KPH First Unit

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BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE AND BUSINESS DECISIONS

Q. 1 What is Groupware technology ?

Or What is groupware ? What is technologies are used for groupware ?

Or What do you mean by Groupware ? Explain various groupware tools and technologies.

Or Define the term groupware technologies.

Or Discuss different groupware technologies.

Ans : Groupware Technologies: Groupware is defined as any software that enables group collaboration over a network. These technologies have the potential to increase collaboration at a distance while reducing the cost of travel and the time knowledge workers waste in transit. Groupware provides flexible communication structures (connecting people in new ways), increased communication speed, increased work performance and productivity, organizational memory capability, etc. 

Examples of Groupware Technologies Include:

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(1) Shared authoring tools such as MS Office applications (Word, Excel, etc) which include common word processing programs, graphics programs and sound-editing facilities. Many stand-alone applications can be considered as groupware if they can access and modify a document on the web or a common server.

(2) E-mail systems such as MS Outlook express, support multiple text-based communications and is the most often used groupware online forums are real-time, text-based systems that allow group posting and response to text messages. They are self-archiving, in that the sequence of text-based conversations involving dozens or even hundreds of contributors is maintained for review by others.

(3) Instant messaging such as AOL messenger is a growing form of groupware that allows knowledge workers working away from their desks to exchange short items of information. The string of messages is not stored automatically for future reference.

(4) Screen sharing allows a user with the appropriate access privileges to connect to and take control of a remote PC. It is popular in training and troubleshooting situations where a support person can show the trainee at a remote site how to perform an operation and then watch as the trainee attempts to do the operation.

(5) Electronic whiteboard provides a virtual whiteboard drawing space that enables multiple collaborators to take turns at authoring and modifying hand-drawn graphics or simply by posting a slide for a presentation. They are used in conjunction with other products, such as videoconferencing which is the real-time, multi-way broadcasting of video and audio. 

(6) Videoconferencing such as Skye conferences, allow real-time, multi-way broadcasting of video and audio, using telephone lines for audio and the Internet or other networks for the video channels.

(7) Multimodal conferencing supports real-time group sharing of an electronic whiteboard, a text forum, audio, and multiple-channel video and audio.

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Computer conferencing provides meeting participants with connectivity and with a database of comments and interactions, Electronic bulletin boards are a simple type of groupware. Email is also a groupware tool. Other capabilities of groupware software include information sharing, joint document authoring, shared calendars, and project management. Groupware provides support for communication and collaboration among group members and it provides co-ordination for group tasks. conferencing system, messaging system or bulletin board is a widely used tool. It allows posting of messages that can be read and responded to by team members and meeting participants at any time. A conferencing system can b searched for content, sender, and date of sending. Also, posted articles or messages can have embedded hyperlinks. Most conferencing systems can have any number of topics or forums. Many of us use electronic mail. An electronic mail facility is needed to provide one-to-one message transfer among team members. Email remains an important communication and collaboration tool. A chat tool is also sometimes useful. A chat tool provides real-time text-based communication among participants. People can type in a message and they can "chat" with others in the chat session. An interesting meeting support tool is a Whiteboard. A Whiteboard allows for real-time communication among meeting participants using a graphical drawing or painting interface. Most groupware programs let users transmit email, but they also tend to have such features as group calendars, databases and message boards. Groupware programs let users check other staff members schedules in order to plan meetings. One of the biggest strengths of groupware programs is their messaging capability.

A Managerial Perspective Group Decision on Support: Using alternative communications media raises very different sets of questions for managers. The important task for a manager who is implementing communications-driven DSS is to ask relevant questions related to how a proposed technology can support a decision group or work team. Let's examine some group support technologies and various questions that should concern managers.

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Audio Conferencing: In a meeting that uses audio conferencing, how can you help participants have a sense of who is present? How can you sense when people have something to say so you can make sure that everyone has a chance to be heard? How many people can effectively participate in an audio conference?

Bulletin Boards and Web-Conferencing: Will managers use the technology? If so, how can you support an interesting and engaging conversation among people who don't access comments at the same time? How do you know when it's time to make a decision and how do you know when there is closure about a choice? How do you deal with conflict when everyone is participating at different times? What's the virtual equivalent of eye contact? How can participants build a culture that will support the distributed decision-making process?'

Document Sharing: How can you balance the need to access and process large amounts of information with the goal of developing relationships and trust among team members? Does document sharing help or hurt team building? Is document sharing different for internal and external users?

Electronic Mail : Are managers currently using email? What norms need to be established for things like response time and whether email can be forwarded to others? What norms are important about who gets copied on email messages and whether or not there are blind copies? How does the style of email messages influence how people feel about the team? How can managers discourage flaming, the sending of harsh and inflammatory messages?

GDSS and Computer-supported Face-to-face Meetings : If we hold such a meeting supported by a Group Decision Support System, how does the ability to contribute anonymous input affect the team? How can you test whether consensus in the group is meaningful or an artifact of the computer-supported session? How much training is needed? How much will the software are used?

Interactive Video: In a decision conference with video conferencing, how you help participants feel can comfortable with being on TV and being recorded? How can you manage a meeting with multiple remote participants at different locations to make sure that everyone has a chance to be heard?

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