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DSS News
D. J. Power, Editor
February 15, 2004 -- Vol. 5, No. 4
A Bi-Weekly Publication of DSSResources.COM
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Check the article by Langseth "Real-Time
Data Warehousing" at DSSResources.COM
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Featured:
* Ask Dan! - What kind of DSS does Mr. X need?
* What's New? at DSSResources.COM
* DSS News Releases
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Ask Dan!
by Dan Power
What kind of DSS does Mr. X need?
This is a generic question from my email. Recently "Jimmy" posted the
following scenario on the Free DSS Forum at DSSResources.COM: "Emmy’s
husband, Buddy, is retiring from his position as a district manager for
a chain of hardware stores. For several years, he has been doing market
research for the stores. He is systematic in the way he approaches
problems and has long used mathematical formulas to project sales and so
on. Although her business has been doing well in the last year and a
half, Emmy is getting too bogged down in backlogged orders to use the
decision support system you built for her. Buddy has agreed to take over
the management aspects of her shop so that she can concentrate on
artistic aspects.
(i) How would you characterize Buddy as a decision maker? Explain in a
paragraph.
(ii) What features could you include in a DSS to support Buddy’s
decision-making style? List five of them and explain in detail."
Jimmy asked "Please help me solve the problems above."
This scenario sounds like it is part of a "take home" exam question so I
can't respond to Jimmy on the specific issues raised. The generic
question is however interesting and seems appropriate for an Ask Dan!
column. Also, some readers may want to reflect upon how they would
answer such an exam question.
First, we want to ask if Mr. X has a need for a DSS? And what factors
impact the need for a DSS? The business in the scenario is doing well
and the company appears to be a small, family business. The current
decision support system is not being used. We have no information about
what type of computerized support was built and implemented but more
than likely in a small business computerized decision support focused
upon applications built in Microsoft Access and Excel. Perhaps a DSS
was built for sales tracking and forecasting or for budgeting and cash
flow analysis.
A number of situational factors can impact the need for a specific
computerized decision support system including the size of an
organization and its financial health, the type of organization (health
care, state tax agency, or private manufacturing firm), and the
organization design and structure of tasks and jobs. In general, whether
a given individual needs a specific DSS should be a function of
organizational factors and of the person's role in the organization and
position in the organization hierarchy. Also, a given individual may
need to use more than one specific DSS. Do we have evidence about the
impact of these factors on DSS adoption and use? Some. It seems that
large, financially successful organizations are more likely to adopt and
use a wide range of DSS. Government mandated reporting encourages use of
specific DSS. Organizations with bureaucratic structures and clearly
defined job descriptions are more likely to have specific computerized
decision support systems. Decision makers at the operational performance
level (Anthony, 1965) are more likely to benefit from real-time,
data-driven DSS than managers at the strategic planning level. Senior
managers at the strategic planning level are more likely to benefit from
visual interactive model-driven DSS than any other managers. In general,
increased complexity, uncertainty, information load and rapid change in
information increases the need for computerized decision support.
Second, why is it important to "characterize" the targeted user as a
decision maker? Is there something about a decision maker's personality,
decision-making style, past experiences, etc. that predisposes that
person to request or want a specific kind of DSS or encourages them to
use a computerized decision support system.
We should understand our targeted user(s). When only one person is
targeted for a proposed DSS it becomes more important to "charaterize"
the user so that any DSS that is built will be accepted and used. When
we focus on the infamous Mr. X or Ms. Y in our analysis of a DSS request
we are "personalizing" the evaluation of the situation. Often this
approach is unwise and inappropriate. Should we ever consider
personality and preferences when we assess the need for a specific DSS?
Charles Stabell (in Bennett, 1983) proposed a decision-oriented design
approach for evaluating the need for a DSS. I agree with him and many
others that it is preferable to assess needs and requirements linked to
job and situational factors rather than focusing on the job incumbent.
