Ch. 1
Supporting Business Decision-Making

Chapter Contents Previous Page Next Page

Holsapple and Whinston (1996) identify 5 specialized types of DSS (see pp. 178-195). First they identify an evolving group of systems they call Text-Oriented DSS. This type of DSS supports a decision-maker by electronically keeping track of textually represented knowledge that could impact decisions. This type of system supports document creation, revision, viewing, searching and hypertext links. Holsapple and Whinston also discuss Database-Oriented DSS, Spreadsheet-Oriented DSS, Solver-Oriented DSS, and Rule-Oriented DSS. A solver is a general algorithm that can be customized to solve a specific instance of a more general class of problems. These last four types of DSS match up well with Alter’s categories.

Donovan and Madnick (1977) classified DSS as institutional or ad hoc DSS. Institutional DSS support decisions that are recurring. An ad hoc DSS supports problems that are not anticipated and that are not expected to reoccur. Hackathorn and Keen (1981) identified DSS in three distinct yet interrelated categories: Personal DSS, Group DSS and Organizational DSS. Many DSS are designed for a particular problem in a particular company, but some DSS are generic or ready-made DSS (cf., Turban and Aronson, 1998). Golden, Hevner and Power (1986) identified decision insight systems as a particular category of Model-Oriented DSS that uses decision analysis tools to help decision-makers structure decision situations and gain insight about possible solutions.