Abstract
Future concepts of operations purport that sophisticated information technology will significantly enhance mission effectiveness through two fundamental aspects: “speed of command” and “self synchronization.” On one hand, unlimited availability of information may serve to enhance the overall awareness of individuals and teams. On the other hand, unrestricted information push may serve to distract, overwhelm, and overload individuals and teams, thereby compromising their situation awareness and decision-making effectiveness. The question remains, how much information is enough? The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of information availability on decision-making by utilizing a four-person supply chain management simulation. View of information and communication were manipulated to constrain information availability. Results indicated better performance for conditions with more information availability, including unrestricted information push. Overall, these results illustrated the importance of capabilities such as anticipation and redundancy, which seem to be vital to collaborative tasks.
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