Groupware

The term groupware refers to software products that support groups of people engaged in a common task or goal. The software provides a mechanism to share opinions and resources (Ellis et al. [1991] and Kaplan [1992]). The term groupware is known in the computer industry to be very ambiguous, and indeed there are hundreds of products on the market (e.g., see Briere [1991]), some of which may not be true groupware. Johansen [1988] has identified seventeen different approaches for computer support in groups, and for supporting group decision making.

The role and opportunities offered by groupware as it relates to decision support is discussed by Migliarese and Paolacci [1995]. The authors discuss such issues as teams, innovation, and coordination.

More than 4,000 software vendors now exist, offering more than 8,000 Windows-based applications and development tools that can be workgroup-enabled and used as components in customer solutions. The many needs facing an organization today require, in most cases, the use of several software products and vendors, working together within an open architecture, to deliver the best solutions for real-world business problems.

The following are some examples of both groupware applications and development tools:

1. Idea generation. Sample products are discussed in Chapters 10 and 19.

2. Managing sessions. Two expert system products were developed for managing group sessions: Expert Session Manager and Expert System Planner. (For details contact Robert Mockler at St. John's University, New York.)

3. Multi-criteria decision making products. These are described in Chapter 5.

4. Strategic Planning Planner. (From Ronin Development Corporation of Princeton, NJ; see Mockler [1992] for details.) A simple stand-alone brainstorming tool (from Experience in Software Inc., Berkeley, CA) guides users through three levels of problem solving.

5. Innovator. This meeting-enhancement keypad system polls an audience and provides feedback (from Wilson Learning Corp., Eden Prairie, MN); it is specifically geared toward idea generation, consensus building, and focus research for strategic planning.

6. One Touch. This multimedia-based package (from One Touch System, Santa Clara, CA) is designed to support remote teaching and conferencing. It has voting keypads, one-way satellite-relayed video, and two-way audio.

7. OptionFinder. This "X-Y Window"-based package (from Option Technology, Mendota Heights, MN) allows groups to brainstorm, weigh alternatives, identify priorities, vote, and work toward consensus in a non-decision room setting. Radio controlled electronic keypad devices that look like calculators are used.

8. Higgins. This is basically group scheduler software (from Enable Software Higgins Group, Ballston Lake, NY). To do its job, the software interacts with personal calendars of the participants. It works via E-mail to confirm schedules.

9. Consensus Builder. This product has a knowledge base for supporting decision making in a group (from Magic 7 Software, Los Altos, CA). It helps in resolving conflicts and taking prompt action. The product weights each participant's judgment in accordance with his or her own personal standards, capabilities and biases. It points to similarities among the participants, as well as to differences.

10. Coordinator. This is an integrated E-mail, scheduling, and calendaring package (from DaVinci Systems Corp., Morrisville, NC).

11. Meeting Maker. This is a leading groupware scheduler (from ON Technology Corp., Cambridge, MA).

12. Vineyard. This is a workgroup-based system for Windows. It transforms a LAN into a repository of shared information available to all group members (from Data Fellows Inc., Mountain View, CA).

13. OptionLink. This commercial version of Comments (developed at Indiana University) provides real-time brainstorming for participants at different places and/or different times as their schedules permit (from Option Technology, Mendota Heights, MN).

14. LiveBoard. LiveBoard is a directly interactive, stylus based, large display area that creates an electronic document 5-feet-wide. It can be shared through ordinary telephone lines for simultaneous viewing and editing at any remote location. As a multimedia tool, the LiveBoard is capable of displaying full-motion, color video and provides high quality audio (from Xerox Parc Labs).

15. Iris. Iris is a distributed, multi-user collaborative multimedia writing environment (contact Michael Koch at the Technical University of Munich, Germany).

16. Inforum. Inforum assists office communications and the decision making process by facilitating the on-going communication between members of the office by organizing, streamlining and documenting the meeting process. It supports the different time / different place environment (from MacVONK USA).

17. The Meeting Room. The Meeting Room can provide the full functionality of a face-to-face meeting, including anonymous sessions, and text or audio capability (from Eden Systems Corp.).

