UNIT 18 TACTICAL AND STRATEGIC

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT :
DSS AND EIS
Structure
18.1 Introduction
18.2 Objectives
18.3 DSS Philosophy
18.4 Information Systems
18.5 Difference between DSS, MIS and EIS
18.6 Components of DSS
18.7 Group DSS
18.8 Software Tool Selection
18.9 Building DSS/EIS in an Organization
18.10 Summary
18.11 Unit End Exercises
18.12 References and Suggested Further Readings

18.1 INTRODUCTION

In the previous Unit 17, we have covered Data Warehousing and Data Mining
concepts that is exploration and exploitation of data mining techniques to obtain useful
information about the client, service provider and overall on the organization. This
gives a path of directives, understanding of self and finding the important processes
that strengthens or weakens the organization. Time management and suitable in-time
decision is the key for betterment of the organization. The present unit explores
decision-making process and the support system for management executives and
decision makers.

18.2 OBJECTIVES

After reading this unit, you should be able to:

• define decision and decision making system;
• differentiate between DSS, MIS and EIS;
• explain group decision support system;
• identify software suitability for your organization;
• describe the DSS architecture; and
• generate decision support system for your organization.

18.3 DSS PHILOSOPHY

Let us begin with understanding of the concept. A decision basically is a resources

allocation process that is irreversible, except that a fresh decision may reverse it or
overrule the earlier one. We can also define it as a reasoned choice among
alternatives. The decision maker, having authority over the resources being
allocated, makes a decision. He makes the decision in order to further some 1
 objective, which is what he hopes to achieve by allocating the resources. The
decision might not succeed in achieving the objective. One might spend the funds and
yet, for any number of reasons, achieve no acceleration at all. For example: To
accelerate an R&D program is an objective, not a decision. To allocate the funds in
an effort to accelerate the program is a decision.

Simple decision is one in which there is only one decision to be made, even having
many alternatives.

A decision may be goal oriented for some degree of satisfaction for a given
objective. Objective may be driven by a decision but goal is always target/result
oriented. A decision may employ) decision analysis; a structured thought process to
attain desired results. In doing this, we can distinguish three features of the situation:
alternatives, uncertainties and outcomes. Decision analysis thus constructs
models, logical or even mathematical, representing the relationships within and
between the features of situation. The models then allow the decision maker to
estimate the possible implications of each course of action that he might take, so that
he can better understand the relationship between his actions and his objectives.
Someone who buys a lottery ticket and wins the lottery obtains a good outcome. Yet,
the decision to buy the lottery ticket may or may not have been a good decision

Decision maker may adopt strategy, which is a collection of actions. The outcome of
these actions may be uncertain, but the possible outcome is attainment of that goal set
by the decision maker. It is necessary to mention about the risk at this juncture that a
decision maker often thinks while taking the decisions. Risk can be defined as the
possibility of an undesirable result. The risk is linked with monitory befits or loss and
thus, it can be governed by risk tolerance, an individual’s attitude toward decision
and the risk involved.

With the above background, we can now easily distinguish between strategic and
tactical decisions. Strategic decision affects entire organization or major part of it
vis-à-vis organizational objectives and the policies. It has long lasting effect on the
organizational system and generally taken at the highest management level. On the
other hand, tactical decision or management control decision affects a part of the
organization for a restricted or short time. The tactical decision takes place within the
context of existing strategic decisions. Thus, the contextual and effective
management depends on good and timely information. The decision making process
may use various techniques depending on the situation. We can define decision-
making as an activity of deciding appropriate action in particular situations. With
relevant and useful information the decision-making may reduce the uncertainty.

The quality information is a component that is dependant on the good datasets.

