Research notes

international

Journal of information

Management

(1992),

12 (241-243)

Research Notes Group support systems and MIS research One of the most interesting research topics to emerge in the past 10 years, particularly in North America, is the question, ‘How could information systems be developed to support group participative decision making?’ The research topic, is by its very nature multidisciplinary and embraces a number of other research topics, namely: decision-making processes and roles, values, management of conflicts, computer hardware, software tools, etc. Today’s research notes section is devoted to a discussion of the University of Calgary research efforts in this area. The University of Calgary of Canada is one of the most well known and pioneering institutions carrying out research into MIS and Group Support Systems (GSS). This issue of the journal discusses the work being carried out at the university under the direction of Professors Licker, Newsted and Munro. Professor Paul Licker is the chairman of the research area and has major responsibilities for the GSS research activities. Peter Newsted and Malcolm Munro (past chairmen) are currently associate deans of Academic and Research respectively. Professor Munro is also the editor of MIS Interrupt newsletter which has served as a very useful communication link among the MIS researchers in the world. Ninml Jayaratnu Heriot- Wutt University, Riccarton Campus, Edinburgh EH14, UK

MIS research: a Canadian perspective The MIS group at the University of Calgary, Canada is one of the oldest

026E-4012/92/03

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and pioneering research/teaching groups of the world. From a base of general data processing in 1974, this group has grown to become a major MIS centre by the 1980s. The group has been highly active in the field of MIS. Several of its former colleagues are now heads of MIS departments in US and other international universities.

Research activities Group Support Systems research probably involves more of the faculty than does any other single topic. While the newer faculty have concentrated on exploiting their respective doctoral theses, Paul Licker has spent much of his time spearheading the development of an overall Group Support Systems (GSS) research programme. GSS planning is supervised by a faculty steering committee which in turn operates within the context of a larger Management of Technology group. The GSS group’s current projects include examining decisionmaking roles, the use of Artificial Intelligence techniques in decision making, determination and sharing of values, rules of discussion and coordination in a variety of contexts, the role and function of anonymity in computer-supported meetings, development of group idea consolidation tools, GDSS technology comparisons, and the management of information in meetings. In addition, in cooperation with corporate partners, the team is investigating distributed decision making when meeting participants are geographically separated. The Group Support Systems team is eager to share ideas with researchers everywhere who are interested in this type of innovative research thrust. A second major research focus at the University of Calgary is Diffusion of Information Technology. A major product of research work’ was an instrument which measures the attitudinal factors which affect the diffusion

1992 Butterworth-Heinemann

Ltd

of innovations and in particular of IT. This work has been accepted for publication in Information Systems Research and other results will soon be forthcoming. Some work carried out deals with innovation diffusion in GSS and investigation of the adoption and use of a keypad-based GSS. A third significant area of activity involves Malcolm Munro and Peter Newsted. Over the past several years considerable effort has gone into the development of a major database titled Calgary Surveys Query System (CSQS). CSQS is a database of citations and information on questionnaires and survey instruments reported in information systems journals. More than 35 major journals have been studied from 1970 to the present in order to develop the database. Currently, well over 1000 complete entries are contained in the database and more than 500 additional partial records refer the researcher to other articles and documents for instrument source.’ This research tool is most useful when the research involves the measurement of an information systems concept. Since the creation of a properly validated questionnaire is a major undertaking, it is advantageous to search the database and discover that a questionnaire or validated survey instrument is already in existence. (If interested, please contact either Malcolm Munro or Peter Newsted for information as to how to obtain a copy of CSQS. Please note that this database is being constantly updated.) CSQS development began several years ago and certainly much of the time invested in it has been directed towards design. However, initial analysis of the database has focused on understanding the growth of reported validity and reliability assessments of survey instruments. These initial efforts bore fruit and was published in the recent Harvard Business School Research Coloquium publication titled The hzformution Systems

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Research notes Research

Challenge:

Survey

Research

Volume Three.” Continuing research in this regard involves an examination of the usage of instruments in the various topic areas in MIS, using published MIS research frameworks as a guide. The work in this area is assisted by Sid Huff of the University of Western Ontario. Peter Newsted is also working in the human factors area of MIS and has published the results of his work of using the computer as a tool to administer surveys. In addition to analysing CSQS, there has been work over the past eight to nine years on the general topic of innovation diffusion with a special emphasis on end-user computing.” Most recently, in collaboration with the University of Western Ontario, research has been conducted on the subject of end-user sophistication. The work on end-user computing also led to research on how organizations might improve the productivity of end-users and thereby realizing a greater return on their investment in IT. It was surprising to discover that no one has as yet developed a validated and reliable instrument for measuring the sophistication of end-users. Beginning with an instrument set of field studies and eventual development of an instrument has been completed which is now in the final stages of testing. It is expected that further development and application of this instrument is to be a central activity in the research publication undertaken in the group. While each of the above research topics involve several researchers, there are also other individual projects and interests. These are: effectiveness of relationships between information systems and users, development of a model of user satisfaction based on research on customer satisfaction and service quality, and the use of outsourcing arrangements as a way of creating effective IS-user relationships. The latter project is being conducted in collaboration with Florida International University. There are also major collaborative efforts with several researchers in the USA, on distributed systems and in the development of a group view modelling and integration system for group database design. Methods,

