A methodology for implementing a decision support system:a small company case study

The importance of non-technical factors in the design and implementation of information systems has been increasingly recognised by both researchers and practitioners, and recent literature highlights the need for new tools and techniques with an organisational, rather than technical, focus. The gap between what is technically possible and what is generally practised, is particularly wide in the sales and marketing field. This research describes the design and implementation of a decision support system (DSS) for marketing planning and control in a small, but complex company and examines the nature of the difficulties encountered. An intermediary with functional, rather than technical, expertise is used as a strategy for overcoming these by taking control of the whole of the systems design and implementation cycle. Given the practical nature of the research, an action research approach is adopted with the researcher undertaking this role. This approach provides a detailed case study of what actually happens during the DSS development cycle, allowing the influence of organisational factors to be captured. The findings of the research show how the main focus of the intermediary's role needs to be adapted over the systems development cycle; from coordination and liaison in the pre-design and design stages, to systems champion during the first part of the implementation stage, and finally to catalyst to ensure that the DSS is integrated into the decision-making process. Two practical marketing exercises are undertaken which illustrate the nature of the gap between the provision of information and its use. The lack of a formal approach to planning and control is shown to have a significant effect on the way the DSS is used and the role of the intermediary is extended successfully to accommodate this factor. This leads to the conclusion that for the DSS to play a fully effective role, small firms may need to introduce more structure into their marketing planning, and that the role of the intermediary, or Information Coordinator, should include the responsibility for introducing new techniques and ideas to aid with this

Crossing the death valley to transfer environmental decision support systems to the water market

Environmental decision support systems (EDSSs) are attractive tools to cope with the complexity of environmental global challenges. Several thoughtful reviews have analyzed EDSSs to identify the key challenges and best practices for their development. One of the major criticisms is that a wide and generalized use of deployed EDSSs has not been observed. The paper briefly describes and compares four case studies of EDSSs applied to the water domain, where the key aspects involved in the initial conception and the use and transfer evolution that determine the final success or failure of these tools (i.e., market uptake) are identified. Those aspects that contribute to bridging the gap between the EDSS science and the EDSS market are highlighted in the manuscript. Experience suggests that the construction of a successful EDSS should focus significant efforts on crossing the death-valley toward a general use implementation by society (the market) rather than on development.The authors would like to thank the Catalan Water Agency (Agència Catalana de l’Aigua), Besòs River Basin Regional Administration (Consorci per la Defensa de la Conca del Riu Besòs), SISLtech, and Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for providing funding (CTM2012-38314-C02-01 and CTM2015-66892-R). LEQUIA, KEMLG, and ICRA were recognized as consolidated research groups by the Catalan Government under the codes 2014-SGR-1168, 2013-SGR-1304 and 2014-SGR-291.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Factors Influencing User Involvement in DSS Projcet Implenmentation: Some Lessons from the UK Health Sector

This paper presents two in-depth case studies on the user involvement factors considered by a hospital in the UK in implementing their Decision Support Systems (DSS) projects. The implementation of the systems had supported in the need to monitor clinical effectiveness of drug treatments patients with mental illnesses. The case studies have illustrated that individual’s eagerness had been the key factor to the success of the project despite its lack of formal project practices

Decision Making: A Computer-Science and Information-Technology Viewpoint

We address the phenomenon of decision making from the viewpoint of computer science and information technology. The basic question from this viewpoint is: what can the computer offer to decision makers and how it can support their work? Therefore, the main issue is to provide support to people who make complex decisions. In this article, we first present the taxonomy of disciplines that are concerned with methodological and operational aspects of decision support. At the main level, we distinguish between decision sciences, which are concerned with human decision making, and decision systems, which address computer decision making. This is followed by basic definitions related to decision processes and their components. We also describe properties that characterise different classes of decision problems. In the main part of the article, we present three prevailing approaches to decision support and give illustrative examples of their application: decision analysis, operational research, and decision support systems. Finally, we make a short overview of the area of decision systems and its achievements.decision making, decision sciences, decision support, decision analysis, decision systems

