A proposed research framework for distributed group support systems

Globalization, virtual corporations, telecommuting, empowerment of teams, reduced cycle time and the need to frequently make decisions quickly makes it necessary for groups to work together while the participants may be in different locations. Distributed Group Support System (DGSS) is a technology that can help groups to overcome some of the difficulties associated with being in different places and sometimes in different time zones. The purpose of this paper is to propose a research framework that addresses the major issues involved in the implementation of DGSSs. These issues were identified in a literature review and in a small scale survey of practitioners. The proposed framework extends the traditional decision room GSS framework by adding relevant topics in all major parts. In addition, a new set of characteristics (input) variables related to communication issues while being in different places, was added. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.