Group problem solving and decision making: an investigation of the process and the supporting technology

Abstract

A major problem facing the development of technological support for groups is that many studies investigate group technology in isolation from an analysis of group activity, or focus only on discrete aspects of the process. This paper presents the findings of a study that investigated the nature and extent of group decision making and the use of group supporting technology in Irish organizations. The paper presents a model of group decision making and examines group processes and activities as well as the use of technology at each stage. The findings indicate that group decision making is a widespread phenomenon, which was found to be far more complicated than individual decision making. However, groups were found to need a great deal of control and coordination to enable members to collaborate effectively. Nevertheless, group decision making was found to receive little technological support. The available technology provided only low level support which mainly focused on supporting the asynchronous work of groups.