Exercise 7:

What is a Decision Support System?

• It is an interactive computerized system that gathers and presents data from a wide range of sources, typically for business purposes.

• DSS applications are systems and subsystems that help people make decisions based on data that is pulled from a wide range of sources.

Characteristics of Decision Support Systems

1. They tend to be aimed at the less well structured, underspecified problems that upper-level managers typically face

2. They attempt to combine the use on models or analytic techniques with traditional data access and retrieval functions

3. They specifically focus on features that make them easy to use by non-computer people in an interactive mode

4. They emphasize flexibility and adaptability to accommodate changes in the environment and decision-making approach of the user.


What is Decision Support Systems used for?

1. Assist managers in their decision processes in semi structural tasks

2. Support, rather than replace, managerial judgment

3. Improve the effectiveness of decision making rather than its efficiency