Informal Online Decision Making: Current Practices and Support System Design

Existing group decision support systems are too complex to support lightweight, informal decision making made popular by the amount of information available on the Web. From an examination of related work, an online survey and a formative study to examine how people currently use the Web for decision support, we present a set of design recommendations towards the development of an informal Web decision support tool

Design of a Structured Decision Process Support System for Asynchronous Groups

Organizational work is increasingly conducted by geographically dispersed individuals working as groups. Geographic dispersion and simultaneous membership in multiple groups often make it impractical to bring decision groups together for traditional, face-to-face meetings. Therefore, group decisions need to be carried out by physically and temporally dispersed asynchronousgroups. This paper describes the development of computer support for asynchronous groups performing a specific task type. Group decision support systems have focused on computer support for face-to-face decision groups and have been the subject of extensive research (e.g., Jessup and Valacich, 1993). In contrast, research on physically and temporally dispersed groups has been limited (e.g., Turoff, et al., 1993). To developeffective computer support for asynchronous groups we apply a system analysis and design approach: First, we employ a Requirements Analysis and then we proceed to develop an appropriate Systems Design to meet the identified requirements. Our ultimate goalis to test the effectiveness of the system under conditions of experimental control

Automated Screening for Three Inborn Metabolic Disorders: A Pilot Study

Background: Inborn metabolic disorders (IMDs) form a large group of rare, but often serious, metabolic disorders. Aims: Our objective was to construct a decision tree, based on classification algorithm for the data on three metabolic disorders, enabling us to take decisions on the screening and clinical diagnosis of a patient. Settings and Design: A non-incremental concept learning classification algorithm was applied to a set of patient data and the procedure followed to obtain a decision on a patient’s disorder. Materials and Methods: Initially a training set containing 13 cases was investigated for three inborn errors of metabolism. Results: A total of thirty test cases were investigated for the three inborn errors of metabolism. The program identified 10 cases with galactosemia, another 10 cases with fructosemia and the remaining 10 with propionic acidemia. The program successfully identified all the 30 cases. Conclusions: This kind of decision support systems can help the healthcare delivery personnel immensely for early screening of IMDs

Group decision support systems for current times: Overcoming the challenges of dispersed group decision-making

We are living a change of paradigm regarding decision-making. On the one hand, there is a growing need to make decisions in group at both professional and personal levels, on the other hand, it is increasingly difficult for decision-makers to meet at the same place and at the same time. The Web-based Group Decision Support Systems intend to overcome this limitation, allowing decision-makers to contribute to the decision process anytime and anywhere. However, they have been defined inadequately which has been compromising its success. This work discusses the current Group Decision Support Systems limitations in terms of challenges and possible impediments for their acceptance by the organizations and propose a conceptual definition of a Web-based Group Decision Support System that intends to overcome the existing limitations and help them to affirm as a reliable and useful tool. In addition, some crucial topics are addressed, such as communication and perception, that are essential and sometimes forgotten in the support of dispersed decision-makers. We concluded that there are still some limitations, mostly in terms of models and applications, that prevent the design of higher quality systems.This work was supported by the GrouPlanner Project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-29178) and by National Funds through the FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within the Projects UIDB/00319/2020 and UIDB/00760/2020

An Experimental Study of the Attention-based View of Idea Integration: The Need for a Multi-level Dependent Variable

Decision making involves creating a rationale for supporting a choice. Groups make many decisions that require individual members to interact and collaborate with one another. High-quality decisions require that group members pay attention to different perspectives on the decision topic, process diverse or even opposing ideas, and combine (i.e., integrate) those ideas into coherent arguments. Despite the availability of information systems (IS), such as electronic brainstorming systems (EBS), to support group decision making, researchers have relatively understudied their role in idea integration. In this paper, we focus on the role of IS user interface design in idea integration. Applying an attention-based view of idea integration, we present a model and subsequent experimental study to explore the interaction between idea visibility, prioritization, and idea integration and the moderating effects of information diversity and group size. While our results generally support the attention-based view, they also identify the need to refine the dependent variable and distinguish between different types of idea integration. The findings have implications for electronically enabled brainstorming and group decision making

COMMUNICATIONS DESIGN FOR Co-op: A GROUP DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM

