BM-183 Graded Group Work: Using Netmeeting or Online Discussion Sites

Input
o Each group will be given a scenario written on a single sheet of paper. Each member of the group is
expected to read and understand the situation presented in the scenario.
o Discussion points are indicated at the end of the document to guide the online discussion of the group.
These are the questions that the group must answer at the end of the online discussion session.

Process
o The online whiteboard or discussion applet is the primary tool to be used by the group to discuss the
scenario. The groups discussion will be used to come up with the answers to the questions raised in the
Discussion Points section of the scenario. Try to use a new page or area for each questions discussion.
o The group must ensure that a record of the discussion is made by saving the online discussion session into
a file. The discussion filename must use the following format: BM-183-<section> Group-<group number>
o To identify the inputs of the individual members, each member must select a color different from colors
selected by the other members of the group. Please limit your font size to 14pts, and your font color to
blue, red, green or orange. Use Arial font. Do not use font styles like italic or bold; use only Regular.
o Each member must indicate his/her full name at the start of the discussion. Subsequent contributions to the
discussion require only the group members family name to preface the points/contribution made. The
student is advised to stick to the selected color for the duration of the discussion. Using specific colors to
identify discussants will allow the teacher to evaluate the level of participation of each group member so
as to give an appropriate grade for the effort. Contributions are expected to be constructive, reflecting
views that are well-thought out.

Output
o At the beginning of the discussion, each group must save the discussion file using the naming convention
stated in the Process section of this document. It is the groups responsibility to ensure that the file is
constantly saved to the hard disk. Pressing Ctrl-S at appropriate intervals during the online discussion will
prevent data loss in the event of a power outage or a glitch in the machine.
o The group should create a separate answer sheet to organize and consolidate the final answers of the
group. Use a regular word processing application like MS Word for the separate answer sheet.
o The answers must be clearly stated and unambiguous. Do not make the teacher hunt for the answers to the
discussion questions.
o While the individual group members contributions are tracked and graded, this online discussion is
essentially a group activity and a group grade is given. The quality of the final answers of the group, which
will be result of the online discussion, will be the basis of the group grade.

MINI-CASE #4: Social Media Collaboration at DrKW

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW) is the international investment banking arm of Dresdner Bank.
Headquartered in London and Frankfurt, DrKW provides capital market and advisory services employing 6,000 people
worldwidein New York, Paris, Luxembourg, Tokyo, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
Because its employees are culturally diverse and geographically distributed, DrKW wanted them to have a full set of
collaboration tools, not only e-mail and telephones. Blogs, wikis, instant messaging, chat, and audio/videoconferencing
let workers select and switch communication modes, depending on which is appropriate at the time. DrKW installed a
primitive open source wiki in 1997. The company reviewed Socialtext products in March 2004 and ran a small pilot on
the hosted service in July 2004. Based on the pilot, DrKW decided to upgrade to Socialtext Enterprise, which was
installed in the third quarter of 2004.
DrKW chose Socialtext because it needed strong authentication, permissions, information sharing, and
communication among the various company silos. DrKW is highly regulated, requiring that its communications be
recorded, archived, searchable, and retrievable for auditors or other investigators. Those communications are business
records, which must be retained according to financial regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

Usage and Benefits

The Information Strategy team was the first group to use Socialtext on a hosted service, followed by IT Security. The
teams use it as a communications tool, collective discussion tool, and storehouse for documents and information. The
User-Centered Design (UCD) team uses external-facing applications. The wiki allows team members to upload
information easily, which encourages collaboration and increases transparency, which is not possible with e-mail
messages. UCD also uses the wiki to explain what its function is and why its important to the entire DrKW community.
The wiki tracks project development so that the team and management know the status of projects and progress, who is
doing what, and what actions should follow.
The Equity Delta1 equity financing team is one of the largest users of the wiki. This unit deals with loans, equity
swaps, and so on. The wiki eliminates the burden of mountains of e-mails, shows the development of business plans,
and stores commonly used information. The team creates an open forum where anyone can post views, comments, and
questions on given subjects; publish and share white papers and bulletins; coordinate sales and marketing activities; and
organize important team tasks.
One of the most enthusiastic user groups is Digital Markets, the division responsible for developing, deploying, and
operating DrKWs online products and services. Digital Markets combines front-office, support, and IT specialists in one
unit. It has a wide cross section of users who must all be brought together on the same page.
The E-Capital London Team develops back-end applications for the Digital Markets business line and supports a
number of legacy systems. It shares and develops new system specifications and product overviews, and helps with
documentation. The wiki provides an instantly editable collaboration platform that simplifies the publication process.
The version history function is useful for product specs where it is important to retain a complete audit trail.
Users keep others informed by posting timely notes such as this is what were thinking about now. The limitation
is that the wiki only works when everyone supports and is comfortable in such an open environment. Wikis fail in
organizations where people are frightened to talk and publish. It works in DrKW, especially in Digital Markets, where
people willingly say look, here it is. Their openness stimulates good debate and allows them to generate great ideas.
Sources: Compiled from SocialText.com/node/80 and BusinessWeek Online.

Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

What are the capabilities of the wiki that are not available in regular e-mail? Discuss.
Why would so many tools blogs, wikis, instant messaging, chat, and audio/videoconferencing be needed?
How does the wiki increase employee productivity? What types of waste does it reduce?
Any negative aspects or disadvantages to using wikis? Discuss.
Discuss some of the social, cultural, and ethical issues involved in the use of wikis for business collaboration.