An Agenda for GDSS Research in Hong Kong

Group Decision Support Systems is a relatively recent technological development, in that it is only now that it is attaining a measure of public awareness and shaking off the image that it is confined to academia. This paper considers the research currently being conducted in GDSS at the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong. A brief history of GDSS is presented, followed by an illustration of the state-of-the-art in GDSS today, though it should be recognised that this is a rapidly changing field, where there is no guarantee that the state-of-the-art will remain constant for any length of time. The potential results, and so achievable benefits, that can be delivered through use of GDSS are described, as is some of the more recent research that has been conducted in the US.
This is followed by an exposition of the methodology being used in the Hong Kong research, together with the hypotheses proposed. Anonymity is a major factor that is being considered in this research, and it is considered in terms of the benefits that its inclusion in the GDSS process can bring to the decision making process; notably, attention is paid to cultural factors inherent in the traditional Chinese style of business decision making that still prevails to a certain extent in Hong Kong. In this respect, the intention is to move away from a purely academic, laboratory-driven approach, and so to examine the usefulness that GDSS has the potential to offer in the wider business environment.