18. InConcert. InConcert is an open platform for workflow management systems, which can be integrated with a variety of backend services and front-end client interfaces. It automatically tracks and distributes all tasks in the workflow process, locating the required business documents and software tools needed for each step of a project and delivering them at the right time to the appropriate people (from XSoft, Palo Alto, CA).

19. Conference+. This groupware provides for replicated public folders, shared documents, electronic forms and distributed applications on legacy networks. Custom views and search facilities are provided (from Mesa Group Inc., Newton, MA).

20. Team Expert Choice. Team Expert Choice allows a group to utilize the powerful Expert Choice software (see Chapter 5), by automatically synthesizing results of the group to reach consensus. It further includes several other modules for groupwork, some of which use wireless electronic keypads for building consensus (from Expert Choice, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA).

21. GroupSystems for Windows (GroupSystems V for DOS) is a complete suite of electronic meeting room software (from Ventana Corp., Tucson, AZ) .

22. TCBWorks is one of the first Web-based groupware products for supporting groups in electronic meetings over different times/different places (contact Alan Dennis at The University of Georgia. A running demo is available at http://tcbworks.cba.uga.edu/). The following are some examples of both groupware applications and development tools:

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Telecommuting

A team of students at The University of Georgia wrote an interesting paper on telecommuting. Click here to have a look.

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Additional Exercises

Additional Exercise W9.1.
Read the article "Groupware Enhances Teamwork at The Sports Authority," Chain Store Age, Vol.72, No. 11, 73-76, Nov. 1996 (available via ABI/Inform). Describe the use of Lotus Notes by The Sports Authority. Compare its uses to those of J.P. Morgan as described in the Opening Vignette.

Additional Exercise W9.3.
General Electric saves $240,000 per year (in 1996) in printing costs by using its Intranet to publish a simple directory of company information (see "The New Way to Share Workgroup Information," White Paper, Netscape Communications Corp., http://www.netscape.com/comprod/at_work/white_paper/gold_white_paper.html, January 1997).. How is this possible? Explain. What other kinds of information could be published over the Web to reduce its distribution costs, and improve access and timeliness in a medium to large business? Explain? What course materials could be posted to a Web site and what would be the advantages and disadvantages? Explain. How would you perform a benefit / cost analysis of whether such an implementation is worthwhile?

Additional Exercise W9.8.
Look up information in the literature and from Microsoft Corp. on Touchdown. Describe its groupware capabilities. Compare and contrast its functionality with those of Lotus Notes and Netscape Communicator.

Additional Exercise W9.9.
How would you feel about taking a course that uses the Internet or a package such as Lotus Notes to enhance group communication and communication with the instructor? Read G. Drake, E. Kallman, and M.A. Robbert, "Lotus Notes for Collaborative Coursework: An On-going Experiment," Proceedings of the 1996 Americas Conference of the Association for Information Systems, Phoenix, Aug. 1996 (may be accessed at http://hsb.baylor.edu/ramsower/ais.ac.96 or by links from http://info.pitt.edu/~ais), or a follow-up article, and describe the experiences that the students and faculty in an undergraduate MIS course had using Lotus Notes. What advantages and disadvantages does such an approach have?

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Internet Exercises

Internet Exercise W9.4.
If you have a sound card with a microphone and speakers on your PC, access the VocalTec Web site, http://www.vocaltech.com/, download and install their fully functional Internet long distance telephone software. Get a friend in another city to do the same. Contact each other via the Internet using your computer as a telephone. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the Internet for telephone service? Compare your experience to that of making a standard telephone call.

Internet Exercise W9.5.
If you have a sound card with speakers, a Web browser and Web access on your PC, access the RealAudio Web site (http://www.realaudio.com/ ), and download and install the latest available version of the RealAudio application for your Web browser (If already present, you can skip this step). While running your Web browser, access some RealAudio sites (radio stations and sound archive companies and organizations) and experience it. How often did the signal 'drop' out? What did you (or didn't you) hear. Watch the details of the buffering of RealAudio on its operation window. What are the communication possibilities of such technology?

Internet Exercise W9.6.
Identify four to seven E-mail systems by searching the Web. Describe their features and determine what selection criteria would be important in choosing an E-mail system for a particular business (pick a business you know, or the university). Use Expert Choice (see Chapter 5) to evaluate which system would be the best choice.

