such as making telephone calls, to broad policy decisions and
functional structure of organizations. Keywords: Organization models, White-collar productivity, Knowledge-worker
productivity, Human communication, Cost benefits of computers, Human networks | |||
| Communication Costs in the Performance of Unrelated Tasks: Continuum Models and Finite Models | | BIBAK | 205-218 | |
| Thomas Marschak; Umesh Vazirani | |||
| We consider two two-person organizations, called A and B. Each organization
faces a changing environment; an environment has two components and each of
them is privately observed by one of the organization's two members. Each
organization's task is to respond to the current environment by taking a
correct action; the correct action is a known function of the environment.
However, the task of A is totally unrelated to the task of B: if A knew B's
current environment and B's current correct action, that would tell A nothing
at all about its own current correct action (and vice versa). Now suppose that
each organization perform its task by a sequence of message announcements that
stop when an "action-taker" has just enough information about the two members'
private observations so that he can take the correct action. Suppose we
measure the effort this requires by the size of the set of possible message
announcements. Then a compelling conjecture says that there can be no saving
in total effort if we merge the two organizations into a single four-person
organization in which a single action-taker takes both actions.
The conjecture turns out to be true when the possible messages form a continuum whose size is measured by its dimension, provided the message-announcing procedure obeys suitable regularity conditions. When we turn to a model in which the number of possible messages is finite, the situation is different. While a certain general proposition about coverings and projections is the main tool in proving the "continuum" conjecture, the finite analog of that proposition is (surprisingly) false. The finite version of the conjecture holds, on the other hand, when one adds a certain regularity requirement ("contiguity") to the message-announcement procedure. The truth of the finite conjecture without such a requirement remains open. Keywords: Coordination, Communication costs, Communication complexity, Mathematical
theories of organization design, Economics of organization | |||
| Groupware: Future Directions and Wild Cards | | BIBAK | 219-227 | |
| Robert Johansen | |||
| Groupware is a perspective on telecommunications and computing that
emphasizes the business team as "user," rather than the individual. This
perspective and its associated products and services are riding a major wave of
change: the trend toward business teams (small, cross-organizational, ad hoc,
task-focused, time-driven, cohesive work groups) as a primary mode of operation
for the organization of the future. In this paper, I will explore future
directions for the groupware perspective in the marketplace and the business
teams wave. Current product classes will be presented, along with the
experiences of early users of groupware. In addition to overall trends and
future directions, possible wild cards will be introduced and discussed. Keywords: Groupware, Computer supported collaborative work, CSCW, Work group
computing, Teams | |||
| The Virtual Notebook System: An Architecture for Collaborative Work | | BIBAK | 233-250 | |
| G. Anthony Gorry; Kevin B. Long; Andrew M. Burger; Cynthia P. Jung; Barry D. Meyer | |||
| We have developed the Virtual Notebook System (VNS) to facilitate
information acquisition, sharing and management in groups. The VNS allows
teams to create shared electronic notebooks upon whose pages they can place
text and images and, in certain cases audio and video entities. Members of a
team can interconnect the pages of a notebook with navigational links, making
the notebook shared hypertext. Additionally special links, called action
links, can be used to tie pages of a notebook to external programs. Here we
discuss the architecture of the VNS and give a number of examples of its use.
We also identify those aspects of the VNS development that seems to have been
most important in its success. Keywords: Cooperative work, Hypertext, Multimedia, Information technology architecture | |||
| Oral History and Information Technology: Human Voices of Assessment | | BIBAK | 251-274 | |
| Lesley Williams Brunet; Charles T. Morrissey; G. Anthony Gorry | |||
| Dramatic advances in technology for acquiring, managing, and sharing
information promise to reshape the workplace by eliciting new behaviours and
introducing new organizational patterns. For academic and medical centers, the
integration of information technology into programs of education, research, and
patient care is essential for increased organizational effectiveness.
At Baylor College of Medicine, we have developed information-sharing and management tools, collectively called the Virtual Management System (VNS). The VNS is a multiuser, workstation-based hypermedia system that serves as a technologically extended analog of the laboratory notebook used in biomedical research. We are deploying the VNS in scientific groups at Baylor, and are applying oral history techniques to assess its impact. This article shows how oral history captures the "human voices" of Baylor's experience and helps us understand the effects of information technology on the processes of biomedical research. Keywords: Oral history, Cooperative work, Hypertext, Multimedia, Scientific teams | |||
| WHAT: An Argumentative Groupware Approach for Organizing and Documenting Research Activities | | BIBAK | 275-302 | |
| Safaa H. Hashim | |||
| The topic of this paper is a process-vs.-product design method
representation called Argumentative Writing (AW). Argumentative writing is a
multi-representation approach for conducting and reporting research projects.
