Managing%20Group%20Decisions

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Managing Group Decisions
Group Decision Support Systems
John H. Saunders, Ph.D.
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Agenda / Objectives

• Issues in Group Decision Making
• Is group decision making OK as is?
• Can information technology assist?
• What products are available? How do they work?
• How has the technology been applied?
• What examples are available?
• Test Drive

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How do executives spend their time?
Group Decision Support
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Barriers to Effective Group Decision Making

• Groupthink - Janis
• Abilene Paradox - Harvey
• Peer Pressure / Conformity

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Whats wrong with the way we conduct meetings?
Group Decision Support

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Diverge --gt Converge
A Well Conducted Group Decision Process
Rules
Roles
Process Owner Facilitator Technographer Participan
ts
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How can Electronic Meeting Systems (EMS) help?
Group Decision Support

• Agenda Establishment
• Full Participation
• Anonymity
• Parallel Communication
• Distributed Participation
• Fast / Proven Data Organization
• Fast Tabulation
• Session Recording / Recall
• Provides Time for Reflection

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Benefit /Cost Analysis

• Costs
• Hardware
• Computers
• Network
• Video Display
• Software
• People
• Trained Facilitator
• Trained Technographer

• Benefits
• Faster Meetings
• Higher Quality Decisions
• Greater Confidence
• Greater Satisfaction
• Greater Depth of Analysis
• Higher Participation
• Higher Consensus
• Greater Communication

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Example Decision Room Sessions
Group Decision Support

• The General Officers of Army National Guard
  utilized the technology to prioritize projects
  and funding for next fiscal year
• An Interagency Committee used it to create the
  substance and criteria for an award called
  Presidents Award for Supplier Excellence
• The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network used the
  technology for an interagency discussion and
  simulation on methods for combating e-cash crime
• Newt Gingrich his staff used it to brainstorm
  on how to improve his organizational operations
• The Defense Information Systems Agency CIO Staff
  used it to form the basis for creating IDEF
  process models
• The NDU Commandants members of the Joint Staff
  used it to select the 2nd Dean of the IRM
  College.
• A group of senior officers used it to create a
  Joint Plan on Initiatives for Professional
  Military Education in 2010

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Decision Centers in Federal Government
Group Decision Support
Visit http//www.ventana.com/services_meetingroom_
rooms.html

• CINCs, DoD, JCS
• Atlantic Command, NATO, DISA, DLA,NDU
• USMC
• HQ, Quantico, Pendleton
• Army
• HQ, DISC4, Family Support, Redstone,CERL, CoE,
  AWC
• Navy
• USS Coronado,NCTS, BUPERS, Public Works, Pax
  River,NWC
• Air Force
• HQ, AFIT,AU, Langley
• FAA, IRS, Postal Svc, NSA, Education

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Products
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A Test Drive

• Generate the major issues/needs facing the CIO
• establish a level of specificity
• get a pencil for Sally (too narrow) or the Agency
  needs more money (too broad)
• top ? Issues (5,10,20)
• brainstorm to create the list
• clean/focus the list
• eliminate duplicates
• remove non-issues
• gain clarification
• reduce to predefined number
• Given these issues what generic resources might
  be generated or acquired to meet these needs
• typical resources technological, economic,
  social, educational, political
• Evaluate (apply points to each)

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Further Exploration
Summary

• WWW
• start at http//www.erols.com/jsaunders/guides/grp
  ware.htm
• Articles
• Coleman,D.and Khanna,R. GroupwareTechnology and
  Applications. Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River,
  N.J., 1995
• Jessup, L. and Van Over, D. When a System Must
  be All Things to All People. Journal of Systems
  Management. July Aug 1996.
• Pinsonneault, A. and Kraemer, K. The Impact of
  Technological Support on Groups An Assessment of
  the Empirical Research. Decision Support Systems
  5. 1989.
• Post, Brad Q. Building the Business Case for
  Group Support Technology. 25th HICSS, IEEE. 1992
• Press, Larry. Low-Cost Estimation of Travel
  Trade-offs. Communications of the ACM. June 1998.