The good data can be described as data having :
• accuracy, completeness and have authorization. This integrity in data is a base
feature;
• in time availability of up-to-date records when actually needed;
• summarization to an appropriate level of aggregation;
• easy access to the relevant information; and
• relevance to the decisions being made.
The importance of these factors depends on the nature and impact of the decision.
For example, in a manufacturing organization, the decision on the budgetary
provisions for advertisement depends on the accurate and up-to-date data of sales of
the product.

2
Simon provided a general model of any decision making process. The Simon model
(Figure 18.1) describe the sequence of decision making as :
• intelligence: data in the general area is examined, leading to a specification of
the problem to be solved;
• design: problem is formulated, solutions developed and tested for feasibility;
• choice: selection is made amongst alternatives; and
• implementation: the chosen alternative is implemented and substantiated to
the stakeholders in the organization.

Intelligence

Design

Choice

Implementation

Fig. 18.1: Simon's Model

Having the basics of decision-making process, the decision support system (DSS)
thus can be defined as the system that supports the decision-making. There are
various definitions of DSS that links to information retrieval with the help of
computers to use of information to support managers. Let us see that how some of
these definitions describe DSS :

Table 18.1 : Various definitions of DSS

S.No. Definition given by Definition

1. G.W. Peter Keen and Decision support implies the use of computers to:
Michael S. Morton, 1978 a) assist managers in their decision processes in
semi-structured tasks;
b) support rather than replace, managerial judgment;
c) improve the effectiveness of decision making rather
than its efficiency.

2. Ralph H. Sprague, 1979 Information system featuring an integrated system

composed of decision models, database and decision
maker to support decision-making.

3. James Hick, 1993 An integrated set of computer tools that allow a

decision maker to interact directly with computers to
create information useful in making unanticipated
semi-structured and unstructured decisions.

4. Carroll W. Frenzel, 1996 Decision Support System are analytical models used to
increase managerial or professional decision making by
bringing important data to view.

5. William E. Leigh and A set of computer based tools used by managers

Michael E. Doherty, 1998 in connection with his or her problem solving and
decision making duties.
3
 These definitions points that :
1) decision support systems are information systems;
2) decision support systems are used by managers;
3) decision support systems are used in making decisions;
4) decision support systems are used to support, not to replace, people;
5) decision support systems are used when the decision is semi-structured or
unstructured;
6) decision support systems incorporate a database of some sort; and
7) decision support systems incorporate models.

One word that attracts us is “Model”. Let us see the following figure that describes a
simple DSS model :

Knowledge with Aim

Decision
Assessment Tool

Information with Context Knowledge

Predictive Models

Structure Data Data Warehouse

Quantified Data Statistics and Data Mining

Quantified Facts

Fig. 18.2 : DSS Model

As can be seen, the decision knowledge emerges from the quantified data using
statistical and data mining tools, predictive models and the assessment tools.

Activity A
1) Let us take an example of a travel agent selecting destinations for clients base on
the clients’ expressed interest in vacation activities and agents knowledge of what
is available in various locations. Do you think that a computerized DSS will help in
decision-making? If not, why? If yes, how? (Based on Mallach, 2002).
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................
4
18.4 INFORMATION SYSTEMS

The information system evolution has an interesting history. Many information

systems researchers and technologists have had built and investigated Decision
Support Systems (DSS) for more than 35 years. Decision Support Systems evolved
early in the era of distributed computing. Initially it was very expensive to build large-
scale information systems as the computers were in their infant stage. Powerful
mainframe systems made it more practical and cost-effective to develop
Management Information Systems (MIS) in large companies. MIS focused on
providing managers with structured, periodic reports. Much of the information was
from accounting and transaction systems.

Lets us examine various information system before actually differentiating between

DSS and Management Information System (MIS). The different types of specialized
information systems that support management decision making generally depend on
the level of management, and the degree of structure in the decisions.

The earliest information system that became practical was Model-oriented

Management Decision Systems (MDS) and Strategic Planning Systems (SPS).
It was first that the marketing and production managers used MDS for to coordinate
production planning.