When decision support systems fail: insights for strategic information systems from Formula

Decision support systems (DSS) are sophisticated tools that increasingly take advantage of big data and are used to design and implement individual - and organization - level strategic decisions . Yet, when organizations excessively rely on their potential the outcome may be decision - making failure, particularly when such tools are applied under high pressure and turbulent conditions. Partial understanding and unidimensional interpretation can prevent learning from failure. Building on a practice perspective, we study an iconic case of strategic failure in Formula 1 racing. Our approach, which integrates the decision maker as well as the organizational and material context , identifies three interrelated sources of strategic failure that are worth investigation for decision - makers using DSS and big data: (1) t he situated nature and affordances of decision - making ; (2) t he distributed nature of cognition in decision - making; and (3) the performativity of the DSS. We outline specific research questions and their implications for firm performance and competitive advantage. Finally, we advance an agenda that can help close timely gaps in strategic IS research

Marketing Decision Support Systems: Adoption, Use and Satisfaction

This paper deals with marketing decision support systems (MDSS) in companies. In a conceptual framework five categories of factors are distinguished that potentially affect adoption, use, and satisfaction: external environment factors, organizational factors, task environment factors, user factors and implementation factors. Hypotheses are developed and tested on data from a survey of 525 companies. The factors that determine the adoption of an MDSS are different from the factors that affect the success of an MDSS, once it has been installed. For adoption, support from inside the company, communication and knowledge about MDSS are crucial. For the subsequent success of an MDSS, involvement of the user, sophistication, adaptability of the system and the possibility of direct interaction with the system are important. MDSS are primarily adopted to obtain information and not to upgrade (add value to) existing information. Companies in consumer goods are ahead of companies in the business-to-business sector, but this difference is likely to decrease in the future

Improving Medicaid Managed Care for Youth With Serious Behavioral Health Needs: A Quality Improvement Toolkit

Profiles successful initiatives by Medicaid managed care organizations in a collaboration to implement systems of care emphasizing early identification, coordination and management, and various services and supports in the least restrictive settings

Considerations for dealing with significant organizational change

Business enterprises are being challenged to confront change where there is impact on the enterprise due to some radical, financial, and/or organizational adjustment (significant change). By utilizing both a quantitative and qualitative research methodology and focusing on a single case study dealing with a Decision Support System (significant change), the critical success factors of previous research are confirmed, and two additional critical factors are revealed: (1) Flexible curriculum---the need for a comprehensive action plan, and (2) Perception of Personal Gain---the need to present a clear understanding addressing the aspirations of those involved and affected by the change initiative.;Learning to deal with change transformation can be enabled either by internal education and/or seeking external expertise. The focus of additional research is to explore the role of the external expert (consultant) and to affirm the benefits of using such expertise. Utilizing grounded theory research, five (5) stages of consultant/client interaction are identified to establish the prerequisite partnership. In addition to these stages, the optimization of the consultant/client relationship is reviewed through three (3) propositions: (1) an organization employing a consultant can expect to reduce the time going through the change transformation and regain productivity faster, (2) the consultant must become intimately involved with the organization to be effective, and (3) in order to be an effective consultant within the organization, experience is important, but not necessarily as a formal teacher/educator. The findings show that to optimize the client-consultant relationship and maximize the chances of success, there needs to be not only intimate interactions between the two parties, but experiences and the ability to teach. The need for the consultant to have formal credentials is found to be less important.;Regardless of the learning method and the actual change initiative, organizations that go through a significant change transformation need to look beyond the critical factors for success and implement a strategy to continue their quality efforts. It is recommended that an organization identify a methodology that develops a change management Philosophy; Towards this end, development of a framework based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Criteria for Performance Excellence is explored in-depth