A REVIEW OF RESEARCH IN GROUP SUPPORT SYSTEMS - LEADERS, APPROACHES AND DIRECTIONS

Research into Group Support Systems (GSS) is still in its early stages but there is great worldwide interest in the area of research. The st udy has addressed these developmental issues through a thorough examin ation of literature from thirteen core IS and GSS journals in the peri od from the first published GSS journal articles (1984) until the end of 1996. A small number of institutions and authors at or from these i nstitutions have dominated GSS research. Perhaps because of their domi nance, most GSS research has been on EMS (particularly GroupSystems) a nd so more work needs to be done on other EMS software and non-EMS app roaches. The study shows there is a clear need for more field work whe re studies involving actual stakeholders with their own problem(s) may reveal ways of improving technologies, methodologies and models, or s uggesting where new approaches may be needed. Further, theory developm ent has been limited and more conceptual work is needed along with emp irical studies which extend current theories and previous research stu dies. The effect of time and experience with GSS needs to be studied, and more emphasis should be placed on the development and refinement o f new models and methodologies. While the literature review carried ou t has some limitations, it still provides an interesting view of the f ield and may help researchers focus on the directions they wish to tak e in their research in GSS. A complete bibliography of the GSS literat ure for this study is available on the web at http://www.cbs.curtin.ed u.au/is/staff/ pervan.htm. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights r eserved.