Gordon Davis, a Professor at the University of Minnesota, who defined a

Management Information System (MIS) in 1974 as “an integrated, man/machine
system for providing information to support the operations, management, and
decision-making functions in an organization”.

Transaction Processing System (TPS) is a system that influences the decision-

making on the basis of inventory. In want of updated inventory that transaction could
be delayed or could take place with appropriate substitute.

Information Reporting System (IRS) is one where information is retrieved for

pending decisions or overdue transactions. Interactive Financial Planning System
(IFPS) became popular decision support tools that originated from conventional
spreadsheet system of finance management. In this system, the model can be
separated from the data.

Executive Information System (EIS) evolved from single user model-driven

Decision Support systems and improved relational database products. The first EIS
used pre-defined information screens and were maintained by analysts for senior
executives. An EIS is a data-driven DSS that is intended to provide business
intelligence to middle and senior-level managers.

The Office Information (automation) System (OIS) has to do with the effective
and efficient flow of organizational information for carrying out day-to-day work. On
the other hand, the Personal Information System (PIS) helps individual middle and
senior executives to derive best possible solution for a given problem. It can also be
linked with problem-solving process for supporting strategic decision-making. The
information systems that used to improve communication and coordination among
members of a group of executives who collaborate on a set of joint tasks, known as
Group Decision Support System (GDSS). We shall be studying about GDSS in
later sections.

5
 An Expert System (ES) is specialist knowledge information base that help an expert
to decide on crucial and item specific problems. Strategic information system
(SIS) enables an organization to obtain a competitive advantage over its rivals or to
prevent them from taking advantage over the information.

The commonality among all above system is provision of information to a decision

maker. With advent of computers, the information management, its warehousing and
retrieval in judicious way became easier, particularly with the availability of desktop
systems. As on date, in any organization, the information is maintained on the
computers and the same is used for the benefit of the organization. Each individual is
thus, an important component in the information system.

18.5 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DSS, MIS AND EIS

With the exposure to all the above information systems, let us find out the differences
between DSS and MIS. Table 18.2 enlists some basic differences between decision
support system, management information systems and executive information system.
As the name implies, the later two are the systems that provide information that may
or may not be used for making a decision whereas the support information provided
for deciding on the policy, planning or implementation is the basic component of DSS.
Let us find out the characteristics of the three systems :

DSS:

• DSS generally provide support for unstructured, or semi-structured decisions

(decisions that cannot be described in detail)

• DSS problems are often characterized by incomplete or uncertain knowledge,

or the use of qualitative data

• DSS will often include modeling tools in them, where various alternative
scenarios can be modeled and compared

• Investment decisions are an examples of those that might be supported by DSS

MIS:

• MIS is generally more sophisticated reporting systems built on existing

transaction processing systems

• Often used to support structured decision making (decisions that can be

described in detail before the decision is made)

• Typically will also support tactical level management, but sometimes are used at
other levels

• Examples of structured decisions supported by MIS might include deciding on

stock levels or the pricing of products

6
 Table 18.2 : Difference between DSS, MIS and EIS

Dimension DSS MIS EIS

Focus Analysis, decision Support Information processing Status Access

Typical Users Analysts, professions, Middle, lower levels, sometime Senior Executives Expediency
Served managers (via intermediaries) senior executives

Impetus Effectiveness Efficiency

Application Diversified Areas where Production control, sales Environmental scanning, performance
Managerial Decisions are made forecasts, financial analysis, evaluation, identifying problems and
human resource management opportunities

Database(s) Special Corporate Special

Decision Support Supports semi-structured and Direct or indirect support, mainly Indirect support, mainly high level and
Capabilities unstructured decision making; structured routine problems, unstructured decisions and policies
mainly ad-hoc, but sometimes using standard operations,
repetitive decisions research and other models

Type of Information to support Scheduled and demand reports; News items, external information on
Information specific situations structured flow, exception customers, competitors and the
reporting mainly internal environment
operations

