Investigating Process-Parameters for Decision Quality in Software Development Team

This paper presents a conceptual model that collectively depicts three explicitly-cited process parameters for achieving group decision quality. The research proposes that the existence of any one of these three parameters can positively impact group decision quality in software development teams. Firstly, by encouraging a reasoning orientation and employing a method of group consensus by giving group members instructions or rules prior to their engagement in the decision-making process may improve decision quality. Secondly, divergent thinking, which results in a broad range of ideas being considered by a group, may be encouraged by minority dissent and positively impact decision quality. Finally, following an inquiry approach during group decision making (by promoting collaborative problem solving, testing and evaluating, critical thinking, constructive criticism and minority views) may also improve decision quality. It is envisaged that by investigating the existence of these parameters in software development teams we can better understand how to achieve decision quality in groups.

[1]  Izak Benbasat,et al.  An Experimental Investigation of the Impact of Computer Based Decision Aids on Decision Making Strategies , 1991, Inf. Syst. Res..

[2]  Fred Niederman,et al.  DSS theory: A model of constructs and relationships , 1995, Decis. Support Syst..

[3]  Jack A. Goncalo,et al.  Hidden consequences of the group-serving bias: Causal attributions and the quality of group decision making , 2008 .

[4]  Diana L. Young,et al.  Decision making under time pressure, modeled in a prospect theory framework. , 2012, Organizational behavior and human decision processes.

[5]  Bolanle A. Olaniran,et al.  Perceived Communication Outcomes in Computer-Mediated Mommunication: An Analysis of Three Systems among new Users , 1995, Inf. Process. Manag..

[6]  Jay Hall,et al.  The Effects of a Normative Intervention on Group Decision-Making Performance , 1970 .

[7]  Irving M. Lane,et al.  Quality and Acceptance of an Evaluative Task: The Effects of Four Group Decision-Making Formats , 1984 .

[8]  J. Baron,et al.  Outcome bias in decision evaluation. , 1988, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[9]  Herbert A. Simon The new science of management decision. , 1960 .

[10]  G. Rathnam,et al.  Interaction effects of consumers' product class knowledge and agent search strategy on consumer decision making in electronic commerce , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics - Part A: Systems and Humans.

[11]  Pai-Cheng Chu,et al.  The Joint Effects of Effort and Quality on Decision Strategy Choice with Computerized Decision Aids , 2000, Decis. Sci..

[12]  C. D. De Dreu,et al.  Minority dissent and team innovation: the importance of participation in decision making. , 2001, The Journal of applied psychology.

[13]  Alan R. Dennis,et al.  Information Exchange and Use in Group Decision Making: You Can Lead a Group to Information, but You Can't Make It Think , 1996, MIS Q..

[14]  Glyn Elwyn,et al.  Deliberation before determination: the definition and evaluation of good decision making , 2009, Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy.

[15]  Paul M. Nemiroff Group Decision-Making Performance as Influenced by Consensus and Self-Orientation. Paper No. 426. , 1973 .

[16]  Verlin B. Hinsz,et al.  The emerging conceptualization of groups as information processors. , 1997, Psychological bulletin.

[17]  Joseph Arvai,et al.  Good decisions, bad decisions: the interaction of process and outcome in evaluations of decision quality , 2010 .

[18]  George M. Kasper,et al.  A Theory of Decision Support System Design for User Calibration , 1996, Inf. Syst. Res..

[19]  M. Sturman,et al.  COMPUTERIZED DECISION AIDS FOR FLEXIBLE BENEFITS DECISIONS: THE EFFECTS OF AN EXPERT SYSTEM AND DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM ON EMPLOYEE INTENTIONS AND SATISFACTION WITH BENEFITS , 1996 .

[20]  Frédéric Adam,et al.  On the Legacy of Herbert Simon and his Contribution to Decision-making Support Systems and Artificial Intelligence , 2006 .

[21]  D. Garvin,et al.  What you don't know about making decisions , 2001, IEEE Engineering Management Review.

[22]  Philip Yetton,et al.  An integration of process and decision scheme explanations of group problem solving performance , 1988 .

[23]  S. Schulz-Hardt,et al.  Productive conflict in group decision making: genuine and contrived dissent as strategies to counteract biased information seeking☆ , 2002 .

[24]  B. Nijstad,et al.  Motivated information processing and group decision-making: Effects of process accountability on information processing and decision quality☆ , 2007 .

[25]  L. Thompson,et al.  Old wine in a new bottle: Impact of membership change on group creativity , 2005 .

[26]  Edward J. Garrity,et al.  An experimental investigation of web-based information systems success in the context of electronic commerce , 2005, Decis. Support Syst..

[27]  Susan M. Houghton,et al.  No Safety in Numbers , 2000 .

[28]  Akhilesh Chandra,et al.  Representational congruence and information retrieval: Towards an extended model of cognitive fit , 1999, Decis. Support Syst..

[29]  W. Wayne Talarzyk,et al.  Electronic Information Systems for Consumers: An Evaluation of Computer-Assisted Formats in Multiple Decision Environments , 1993 .

[30]  Joyce J. Elam,et al.  Inside a software design team: knowledge acquisition, sharing, and integration , 1993, CACM.

[31]  Ramon J. Aldag,et al.  Beyond fiasco: A reappraisal of the groupthink phenomenon and a new model of group decision processes. , 1993 .

[32]  Ichiro Innami The Quality of Group Decisions, Group Verbal Behavior, and Intervention , 1994 .

[33]  Kieran Conboy,et al.  Group Process Losses in Agile Software Development Decision Making , 2013, Int. J. Intell. Inf. Technol..

[34]  Michael Doyle,et al.  Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making , 1998 .

[35]  B. Fischoff Hindsight (Not Equal To) Foresight: The Effect of Outcome Knowledge on Judgment Under Uncertainty. , 1975 .