The Use of RAPAT in the Indonesian Culture: Case Studies at the Higher Education Institution

Research about Group Support Systems and the design of these group support technologies is mainly based on western culture and takes little explicit account of other cultures. While the research reveals promising results on the effectiveness of these technologies, the research results and the technologies themselves may be less effective when applied directly to different cultures or cross-cultural situations. These cultures may require different forms or styles of group support. This paper summarizes some studies at a leading university in Indonesia using an asynchronous Group Support Systems facility developed by the authors, which has selective broadcast capability. Selective broadcast is specifically designed for Indonesian culture, which has relatively high power distance, low individualism, weak uncertainty avoidance, and high context. A combination of observation, survey and structured interview was used to collect information from the participants on how they adopt and use the systems for their group work as well as their perception of the group process and outcome.