Decision Support System

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Decision Support Systems
Lecture 6
Inam Ul-Haq Lecturer in Computer
Science University of Education Okara
Campus organizer_at_dfd-charity.com,
inam.bth_at_gmail.com
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Contents

• Define DSS
• Decision Making / Problem Solving
• Decision Making Process
• DSS Incorporates types of IS
• Basic Themes Taxonomy of DSS
• DSS Benefits and Components
• Applications Categories

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Decision Support System

• A computer-based information system that supports
  business or organizational decision-making activit
  ies.
• OR
• Interactive computer-based systems, which help
  decision makers utilize data and models to solve
  unstructured problems. Gorry and Scott-Morton
  (1971)
• OR
• Decision support systems couple the intellectual
  resources of individuals with the capabilities of
  the computer to improve the quality of decisions.
  It is a computer-based support system for
  management decision makers who deal with
  semi-structured problems. Keen and Scott-Morton
  (1978)

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Decision Making/ Problem Solving
DECISIONS
Target problem
Decision makers
goals reports queries info
external Info
DATA
Information systems
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Decision Making Process

• Decision making process
• Intelligence
• Sensing, finding, identifying, and defining
  problem/opportunity
• Design
• Diagnosing the problem/opportunity
• Generating alternatives
• Choice
• Choosing the best alternative
• Implementation 
• Adopting the selected course of action in
  decision situation.
• E.g. MS Excel for Merit List, Grade Distribution

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DSS Incorporates Types of Info Systems
100 0

• Executive Information Systems
• Expert Systems
• Information Reporting Systems
• Transaction Processing Systems

3Types of Decisions Unstructured
Decision Structured Semi-structured
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Basic Themes of DSS

• Information system.
• Used by managers for making decisions.
• Used to support, not to replace people.
• Used when the decision is "semi-structured" or
  "unstructured."
• Incorporate a database of some sort.
• Incorporate models.

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Taxonomy of DSS

• A communication-driven DSS supports more than one
  person working on a shared task examples include
  integrated tools like Google Docs or Groove
• A data-driven DSS or data-oriented DSS emphasizes
  access to and manipulation of a time series of
  internal company data and, sometimes, external
  data. Google Examples
• A document-driven DSS manages, retrieves, and
  manipulates unstructured information in a variety
  of electronic formats.
• A knowledge-driven DSS provides
  specialized problem-solving expertise stored as
  facts, rules, procedures, or in similar
  structures. Google Examples
• A model-driven DSS emphasizes access to and
  manipulation of a statistical, financial,
  optimization, or simulation model. Model-driven
  DSS use data and parameters provided by users to
  assist decision makers in analyzing a situation
  they are not necessarily data-intensive. Dicodess 
  is an example of an open source model-driven DSS
  generator. Google Examples
• (Created by Daniel Power)

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DSS Componets
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DATA
MODELS
DBMS
MBMS
KBMS
DGMS
Database Management System Knowledge-based
Management System Model-based Management
System Data Generation Management System
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USER
Google DGMS
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Applications

• Airline Reservation system
• No more seats available
• Provide alternative flights you can use
• Use the info to make flight plans
• Canadian National Railway
• A Loan Manager can decide whether to grant loan
  to an applicant
• Decision Making Software
• E.g. Logical Decisions (30 days trial)
• Expert Choice
• DecideIT (http//www.decide-it.eu/index.php?senc
  homepage)
• 1000Minds

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Applications Cont.

• Clinical decision support system for medical
  diagnosis.
• An engineering firm that has bids on several
  projects and wants to know if they can be
  competitive with their costs.
• DSS is extensively used in business and
  management. Executive dashboards and other
  business performance software allow faster
  decision making, identification of negative
  trends, and better allocation of business
  resources.
• A growing area of DSS application, concepts,
  principles, and techniques is in agricultural
  production, marketing for sustainable
  development. Google
• A DSS can be designed to help make decisions on
  the stock market, or deciding which area or
  segment to market a product toward.

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Applications Cont.
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Characteristics Capabilities

• The key DSS characteristics and capabilities are
  as follows
• Support for decision makers in semi-structured
  and unstructured problems.
• Support managers at all levels.
• Support individuals and groups.
• Support for interdependent or sequential
  decisions.
• Support intelligence, design, choice, and
  implementation.
• Support variety of decision processes and styles.
  
• DSS should be adaptable and flexible.
• DSS should be interactive ease of use.
• Complete control by decision-makers.
• Ease of development by end users.
• Support modeling and analysis.
• Data access.
• Standalone, integration and Web-based

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DSS Benefits

• Improves personal efficiency
• Speed up the process of decision making
• Increases organizational control
• Encourages exploration and discovery on the part
  of the decision maker
• Speeds up problem solving in an organization
• Facilitates interpersonal communication
• Promotes learning or training
• Generates new evidence in support of a decision
• Creates a competitive advantage over competition
• Reveals new approaches to thinking about the
  problem space
• Helps automate managerial processes
• Create Innovative ideas to speed up the
  performance

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DSS Categories

• Support based DSS (Alter 1980)
• Data-based DSS
• Model-based DSS

Structured Semi-structure Unstructured
Model-based DSS
Data-based DSS
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References

• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_support_syst
  em
• Http//www.freedictionary.com/dsss
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_making_softw
  are