An Experiment Assessing Group Support System and Facilitator Effects on Meeting Outcomes
实验研究人类促进者和计算机化群体支持系统对群体会议结果的影响，发现促进者改善群体过程和凝聚力，而群体支持系统无显著效果，两者结合有协同作用。
This paper is dedicated to the memory of Bye Wynne, who never held back from life, charging those he touched with his vigor, heart, and mind. Thanks. This article reports on an experiment investigating the effects of a human facilitator and a computerized Group Support System (GSS) on group meeting outcomes. These treatments were applied in the same way as they are in real organizational situations, with experimental conditions used to control confounding influences of other outside factors. Forty-eight groups were supported by one, both, or neither of the GSS and facilitator treatments. Groups designed a coordinated production strategy during the meeting and then implemented their strategy. Group performance, perceptions of group cohension, and group interaction processes were assessed as the primary dependent variables. Facilitated groups experienced improved group processes and greater cohesion, whereas the GSS-supported groups did not. Facilitator and GSS support together tended to enhance one another's effective influence on cohesion and processes. No significant treatment effects on Performance were found. Supplemental analyses revealed that the quality of facilitators and the restrictiveness of different GSS tools moderated their impacts on appropriation processes and group outcomes.