3.2 Decision Support Systems (DSS)

Question 1

What is a Decision Support System (DSS)?

Answer 1

Computerised program used to support determinations, judgments, courses of action in organisation / business

Question 2

What does a good DSS result in

Answer 2

Faster process

Less prone to bias

Question 3

How does the DSS work as a process?

Answer 3

Sifts through and analyses massive amounts of data, compiling comprehensive information that can be used to solve problems and in decision making

Question 4

What are the different types of DSS?

Answer 4

Data-driven
Model-driven
Communication-driven and group
Knowledge-driven
Document-driven

Question 5

Describe what a Data-Driven DSS does and how it works

Answer 5

What it does
Makes decisions based on data from internal or external databases

How it works
Uses data mining techniques to discern trends & patterns for predicting future events
Make decisions about inventory, sales & other business processes

Question 6

Describe what a Model-Driven DSS does and how it works

Answer 6

What it does
Customised according to predefined set of user requirements

How it works
Used to analyse different scenarios to meet user requirements - assisting with scheduling, developing financial statements

Question 7

Describe what a Communication-Driven and Group DSS does and how it works

Answer 7

What it does
Variety of communication tools to allow more than 1 person to work on same task

How it works
Increases collaboration between users and system
Improves overall efficiency & effectiveness of system

Question 8

Describe what a Knowledge-Driven DSS does and how it works

Answer 8

What it does
Data resides in continuously updated knowledge base that’s maintained by knowledge management system

How it works
Provides data to users that’s consistent with company’s business processes & knowledge base

Question 9

Describe what a Document-Driven DSS does and how it works

Answer 9

What it does
Information management system that uses documents to retrieve data

How it works
Enables users to search webpages or databases or find specific search terms - policies and procedures, meeting minutes, corporate records

Question 10

What are the advantages of DSS?

Answer 10

Increases speed and efficiency of decision making activities
Collect and analyse real-time data
Promotes training within organisation - specific skills must be developed to implement & run DSS
Automates monotonous managerial process freeing up time for managers to spend on decision-making or other tasks so cheaper overall
Improves interpersonal communication with organisation
Increases confidence of decisions made

Question 11

What are the disadvantages of DSS?

Answer 11

Cost to develop and implement DSS is huge capital investment
Develop dependence on DSS
Lose ability / confidence to make decisions independently
Reliant on accurate, high quality data
Lead to information overload as it tends to consider all aspects of problem
Cause fear and backlash from lower-level employees
Poor quality coding = Poor quality DSS