Internet Exercise W9.7.
Access the CSE Systems (Klagenfurt, Austria) Web site at http://www.csesys.co.at/). If you have the correct hardware and operating system, download, install and try the full functional Trial Version of CSE/WorkFlow. Report your experience to the class.

Internet Exercise W9.8.
Access the Cap Gemini Sogeti Web site http://mark.cginn.cgs.fr:4711/Demos.html. Available demos include a workflow demo for Windows case for insurance underwriting and a workflow on the World Wide Web demo that supports electronic shopping on the Internet using Process Weaver as a Workflow server. Try these demos out and report your findings.

Internet Exercise W9.9.
Access the InfoTEST International (Denver, CO) Web site (http://www.infotest.com/) and determine the latest developments in the Enhanced Product Realization (EPR) system. What technologies have they merged into the EPR? Describe the testing successes and failures reported by the organization.

Internet Exercise W9.10.
Access Netscape Communications Corp.'s Web site (http://www/netscape.com/).

a) Identify and evaluate the corporation's vision and strategies for the next few years (see the White Papers).
b) Describe any new products that enhance or complement Netscape Communicator.
c) Read and evaluate the White Paper "The New Way to Share Workgroup Information," and "Intranets Redefine Corporate Information Systems." Then, examine the firm's customer profiles and describe how at least three customers are currently utilizing Netscape products for group applications and the Intranet as an information architecture.
d) View demos of the firm's software. Describe your experiences.

a) Use the Internet to find out what relevant courses are being taught in each of the four universities.
b) Compare the relevant curricula.
c) Select the curriculum that covers the most on the subjects.
d) Access the IS World Net Web site at http://www.isworld.org/isworld.html Follow the hyperlinks to courses and identify other colleges and universities that offer courses on Electronic Commerce. Do any offer topics outside of the four mentioned earlier? If so, what are they?
e) Send an E-mail message to a potential employer in the Internet field (e.g., Netscape, America On Line, IBM, Microsoft) and ask their opinion regarding your choice.

Internet Exercise W9.14.
Visit the Goodyear website at http://www.goodyear.com and select "What's the right tire for me?" Run the Goodyear Tire Selector to identify your appropriate vehicle tires. Describe your experience.

Internet Exercise W9.19
Search the Web to identify the latest tools and methods for telecommuting. Report your findings to the class (e.g., try http://www.gandalf.ac).

Additional Internet Exercise W9.Extra.
Create your own Web page. You may want to use pages on the Web as a guideline (you can View the Document source to see how HTML looks, or use an existing word processing package like the latest version of Word or WordPerfect. The word processors can automatically generate and display the HTML code. Alternatively, see Stull [1997].

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About Case Application 9.1:
See the Cushman and Wakefield web site for information about the company and its business to the general public.

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Representative Web Search Engines
 

Search Engine	Address
Yahoo	http://www.yahoo.com
Lycos	http://www.lycos.com
WebCrawler	http://www.webcrawler.com
Alta Vista	http://www.altavista.com
Infoseek	http://www.infoseek.com
Excite	http://www.excite.com

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Workflow Systems

Here are some Workflow Systems Web sites that were mentioned in the book (page 314):
 

Web Site	Address
Workflow And Reengineering International Association (WARIA)  Lighthouse Point, FL	http://www.waria.com/waria
Concordium Software Ltd.  Hampshire, UK  "Wow! Workflow on the Web"	http://www.CityScape.co.uk/users/ef48
Workflow Management Coalition  Brussels, Belgium	http://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/WfMC
Fraunhofer Institut Software- und Systemtechnik  "Workflow and Groupware Product Information"	http://www.do.isst.fhg.de/workflow/pages/ Produkte_Englisch.html

 
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Three basic types of databases are used in Notes:

• Discussion databases: The most common type of database, these enable users to participate in written meetings and are usually classified by subject.
• Document libraries: These store written information normally printed on paper. Databases can be created containing reports, memos, forms, and other documents.
• Information services: These enable users to obtain the latest information about selected topics.

Ed Catlett, assistant vice president of Johnson & Higgins, an insurance brokerage firm, uses Notes extensively. The firm uses Notes to exchange information between branch offices and hundreds of insurers worldwide. Catlett says, "You need the people to administer and support the database. You have to have technical people who understand how the servers talk to one another. You have to do disk capacity planning, because you are keeping duplicates of your database in various locations."

