Cognition simulation and learning

The purpose of this paper is to describe new computer software that has been specifically developed to aid experiential learning in groups and with individuals. The software is designed to conduct a pseudosimula- tion involving ramifications and interaction of qualitative ideas, beliefs, attitudes, and values. It has been developed over the past four years through a continual interaction between the state of theory and software, and has been used with a variety of decision-making groups

Contrasting GDSS\u27s and GSS\u27s in the context of strategic change-implications for facilitation

The focus of this paper is on a comparison made between two series of computer supported strategy workshops. Each of the series of five one-day workshops was designed within the context of a project aimed at planning and implementing major strategic change within the organization and the project reported involved over fifty senior managers during a two year period. The subjects of the research had to deal with the reality of an organisational history, and, even more importantly, the knowledge that their contributions to the meetings would influence their future as a managerial group. The project enabled a number of exceptional opportunities to be tapped including i) a researcher as observer throughout the process, and ii) videotaping of each one day meeting. The first series of workshops was designed to generate and structure the strategic issues and context that were to be worked upon during the second series of workshops. Thus the first workshops used a group support system designed toprovide high levels of participation in raising strategic issues, and the second series, a group decision support system designed to enable decisions to be made and implementation plans to be created. These design objectives closely correspond to the tasks set out by McGrath (1984) where a GSS was defined as a support system to primarily aid creativity/idea generating tasks and a GDSS was to support planning/evaluation tasks. The workshops were each embedded within the Strategic Options Development and Analysis methodology (SODA) (Eden and Ackermann, 1992) and, involved a number of different support technologies. In these workshops the usual facilitated procedure was used in tandem with a multiple workstation system which allowed participants to interact with the modelling process, and with a number of manual techniques which were designed to interface with the approach. Thus manual group support (MAGS) was used alongside, and interacting with, both facilitator driven single user group support (SUGS) and multi-user group support (MUGS). To achieve this interweaving of modes the software COPE was used directly in both the SUGS and MUGS modes of support and the underlying concepts used during the MAGS mode mirrors the COPE software. The difference between the two series of workshops comprised i) the purposes behind the usage of each mode of working, and ii) the combinations adopted, i.e. the choice of using particular modes in a particular order which both have implications for facilitation. As a result of the comparison a set of implications which differentiate the role of a facilitator using group support systems (GSS) to the use of group decision support systems (GDSS) has been produced. The implications may be taken firstly as a contribution to the future design and facilitation of each type of meeting, and secondly to the effective design of the each of the systems (GSS and GDSS). The paper begins by considering some of the issues around the research method adopted, provides details of both of the workshop series, lists the characteristics which emerged as a result of the workshops and have implications for facilitation, and then briefly touches on the conclusions

Communities of Practice in Landscapes of Practice

The original formulation of communities of practice primarily focused on describing how learning, meaning, and identity within a community can translate into a sustained practice. Wenger-Trayner et al. elaborated the concept of landscapes of practice to describe how different communities of practice may interact, and belong to broader landscapes of practice, rather than rely exclusively on their own local situated practices. In this conceptual article, we apply the perspective of landscapes of practice to organizations. The first part of our argument is descriptive, and is aimed at developing a model of landscapes of practice in organizations. With regard to this model, we propose that practices can be seen as multilevel, including local situated practices, generic practices, and cultural fields. This, in turn, helps to clarify and organize a number of central concepts within the practice literature. The second part of our argument is prescriptive, as we suggest that landscapes of practice call for triple-legitimization of situated learning, meaning that legitimization is not only needed at the level of community and organization, but also by attending to the dynamically changing epistemic texture of the landscapes

Knowledge Acquisition Using Group Support Systems

This paper reports on a project in which a group support system (GSS) equipped with a causal mapping facility was used to acquire knowledge from experts in seven European cities in order to understand the systemicity of risks which cities may face. The practical constraints demanded that participants’ experience and wisdom about the city risk environment was collected in a short period of time: three 1-day workshops. The acquisition of knowledge posed a number of important epistemological challenges which are explored in our discussion. The GSS was faced with the need to (1) facilitate sharing of knowledge with others, (2) manage the complexity of expert knowledge, (3) acknowledge the time demands on experts, (4) manage and merge multiple perspectives, and (5) acknowledge the subjectivity of knowledge in this domain. By discussing how the GSS process attended directly to these epistemological issues and to methodological considerations that linked to these issues, the paper contributes to a better understanding of the application of GSS for knowledge acquisition, particularly in comparison with other possible methods