Principal Use Planning, Organizing, staffing Control Tracking and control

and control

Adaptability to Permits individual judgment, Usually none, standardized Tailored to the decision making style
Individual User what-if capabilities, some of each individual executive, offers
choice of dialogue style several options of outputs

Graphics Integrated part of many DSS Desirable A must

User Friendliness A must where no A must

Desirable
intermediaries are used

Treatment of Information provided by the Information is provided to a Filters and compresses the
Iinformation EIS/or MIS is used as an input diversified group of users who information, tracks critical data and
to the DSS then manipulate it or summarize information
it as needed

Can be programmed into DSS Inflexibility of reports, cannot get Instant access to the supporting
Supporting Detailed
the supporting details quickly details of any summary
Information

Model Base Standard Models are available but Can be added, usually not included or
The Core of the DSS
are not managed limited in nature

Construction By users, either alone or with By vendors or IS specialists By Vendors or IS Specialists

specialists from IS or IC
departments

Hardware Mainframes, micros or Mainframes, Micros or Distributed system

distributed distributed

Nature of Large computational Application oriented, Interactive, easy to access

Computing capabilities, modeling performance reports, multiple databases, on-line access,
Packages languages and simulation, strong reporting capabilities, sophisticated DBMS capabilities
applications and DSS standard statistical, and complex linkages
generators financial, accounting and
management science models

Adapted from the Information Systems resource materials by Denis Manley, School of Computing at Dublin Institute of Technology.

7
 EIS:
• EIS support a range of decision making, but more often than not, this tends to
be unstructured
• EIS support the executive level of management, often used to formulate high
level strategic decisions impacting on the direction of the organization
• These systems will usually have the ability to extract summary data from
internal systems, along with external data that provides intelligence on the
environment of the organization
• Generally these systems work by providing a user friendly interface into other
systems, both internal and external to the organization
Let us now explore differences among the three information systems based on the
dimensions (Table 18.2).
In the following sections, we shall be studying various components of a DSS, building
simple architecture for DSS and GDSS.

18.6 COMPONENTS OF DSS

The basic model of a DSS might be a spreadsheet containing the data. The user may
make changes in some of the parameters of spreadsheet and observe the impacts on
the outcomes. For example, one may create a spreadsheet to support various
investment decisions or an individual may create a spreadsheet to model a home loan
and see the impact on repayments of changing parameters like interest rates,
principal size and the term of the loan. Another example could be from an education
institution. A university may create a spreadsheet while entering into a contract with
another offshore educational institution to provide its degree programs available in
different locations. The spreadsheets then can be used to understand the set of costs,
fixed and variable, and to compare its income in a range of circumstances, like
student numbers, the impact of money exchange rates or delivery cost depending on
the mode, etc. This allows for sensitivity analysis and risk management.
More sophisticated DSSs are often systems in their own right, although they may be
add-ons to some existing transaction processing system. Let us examine basic
components of a DSS model through Figure 18.3.

Decision Interface

DSS Modeling
Software

Information/
Knowledge base

Database

Fig.18.3 : Key components of a DSS

The Figure 18.3 clearly defines that the data likely to be derived from a database
underpins the information on which good decisions are made. Hence, the database is
the base component of a DSS model. The information or knowledge base contains
information about the intricate relationships that may exist between the data. This
defines the rules that underpin the various knowledge systems or the relationship
8
among the activities. For example, the relationships could be between costs, demand
and profitability in a product costing.
The modeling software enables the user to experiment with various scenarios, i.e. to
see the impact of varying parameters when they are changed on the outcomes, or to
undertake other mathematical analysis, i.e. sensitivity analysis, linear programming,
queuing models and to find out risks involved in each of the scenario.

Based on the database, knowledge base and the relations, the decision interface is
created where the user component plays an important role. Here, the users are either
senior management or middle management with lower levels of technical expertise.

