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Chapter 2 • Foundations and Technologies for Decision Making 91

8. User-friendliness, strong graphical capabilities, and a natural language interactive
human–machine interface can greatly increase the effectiveness of DSS. Most new
DSS applications use Web-based interfaces or mobile platform interfaces.
9. Improvement of the effectiveness of decision making (e.g., accuracy, timeliness,
quality) rather than its efficiency (e.g., the cost of making decisions). When DSS are
deployed, decision making often takes longer, but the decisions are better.
10. The decision maker has complete control over all steps of the decision-making
process in solving a problem. A DSS specifically aims to support, not to replace, the
decision maker.
11. End users are able to develop and modify simple systems by themselves. Larger
systems can be built with assistance from information system (IS) specialists.
Spreadsheet packages have been utilized in developing simpler systems. OLAP and
data mining software, in conjunction with data warehouses, enable users to build
fairly large, complex DSS.
12. Models are generally utilized to analyze decision-making situations. The mod-
eling capability enables experimentation with different strategies under different
configurations.
13. Access is provided to a variety of data sources, formats, and types, including GIS,
multimedia, and object-oriented data.
14. The DSS can be employed as a stand-alone tool used by an individual decision maker
in one location or distributed throughout an organization and in several organizations
along the supply chain. It can be integrated with other DSS and/or applications, and it
can be distributed internally and externally, using networking and Web technologies.
These key DSS characteristics and capabilities allow decision makers to make
better, more consistent decisions in a timely manner, and they are provided by the major
DSS components, which we will describe after discussing various ways of classifying
DSS (next).
sectiOn 2.9 revieW QuestiOns

1. List the key characteristics and capabilities of DSS.
2. Describe how providing support to a workgroup is different from providing support
to group work. Explain why it is important to differentiate these concepts.
3. What kinds of DSS can end users develop in spreadsheets?
4. Why is it so important to include a model in a DSS?

2.10 Dss classifications
DSS applications have been classified in several different ways (see Power, 2002; Power
and Sharda, 2009). The design process, as well as the operation and implementation of DSS,
depends in many cases on the type of DSS involved. However, remember that not every
DSS fits neatly into one category. Most fit into the classification provided by the Association
for Information Systems Special Interest Group on Decision Support Systems (AIS SIGDSS).
We discuss this classification but also point out a few other attempts at classifying DSS.

the ais sigDss classification for Dss
The AIS SIGDSS (ais.site-ym.com/group/sigDss) has adopted a concise classification
scheme for DSS that was proposed by Power (2002). It includes the following categories:
• Communications-driven and group DSS (GSS)
• Data-driven DSS

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