We should try to depersonalize the adoption and development of a
specific DSS, but when possible we should let a decision maker customize
the user interface to suit his or her information processing
preferences. In some situations, the decision maker who requests a
specific DSS is "powerful and influential" (like a CEO or CFO), in that
situation Information Systems staff should comply even when they
perceive the DSS is not needed. The "perception of need" by a powerful
decision maker creates a "need". When the person holding the
influential position changes however the need for the specific DSS may
cease. Then the specific DSS won't be used. It is not uncommon for a
particular CEO to prescribe specific analysis and reporting requirements
to meet his/her decision making needs. That will be reflected in DSS
design. So for example, a data-driven DSS for performance management and
executive information should accomodate a user's requests in terms of
specifying key performance indicators (KPIs), charts, drill down and
tables. The user interface of a specific model-driven DSS should be
flexible to accomodate "What if?" and sensitivity analysis.
Third, what is decision-making style and how does this "personality"
factor impact the design of a specific DSS? Does "Buddy’s
decision-making style" matter? What are common features of a DSS that
could or should be impacted by an individual's preferences or personal
desires?
We sometimes stereotype decision makers as analytical and systematic or
as intuitive. Many years ago some researchers argued about "cognitive
style" as a factor that should influence Information System design.
Today we generally consider individual differences as important but
associated more with the user interface than the functionality of the
DSS. If a situation can be better supported by a "real time"
data-driven DSS than by a document-driven DSS, then we try to provide an
acceptable user interface for an "intuitive" decision maker.
In general, a DSS user interface should be customizable. We may want to
adjust information displays as various chart types, tables and/or text.
We may change how input values are elicited. We may want to change how
drill down, analysis and help are provided. Also, we may change the
amount of direction and guidance provided users.
So we can develop and discuss some broad generalizations about
situations where decision-makers need specific kinds of computerized
decision support, but pre-design diagnosis remains the key to building
appropriate and successful DSS.
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References
Anthony, R.N. Planning and Control Systems: A Framework for Analysis.
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 1965.
Bennett, J.L. (Editor). Building Decision Support Systems. Reading, MA:
Addison Wesley, 1983.
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DSSResources.COM -- No registration required
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What's New? at DSSResources.COM
02/08/2004 Posted article by Justin Langseth, "Real-Time Data
Warehousing: Challenges and Solutions". Check the articles page.
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DSS News - February 1 to February 14, 2004
Read them at DSSResources.COM and search the DSS News Archive
02/13/2004 Cisco and IBM unveil new model for business security.
02/12/2004 Software AG's Adabas takes advantage of IBM's new 64-Bit
shared virtual storage technology for mainframe.
02/11/2004 MicroStrategy honors three companies for excellence in
enterprise-class business intelligence.
02/10/2004 ASU lands its largest federal award; U.S. Army to provide
$43.7 million for flexible display development.
02/10/2004 Microsoft releases MapPoint Web Service 3.5.
02/10/2004 Cognos extends industry-leading enterprise planning solution.
02/09/2004 Intranets take second place to public Internet.
02/09/2004 Sun and Oracle demonstrate outstanding performance running
Oracle(R) Collaboration Suite e-mail solution on leading Sun systems.
02/09/2004 Cognos partners with Attunity to provide seamless mainframe
and legacy data integration for ETL and end-to-end business intelligence
solutions.
02/09/2004 New Blackbaud solution helps nonprofit leaders make informed
decisions.
02/09/2004 Hyperion and financial services leader team up for financial
strategy and planning.
02/09/2004 TIBCO Software Inc. and Intel working together to speed
integration.
02/04/2004 Intergraph continues to foster education and research among
UCGIS members.
02/02/2004 Premier selects Netezza to power business intelligence
efforts and healthcare analytics services.
02/02/2004 Microsoft Business Solutions announces new release of
Microsoft Business Portal.
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DSS News is copyrighted (c) 2004 by D. J. Power. Please send your questions to
daniel.power@dssresources.com.
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