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Following work on qualitative research techniques performed at Texas Technical University, further research carried out on investigation of the characteristics of the crisis organization, and roles of the crisis management team. Reference is made to several books by Paul Licker that have been produced at the centre.5

Facilities The year 1986 saw the move into a ultra-modern building whose design was based on ideas gleaned from visits to over 20 other business school buildings in North America and the UK. Classrooms are well equipped with audio-visual equipment and computer access while several other special facilities provide an array of settings in which to conduct research and corporate activities. One of these is the Executive Room in which over 30 people may be seated around an oval table. This is used by the MIS group for research presentations and visiting speakers. Among the distinguished visitors are Izak Banbasat (University of British Columbia), John King (University of California Irvine), Richard 0. Mason (Southern Methodist University), Poppy McLeod (University of Michigan), David Blair (University of Michigan), Blake Ives (Southern Methodist University), Sirkka Jarvenpaa (University of Texas, Austin) and Joyce Elam (Florida International University). A second interesting facility is a lab built principally to support research in the area of organizational behaviour. This is a standard flat floor classroom with six breakout rooms all of which are interconnected with intercoms and separated from the main room and each other by means of one-way glass. As research matures, it is expected to make use of this facility to conduct same time-different place GSS experiments. Finally in 1990, a 32-station GSS Lab was opened. This executive-style facility also includes video beam projection of selected information generated through the computerized interaction of the workstation users.

The systems include GroupSystems from Ventana Corporation at the University of Arizona; VisionQuest, a product of OmniQuest which has roughly the same capabilities as GroupSystems but can do computer conferencing; and OptionFinder from Option Technologies which is a keypad-based system using a daisychain of small keypads. While the primary purpose of the GSS lab is to support research, it is also becoming highly popular in our corporate community. Many major corporations have used the facility as have administrators from both the University of Calgary and the City of Calgary.

Concluding

comments

As befitting a professional school, the research has an applied focus. Theoretical research is encouraged, but directed toward the solution of real organizational problems. Thus, while our research culture encourages and rewards research published in the best-quality academic journals, the faculty are encouraged to periodically translate their academic results and publish them in strong professional journals. Project work is encouraged in the belief that each of us will be more productive individually if working with others. This should be evident from the description above. There is also effort to promote networking; collaboration with others over the years has convinced us that through the use of electronic mail, telephone and fax services, not to mention appropriate funding, collaborative efforts amongst researchers at different universities are not only feasible but highly enjoyable. As indicated above, we would be quite happy to hear from anyone who is interested in our ongoing research, particularly with a view to establishing a network relationship. Once again, let me express my appreciation for the opportunity to describe the research activities of our MIS group at the University of Calgary. Should anyone wish to have further details or be interested in

Research

establishing or e-mail.

contacts,

please write, fax

Malcolm Associate

Dean

Faculty

C. Munro (Research)

of Management

University

of Calgary

Calgary, Canada Phone:

403-220-7147

Fux: Bitnet: 'MOORF,

GARY

Alberta T2N IN4

403-282-0095

MUNRO@UNCAMULT C.

AND

BENBASAT,

IZAK

(1991). ‘Development of an instrument to developing the perceptions of adopting an information technology innovation’. Information Systems Research, 2, (No. 3) September, pp. 192-222. “1989 Directory of MIS Faculty in the United States and Canada, Calgary: MIS Research Center/McGraw-Hill. 'NEWSTED,

PETER,

HUFF,SIII

L. AND

MUNRO,

(1991). ‘Data acquisition instruments in management information systems’. In: The Information Systems Research Challenge: Survey Research Methods Vol 3. Kenneth L. Kraemer, (ed.), Boston, MA: Harvard Business School, pp. 187-209. MALCOLM

c.

4HUFF,

SID

L., MUNRO,

MALCOM

notes C.

AND

‘Growth stages of end-user computing’, Communications ofthe ACM, 31 (No. 5), May. 'LICKER, P. (1985). The Art of Managing MARTIN,

BARBARA

H.

(1988).

Software Development People. New York: John Wiley; (1987). Fundamental.s of Systems Analysis with Application Design. Boston, MA: Boyd and Fraser; (1993). MIS For Managers. Forth Worth, TX, Dryden Press; (1990). The Managemenr of Technology in Innovations. Calgary: Faculty of Management. University-of Calgary; (1991). Technolozv Transfer: Global, National, Corporate: Calgary: Faculty of Management, University of Calgary.

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