Sometimes the underlying database might be a data warehouse, we have already

studied in the previous unit. The real application of a data warehouse thus emerges in
DSS though a data warehouse is not an operational business system, but is usually a
large database that is updated periodically from a range of sources. The sources of
data may be internal transaction processing systems, or may be from external
sources and they are sometimes used to bring data together from a range of
incompatible or isolated internal systems.

Activity B

Given are some examples of knowledge retrieval for decision-making process.

Please give information system nomenclature to each of them :
1) An organization has to give annual money incentives to its employees serving at
various levels. The management considers pay scales, last year’s profits and
losses, product sale and benefits extended to the employees along with self-
appraisal to arrive at the decision.
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................
2) The course materials in a distance education institute are to be distributed to all
its registered students, but it is reported that the quantum required for
distribution is not available in sufficient numbers. A senior officer makes an
appropriate decision.
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................
3) The marketing wing of a TV manufacturing company after considering the
sales and forthcoming international Olympic games in the country decides on
the advertising policy for company to be adopted for next six months.
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................
4) Information on the blood group, allergy to penicillin and CT Scans, X-rays, blood
pressures, blood sugar and blood urea along with temperature charts are
obtained for a patient likely to be operated by a doctor.
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................
9
 18.7 GROUP DSS

Having basic understanding of decision-making process and DSS, let us find out what
is Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS). GDSS are interactive computer-based
systems that facilitate decision-makers working together as a group to arrive at a
solution for unstructured problem. The group of executives analyzes problem
situations and performs group decision-making tasks. The GDSS provides
mechanisms to help the users to coordinate and keep track of on-going projects, allow
them to work together thru computer-supported communication, collaboration, and
coordination. Typical applications of GDSS include email, awareness and notification
systems, videoconferencing, chat systems, multi-player games, and negotiation
systems.

The group decision support system addresses the vary issue of human behaviour in a
given environment along with computer science and management. It is found that a
task assigned to a group is a typical information processing system that usually
provides a judicious solution with alternatives. The GDSS has several implications
that can be listed as follows :
• Enable all participants to work simultaneously thereby promoting broader input
into the meeting process and reducing dominance of few people;
• Provide equal opportunity for participation;
• Enable larger group meetings that can effectively bring more information,
knowledge, and skills for a given task;
• Provide process structure to help focus the group on key issues and
discourages irrelevant digressions and nonproductive behaviors;
• Support the development of an organizational memory from meeting to meeting;
and
• Individual satisfaction increases with group size.
The software developed for GDSS focuses principally on assisting brainstorming and
mechanizing voting, two of the rare events in business meetings. We have reached
the stage of mechanizing word-oriented problems in group meetings.

Group support systems are designed to support group decision-making through

specialized software, hardware and decision support tools. This can be defined as a
combination of computer, communications and decision technologies working in
tandem to provide support for problem identification, formulation and solution
generation during group meetings. Broadly, the fundamental goal of GDSS is to
support the exchange of ideas, opinions, and preferences within the group. The
primary goal of GSS is to reduce process loss attributed to disorganization within the
group, social issues such as member dominance, inhibition, peer pressure and other
recognized difficulties of group interaction and to improve overall decision quality.
The taxonomy of GDSS is forced by three factors :
1) Group size,
2) Communication channel (face-to-face vs. computer-mediated) and
3) Task type.
GDSS are believed to improve the quality of group decisions by minimizing process
losses and maximizing process gains. Process gains occur when certain aspects of
the meeting improve the eventual outcome or result and process losses delay or
reduce the final outcome. Thus, the overall meeting outcome is reliant upon the
process gains versus the process losses.
10
Let us now study some of the terms used in GDSS.

Groupthink : Groupthink is a tendency of group members to fall in to similar thought

patters and to disapprove the opinions that do not confirm to the patterns. This
creates problems in group decision making process and sometimes become big hurdle
in reaching to an appropriate decision. GDSS provides an opportunity to overcome
the problems of groupthink where junior members of the group get equal chance to
put forth their opinions that could not have been possible in face-to-face situations.

