Ask Dan! Frequently Asked DSS Questions

Dr. Dan Power is an Information Systems professor and a developer of computerized decision support software. He is the editor of DSSResources.COM. Check Dan's home page for more information.

Eighty three of the following Ask Dan! questions with answers are included in Dan Power's book, Decision Support Systems: Frequently Asked Questions, iUniverse, 2005.

Question Category
Are computerized decision aids decision support systems? DSS Theory
Are decision markets a useful decision support tool? Model-driven DSS
Are Executive Information Systems (EIS) needed? Data-driven DSS
Are strategic decision processes structured? DSS Foundations
Are there decision support tools for Competitive Intelligence (CI) tasks? DSS Applications
Are there strategic decision making \'big data\' use cases? DSS Foundations
Can computerized decision support encourage health literacy? DSS Foundations
Can computerized decision support improve national security decision making? DSS Theory
Can computerized decision support reduce cognitive biases in decision making? Building DSS
Can computerized decision support reduce information asymmetry? DSS Foundations
Can decision makers improve their intuition? DSS Foundations
Can decision support aid in critical thinking? DSS Foundations
Can decision support developers reduce the probability of solving the ‘wrong’ problem? DSS Foundations
Can decision support help political leaders make decisions? DSS Foundations
Can decision support provide a competitive advantage? DSS Theory
Can decision support reduce the bike shed problem? DSS Foundations
Can DSS and Decision Support technologies help reduce the threat of terrorism? DSS Applications
Can DSS enhance sustainability efforts? DSS Foundations
Can DSS impact decision outcomes? DSS Theory
Can DSS improve state government tax revenue projections? DSS Applications
Can DSS improve strategic planning? DSS Foundations
Can DSS/IS/IT improve the Incident Command System? What needs can DSS meet? Crisis Management
Can multi-user visual simulations provide real world decision support? Evaluating DSS Projects
Can smartphone apps increase collaboration? DSS Foundations
Can using a DSS have unintended negative consequences? DSS Theory
Can we engineer effective decision support systems? Building DSS
Can wearable computing devices provide decision support? DSS Foundations
Can Web services deliver decision support? DSS Foundations
Can \'Big Brother\' watch us? DSS Foundations
Did decision automation cause the subprime mortgage crisis? DSS Foundations
Do consumers need decision support capabilities? DSS Foundations
Do DSS builders assume their targeted users are rational thinkers? Building DSS
Do entrepreneurs need decision support? DSS Theory
Do small businesses need DSS? DSS Foundations
Does an “information culture” encourage adopting and using decision support technologies? DSS Theory
Does data modeling differ for a data-driven DSS? Data-driven DSS
Does the term big data have utility for managers? Data-driven DSS
How are creativity and imagination related to decision support? DSS Foundations
How are organizational decisions made? DSS Foundations
How are processes related to enterprise systems? DSS Foundations
How can ambient intelligence assist people in decision making? DSS Foundations
How can analytics and decision support reduce insurance fraud? DSS Foundations
How can and should students collect field information about DSS? Building DSS
How can behavioral models be used for decision support? Model-driven DSS
How can computerized decision support help in crisis situations? Crisis Management
How can decision support aid smart manufacturing initiatives? DSS Foundations
How can decision support create competitive advantage? DSS Theory
How can DSS builders reduce resistance to a new system? Building DSS
How can DSS help implement Basel II? DSS Applications
How can DSS help in crisis planning, response and management? Crisis Management
How can DSS impact steps in a general decision process model? DSS Foundations
How can managers and technology staff secure decision support data and decision support systems? Building DSS
How can managers create a successful digital transformation? DSS Foundations
How can managers hire and retain information technology talent? DSS Foundations
How can managers identify opportunities to create innovative DSS? Evaluating DSS Projects
How can managers improve security for decision support applications? DSS Theory
How can organizations keep data-driven DSS and data warehouses current with changes in source systems? Data-driven DSS
How can simulation be used for decision support? Model-driven DSS
