BASICS OF DSS

WHAT IS DSS?

DSS is an interactive software-based system intended to help decision makers compile useful information from raw data, documents, personal knowledge, and/or business models to identify and solve problems and make decisions.

Levels of Management in Decision Making

• Strategic management

1. Executives develop organizational goals, strategies, policies, and objectives
2. As part of a strategic planning process

• Tactical management

1. Managers and business professionals in self-directed teams
2. Develop short- and medium-range plans, schedules and budgets
3. Specify the policies, procedures and business objectives for their subunits

• Operational management

1. Managers or members of self-directed teams
2. Develop short-range plans such as weekly production schedules

DECISION STRUCTURE

• Structured Decisions – situations where the procedures to follow when a decision is needed can be specified in advance

• Unstructured Decisions – decision situations where it is not possible to specify in advance most of the decision procedures to follow

• Semi structured Decisions - decision procedures that can be prespecified, but not enough to lead to a definite recommended decision

COMPONENTS OF DSS

CLASSIFICATION OF DSS

• Model-driven DSS

• Communication-driven DSS

• Data-driven DSS

• Document-driven DSS

• Knowledge-driven DSS

BENEFITS OF DSS

1. Improves personal efficiency
2. Accelerate problem solving
3. Facilitates interpersonal communication
4. Promotes learning or training
5. Increases organizational control
6. Generates new evidence in support of a decision
7. Creates a competitive advantage over competition
8. Reveals new approaches to thinking about the problem space