Theoretical frameworks for the study of structuring processes in group decision support systems: adaptive structuration theory and self-organizing systems theory

Most theoretical perspectives used to explain the use and effects of communication and decision support technologies assume some form of technological determinism. Inconsistencies in the research findings have prompted theorists to reject the assumptions of technological determinism in favor of an emergent perspective. To date, only adaptive Structuration theory (AST) offers the promise of satisfying two requirements for explanation based on an emergent perspective: recursivity and unique effects. The current article reviews the application of AST to the study of a relatively recent technology in the work place—group decision support systems (GDSS). Next it discusses AST's challenge to capture, dynamically and precisely, GDSS processes and outcomes. In response to these concerns, self-organizing systems theory (SOST) is reviewed and applied to problematic areas in GDSS research with the aim of advancing AST.

[1]  A. Abbott.  Transcending General Linear Reality , 1988 .

[2]  E. Jantsch.  The self-organizing universe : scientific and human implications of the emerging paradigm of evolution , 1980 .

[3]  E. Ramsden.  Group Process and Productivity , 1973 .

[4]  Ilya Prigogine,et al.  From Being To Becoming , 1980 .

[5]  Robert Johansen,et al.  Groupware: Computer Support for Business Teams , 1988 .

[6]  Maureen S. Battistella,et al.  Connections: New Ways of Working in the Networked Organization , 1991 .

[7]  Robert A. Hanneman,et al.  Computer-Assisted Theory Building: Modeling Dynamic Social Systems , 1988 .

[8]  Gerardine DeSanctis,et al.  Understanding the use of Group Decision Support Systems: The Theory of Adaptive Structuration , 1990 .

[9]  Robert Johansen,et al.  Social evaluations of teleconferencing , 1977 .

[10]  A. Zander.  The Psychology of Group Processes , 1979 .

[11]  A. Giddens.  The Constitution of Society , 1985 .

[12]  Brad M. Jackson,et al.  Interpretive analysis of team use of group technologies , 1993 .

[13]  Rob Kling,et al.  The Web of Computing: Computer Technology as Social Organization , 1982, Adv. Comput..

[14]  Valerie A. Haines,et al.  Social network analysis, structuration theory and the holism-individualism debate , 1988 .

[15]  Gerardine DeSanctis,et al.  Understanding the differences in collaborative system use through appropriation analysis , 1991, Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[16]  Noshir Contractor,et al.  Self-organizing systems perspective in the study of organizational communication , 1994 .

[17]  John Short,et al.  The social psychology of telecommunications , 1976 .

[18]  S. Barley.  The alignment of technology and structure through roles and networks. , 1990, Administrative science quarterly.

[19]  J. Gribbin.  Looking Glass Universe: The Emerging Science of Wholeness , 1985 .

[20]  Michael E. Holmes,et al.  Conflict management in a computer-supported meeting in a computer supported meeting environment , 1991 .

[21]  A. Callinicos.  Anthony Giddens , 1985 .

[22]  R. Bales,et al.  Phases in group problem-solving. , 1951, Journal of abnormal and social psychology.

[23]  F. David Peat,et al.  Turbulent Mirror: An Illustrated Guide to Chaos Theory and the Science of Wholeness , 1989 .

[24]  Richard L. Daft,et al.  Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design , 1986 .

[25]  Robert W. Powell,et al.  The Whole is Less Than the Sum of Its Parts. , 1974 .

[26]  S. Kiesler,et al.  Group decision making and communication technology , 1992 .

[27]  A. Vezza,et al.  Applications of information networks , 1978, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[28]  Thomas W. Malone,et al.  Designing organizational interfaces , 1985, CHI '85.

[29]  D. Lawrence Kincaid,et al.  CHAPTER 15 – The Convergence Theory of Communication, Self-Organization, and Cultural Evolution , 1987 .

[30]  R. Rohwer.  Order out of Chaos: Man's New Dialogue with Nature , 1986 .

[31]  Gerardine DeSanctis,et al.  Comprehensiveness and restrictiveness in group decision heuristics: effects of computer support on consensus decision making , 1989, ICIS '89.

[32]  J. Thompson.  Studies in the theory of ideology , 1987 .

[33]  Gerardine DeSanctis,et al.  Using computing to facilitate the quality improvemetn process: The IRS-Minnesota project , 1991 .

[34]  Lee Sigelman,et al.  Computer Simulation Applications: An Introduction , 1991 .

[35]  L. Curtin.  Thriving on chaos. , 1993, Nursing management.

[36]  Gerardine DeSanctis,et al.  Use of group decision support systems as an appropriation process , 1989, [1989] Proceedings of the Twenty-Second Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Volume IV: Emerging Technologies and Applications Track.

[37]  Peter R. Monge.  The systems perspective as a theoretical basis for the study of human communication , 1977 .

[38]  Lee Sproull,et al.  Connections: New Ways of Working in the Networked Organization , 1991 .

[39]  W. Sewell.  A Theory of Structure: Duality, Agency, and Transformation , 1989, American Journal of Sociology.

[40]  PooleMarshall Scott,et al.  Conflict Management in a Computer-Supported Meeting Environment , 1991 .

[41]  Marshall Scott,et al.  Microlevel Structuration in Computer-Supported Group Decision Making , 1992 .

[42]  Thomas W. Malone,et al.  The Information Lens: An Intelligent System for Information Sharing and Coordination , 1989 .

[43]  Margrethe H. Olson,et al.  Technological Support for Work Group Collaboration , 1989 .

[44]  Mark Stefik,et al.  Toward Portable Ideas , 1989 .

[45]  M. Markus,et al.  Information technology and organizational change: causal structure in theory and research , 1988 .

[46]  Starr Roxanne Hiltz,et al.  Productivity enhancement from computer-mediated communication: a systems contingency approach , 1988, CACM.

[47]  Vasant Dhar,et al.  Assumptions Underlying Systems that Support Work Group Collaboration , 1989 .

[48]  M. Lynne Markus,et al.  Toward a “Critical Mass” Theory of Interactive Media , 1987 .

[49]  M. Eigen,et al.  The Hypercycle: A principle of natural self-organization , 2009 .

[50]  Irene Greif,et al.  Computer-supported cooperative work: a book of readings , 1988 .

[51]  C. Steinfield,et al.  A Social Influence Model of Technology use , 1990 .

[52]  N. Contractor,et al.  Communication networks and new media in organizations , 1990 .

[53]  A. Giddens.  Central Problems In Social Theory , 1979 .

[54]  Steven W. Duck,et al.  Studying Interpersonal Interaction , 1992 .

[55]  James Gleick.  Chaos: Making a New Science , 1987 .

[56]  David Ashton,et al.  The Empirical Correlates of Action and Structure: The Transition from School to Work , 1991 .

[57]  Jonathan H. Turner.  The Theory of Structuration , 1986, American Journal of Sociology.

[58]  Robert E. Kraut,et al.  Intellectual Teamwork: Social and Technological Foundations of Cooperative Work , 1990 .

[59]  Marshall Scott Poole,et al.  Decision development in small groups I: A comparison of two models , 1981 .

[60]  H. Maturana,et al.  Autopoiesis: the organization of living systems, its characterization and a model. , 1974, Currents in modern biology.

[61]  K. Popper,et al.  The Arrow of Time , 1956, Nature.