How can video conferencing provide enhanced decision support? DSS Foundations
How can we provide Web access to a Data Warehouse and DSS database? Data-driven DSS
How can you document data-driven decision making? DSS Foundations
How could innovative DSS have assisted in specific crisis situations? Crisis Management
How do data analytics support data-based decision-making? DSS Foundations
How do data-driven, data-based and data-informed decision making differ? DSS Foundations
How do decision questions differ? DSS Theory
How do decision-making models relate to the design and use of DSS? DSS Theory
How do predictive analytics support decision making? Building DSS
How do social media impact decision making? DSS Foundations
How do you tell a \'good\' story based upon data? DSS Foundations
How does a data architecture impact decision support capabilities? DSS Foundations
How does a document management system differ from a Document-Driven DSS? Document-driven DSS
How does a DSS differ from an MIS? DSS Foundations
How does a Web-based DSS differ from a Web-enabled DSS? DSS Foundations
How does decision support processing differ from transaction processing? Building DSS
How does DSS data differ from operational data? DSS Foundations
How does MDM impact data-driven DSS? DSS Foundations
How does organization level impact decision support? Building DSS
How does planning differ from decision-making? DSS Theory
How does sensitivity analysis differ from \"What if?\" analysis? Model-driven DSS
How does the Facebook database operate? DSS Foundations
How does the Internet of Things change decision support? DSS Foundations
How does the use of a Communications-Driven DSS impact a decision-making meeting? Communications-driven DSS
How has and will Moore\'s Law impact computerized decision support? DSS Theory
How has data warehouse usage evolved? DSS Foundations
How has mobile computing technology evolved for decision support? Communications-driven DSS
How important are pivot tables in data-driven decision support? DSS Foundations
How important is a robust decision support capability? DSS Foundations
How important is flexibility for a DSS? DSS Foundations
How important is forecasting decision support? DSS Foundations
How important is trust to the use of decision support technologies? DSS Foundations
How is analytics, BI and decision support shaping global society? DSS Foundations
How is BPM related to DSS? DSS Foundations
How is data governance relevant to decision support? DSS Foundations
How is data management linked to analytics and decision support? DSS Foundations
How is Six Sigma related to DSS? DSS Applications
How many DSS related pages are on the Web? DSSResources.com
How should decision support projects be managed? Building DSS
How should Decision Support Systems present apparently \"Bad News\"? Building DSS
How smart is IBM Watson? Knowledge-driven DSS
How useful is DSS case study research? DSS Foundations
How will decision support technologies shape our global society? DSS Foundations
How will Web 2.0 impact design and development of decision support systems? DSS Foundations
Is a Data Warehouse a DSS? What is a star schema? Data-driven DSS
Is Amazon Web Services a \'good fit\' for decision support and OLTP? DSS Foundations
Is decision automation a hot topic? Does using a DSS require statistical expertise? DSS Foundations
Is decision making authority shifting in organizations? DSS Foundations
Is decision support outsourcing a mistake? DSS Foundations
Is DSS or Decision Support a core concept in Information Systems? DSS Theory
Is email a good decision support tool? Communications-driven DSS
Is ETL software needed to build a model-driven DSS? Model-driven DSS
Is Information Technology transforming the U.S. Heartland? DSS Foundations
Is it advantageous to outsource development and operation of Decision Support Systems? Evaluating DSS Projects
Is it feasible to track all visitors to the United States and then build a Data-driven DSS? DSS Applications
Is parallel database technology needed for data-driven DSS? Data-driven DSS
Is reengineering needed to build an effective DSS? Building DSS
Is Scrum useful for creating decision support? DSS Foundations
Is security important for decision support applications? DSS Foundations
Is tax preparation software an example of a DSS? DSS Applications
Is the semantic web vision relevant to DSS? Building DSS
Is the technology acceptance model relevant to decision support? DSS Foundations
Is the traditional Sprague DSS still relevant? DSS Foundations
Should managers build decision support applications? DSS Foundations
What are advantages and disadvantages of data warehouses? Data-driven DSS
