RESTRICTIVE GROUP SUPPORT SYSTEMS AS A SOURCE OF PROCESS STRUCTURE FOR HIGH AND LOW PROCEDURAL ORDER GROUPS

Most Group Support Systems (GSSs) have been designed to provide struct ure and process support for decision-making groups, but individuals an d groups may have preferences for structuring group work that are not always compatible with the assumptions of GSS designers. This research reports a laboratory experiment which manipulated the degree of restr ictive structure in a GSS and the preference for procedural order of t he group. Performance was generally better when groups used the nonres trictive GSS, although they were more satisfied with the restrictive e nvironment. The results of this research suggest that preference for p rocedural order and restrictiveness moderates the manner in which tech nology-supported decision processes are used and perceived These resul ts have implications for the organizational implementation of current GSS configurations and for future GSS design.