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... tools for detecting and resolving product incompatibilities once they are in the field. " While these problems have not been totally solved and additional world-wide situations continue to arise, such significant progress has been made by the team that they are continuing operation into the second year (Lipnack and Stamps, 1997). The teams mentioned above have had success; however, a few of the team efforts at Sun Systems have failed although none were a complete disaster. Overall, the virtual team concept has been considered a resounding success. Three aspects of Sun's virtual team projects may point to success for other organisations wishing to utilize virtual teams: executive sponsorship, preparation, and infrastructure (Lipnack and Stamps, 1997). The popularity of groupware is not without some draw backs.
Most are associated with the users of the technology. Users need to first be willing to adopt the guidelines and requirements of the respective groupware systems (Khoshafian and Buckiewicz, 1995). It is often difficult to overcome this human factor of acceptance and cooperation because people are often resistant to change especially when technology is involved. Employees often come from a diverse background and the level of computer literacy will vary. Imbalances from the implementation of groupware can also occur when employees are forced to juggle their existing workloads with the need to study and use the new systems. This can be apparent when virtual teams are in the category of time / space scenarios, where the need to coordinate with members in different geographical time zones can affect employee schedules.
Another major factor that affects groupware implementation is the knowledge factor. It is often imbedded into organizational culture that through knowledge an individual gains power and importance. Employees in this position are not always willing to share power on most occasions (Cole-Gomolski, 1997). Coleman and Khanna, (1995) identify the blame for expensive failures organizations face during the implementation of groupware often lies with the people who have been allocated the technology. Management are often faced with the challenges of overcoming the emotional fears of people and the belief that groupware removes social contact (Coleman and Khanna, 1995). Groupware is really only successful if the employees using it feel comfortable and that the organization continues to support them and does not use the technology as a precursor to downsizing.
Groupware is emphasized by its ability to promote sharing and collaboration. However as mentioned prior, some employees have a tendency to keep their knowledge to themselves. They have a self belief that collaboration and sharing their knowledge will result with them loosing some of their power. To combat this self belief, managers need to create behavioral changes so that employees realize that through sharing knowledge and working together, the organization will benefit.
Furthermore management should empower their employees and encourage them to use the technology so that they can make more informed decisions and improve their efficiency (Coleman and Khanna, 1995). Groupware attempts to target groups and teams and does not serve organization wide goals such as an information system. For this reason management may be reluctant to commit toward groupware applications. An organization wont restructure itself in the same respect an information system would. For this reason groupware benefits from integration with existing systems and company procedures. Groupware is marketed as a product, whereas most information systems developments are created internal or contracted.
Groupware products are designed and evaluated to obtain a broad, competitive appeal, whereas internal IS staff have a specific set of users and must orchestrate their acceptance of a system. Each development context has its own objectives, constraints, approaches. There is little communication between product development, located in computer and software companies, and information systems development, located in large companies engaged in other businesses or in companies that develop software on contract. Different research communities have grown up around each with different conferences, journals, and even languages (Grudin, 1991). The use of groupware can be beneficial for the systems development community, primarily through the communication and collaborative support it provides for work groups. The decline in the cost of software and mobile communication technologies make groupware affordable and well within the reach of most individuals.
Groupware could be used to create a group decision support system or an electronic meeting room for members in the development team to communicate, discuss ideas and project developments and to collaboratively work on the design and development of a system. According to Global System Services Corporation (GSS, 1998), a leading US provider of consulting and professional services for large-scale and distributed infrastructure systems, groupware is increasingly being reinvented to become knowledge management. Knowledge work consists of tasks that involve human information processing, in which the main activities are expected to generate useful outcomes, even when the product or service cannot be completely specified in advance. Non-routine work typically raises uncertainties with no explicit or final solutions (Pava, 1983). Similar to groupware, knowledge management is a general term referring to a number of different applications exploiting different technologies. Unlike traditional collaborative computing applications, however, knowledge management focuses on collecting, processing, managing, and distributing corporate information, including information about business processes.
