Decision Support Systems

Decision Support Systems (DSS) are interactive computer-based system intended to help managers make decisions. A Decision Support System helps a manager retrieve, summarize and analyze decision relevant data. DSS support technological and managerial decision making by assisting the organization with knowledge about ill-structured or semi-structured issues. Decision support systems are used by organizational decision-makers to improve strategic, tactical and operational decisions. It may be primarily a data-oriented DSS or a model-oriented DSS. It may be an enterprise-wide DSS that supports a large group of managers in a networked, client-server environment with a specialized data warehouse or a desktop, single-user DSS on the PC in a manager’s office.

DSS facilitates and accepts input contributions from multiple stakeholders and provides the necessary capability to analyze, prioritize and communicate those decisions.
DSS is based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) that provides a mathematically rigorous application and proven process for prioritization and decision-making. By reducing complex decisions to a series of paired comparisons, then synthesizing the results, DSS not only helps decision-makers arrive at the best decision, but also provides a clear rationale for the decision.

DSS can be used to support a number of decisions situations including:

• Structuring of complex problem
• Developing priorities and ranking alternatives
• Measuring consistency of judgments
• Allocating resources
• Conducting a cost/benefit analysis.
  

DSS assist in organizing problem-related information in a hierarchical model consisting of a goal, possible scenarios, criteria, and alternatives. DSS allows the decision-maker to systematically make judgments about the relative importance of criteria and the preference for alternatives relative to criteria.