Facilitator Influence in Group Support Systems: Intended and Unintended Effects

Terri L. Griffith, Mark A. Fuller and Gregory B. Northcraft
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Terri L. Griffith: John M. Olin School of Business, Washington University, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63130-4899
Mark A. Fuller: Hankamer School of Business, Information Systems Department, Baylor University, Waco, Texas 76798-8005
Gregory B. Northcraft: Department of Business Administration, College of Commerce and Business Administration, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois 61820

Information Systems Research, 1998, vol. 9, issue 1, 20-36

Abstract: This paper addresses facilitation , a developing area of Group Support Systems (GSS) research. The facilitator role is one of improving a group's communication and information flow; facilitators are meant to enhance the manner in which a group makes decisions without making those decisions for the group. However, there is a paradox in facilitation: The influence required to facilitate a group changes the group's outcomes. Additionally, strict impartiality for facilitation may be too much to expect because facilitators may unintentionally bias group outcomes, or because facilitators may have their own agendas. Acknowledgment, training, and standards for facilitators may prove useful ways for groups to retain the benefits of facilitation without incurring the costs of inappropriate facilitator influence. Implications are drawn for new research acknowledging the complexity of the GSS sociotechnical system, and the importance of sociotechnical facilitation in organizations.

Keywords: Facilitation; Group Support Systems; Electronic Meeting Systems; Groups; Power in Organizations; Sociotechnical Systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1998
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:orisre:v:9:y:1998:i:1:p:20-36

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