Chapter 2: Collaboration Information Systems

In Chapter 2, we learn that while we think that organizations accomplish strategy, it is actually the people in the organizations that accomplish it by working with other people. Technology has grown to support group work over the years. We learn how information systems support collaboration, a group of people who work together to achieve a common goal.

There are two key characteristics of collaboration. Prior to uncovering them, we need to first understand what cooperation means and how it differs from collaboration. Cooperation is a group of people working together, doing the same work, to accomplish a job. Collaborators work together to achieve their common goal by using the process of feedback and iteration. Feedback helps the group revise their work and make it better. The work as a whole becomes done in stages, or iterations. This, too, leads to revising and producing more drafts that therefore becomes part of the final product. The reason why this works is because the group is criticizing each member's work from different perspectives. Cooperating, on the other hand, is like having 5 members work on 5 separate things on their own, and put it together without checking to see if it flows or if their are any mistakes. Situations like this do not typically go well and that's why collaboration is preferred.

There are three criteria for successful collaboration. In J. Richard Hackman's book Leading Teams, he listed those primary criteria as:

1. Successful Outcome
2. Growth in team capability
3. Meaningful and satisfying experience

Unlike in school, where students measure successful outcome by their grade, business professionals determine success accomplishing their objectives: to make a decision, solve a problem, or create a work product. Their criterion is to determine "Did we do it?" and "Did we do it within the time and budget allowed?" These questions are crucial to solve when it comes to handling jobs in the business world.

Team growth is extremely important, especially in the workforce where most employees plan on working there for a long time. Asking if the team got better lets the group know how efficient they have become over the course of time. A team gets better by being able to eliminate errors or unnecessary steps, develop better work processes, and provide perspectives that each member needs.

Lastly, there is meaningful and satisfying experience. Putting out work that means something to the team is very meaningful, according to Hickman. However, being able to do work that means something to you, the team, and everyone else is very satisfying especially when you get credit for it. Getting recognition for your work is very meaningful while camaraderie amongst the team is a sign of satisfaction.

There are four primary purposes of collaboration. They are:

1. Become informed
2. Make decisions
3. Solve problems
4. Manage projects

Members need to be able to share information and communicate well with each other to share interpretations. Also, the team should document how they conceive specific information in case team members leave. This eliminates the chances of having to go "over and over" a topic or discussion.

There are three different levels that lead to making a decision. They are:

1. Operational
2. Managerial
3. Strategic

Operational decisions support activities that happened day-to-day. Examples are: How many supplies should we order for product x? What chapter should the class read today?

Managerial decisions deal with resources and how they are allocated and utilized. Examples are: How much are we willing to pay for new desks for the employees? How many of the sales team should we send to the trade show this week?

Strategic decisions deal with organizational issues in a broad-scope. Examples are: Should we acquire this company? Should we open up a new location on the East Coast?

There are two types of data components, project data and project metadata. Project data is data that is part of the collaboration's work product, such as product designs and documents. Project metadata is data used to manage projects, such as schedules, tasks, and budgets.

There are two different types of team communication. One is synchronous communication, where everyone meets up at the same time, in-person or on a conference call. The other is asynchronous communication, where members don't meet at the same time due to different work schedules or living in different time zones.

Technology allows us to participate in virtual meetings where members do not have to be in the same place at the same time. Google Hangouts and Go-To Meetings have been great applications for meetings when you have a camera on your laptop or phone. Applications that screen-share allow members to see what you're writing, typing, etc. Asynchronous teams rely on emailing each other and getting responses at a later time.

Shared content has become popular with the use of Google Drive. Members can share files and collaborate work when granted access. Each file is managed by versions and can show what edits have been made and by who. There are also files that can limit activity by permission granted.

There are three sets of collaboration tools. The minimal set lacks support from software and proper management. The good set allows you to use virtual meetings and presentation files. However, you would need to rely on the internet for blogs, wiki, pictures, etc. Lastly, the comprehensive set is the best out of the three. You are able to manage and control content, workflow, and online meetings with sharing. This premium set has everything you need, however it comes with a price. Unlike the others, which usually come for free, you would expect to pay a minimum of $10 a month per user.

Collaborating in 2026 would look different, especially with the us of augmented and virtual reality. Things such as studying space life or examining the human body can be so much easier with technology evolving to contribute collaboration. We see this with the emergence of Microsoft's HoloLens.