National culture and group support systems: examining the situation where some people are more equal than others

Abstract

The authors explore the general issue of cultural relativism in group support system (GSS) research and focus on power distance, a dimension of national culture. Power distance is the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. It is noted that power distance effects can be helpful for some phases of group decision making but harmful for others. A GSS can contribute by reducing these effects when they are dysfunctional. The authors examine how a GSS can reduce power distance effects by restricting the communication modality among group members. They discuss the potential impact of GSS intervention in both high and low power distance countries, and suggest how this impact can be mediated by task type and group size. They arrive at several propositions for experimental investigation. >