What is a Group Support System (GSS)?

What is a Group Support System (GSS)?

• A. Group Support System - a variant of a DSS designed to support a group
• B. A system that automates manufacturing processes
• C. A data warehouse for groups
• D. A GIS for groups

Answer: (A)

A Group Support System is a collaborative decision-support tool that extends a decision support system to help a team or group make decisions. It provides a shared workspace and specialized features like electronic brainstorming, idea capture, structured voting, and consensus-building tools to facilitate input from all participants, manage discussions, and record outcomes. This makes it the best choice because it explicitly describes a system designed to support group decision making, rather than automating processes or storing data in a warehouse, or providing a GIS for group use. In practice, Group Support Systems help groups overcome common meeting challenges—ensuring quieter members contribute, organizing ideas, and mapping decisions to a clear record—whether participants are in the same room or dispersed.

A Group Support System is a collaborative decision-support tool that extends a decision support system to help a team or group make decisions. It provides a shared workspace and specialized features like electronic brainstorming, idea capture, structured voting, and consensus-building tools to facilitate input from all participants, manage discussions, and record outcomes.

This makes it the best choice because it explicitly describes a system designed to support group decision making, rather than automating processes or storing data in a warehouse, or providing a GIS for group use. In practice, Group Support Systems help groups overcome common meeting challenges—ensuring quieter members contribute, organizing ideas, and mapping decisions to a clear record—whether participants are in the same room or dispersed.