THE IMPACT OF A STRUCTURED-ARGUMENT APPROACH ON GROUP-PROBLEM FORMULATION

Despite advances in decision analysis and decision support systems, fe w formulaic procedures exist for undertaking problem formulation, part icularly in group settings. This leaves managers with little procedura l support for the important task of carefully structuring problems. In a laboratory experiment of 29 intact student teams, we contrasted two problem formulation methodologies: a structured argument approach (ba sed on application of formal reasoning) and a group process approach ( based on private idea generation prior to public sharing and evaluatio n of ideas). The structured argument approach took more time to use an d failed to bring about more information search and equivocality reduc tion in group discussions. On the positive side, however, the structur ed argument approach led to a greater combination of both coverage of critical issues and consensus on those issues. Use of the structured a rgument approach also resulted in higher satisfaction with the problem definition and commitment to implementing results of the group meetin g. Overall, the results reveal cost/benefit tradeoffs associated with developing argumentation-based procedures for problem formulation.