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The Impact of a Structured‐Argument Approach on Group Problem Formulation *
Author(s) -
Niederman Fred,
DeSanctis Gerardine
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
decision sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.238
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1540-5915
pISSN - 0011-7315
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-5915.1995.tb01436.x
Subject(s) - argumentation theory , argument (complex analysis) , structuring , task (project management) , computer science , group decision making , process (computing) , group (periodic table) , management science , operations research , psychology , epistemology , mathematics , social psychology , economics , medicine , management , philosophy , chemistry , organic chemistry , finance , operating system
Despite advances in decision analysis and decision support systems, few formulaic procedures exist for undertaking problem formulation, particularly in group settings. This leaves managers with little procedural support for the important task of carefully structuring problems. In a laboratory experiment of 29 intact student teams, we contrasted two problem formulation methodologies: a structured argument approach (based on application of formal reasoning) and a group process approach (based on private idea generation prior to public sharing and evaluation of ideas). The structured argument approach took more time to use and failed to bring about more information search and equivocality reduction in group discussions. On the positive side, however, the structured argument approach led to a greater combination of both coverage of critical issues and consensus on those issues. Use of the structured argument approach also resulted in higher satisfaction with the problem definition and commitment to implementing results of the group meeting. Overall, the results reveal cost/benefit tradeoffs associated with developing argumentation‐based procedures for problem formulation.