AW has at least two representations: one for structuring the
problem-understanding/solving process and one for communicating its products to
others. We discuss WHAT, a hypertext-based tool for AW. In WHAT (Writing with
a Hypermedia-based Argumentative Tool), the design process is captured using
Rittel's Issue Based Information Systems (IBIS) method (Conklin, 1988; Hashim,
1990a; Rittel, 1980). The product of the design process is represented in WHAT
using a general document-representation scheme. In the Introduction we raise
four major issues that we explore in the rest of the paper. Also in the
Introduction, we show the impact the WHAT approach can have on organizational
computing applications such as business education and training (Hashim,
Rathnam, & Whinston, 1991) and the design of dialectical organizational
information systems. The section "A Methodological Basis for AW Tools" deals
with the rationale behind choosing the IBIS method in capturing the design
process. The section after that explains WHAT, and the section following it
explores its use as a groupware tool. The applicability of WHAT and its pros
and cons are discussed in two separate sections. In the Conclusion we outline
the potentiality of the approach and present suggestions for further
development. Since our first reporting on WHAT (Hashim, 1990b), the AW
approach was found applicable to educational, scientific, and business areas.
One such application is for structuring case discussions in business schools
(Hashim et al., 1991). Keywords: Argumentative writing (AW), Design method, Design process, Graphical-IBIS
(gIBIS), Graphical entity-relation modeler (Germ), Groupware, Hypertext, Issue
based information systems (IBIS), Problem-solving techniques | |||
| Executive GDSS: Behavioral Considerations at Individual, Organizational, and Environmental Levels of Analysis | | BIBAK | 303-322 | |
| David V. Gibson | |||
| This article emphasizes the importance of behavioral considerations at
individual, organizational, and environmental levels of analysis when
researching and evaluating the design, implementation, and use of group
decision support systems (GDSS) within complex organizations. Discussion is
based on interview and archival data collected on an executive level GDSS used
within a corporate setting. Issues that are considered generalizable to
organizational computing, coordination, and collaboration technologies concern
(a) viewing organization participants as strategic, intuitive information
processors, (b) understanding the importance of organizational power, politics,
and situational constraints on decision making, and (c) appreciating the
symbolic value of advanced information technologies to an organization's
external environment. Keywords: Group decision support, Computer-supported cooperative work, Group
processes, Organizational behavior, Groupware, Organizational decision-making,
Computing, Coordination and collaboration | |||
| Doing by Learning: Embedded Application Systems | | BIBAK | 323-339 | |
| Inger V. Eriksson; Markku I. Nurminen | |||
| We argue that the computerized information system should not look like a
system on its own. Rather, it should be conceived as an inherent part of the
work of its users. We therefore introduce the concept of an embedded system,
which describes work tasks and organization. Computer-supported information
tasks are embedded in this environment: They are not parts of a system
separated from other activities. This concept is based on the experiences
gained during the development of a user-interface prototype, derived from a
theoretical frame of reference, called act orientation, to information systems,
in which all computerized tasks are interpreted as acts performed by the actual
user. Our suggestion continues the tradition of on-line help and support,
reaching radically deeper than usual in related approaches. We expect that our
suggestion will, when applied, improve the control, productivity, quality of
the outcome of work, and quality of working life, assessed from the user's
point of view. Keywords: Help system, Support system, Information system and work system, Act
orientation, Embedded application systems | |||
| Computer Support for Work Across Space, Time, and Social Worlds | | BIBAK | 341-355 | |
| Karen Ruhleder; John Leslie King | |||
| Collaboration is at the heart of academic enterprise; proposals for systems
such as the National Science Foundation's "National Collaboratory" or Apple
Computer's "Knowledge Navigator" seek to support these collaborative efforts by
means of a variety of computing technologies. We examine the assumptions of
the model of collaborative work behind such proposals and suggest ways to
extend that model. We draw on a case study of collaborative efforts in
classical scholarship in order to explore more fully the existing modalities of
academic collaboration as it actually occurs. The development of a broader
understanding of collaborative activities will enable us to address more
effectively the challenge of constructings systems to support collaborative
work. Keywords: Computer-supported collaborative work | |||
| Computer Networking among Executives: A Case Study | | BIBAK | 357-376 | |
| Starr Roxanne Hiltz; Murray Turoff | |||
| Group Support Systems may be "distributed" for nonsimultaneous use by being
embedded in a Computer-Mediated Communication System (CMCS). In this manner,
large groups may use them for complex tasks over an extended period of time.
Will executives such systems, and what are their reactions? This case study of
elites engaged in formulating recommendations for the White House Conference on
Productivity demonstrates that executives can use such systems, given that
"critical success factors" are met. Perceived information richness is strongly
correlated with perceptions of productivity enhancement as a result of system
use. Keywords: Computer-mediated communication, Computer-supported cooperative work,
Information richness, Productivity, Groups, Critical success factors | |||