Bair [4] points out that most tasks in organizations are
accomplished by groups of people rather than by individuals. Chen et
al. [5] classify IT systems used to support group
activities into two categories: Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS)
and Computer-based Systems for Cooperative Work (CSCW). However, in
recent years, the term ``groupware'' has also found its way into the
Group Support Systems (GSS) literature (which includes any system
supporting groupwork), and has largely been popularized by commercial
products such as Lotus Notes
. Huber [6] defines GSS as ``software,
hardware and language components and procedures that support a group
of people engaged in decision-related meeting''. Today's GSS are
typically characterized by groupware, which allows users to interact
with each other in a variety of ways, ranging from shared database
access to video-conferencing, unlike earlier systems which were more
limited in geographical scope and functionality. Desanctis et
al. [7] define GDSS as ``an interactive computer-based
system which facilitates solution of unstructured problems by a set of
decision makers working together as a group.'' Some of the early GDSS
were mainly centered around this theme, and involved the use of a
single system with multiple terminals to facilitate group interaction.
Prior literature [8] suggests that ``many groups fail to
adequately define a problem before rushing to judgment.'' Early
research on GDSS focused on this aspect, and therefore concerned
itself with problem definition and documentation rather than on issues
such as media richness and geographical scope. Over [9]
and Kraut et al. [10] indicate that IT innovations did not
appear to have facilitated the process of group support.
With the growth of end-user computing and the diffusion of information technology in the business environment, the focus of Group Support Systems shifted toward fusing communication and computing technologies, leading to the emergence of the CSCW field. Johnson et al. [11] define CSCW as ``the use of computer and electronic communication tools as a media for communicating. '' Many related fields of research in GSS emerged during this period: Computer-mediated communication, conferencing, and computer-mediated conferencing systems. It was at this point in time that emphasis was placed on issues such as media richness [12] and communication bandwidth. However, even with the emergence of networking and related tools, the primary form of communication was plain text. One purpose of these CSCW systems was to simulate face-to-face communication, and since text was the only mode of exchange in early environments, computer and telephone systems [13] were combined to simulate a more realistic work environment. A historical perspective of the emergence of this area reveals growth in at least three dimensions from a technological perspective: media richness, geographical scope, and real-time communication capability.
Media Richness
Daft et al. [14] argue that computer based information systems restrict feedback and are not ``rich'' compared to face-to-face meetings. Zmud et al. [12] designed scales to measure the richness construct for different media. A social perspective on media richness involves the ability to convey expressions, pitch, tone, etc. [14]. In our interpretation, however, media richness is a reflection of the bandwidth of communication [15], where the latter refers to the number of different data-types that can be used for interaction. For example, a media rich CSCW system should be able to support not only textual material but also pictures and charts (i.e., graphics), voice and video images.
Geographical scope
Geographical scope refers to the spatial dimension of a GSS or collaborative system, i.e., the ability of a system to cover a certain geographical area. Before the explosion of networking technologies, collaboration was primarily confined to a room or a local area network. Therefore a geographically dispersed CSCW system which required high communication richness could not be based entirely on computer mediated communication, and had to make use of other devices such as telephone or close-circuit TVs. Growth in networking and associated tools led to a more integrated approach, where all functions could be provided through the computing system.
Real-time communication
This characteristic of a GSS defines its ability conduct real-time meetings. Since the early days of GSS, this was predominantly the most important feature as collaboration in a group more often than not required immediate input and feedback. Therefore the ability to simultaneously view and correct a document, for example, would be critically dependent on this characteristic.
Rodden [16] defines group work based on spatial (local or remote) and temporal relationships (asynchronous or synchronous), analogous to geographical scope and real-time ability. He further uses this relationship to separate CSCW systems into four classes, messaging systems, conferencing systems, meeting systems and co-authoring systems.
The above review of GSS focus on the ``physical'' abilities and characteristics of such systems, and not the nature of interactions they support. The motivation for this paper stems from the need to support interactions amongst peers in a given discipline in an efficient manner. For example, in the field of MIS, we are interested in interactions amongst IT managers, academics and students. Therefore, while there is a need for a structure to define discussions and interactions with a certain degree of formalism, it is also imperative that no restrictions involving geographical, company or university specific boundaries be placed on such interactions.
Chen et al. [5] observe that research collaboration involves a number of activities ranging from gathering information from different sources, organizing, managing this information to retrieving and sharing for document preparation. While their focus is purely on research collaboration, we tend to take a more general view of collaboration as involving the exchange of ideas and knowledge that may, in addition to helping research, also disseminate information for improving education and practice.