Task-related information sharing in group support systems (GSS)

Abstract

Group Support Systems (GSS) are among the most common software systems that enable and enhance group communication for collective decision-making. Members of a work group normally confer and exchange information in order to make decisions. There are two types of task-related information, common (or shared) information that is known by all members of a work group and unique (or unshared) information that is known by only one group member. To date, only a handful of studies have evaluated information exchange in GSS groups engaging in decision-making. This study examines the effect of expertise-assignment and the proportion of common information and unique information available in GSS groups. The results indicate that information distribution can affect information sharing in GSS groups. Increasing the proportion of common information distribution among group members can be used as a way to enhance the pooling of unique and increasing the mention of partially shared information during group discussions, as well as increasing the retaining of partially shared information following group discussions.