Accessing Notes

One important aspect of the use of groupware is authorized access. With Notes, the creator of each database controls who has access to the information contained within it. The creator, or database manager, can choose one of the seven following access levels:

• No Access. No access of any kind allowed.
• Depositor. Can create new documents, but cannot read existing documents.
• Reader. Can only read documents.
• Author. Can create and read documents.
• Editor. Can create, modify, and delete documents.
• Designer. Has all capabilities of author, and can create and modify forms.
• Manager. Can perform all possible operations.

Several add-on products are available from Lotus and other vendors, such as document imaging, subscription services, and workflow management. One such example is Video Notes.

Video Notes. This product allows two Notes users to conduct real-time, full-motion video conferencing across an optic network. It allows users to integrate data from Notes and SQL databases. The important feature of the product is that it allows users to query and update Notes and SQL databases.

Intelligent Agents. Intelligent agents reside on Notes servers to filter, abstract, and deliver customized data to users. One drawback to using regular Notes is that users can be bombarded with information. Sorting relevant information can be very time consuming. The intelligent agent allows users to instruct the Notes server about the information they need. It scans the information coming into the server and extracts or combines data, meeting predefined criteria, and forwards the information to the user.

The eight-step scenario shown in Figure W9.1 illustrates Notes' capabilities. Each step is executed with a different module. Step 7 is a part of the workflow capability.
 

Figure W9.1: Using Lotus Notes (screen shot omitted).  1. Michelle's Notes desktop (screen shot omitted) consists of Notes icons. Each icon represents a different Notes application. She uses these to work with people all over the world including the field sales team, manufacturing, engineering, R&D, key customers, and senior management. She regularly scans activities in the field by double clicking on ACCOUNT STATUS. 2. Today, she notices a number of entries regarding a slow-down in closing first quarter reorders for their most popular model, the MountainMaster off-road bike. It seems the market for this high-priced bike is beginning to dry up. This could be a major problem. 3. She decides to recommend a price-reduction and double clicks into the STRATEGIC PRODUCT DISCUSSION database. This provides an organization-wide forum to discuss issues and brainstorm solutions. She links the report from the Atlanata rep directly into her Notes document. Then, she uses DDE to embed some 1-2-3 charts into her document as well. 4. Later in the day, she re-enters the DISCUSSION database looking for responses. Her boss, John, has logged on from his hotel room in San Francisco. Rather than cut the margin, he suggests she explore the feasibility of adding a mid-priced bike to their line. He wants an initial presentation for Friday. 5. The next morning she checks into the DISCUSSION database and this time finds an entry from Reggie in R&D. Reggie had also read Jim's message and is responding with a possible solution his people have been playing with. He pastes in an AutoCAD illustration faxed to him from the U.K. using a Notes incoming fax gateway 6. With a presentation on Friday, Michelle gets down to some quick market research by opening up the CYCLING INDUSTRY NEWS database. An organized source of live industry data, it provides a news report on a French company that has a couple months head start developing a hybrid bike. 7. A few days after routing her proposal to the product team, she wants to find out where it stands within the organization. She opens the ROUTING STATUS application to find that it has worked its way through the organization to Desmond, the senior decision-maker, and has been finally approved. So, she's on her way. 8. Michelle closes the loop by communicating the news to their customers. Double clicking into the CUSTOMER FEEDBACK database, she faxes a memo directly from Notes to all retailers. In it, she explains that the compnay has heard their problems and responded with the Hill Hopper. And with delivery in 60 days, they can order now. (Source: Lotus Development Corporation. Used with permission of Lotus Development Corporation. For more information about Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino/Notes Server, see http://www.lotus.com .)

 
Competing Products. Several products compete with Notes: Touchdown from Microsoft, Groupware from IBM, GroupWise from Novell Corporation, and Netscape Communicator.

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Netscape Conference

Netscape Conference incorporates the latest audio-compression technology to ensure high audio quality. A robust array of collaboration tools -- including whiteboard, chat, and file transfer -- provide rich interactive capabilities. Netscape Navigator is also enabled for collaborative sessions. Netscape Conference is tightly integrated with Netscape Messenger and Netscape Navigator software, making desktop conferencing a natural form of communication.

