USING GROUP SUPPORT SYSTEMS TO DISCOVER HIDDEN PROFILES - AN EXAMINATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF GROUP-SIZE AND MEETING STRUCTURES ON INFORMATION SHARING AND DECISION QUALITY

This paper reports on an experimental study of information sharing for groups using a group support system (GSS). A group member's success o r failure in sharing unique information can have important impacts on meeting outcomes. This research builds on previous work which has exam ined various factors that impact information-sharing performance. To e xamine these issues, groups processed a hidden profile task, i.e. a ta sk with an asymmetrical distribution of information. In addition, grou p size (groups of four and seven) and the level of structure (structur ed or unstructured agenda) were manipulated. Results show that group s ize had no effect on information sharing. However, groups using the st ructured agenda shared more initially-shared information and initially -unshared information. Although no relationship was found between info rmation-sharing performance and decision quality, a curvilinear (U-sha ped) relationship between information sharing and satisfaction was obs erved. These results show that, for hidden-profile tasks, a critical p erformance level must be reached before performance is positively rela ted to satisfaction. The paper concludes with a discussion of the find ings and the implications for future research and use. (C) 1997 Academ ic Press Limited.