Archive - Edition 5: Collaboration

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Leading Article and Introduction

Communities, Knowledge Management, and More...

SAP Collaboration Projects

 

Collaboration Glossary

By Ramona Winkler & Gerd Waloszek, SAP User Experience, SAP AG – September 12, 2002

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

The following glossary defines terms used in the context of collaboration.

 

Agents

See Intelligent Agents

 

Application Sharing

Application sharing systems allow group members to simultaneously run the same application which usually resides on only one machine.

 

Asynchronous Collaboration

Asynchronous collaboration is taking place at different (asynchronous) time, for instance via messages.

 

Awareness

An understanding of the activities of others, which provides a context of your own activity.
(From Dourish P., & Bly S. (1992): Portholes: Supporting awareness in a distributed work group. Proc. of the ACM Conference On Human Factors in Computing Systems)

The term is either used for describing a user's mental state, or techniques for achieving this state.

 

B2B Network

A Business-to-Business (B2B) network consists of two or more companies sharing some common goals, for example, trading clubs or supplier networks.

 

BBS (Bulletin Board System)

See Electronic Bulletin Boards

 

Chat (Chat Systems)

Electronic chat systems represent synchronous online discussions; these systems allow many persons to write messages in real-time in a public space.

Example: CUseeMe (video chat system)

 

CMC (Computer-Mediated Communication)

Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) is the process by which people create, exchange, and perceive information using networked telecommunications systems (or non-networked computers) that facilitate encoding, transmitting, and decoding messages.

Studies of CMC can view this process from a variety of interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives by focusing on some combination of people, technology, processes, or effects. Some of these perspectives include the social, cognitive/psychological, linguistic, cultural, technical, or political aspects; and/or draw on fields such as human communication, rhetoric and composition, media studies, human-computer interaction, journalism, telecommunications, computer science, technical communication, or information studies.
(From John December)

Short Definition

CMC is human communication via computer. People interested in CMC study a range of phenomena - from the dynamics of group communication in Usenet news articles to how people use hypertext to shape meaning. Not all CMC is Internet-based, of course. People use CMC on private networks.
(From John December)

 

Collaboration

Collaboration is broadly defined as the interaction among two or more individuals and can encompass a variety of behaviors, including communication, information sharing, coordination, cooperation, problem solving, and negotiation.
(From Intelligence Community Collaboration, Baseline Study Report, 1999)

 

Collaboration Patterns

Work relationships in enterprises or between enterprises follow principles of best practice, trust, and business information flow. They can best be described by a limited set of collaborative structures. The most prominent structures are

For each of theses structures, there are different collaborative requirements, which require different collaborative services. Special work conditions, such as the physical distribution of people, may also influence what type of collaborative services is needed most.

 

Communication

Communication, that is, the intentional transmission of meaningful messages, is one of the main components of collaboration and can be supported through specific tools.

Examples

 

Community

Communities consist of one or more unstructured groups of people loosely tied together and sharing a common interest. Communities can be either interest-, activity- or fortune-based:

See also Virtual Community

 

Community of Practice

A phrase coined by researchers who studied the ways in which people naturally work and play together. In essence, communities of practice are groups of people who share similar goals and interests. In pursuit of these goals and interests, they employ common practices, work with the same tools and express themselves in a common language. Through such common activity, they come to hold similar beliefs and value systems
(From Community Intelligence Labs Website, Definitions Page)

Further Definitions

"Communities of Practice" is a term that refers to the ways in which people naturally work together. It acknowledges and celebrates the power of informal communities of peers, their creativity and resourcefulness in solving problems, and inventing better, easier ways to meet their commitments. (From George Pór, Community Intelligence Labs)

[They] are peers in the execution of 'real work'. What holds them together is a common sense of purpose and a real need to know what each other knows. (From John Seely Brown, VP and Chief Scientist, Xerox Corp)

A community of practice is group of people who are informally bound to one another by exposure to a common class of problem. (From Brook Manville, Director of Knowledge Management at McKinsey & Co.)

 

Conferencing - Audio, Video

This synchronous groupware enables audiovisual connections between two or more specially equipped conference rooms.

 

Coordination

Coordination, that is, the act of working together harmoniously, is of the main components of collaboration and can be supported through specific tools.

Examples

 

Cooperation

Cooperation, that is, the association of persons or businesses for common benefits, is one of the main components of collaboration and can be supported through specific tools.

