An Empirical Study of Training Methods and Facilitation on Group Support Systems

• Main Authors: Lee, Chia-Chen, 李家珍
• Other Authors: Hwang, Hsing-Ginn
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 1998
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/98652482092980017461

碩士 === 國立中正大學 === 資訊管理研究所 === 86 === 　　Previous studies of Group Support Systems (GSS) indicate that the use of GSS is able to improve meeting productivtiy. However, not all GSS studies support this conclusion. One of the possible reasons resulted in such an inconclusive outcome is to treat facilitation as a control variable. Although several empirical studies of facilitation have been conducted, the results still not exactly same. Thus, one of the purposes of this study is to investigate the effects of facilitation in GSS environment. According the interaction between users and GSS, facilitation can be divided into facilitator - driven and userdriven. The former is that a facilitator treated as the third party during the meeting, and the facilitator can lead users to make progress toward group's goal. The latter is that metting agendas are handled by meeting participants. 　　There is a high positve correlation between meeting productivity and user's knowledge of meeting topic, agendas, and the use of GSS. There is little research of training in the area of GSS. Many researchers believe that adequate training methods can improve meeting effciency and effectiveness. Thus, the other major purpose of this study is to investigate this belief. A 2 by 2 completely randomized factorial design was employed. A total of thirty - two groups and ninety - six subjects participated in this study. Perceived decision quality, the number of alternatives, decision time, satisfaction with the decision making processes and decision outcomes, and consensus change are assessed. 　　The main findings of this study were: (1) Decision time can be improved in the user - driven and facilitator - driven meeting of computer - based training than lecture, and (2) the facilitator - driven meeting of computer - based training had positive influence on the performance of the number of alternatives and satisfaction with the decision making proceses than lecture. Implications are discussed.