Media Richness is defined as the potential information carrying capacity of data

transmission medium. The information processing depends on the richness of the
communication medium. Figure 18.4 describes the level of communication richness
across various media. In GDSS, the richness of a medium depends on availability of
number of communication channels and the feedback that is received by the decision
makers. In face-to-face situation, the communication richness is very high as the
feedback and inputs are received through words used, facial expression, body
language and tone. An important aspect is also selection of communication medium
as this varies from task to task. For example, a low medium richness is more
effective in money transactions via an ATM whereas to understand loaning system of
bank highly rich medium may be required.

Low High
E-mail Electronic Audio Video Face-to-face
Communication Communication
Chat
Richness Richness

Fig.18.4 : Degree of Communication Medium Richness

Groupware : It is a term which relates to GDSS but is not identical. It is defined as a

computer based system that support groups of people engaged in common goal and
provide interface to a shared environment (Ellis, 1991). The field that studies how
people use groupware is called Computer-Supported Cooperative Work
(CSCW). The relations among the DSS, GDSS and Groupware can be understood
through Figure 18.5.

Decision Group Group-

Support DSS ware
System

Fig.18.5 : Relationship Among DSS, GDSS and Groupware

11
 As can be seen, GDSS is a part of DSS whereas groupware may or may not be
essential component of DSS though it has some properties similar to GDSS.

War room, also known as electronic meeting room or electronic boardroom, is a

facility created for GDSS by networking computers for each member participant. It is
equipped with a large screen video display that can be seen by all the participants.
There is a facilitator to control the display and have access to all members’
computers. The software used have the capabilities to plan a session and group
members can propose agenda items through it. It can organize and structure
members’ comments and can record them as organisational memory for longer and
effective use.

Let us now look at the system of GDSS software procurement.

18.8 SOFTWARE TOOL SELECTION

Selecting a software package for organisational DSS is a major strategic decision as

it has intense implications for the competitiveness for the organization for many
years. As procurement of software involves money, involvement of senior managers
along with technical managers in decision-making is important and crucial. The
procurement processes need to have various stages to make a right decision on this
issue. Some of the processes involve technical evaluation of software, identification
of information needs for the company, meeting with vendors and assessing the
reliability of senior executives at the vendor company as strategic partners. In this
section, we shall be discussing the procedurals issues in procurement of DSS
software.

Evaluation Steps

The evaluation of the software basically involves four steps, covering creation of
evaluation team, need identification, product evaluation and negotiations
with vendors. The evaluation team is key and thus it is vital to ensure availability of
team members while making the project plan. Some points to be remembered in
formulation of evaluation team are :
a) identification of suitable members
b) role specification for them
c) anticipation and management of time commitment
d) leadership selection
e) creating directions for the team.
The evaluation team should reasonably be small (5 to 7 members) with a project
leader and the team should submit a regular report on findings to the senior
management.

Needs Assessment

The next step is need assessment for enterprise-wide DSS. The evaluation team is
supposed to create criteria and interact with the personnel who will be impacted by
implementation of DSS. The role of evaluation team in communicating with the
people is to crucial and is to be effective to determine the needs from those who
want DSS, who will be expected to use DSS and who are concerned, opposed, bored
or out of reach. The communication could be question based where interaction should
not be over selling or under done. Questions can be related with the functions and
tasks, controls and security needs, operational performance needs and on the design
12 architecture strengths and problems.
Product Evaluation