Decision Support Systems which have been typical single user systems for most of the decade of their existence, are now evolving into tools for supporting groups of decision makers. Thus, they are merging into the mainstream of office information systems. Communication among multiple decision makers has been identified as the major novel issue in such group decision support systems (GDSS) . This paper analyzes the communications requirements of GDSS and presents a design architecture which is integrated in the presentation and application layers of the ISO Open Systems Architecture. This design has been implemented on a network of personal computers in Co-oP, a GDSS for cooperative group decision making based on interactive multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) methods.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

Dynamics of short-term and long-term decision-making in English housing associations: A study of using systems thinking to inform policy design

Incorporating consideration of causal mechanisms of complex policy issues and goals is critical for policy design, but tools to support exploration of the interconnections, trade-offs and unintended consequences of a focused policy issue are limited. Understanding how to undertake systems-based policy design is crucial for designing effective policy interventions. Through a case study with two housing associations (HAs) in England, this paper explores how group model building (GMB) workshops, as a systems thinking tool, can elicit complex causal mechanisms to inform policy design. The paper presents a causal loop diagram (CLD) describing English HAs’ decision-making around sustainable and healthy housing in response to housing policies. The CLD illustrates how frequent policy changes and disjointed objectives can create disruptive challenges for HA's long-term decision-making, increasing short-term decision-making, and compromising the delivery of housing policy goals as an unintended consequence. We argue that the systems perspective of the interlinkages between policy design, specifically inconsistencies and changes, and housing organisations’ reactions highlights the importance of the systems thinking approach of policy design to support HAs’ organisational decision-making for sustainability and social issues. Policy design elements that facilitate HAs’ long-term decision-making are discussed. Through the case study, we contribute to the housing policy literature by explicitly showing how policy changes affect HA's decision-making. We advance the integration of policy design and soft operational research fields by describing the systems thinking approaches are used not only on the content of policy design to enhance a particular policy, but also on increasing our understanding of its process, by generating insights about the nature of decision-making dynamics and challenges faced. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed

Changing the means of managerial work: effects of automated decision support systems on personnel selection tasks

To enhance the quality and efficiency of information processing and decision-making, automation based on artificial intelligence and machine learning has increasingly been used to support managerial tasks and duties. In contrast to classical applications of automation (e.g., within production or aviation), little is known about how the implementation of automation for management changes managerial work. In a work design frame, this study investigates how different versions of automated decision support systems for personnel selection as a specific management task affect decision task performance, time to reach a decision, reactions to the task (e.g., enjoyment), and self-efficacy in personnel selection. In a laboratory experiment, participants (N = 122) were randomly assigned to three groups and performed five rounds of a personnel selection task. The first group received a ranking of the applicants by an automated support system before participants processed applicant information (support-beforeprocessing group), the second group received a ranking after they processed applicant information (support-after-processing group), and the third group received no ranking (no-support group). Results showed that satisfaction with the decision was higher for the support-after-processing group. Furthermore, participants in this group showed a steeper increase in self-efficacy in personnel selection compared to the other groups. This study combines human factors, management, and industrial/ organizational psychology literature and goes beyond discussions concerning effectiveness and efficiency in the emerging area of automation in management in an attempt to stimulate research on potential effects of automation on managers’ job satisfaction and well-being at work

The impact of technological support on groups: An assessment of the empirical research

In this paper we analyze the empirical findings on the impacts of technological support on group. We define and differentiate two broad technological support systems for group processes: Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS), and Group Communication Support Systems (GCSS). We then present a framework and method for analyzing the impacts of such information systems on groups. We develop the framework from the literature of organization behavior and group psychology and apply it to literature of MIS. We then review the empirical research and findings concerned with the impacts of GDSS and GCSS on groups, and we compare and contrast these findings. Finally, we conclude by discussing the implications of our analysis on the focus of attention and design of future research. Five Major implications stem from our analysis: (1) there is lack of research on some important "formal" factors of groups, (2) there is a paucity of research on the impacts of GDSS and GCSS on the informal dimension of groups, (3) there is a need to move away from laboratory settings to field study in organization settings, with "real" manager, (4) more research is needed on stages of group development and on how they affect the impacts of GDSS and GCSS on groups, and (5) more research is needed to understand how the structure imposed by the technological supports affect group processes. © 1989