Research Paper on Groupware

Introduction

Groupware is a new form of technology which seeks to promote collaboration in the workplace. Technology today plays a significant role in the overall business processes and activities and has significantly improved output through the automation of business processes (Mark & Poltrock, 2004). Groupware has added up to the digital technological application which can improve the overall output especially for the multinational businesses in a globalized environment which seeks to increase the overall productivity of teams (Mark & Poltrock, 2004). Groupware technology can enhance collaboration in both real-time and in different times where people can be able to share the same computer to continue working on a similar project. Collaboration is an important business practice that allows employees to share information and can be of vital importance to the overall business practice especially in decision making and shared projects (Postolache, 2017). This research paper will assess the historical perspective, trends and the impact of groupware technology on the overall business competitive advantage.

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History and Trends in the Development of Groupware

Groupware which is a form of collaboration software seeks to create interconnectivity between people in modern professions which has been critical in facilitating individual and group-based collaborations (Mark & Poltrock, 2004). The vision regarding the use of groupware traces its history in the 1940s when in 1945 Vannevar Bush an author was able to foretell theoretically of a technological invention of the personal computer that was going to facilitate the storage of records and communication while facilitating quick retrieval of data at high flexibility and speed. In the 1960s, the head of the United States advanced research organization at the time Dr. Licklider wrote an article that foretold the creation of a communication device that was going to facilitate the sharing of information between people who are not in a single location. The typewriter in the 1970s ushered an era of office automation and later an electronic information exchange system was created where the concept of collaborative technology was first experienced. However, it was until the 1980s when the word groupware came into being as an invention of Ellis, an educator who defined it as a computer-based system created to support group based activities as an interface for a shared work environment (Mark & Poltrock, 2004).

In 1986, the Computer-Supported Collaborative Work came into being a term coined by Brian Wilson which combined the ability to work in groups and technology-enabled networking through different hardware, software, techniques and services which together create a collaborative digital work environment (Hakkarainen, 2005). In the 1990s, the introduction of Lotus Notes, Outlook and Microsoft Exchange Server led to the rapid development of social software which culminated to collaborative software which was actualized and optimized by the development of web 2.0 which enabled the use of cloud-based applications that further made it easy for online communities to share information and interact with each other in a digital work environment. With globalization, groupware has become a critical factor that facilitate international collaborative teams created by multinational business organizations and researchers that seek to share knowledge and promote greater efficiency in group-based activities especially that which take place in different locations (Postolache, 2017). Groupware technologies today have become more optimized and customized to meet the team needs in different types of work. The collaboration software being produced have surpassed the previous ideation of groupware to the creation of live activity streams through a shared dashboard. Besides, the collaboration software can be used to clarify the team priorities and individual responsibilities within a team which has made it easy to manage geographically distant collaboration activities (Postolache, 2017). The information presented by modern collaboration software uses clear and prominent presentation methods which makes it easy for the team members to develop greater insights regarding the team activities and any arising challenges (Choi & Song, 2018). New software for online collaboration keeps all the stakeholders involved through other communication channels such as emails which makes it possible for the team members to stay in constant communication with other team members.

Dimensions of Groupware Technologies

Groupware technologies are usually categorized into synchronous or asynchronous groupware and face to face or distance based groupware. Synchronous groupware is collaboration technologies that support activities that are taken together at the same time or in real time such as team-based voting and presentation support. The shared whiteboards and chat systems represent synchronous or real-time groupware applications. The whiteboards seek to allow people to share a drawing surface from different locations which are facilitated using a phone call (Migdadi, Zaid, & Hujran, 2012). The chat system allows people to communicate using messages in real time which is critical especially in global based teams. On the other hand, asynchronous collaborative technology occurs at different times but the same place for instance through shared computers and email within an organization. In the asynchronous groupware applications dimensions, the email is one of the significant elements applied today due to its properties such as messaging, mailing groups, and the ability to attach files. Group calendars is also a phenome in the asynchronous system that seeks to promote collaborative scheduling, coordination of activities and the project management (Migdadi et al., 2012). The colocation collaboration technology encourages the sharing of information within a team when people share the same computers while in different places collaboration technology can occur in the form of videophones or video conferencing which has significantly contributed in collaboration especially within large multinational organizations that share board meetings with managers responsible for different regions to ensure a unilateral approach to organization operations.