Exploring GSS negotiation – the use of a GSS log

Group Decision Support Systems (GSS) have been used extensively to support groups in working together in organizations. This paper focuses on the particular type of GSS, called Group Explorer, which during the course of facilitated sessions generates data logs in the form of Excel spreadsheets. Data logs can be of high interest to researchers and GSS facilitators because they may possibly contain rich and valuable data such as about the detailed time of entry and the authorship of all contributions, or the results of voting activities conducted by participants. However, data logs may at first look complicated and difficult to read and follow. Thus the purpose of this paper is to provide a number of instructions and explanations for anyone interested in making good use of data logs, and to popularize similar analysis as a good opportunity to bet-ter understand the outcomes of GSS sessions

Behavioral considerations in group support

This chapter highlights a series of inter-related issues that significantly affect the success and failure of group support for decision and negotiation. The issues are derived from the GDN experience of the author, accumulated over 40 years and hundreds GDN interventions. While they refer to some of the well-established literature on the topic, they are not based on formal empirical analysis. The items in the lists all raise issues that involve behavioral considerations. In particular it will be suggested that, notwithstanding a recent focus on microanalysis in GDN, these topics are still worthy of greater research and debate within the GDN research community

Research on intuition using intuition

Intuition is accepted in the case of practising managers as well as scientists. Why it is not accepted then in the case of scholars who are studying the intuition of those managers and scientists? In this chapter we offer some tentative answers, with the aim of being thought-provoking. Drawing on our research into the cognitive complexity of Nobel Laureates, we introduce a method that explicitly acknowledges rather than denies the role of intuition. This method emerged as we started to experiment with making sense of our rich data obtained from 19 unstructured in-depth interviews

Modelling stakeholder dynamics for supporting group decision and negotiation : theory to practice

Group Decision and Negotiation methods can help identify optimal, or efficient, solutions to complex problems and so aid decision-makers. However, recommendations depend for their success, in part, on their political feasibility within, usually, complex organisational settings. A part of the complexity of effective implementation derives from understanding the responses of stakeholders to the proposed decisions. The responses of stakeholders can be complex because stakeholders respond not just to the decision but also to the responses of other stakeholders. When the recommendations are very important, and when the possible stakeholder responses are likely to be complex, then the use of some form of modelling of stakeholder dynamics is likely to be helpful. This paper proposes such a modelling process designed to aid the thinking of a decision-making team as they seek to ensure their decision is politically feasible. The modelling process is designed to facilitate effective negotiation in groups about the potential impact of stakeholder responses. The modelling process is illustrated through a real case

Understanding "expert" scientists : implications for management and organization research

This article contributes to the debate about rigor and relevance in management and organization research. The contribution derives from an empirical inquiry into the view of the research process of acknowledged experts in scientific research: Nobel Laureates. The research was conducted through loosely structured in-depth interviews with, and background information about, 19 of these expert researchers. The analysis of the interviews suggests emergent themes of the process of successful research that are likely to be relevant to the conduct of management and organization research. We focus on three themes from our interviews: the role of the “big leap” and its relationship to intuition; the significance of seeing both the “big picture” and the detail; and the ways of building and developing successful research teams. We set out our findings from the interviews in the context of the literature from history and philosophy of science and examine the implications for management and organization research

Group support systems : concepts to practice

Group support systems have been in existence for 40 years and have been applied widely since their inception. One particular realm is using group support systems(GSSs) for assisting managers who must negotiate the resolution of messy, complex, and/or strategic problems in order to achieve an agreed outcome. Taking cognizance of concepts such as procedural justice and boundary objects,as well as the underlying features of GSS, an intervention involving social and psychological negotiation is presented and examined. The case intervention deals with two organizations needing to move from adversarial modus operandi to a more productive and collaborative mode in order for both to operate more effectively. The intervention is presented in a chronological manner allowing particular phases to be explored, considered alongside research into the nature of failed decisions, group behaviors, and social and psychological negotiation, and a number of salient elements and their implications for facilitators are provided