Examples

 

CSCW (Computer Supported Collaborative Work)

CSCW combines existing technology such as: groupware, virtual reality, knowledge management, document management, decision support and videoconferencing with human and social sciences, such as: ergonomics (i.e. Human Computer Interaction, or HCI) sociology, psychology, and socio-anthropology.
(From Open Directory Project)

CSCW is the specific discipline that motivates and validates groupware design. It is the study and theory of how people work together, and how the computer and related technologies affect group behavior.
(From Greenberg, 1991, page 1)

 

CSSN (Computer Supported Social Network)

Aa social network that uses computer support for communication.

Examples: Electronic mail (e-mail), BBSs (bulletin board systems), multi-user dungeons (MUD)s), newsgroups, Internet Relay Chat (IRC).

See also Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC)

 

Department

A department consists of multiple teams that each perform their own tasks yet have to interact in the pursuit of higher-order goals and tasks.

 

Egocentric (or Ego-centric) Network

Person-centered view of a Personal Network.

 

E-Mail (Electronic Mail)

This groupware facilitates the asynchronous exchange of information between a sender and two or more receivers. E-mail is the most common groupware application (besides the traditional telephone).

 

Electronic Bulletin Boards (BBS)

A bulletin board system (BBS), is a computer that can be reached by other computers for the purpose of sharing or exchanging messages or other files. Some BBS's are devoted to specific interests; others offer a more general service. The definitive BBS List says that there are 40,000 BBS's world-wide.
(Adapted from whatis.techtarget.com)

These boards constitute online informational areas without detailed administrative functionalities.

 

Electronic Conferencing Systems

This groupware provides shared online work areas; here information for special user groups can be administrated.

See Conferencing - Audio, Video

 

Electronic Meeting Systems

These systems support electronic brainstorming as well as various decision making processes.

 

Face-to-Face Facilitation Service

This service allows keeping the minutes and summarizing the contents of a meeting by means of a computer.

 

Fax (Fax Machine)

Sometimes called "telecopying," a fax is the telephonic transmission of scanned-in printed material (text or images), usually to a telephone number associated with a printer or other output device. The original document is scanned with a fax machine, which treats the contents (text or images) as a single fixed graphic image, converting it into a bitmap. In this digital form, the information is transmitted as electrical signals through the telephone system. The receiving fax machine reconverts the coded image and prints a paper copy of the document.
(From whatis.techtarget.com)

 

Group Authoring Software

This groupware supports both the synchronous and the asynchronous editing of shared information.

 

Group Calendar & Scheduling

This asynchronous groupware allows for automatic appointment scheduling, reminders, project management, and coordination among many people.

 

Group-Memory Management

Group members can synchronously share and use data and information (see also Information Sharing)

 

Groupware

Groupware is software that runs on a network, and aids people using the software on the network (typically a team) to participate in a joint project, which can range from simple to complex.
(From Open Directory Project)

 

Information Sharing

Group members can synchronously share and use data and information (see also Group-Memory Management)

Examples:

 

Instant Messaging

This groupware allows for the sending and receiving of short messages regardless of other applications used at the same time.

Examples: AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ

 

Intelligent Agents

Intelligent Agents are systems which work autonomously according to specific rules; they can filter e-mails, look for certain information, and monitor meetings.

 

IRC (Internet Relay Chat)

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a system for chatting that involves a set of rules and conventions and client/server software. On the Web, certain sites or IRC networks provide servers and help you download an IRC client to your PC.
(Adapted from searchwin2000.techtarget.com)

See also Chat

 

Knowledge Management (KM)

Knowledge Management is the process through which organizations generate value from their intellectual and knowledge-based assets. Most often, generating value from such assets involves sharing them among employees, departments and even with other companies in an effort to devise best practices.

It's important to note that the definition says nothing about technology; while KM is often facilitated by IT, technology by itself is not KM.
(From The ABC of Knowledge Management)

 

Mailing Lists

See Newsgroups/Mailing Lists

 

Newsgroups/Mailing Lists

Asynchronous groupware that is similar to E-mail groupware. While E-mail systems are intended for 1-to-1 communication, newsgroups are meant for messages among large groups of people.

 

Organization

An organization is made up of different hierarchically organized collaborative groups: work groups, teams, departments.

 

Outeraction

Outeraction is a set of communicative processes outside of information exchange, in which people reach out to others in patently social ways to enable information exchange.
(From Nardi, Whittaker & Brdaner, 2000)

 

Personal Network

A set of people that are preferably contacted by an individual person to get informal information or advise.

See also Social Network

 

Phone

See Telephone

 

Project Management Systems

These systems not only allow for automatic appointment scheduling, but also for partial automatization of routine tasks.

