In response to pressures associated with sharply fluctuating customer demand, accelerating technological innovation, acquisitions or joint venture arrangements, and the emergence of global markets, many large organizations are replacing hierarchical and matrix forms of management with a `dynamic network' design. Dynamic networks are a combination of functional-organization and flexible structures such that the major components of the organization can be assembled and reassembled in order to meet complex and changing competitive conditions. The University of Minnesota and Texaco Inc. propose to undertake a joint study of the role of group decision support systems(GDSS's) and related information technologies in facilitating a corporation's transition to a dynamic network form. The project will involve:(a) design and implementation of GDSS prototypes for use in decision rooms and in local and wide-area networks; (b) studies of GDSS use within and between work teams; and (c) studies of GDSS impacts on individuals, teams, and larger business units. GDSS will be studied as one aspect of a larger set of change approaches, including quality programs, self-managed teams, and advanced information technologies (specifically, electronic mail and group conferencing systems). Several propositions related to GDSS design, use and impacts will be explored. This project builds on a base of GDSS design, theory development, and laboratory research conducted at Minnesota and field work conducted in a GDSS facility at Texaco.
