Discussion the Decision Support System

Topic: Decision Making
Words: 551 Pages: 2
Table of Contents

Introduction

To begin with it is necessary to mention that Decision support system is the tool, which is designed for decision making activities in business sphere and in activity of any organization. It is generally a computerized or specific system. Originally, a properly-elaborated DSS is an interactive software-based system intended to help decision makers compile useful information from raw data, documents, personal knowledge, and/or business models to identify and solve problems and make decisions.

Application

As for the matters of the regarded case, it should be stated that the Decision Support System may be helpful in gathering the necessary information, still, there are numerous other features in these systems: DSS helps to store all the information on the goods, employees, services etc (legacy and relational data sources, cubes, data warehouses, and data marts). DSS would help in estimating the comparative sales and the numbers, closely linked with the sales during the previous periods, as well as the sales of the competitors.

Moreover, DSS may be used for creating the business forecasts for a single company or for the whole market. Basing on these numbers, the DSS is helpful in projecting the incomes or losses, thus, helping in planning expenses. As for the consequences, of the DSS, it should be stated that the processes, which are controlled automatically provide the liberation of the excess.

Taking into account the particularities of DSS application in business, it should be stated that Monnickendam (2005) in his research emphasized the following: “DSS is extensively applied in business and management, and often used as an executive tool for faster decision making, classification and removing of negative trends, and better allocation of required resources. A growing area of DSS application, concepts, principles, and techniques is in agricultural production, marketing for sustainable development. There are, however, many constraints to the successful adoption of DSS in agriculture

A specific example may be related to the Japanese Sake Brewing company, which tests its equipment on a regular basis resorting to the decision support system. A problem faced by any brewing company is worn-out or defective equipment, which can result in lowering the quality of the product. Using the systems of DSS, Sake Brewing Company managed to decrease the production of low-quality production, thus, increasing the competitive capacity. Nagel (2004) stated that DSS has many applications that are widely discussed in management researches and reviews. However, it can be used in any field where the organization is necessary. Additionally, a DSS can be designed to help make decisions on the stock market, or deciding which area or segment to market a product toward.

The applied DSS may be regarded as a way to model the organizational data and provide the necessary and qualified decisions, based on this data. Zsambok and Klein (2005) in their research states that “Making the right decision in business is usually based on the quality of your data and the company’s ability to sort out and analyze the data to find trends in which you can create solutions and strategies for.”

Conclusion

Finally, it is necessary to mention that DSS is helpful for the estimation of the organizational data in an automatic regime, nevertheless, it is just a tool for reaching the company’s organizational objectives. Thus, it is useless, if the management principles of the company are wrong.

References

Monnickendam, M., Savaya, R., & Waysman, M. (2005). Thinking Processes in Social Workers’ Use of a Clinical Decision Support System: A Qualitative Study. Social Work Research, 29(1), 21.

Nagel, S. S. (Ed.). (2004). Computer-Aided Decision Analysis: Theory and Applications. Westport, CT: Quorum Books.

Zsambok, C. E. & Klein, G. (Eds.). (2005). Naturalistic Decision Making. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.