The document discusses Hirokawa and Gouran's functional perspective on group decision making. It identifies four key functions for effective decision making: 1) analyzing the problem, 2) setting goals, 3) identifying alternatives, and 4) evaluating alternatives. It also describes a Function-Oriented Interactive Coding System that classifies utterances based on which function they address and whether they facilitate or disrupt the group's work. However, the functional perspective is criticized for overemphasizing rationality and underestimating relationship and historical factors.