The third step is evaluating a product. It is important to mention here that there is no
software package available that can fit in any organisational DSS needs. The
package is to be customized for the organization and one may need to explore other
users and their experiences with the package. The product evaluation may involve
the following three stages :
a) Preliminary evaluation : testing of actual products available in the market and
their screening. The strengths and weaknesses of the vendor is also to be
checked.
b) Functional screening and review of the product on the laid criteria : examination
of cost, design, support and installation requirements.
c) Operational performance evaluation : screened packages have to be tested
operationally either with the demonstration versions or pilot tested for its
scalability, load bearing capacity, direct and indirect costs, after sale support,
training, etc.
Negotiating with Vendors

The responsibility of final selection needs to have negotiations with the vendor who
has submitted the project proposal with costs, infrastructure requirements. The
negotiations are based on the installation plan and post-installation reviews. The role
of evaluation team gets converted in to a project team as no vendor can guarantee on
the performance of DSS when it is actually implemented. On the other hand,
sustainability and reliable information extraction with constant support from the
supplier with up gradations and appropriate changes in software are to be negotiated
at the time of finalization of the software.

Activity C

Please name at least two information systems for each high, medium and low
communication richness media.

S.No. High Communication Medium Communication Low Communication

Rich Media Rich Media Rich Media
1.

2.

18.9 BUILDING DSS/EIS IN AN ORGANIZATION

To build a DSS or EIS in an organization, it is important to understand the

organisational environment in which it has to be functional. The environment here can
be explained as the available hardware, operating system on the computers, approach
to link or network computers, users, their work and workload, the links between the
departments and information or data flow, hierarchies among the different levels of
human resources, their interactivity level, etc. This total setup is covered under
information system architecture.

The architecture of an information system refers to the way its pieces are laid out,
types of tasks assigned to each piece, interaction among pieces and interaction of
pieces with outside system. Martin (1991) defines information system architecture as
“A written expression of the desired future for information use and management in
an organization, that creates the context within which people can make consistent 13
decisions”.
 Let us look at the flow diagram (Figure 18.6) of course development process
adopted by Indira Gandhi National Open University for generating a course that you
are reading as an example of information system architecture.

Conceiving the Idea of an

Academic Programme

Preparation of Concept Paper

and Presentation Before
Academic Body for Approval

Database on Learners'
Requirements, Formal Educational Pre-development Survey and
Opportunities & Institutional Reach Need Assessment

Database on Subject Universe Syllabus Formulation and Sub-

and Recent Researches in it division of Course in Blocks
and Units

Database on
Course Writers Appointing Course Writers and
Scheduling the Writing Activity

Rough Editing of Units, Checking

its Structure, Treatment of
Subject Language and Fomat
Revision of Materials

Word Processing, Editing and

Database on Progress CRC Preparation
Copyright Permission,
Graphic Designing, Lay outing

Fig.18.6 : Example of an Information System Architecture

We are not explaining the diagram, as it is self-explanatory, but please note the data
gathering situations and try to identify the decision making points.

To build a DSS in organization, one has to consider the spectrum of DSS that
organization is going to use. The following are to be well thought-out to approach
systematically :
• Strategic, tactical and operational decisions of the organization,
• Unstructured, semi structured and structured decisions,
• All levels of management and knowledge workers in the organization,
• Major functions, product or line of business,
• Hierarchy in operations, and
• Geographical division of the organization.
14
Let us refer to Figure 18.7 showing generic view of a DSS architecture.