Example: Microsoft Project

 

Screen Sharing Systems

This groupware supports the visualization of the complete or of parts of the screen content on another screen.

Examples: WebEx, Glance Networks (Screen sharing services for the Internet)

 

Shared Whiteboards

This synchronous groupware is intended for the visualization of data and information even from different locations; eventually, it supports editing, too.

 

Social Network

A social network is a set of actors and the relations that hold them together. Actors can be individual people, or they can be aggregate units, such as departments, organizations, or families. The key is that the actors exchange resources which then connect them in a social network. Resources may include data, information, goods and services, social support, or financial support. Each kind of resource exchange is considered a social network relation, and individuals who maintain the relation are said to maintain a tie. The strength of their tie may range from weak to strong depending on the number and types of resources they exchange, the frequency of exchanges, and the intimacy of the exchanges between them (Marsden & Campbell, 1984).

See also CSSN, Personal Network

 

Socio-Centric Network

Group view of a Personal Network.

 

Synchronous Collaboration

Synchronous collaboration means collaboration taking place in real-time (concurrently).

 

Team

A team is a work group whose members are not only connected by a shared task (see work group) but also by a common superordinate goal.

 

Telephone

Synchronous groupware for transferring spoken language; allows two or more people to communicate from different places.

 

Threaded Discussions

Threaded discussions represent asynchronous online discussions, as they allow persons to read and responds to other persons' comments at anytime. First step: someone creates a topic. Next, in responding to this topic people create subtopics, that is, threads of the main topic.

Example: The Website www.dpreview.com offers a wide range of forums for digital cameras from different manufacturers as well as for general issues in digital photography.

 

Tie

Individuals who maintain a relation for exchange of resources in a social network are said to maintain a tie. The strength of their tie may range from weak to strong depending on the number and types of resources they exchange, the frequency of exchanges, and the intimacy of the exchanges between them (Adapted from Marsden & Campbell, 1984).

 

Trust

Firm reliance on the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing.

The development of trust is the same for all types of relationships, whether romantic, manager-employee, or among peers and trading partners engaged in electronic commerce. According to Lewicki and Bunker (1996), trust develops in three stages over a period of time:

  1. Deterrence-based trust (some relationships): is where trading partners (suppliers) do what they say they will do because of a fear of punishment (cancellation of contracts), if they do not perform consistently. The threat of punishment is seen as a negative factor, whereas in calculus based trust the achievement of a reward is seen as a positive factor.
  2. Knowledge-based trust (many relationships): is linked to knowledge of the other trading partner (that is the trustee), which allows the trustor to understand and predict the behavior of the trustee. The key factor at this level of trust is the information derived out of a relationship over time that allows one trading partner to predict the behavior of another trading partner.
  3. Identification-based trust (few relationships): is based on empathy and common values with the other trading partner's desires and intentions to the point that one trading partner is able to act on or as an agent for the other with the evolution of time. Identification based trust tend to revolve around a common task rather than based on the individual cues from trading partners such as standard business processes

(Adapted from Ratnasingham, 1999)

 

Trust Levels

Qualitative or quantitative measure for trust.

 

Virtual Community

A social entity consisting of a group of people who relate to one another based on shared interest, where some of the traditional properties of a community is no longer a part of the "real" world, but part of what is known as "cyberspace".

Another similar understanding of virtual communities is as a group of people based on a shared interest using information technology as mean.

The participants of virtual communities are like members of a village or a densely-knit urban neighborhood linked together by a common interest or a common place.

This notion of virtual communities has also, according to Valtersson (1996), led members of real-world cities, villages and organizations to create community networks and virtual organizations where members in certain villages or organizations can get information and services through Internet.

Rheingold (1994), defines virtual communities as: "Social aggregations that emerge from the Net when enough people carry on those public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace." (Rheingold, 1994:5).

This definition, among others, have also led many to only regard public social structures in cyberspace to be related to virtual communities. Although the webs of personal relationships also can take form in more private spheres of cyberspace, this has not so far been considered as an expression of a virtual community.
(Adapted from A. Croon, "R U out there" - On Personal Communities in Cyberspace)

 

Work Group

A work group is made up of two or more persons who are working together for completing a common task.

 

Workflow Management Systems

These asynchronous groupware systems manage and control the automatic routing of documents to the responsible editor, and are able to specify and execute business processes.

 

Writing Systems

Collaborative writing systems are a form of asynchronous groupware that supports the creation and editing of documents.

 

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