Professional Edition

Netscape Communicator Professional Edition software has two important capabilities to boost organizational efficiency: Netscape Calendar and Netscape AutoAdmin. Netscape Calendar enterprise scheduling software helps coordinate people and resources. Netscape AutoAdmin allows for centralized management and control of Netscape Communicator in an enterprise environment.

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Customer Support

Customer support may include several activities. Here are some examples:

• American Airlines; (www.americanair.com) offers flight and fare information such as: flight schedules, fare quotes (savings are available for Internet users), flight arrival and departure times as well as gate information. The site also features a way to check frequent flyer miles on-line. Web consumers can browse through a wide variety of destinations and view pictures of the scenery at each location before selecting a package offered by American Fly Away Vacations. Reservations for these vacations can be made on-line (you may buy the tickets too).
• Federal Express; (www.fedex.com) allows you to download shipping and tracking software that is compatible with your PC or your MAC. The Fed Ex shipping software allows you to print bar-coded shipping labels on a laser printer. Knowing the code (or the billing number) the tracking software allows you to track a Fed Ex package regardless of where it was originated or is headed. If the package has already been delivered, the software will tell you who signed for it. The site also provides information about all Federal Express locations and delivery options. FedEx uses DSS to analyze information collected daily regarding packages deliveries.
• Dell, Compaq and other computer companies provide an electronic help desk to their customers. Customers E-mail queries and get an answer within few hours. In the future such a service can be automated, using intelligent agents that will enable on-line problem determination and resolution by the customers themselves. Other advances include using expert systems in the help desk. Try the on-line demonstrations by Ginesys Corp. (Greenville, SC) at http://www.ginesys.com.
• Computer companies also provide free software upgrades, add-ins, and printer drivers over the Web, thus eliminating the need for the user to make expensive phone calls, stay on hold waiting for assistance, and wait for a disk to be delivered by mail. These self-help software upgrades greatly enhance the image of the firm as it is proving to be a superior service. For example, Microsoft Corp. provides free "patch" upgrades to its Office software users. A set of Internet Assistant products were made available at the Microsoft Web site in 1996. These files could be downloaded and installed so that the Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, etc.) could automatically produce Web-ready documents (in the HTML standard, see Appendix 9-A, directly from their own internally formatted documents) and browse the Web within the application package. New versions of these products have this capability.
• Fidelity Investments; (www.fidelity.com) provides investors with "the right tools to make their own best investment decisions." The site has eight major sections consisting of the following: daily updates of financial news, information on Fidelity's mutual funds, material for interactive investment and retirement planning, and brokerage services.

Miscellaneous Links

Check out the Anheuser Busch Corporation web site for a great 3-D virtual environment.

For information about Lotus Notes, browse through their web site at http://www2.lotus.com.

Find out about all the advantages and disadvantages of Netscape Communicator at http://www.netscape.com.

Take a look at http://www.fagg.uni-lj.si/SHARE for different types of shareware that you are allowed to download, but expected to pay for continued use.

Get information about the Enhanced Product Realization (EPR) system from the "InfoTEST International Enhanced Product Realization Extranet" (InfoTEST International, Denver, CO, Sept. 1996) and "Landmark Demonstration Proves Extranet's Potential" (The Bitstream, Vol.1, No. 10, InfoTEST International, Denver, CO, Dec. 18, 1996).

For information on Video Teleconferencing products, take a look at VocalTec Inc., Microsoft Corp., Intel Corp., IBM, Lucent Technologies Inc., and PictureTel Corp.

Download the Cu-SeeMe video conferencing freeware package from Cornell Information Technologies at Cornell University.

Take a look at all the great features of General Motors Corporation's web site, which includes multimedia, live chats, and virtual reality applications.

Trying to find the right tire? Go to the Goodyear Web Site and play with the Goodyear Tire Selector, where you will be asked to select vehicle information and tire preferences. Based on this information, a set of specific recommendations for tires is given

Third-party EDI services that offer EDI systems to small businesses over the web include GE Information Services (GE TradeWeb), Harbinger Corp. (TrustedLink Guardian), and DATA Clearinghouse.

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