Q. Explain the types and components of group decision support system.
Ans. Group Decision Support Systems Types
Group support systems have been implemented in a number of forms. Research shows that these systems were slowly growing in used, mainly for structured types of decision problems. Group support systems were more commonly found in larger organizations, especially financial institutions, computer service organizations, and the government.
According ot Beauclair and Straub (1990) the impact of these systems appeared in better development of criteria for evaluation of alternatives, generation of new ideas to improve quality, better focus of group members on specific problem aspects, and more equal participation of group members. The study identifies three distinct forms of GGS: Those using Shared Electronic Resources as a means of Conducting group meetings, either in batch mode or interactively. This form of group decision support requires little investment in software and still yields very effective results in terms of saving time. The Decision Room refres to the physical arrangement where the use of decision room software or Group DSS is normally utillized:
1. For decision makers located in the same geographic area of building.
2. With the use of computing devices, special software, networking capabilities, display equipment and a session leader
3. To collect, coordinate and feedback organized information to help a group make a desicion .
4. Combines face-to-face verbal interaction with technology-aided formalization.
The objective in using a Decision Room is to enhance and improve the group's decision-making process.
Characteristics of a Decision Room include:
1. Each participant has a computer workstation or terminal for anonymous input;
2. A leader (facilitator) coordinates the meeting,
3. The room has a display screen that all participants can view;
4. Computers are networked and client/server architecture is used.
5. Specialized software is available to all participants for "brainstorming" and to support voting. A third type of GSS is teleconferencing, where group members across the continents can see each other on the screen, and conduct their meeting as if they were is the same room.
Levels of Group Decision Support Systems
There are three levels of Group Decision Support Systems:
Level 1 GDSS provide technical features aimed at removing common communication barriers such as voting, electronic message exchange.
Level 2 GD88 provide decision modelling and group decision techniques aimed at reducing uncertainty that occur in the group's decision process.
Level 3 GDSS machine-induced group communication patterns and can include expert advice in the selecting and arranging of rules to be applied during a meeting.
Group Decision Support Systems Components
As with almost all support systems, group support system (GGS) has three components; computer hardware, computer software, and network technology combined in a variety of configuration. GSSS may be used by a group working collaboratively over a long period of time or they may support groups meeting at a specific point in time.
Meeting Types Accommodated by Group Support Systems
Different group support systems are appropriate for distinct types of meetings and address wide-ranging meeting problem. The variation is with respect to the level of hardware support and the features incorporated into the software.
At the lowest level, the hardware support is a single workstation (usually a PC) used by the meeting leader or facilitator. The next level is a voting keypad for each group member combined with a workstation for the meeting leader or facilitator.
The highest level of support is a personal workstation for each participant. Soft ware features vary from single data summarization tools to complex decision medilling tools.
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