External Data Users Programmers

Network and Communication Facilities

Hardware and Operating System Platform

User Interface

End-User
Query Tools

Model Management Model Development

DBMS
System Tools

Database Model Base

Fig.18.7 : Model DSS Architecture

Source : Mallach

Having an exposure to information system architecture, let us see that how a DSS is
build in an organization. There are three approaches that are commonly used for
development of an information system :
a) The traditional System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) approach considers
identification of user requirement, analysis of existing system, designing overall
system and its designing, development (with simultaneous implementation) and
testing. Each of these steps culls a written document, reviewed and approved
before starting next step. The basic advantage of this approach is that it covers
all the areas and maintains a record of them. On the other hand it is too rigid for
a system that is frequently changing or updating.
b) Prototype Approach considers user requirement and either applies prototype
system design before system design or evolves prototype design after
development and exercising a prototype system. In the former style, the
implementation of the system design done on the basis of prototype design and
development and testing follows whereas in the later approach, while evolving
the prototype system or rapid application development all the changing factors
are taken care of. The implementation of system is faster in later approach.
Both prototype approaches are flexible and responsive to the development
process. The drawback in the prototype approach is longer development
schedule and possibility of using wrong tool or using the right tool in the wrong
way.
c) End-user Development approach provides an opportunity for development of
DSS by the decision makers themselves. Spreadsheet is a common low-level
end-user development tool. The approach provides extensive control of the user
on the system including target schedules and problem understanding-solving
environment.
15
 The DSS project development is teamwork where each team members has definite
role to play. The members of the team are the users, responsible for solving the
problem that the DSS is to help with, the intermediately, who help the users of DSS,
the DSS builder, who are technical experts and have technical decision making
power on the hardware, the technical support person, who are programmers
integrating existing packages into overall system and do customized programming,
and the toolsmith, who uses tools to be used in constructing the DSS.
Having had the defined approach and the team in place, who have already completed
the tasks of need assessment and software selection, the following step may be
useful in building the DSS (Mallach).
a) Obtaining and installing the DSS hardware;
b) Installing the DSS and making it run on intended hardware;
c) Providing user access to the system;
d) Creating and updating the database;
e) Training the user on the new system;
f) Documenting the system for its user and who will responsible for maintaining it
in the future;
g) Making arrangements to support the user as the system is being used;
h) Transferring ongoing responsibility for the system from its developers to the
operations or maintenance part of the MIS group; and
i) Evaluating the operations and use of the system.

Let us now examine some of the example of DSS that might include :
• scheduling systems, such as:
• staff roistering systems
• room timetabling
• production scheduling
• project scheduling and management
• product costing systems with predictive capabilities
• investment decisions
•· strategic planning applications

18.10 SUMMARY

In this unit, we have read about the decision-making process and the support system
for management executives and decision makers. The decision support system (DSS)
was defined as the system that supports the decision-making and now we know that
DSS is a information systems, used by managers in making decisions as support, not
to replace, people and used when the decision is semi-structured or unstructured. We
also understood that DSS incorporate a database of some sort and also models.

Through this unit, we defined various information systems and also differentiated
between DSS, MIS and EIS. We also explored Group DSS and its implications. While
building DSS of an organization, we explored the tips for procurement of software for
DSS and system architecture.

This unit has broadly exposed the theories and practices of DSS and EIS. It is
suggestive to read more materials to get deep information on the subject matters.
16
18.11 UNIT END EXERCISES
1) Define decision support system in your own words. Exemplify using your
organizational context.
2) What are the characteristics of DSS? What are its components?
3) Differentiate between DSS, MIS & EIS with the help of suitable examples.
4) Why is DSS more of a facility than a system?
5) Explain the major functions of DSS and its applications.
6) What is group DSS ? What are the components of group DSS?

18.12 REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED FURTHER

READINGS

Adelman, Leonard (1992) Evaluating Decision Support and Expert Systems,

New York : John Wiley and Sons.

Mallach, Efrem G. (2000) Decision Support and Data Warehouse System,

New Delhi :Tata Mcgraw Hill.

McGrath, Joesph Edward (1984) Groups : Interaction and Performance,

New Jersey : Prentice Hall.

Murthy CSR (2002), Management Information Systems: Text and Applications,

Third Edition, Himalaya Publishing House, Mumbai

Sadgopan S. (1997), Management Information Systems, Prentice-Hall if India

Private Limited, New Delhi, India

Turban E, McLean E, Wetherbe J, 2004, Information Technology for

Management, 4th Ed. John Wiley & Sons (Asia) Pte, Ltd., Singapore

17