In practice, this is not different from the kinds of Notes applications that existed under the business process reengineering mode of groupware but knowledge management doesn't necessarily imply changes in business processes and thus is not as difficult to sell. Instead, knowledge management seeks to model, capture, and automate existing business information and processes (Shulman, 1996). The source of knowledge can be internal or external to the individual performing the work. It requires a mental model of the task, situation, and process and procedures to be performed. Finally, knowledge work requires significant additional information processing at a high level. It is the uncertainty and ambiguity of the work that requires this concentration (Taylor, 1998).
Information system vendors such as SAP have developed knowledge management software to help businesses access unstructured enterprise information efficiently and effectively. According to SAP (2005) some of the features of knowledge management enable users to access any type of unstructured content through intelligent search functionality, publish-and-subscribe methods, or simple browsing, efficiently manage, classify, and search across diverse content repositories and Control the publishing cycle, using online collaborative workflow capabilities. SAP claim that their software contains; powerful classification tools to automate the organization of information and provide logical organization by subject area. Subject-matter experts and content managers can publish information to distinct user audiences, and users can subscribe to receive relevant content automatically. Web-based authoring simplifies the publishing process through online editing, discussion forums, and document version control and archiving.
Feedback, discussion, and annotation functions make it easy for users to interact with content owners. An open framework for accessing SAP and third-party information repositories enables you to extend the value of your investments in existing content management systems. (SAP Global, 2005) The use of groupware to assist in the collaboration and communication of work units and individuals assist in the design and development of information systems through the ability to share knowledge. With vendors such as SAP using knowledge management systems to help businesses access the unstructured data which information systems often miss out, businesses are better able to search and access a diverse content of repositories which may lead to enhanced innovation through the unique ability to unify people and information and its support for contextual collaboration. Businesses may also experience increased levels of operating efficiency through the unification of diverse IT systems which create a consistent user interface which provides all the information and tools needed for users to receive notifications, analyze problems and respond to business events (SAP Global, 2005).
References; - Alan, M. , 1994, Computer-mediated collaborative learning: an empirical evaluation, MIS Quarterly, pp. 159 - 74. - Cole-Gomolski, B. (1997), Users loathe to share their know-how, ComputerWorld, Vol. 3, pp. 34 - 9. - Coleman, D. and Khanna, R. (1995), Groupware, Technology and Application, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. - Dennis, A. R. , Valacich, J. S. , Connolly, T. , Wynne, B. E. , 1996, "Process structuring in electronic brainstorming", Information Systems Research, 7, 2, 268 - 77. - Ellis, C. A. , Gibbs, S.
J. and Rein, G. L. 1991, Groupware: some issues and experiences, Communications of the ACM, Vol. 34 No. 1, pp. 38 - 58. - Global System Services Corporation (GSS), 1998, web - Grudin, J. , 1991 a. Interactive systems: Bridging the gaps between developers and users. IEEE Computer, 24, 4, 59 - 69. - Khoshafian, S. and Buckiewicz, M. (1995), Introduction to Groupware, Workflow, and Workgroup Computing, John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY. - Kilmer, W. , 1999, Getting Your Business Wired, AMACOM, New York, NY. - Lipnack, J, Stamps, J. , 1997, Virtual Teams: Reaching Across Space, Time, and Organization with Technology, John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY. - Lloyd, P. , 1994, Groupware in the 21 st Century, Praeger, Westport, CT. - Maier, N, 1967, "Assets and liabilities of group problem solving: the need for an integrative function", Psychological Review, 74, 4, 239 - 49. - Nunamaker, J. , Dennis, A. , Valacich, J. , Vogel, D. , 1991, "Electronic meeting systems to support group work", Communications of the ACM, 34, 7, 40 - 61. - Pava, C, 1983, Managing New Office Technology, Free Press, , New York, NY. - SAP GLOBAL, 2005, web /knowledge management.
epx - Shulman, A. D, 1996, "Putting group information technology in its place: communication and good work group performance", Clegg, S. R, Hardy, C. , Nord, W. R. , Handbook of Organization Studies, Sage Publication, , London, 357 - 74. - Taylor, J. C, 1998, "Participative design: linking BPR and SAP with the STS approach", Journal of Organizational Management, 11, 13, 233 - 45. - Yen, D.
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Research essay sample on Virtual Teams Knowledge Management