Application Organization

Amazon is one of the major multinational corporations that have heavily invested in collaboration technology to facilitate the international organization business by coordinating sales and inventory management in a multinational team (Postolache, 2017). Multinational organizations such as Amazon has significantly benefited from collaborative technology by facilitating greater communication and sharing of resources. Collaborative technology has been instrumental in enhancing Amazon effectiveness as an international brand. Innovation in Amazon is entirely dependent on the cross sharing ideas which lead to the emergence of new practices. With the advent of voice mail, instant messaging, video conferencing, blogs, chat forums, and telepresence have revolutionized the ability of the organization to consolidate its overall global management teams.

Implications of Groupware to Organizations

Cost Saving

Before the advent of collaboration technology, organizations such as Amazon experienced a high overall cost in managing the international teams operating in different regions. Before the emergence and optimization of groupware technology, Amazon incurred high operational costs seeking to streamline the global organization activities which forced many people to travel across the organization establishments to streamline operations and implement new practices (Postolache, 2017). The advent of groupware technology changed the global outlook of teams by enabling Amazon to be able to collaborate all the critical changes in the organization across all its operation centers collaboratively through groupware instruments such as video conferencing (Van De Stadt, 2012). Communication is a source of competitive advantage especially for the multinational organizations that require high collaborative decision making to achieve the best results while maintaining control over an organization international activities (Migdadi et al., 2012). When using groupware technology for communication, it is easy, fast and persuasive which makes it an ideal communication platform for Amazon global managerial team communication. Besides, Amazon can benefit from the use of groupware technology by being able to tap on remote workers who can help the organization to acquire affordable labor while not incurring any fixed costs to obtain offices (Melo, Varela, & Silva, 2010). Therefore, Amazon continues to make significant savings for using groupware technology to collaborate on new strategic decisions which are implemented globally in all the organization global market presence. Cost saving is key to the organization profitability by reducing the overall operating and overhead costs by opting to use groupware technology.

Improved Problem Solving and Decision Making

Amazon can be able to enhance its problem-solving capacities through the use of groupware which facilitates distant sharing of information as well as engagement between stakeholders. As a multinational organization, decision making on various problems are deliberated by the top leadership (Postolache, 2017). The distance between the top organization leadership and the regional leadership previously made problem-solving a challenge due to the cost required to travel as well as the time taken. With groupware solutions such as video conferencing has made problem-solving within the organization easy by allowing engaged conversation and interaction between the stakeholders to facilitate the creation of an informed decision where all the stakeholders are involved (Migdadi et al., 2012). Therefore, Amazon has the potential to expand further globally due to the possibility of collaborated management and decision making that has been made possible by groupware technology. Improved problem solving helps Amazon to remain competitive by continuously confronting the global organization challenges as a team which helps to raise variety options for the organization through group-based brainstorming and assessing the most feasible solution within the prevailing circumstances.

Constant Supervision of Global Teams

Amazon has many global teams that implement the organization plans across its operating markets. The teams previously were too disintegrated which made it difficult to manage them and coordinate their activities. When the organization is trying something new in different global establishments in the future, it will be easy for the senior management to supervise such teams through groupware technology. The primary benefit of using this avenue will be the improved and timely reporting on the progress of the projects and also centralized issuance of instructions to the global team (Migdadi et al., 2012). Through groupware technology, the organization will benefit through the reduced mistakes that could hinder the desired outcomes and promote the uniformity approach in all the organization global establishments. The groupware technology will be instrumental in ensuring a single organization scheduling of globally normal functions and activities such as prices, tariffs and even working hours within an organization. Scheduling in today's globalized world where organizations have multiple operations in different geographical locations enhances overall business productivity. The flexibility offered by groupware technology makes it easy for an organization to manage remote workers (Postolache, 2017). Remote workers are a crucial solution for the multinational organizations where workers use technological applications to meet their obligations to the organization. Constant su...