What Is Decision Support System?

Decision Support System

• Q2. Many hours and much expense were involved in developing a DSS to assist a manager in making an important decision. The prototyping approach was used, and so the decision maker and the developers worked together (and were paid). When it came time for the manager to make the decision, she queried the system, discarded the advice, and made an alternate decision. a) How could this happen? b) Could the system still have been beneficial to the manager? – Why / Why Not? - How? c) Could the system still be beneficial to the organisation? – Why / Why Not? - How?

• Answer:

  lone1976-ga, I have worked professionally developing Decision Support Systems (for the aquaculture industry), working closely with managers to develop a prototype, as you describe in your Question, so I can understand how the developers might be frustrated when the people who paid for the development of the system don't seem to want to use it. This being said, a) Just because the DSS recommends a decision doesn't mean the decision-maker will follow it. It doesn’t necessarily mean the system isn't good, it just means they chose to take a different route than what was recommended. Think about it: How many times has a trusted friend or colleague given you advice that you haven't followed? And that's from a TRUSTED source. Most people don't implicitly trust new software systems. The answer here lies in the name: It's a Decision SUPPORT System, not a Decision Making System. It exists to allow the user ways to efficiently manipulate data so that they may "see" a solution for themselves. b) Yes, the system definitely could still have been beneficial to the manager, since the rejected advice in itself could have led the manager to consider factors s/he otherwise wouldn't have. Also, the use of the system to input information and generate queries in itself may result in thought processes which shape the overall result of the manager's decision. c) The DSS system can still be beneficial to the organization because: i. Over time, if they continue to use it, they will learn to trust it more, and perhaps eventually even grow dependent on it, and ii. The developers can continue to enhance and modify it to meet changing needs and requirements. Also, note that different people process information in different ways. Most companies have more than one manager or decision-maker. Even though this particular manager didn't act on the output of the program in this instance, that doesn't mean that others haven't taken notice, and will begin to turn to it when they are "up against a wall" with no new ideas of their own. The flip side of this is that some managers may feel threatened by a system which may possibly automate mental processes which they have been fairly or highly compensated to perform themselves. This is especially true in situations where the DSS is being introduced for the first time, rather than migrating or switching to a new system. The following link is to an article entitled, "A Brief History of Decision Support Systems," by D.J. Power, DSSResources.com: http://dssresources.com/history/dsshistory.html Google search strategy: Keywords "decision support systems" ://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=decision+support+systems Good luck in continuing your inquires! ~omniscientbeing-ga