What are Analytical Information Systems? DSS Foundations
What are benefits and risks of outsourcing enterprise-wide DSS? Building DSS
What are benefits of decision support applications in the cloud? DSS Foundations
What are benefits of Interorganizational DSS? DSS Applications
What are benefits of using decision support? DSS Foundations
What are best practices for BI reports? Building DSS
What are challenges of real-time decision support? Building DSS
What are characteristics of a decision support system? DSS Theory
What are characteristics of a \'good\' data scientist? DSS Foundations
What are characteristics of decision processes? DSS Foundations
What are common data mining mistakes? DSS Foundations
What are common data mining tools? DSS Foundations
What are common DSS architectural patterns or styles? Building DSS
What are concerns about end-user DSS development? Building DSS
What are critical analysis and reasoning skills? DSS Foundations
What are critical success factors for using advanced analytics? DSS Foundations
What are current developments and issues related to group decision support? DSS Foundations
What are current trends in BI and Data Analytics? DSS Foundations
What are Decision Support technology trends? Evaluating DSS Projects
What are design elements in a DSS user interface? Building DSS
What are Drucker\'s views on planning and decision making? DSS Foundations
What are ethical issues associated with building and using DSS? Evaluating DSS Projects
What are examples of bad strategic business decisions? DSS Foundations
What are examples of clinical decision aids? DSS Foundations
What are examples of data science jobs? DSS Foundations
What are examples of database project failures? DSS Foundations
What are examples of decision support paradoxes? DSS Foundations
What are examples of decision support systems in global enterprises? DSS Applications
What are examples of routine decision support queries? DSS Foundations
What are examples of technology innovation failures? DSS Foundations
What are important DSS articles from MIS Quarterly? DSS Foundations
What are key database concepts for managers? DSS Foundations
What are key guidelines for decision support user interface design? DSS Foundations
What are key questions to ask business intelligence solution providers? DSS Foundations
What are key skills of data-based decision makers? DSS Foundations
What are major managerial dilemmas of digital transformation? DSS Foundations
What are philosophical foundations of DSS practice? DSS Foundations
What are physical database design tradeoffs for decision support data? DSS Foundations
What are post-relational databases? DSS Foundations
What are pros and cons of self-service data analytics tools? DSS Foundations
What are some classic business DSS? DSS Foundations
What are some examples of web-based DSS? DSS Applications
What are some use cases with expanded data sources? DSS Foundations
What are sources of data for building a data-driven DSS? DSS Foundations
What are specific benefits of document-driven DSS? DSS Foundations
What are substitutes for computerized decision support? DSS Theory
What are the achievements, trends and challenges for Decision Support Systems? Evaluating DSS Projects
What are the advantages and disadvantages of computerized decision support? DSS Theory
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using Second Life for decision support? Model-driven DSS
What are the advantages of building and using a data warehouse? DSS Foundations
What are the answers to the DSS case study questions at DSSResources.COM? DSS Applications
What are the basics of data warehousing? DSS Foundations
What are the best analytics and \'big data\' videos online? DSS Foundations
What are the best Second Life resources for communications-driven decision support? Communications-driven DSS
What are the characteristics of decisions? DSS Foundations
What are the components of a decision support system? DSS Theory
What are the features of a communications-driven DSS? Communications-driven DSS
What are the features of a data-driven DSS? Data-driven DSS
What are the features of a document-driven DSS? Document-driven DSS
What are the features of a knowledge-driven DSS? Knowledge-driven DSS
What are the features of a model-driven DSS? Model-driven DSS
What are the foundation decision support articles in MIS Quarterly? DSS Foundations
What are the key tasks of a database administrator? DSS Foundations
What are the main differences between GDSS and Groupware? Group DSS
What are the most common database design mistakes? DSS Foundations
What are the origins of SIG DSS? AIS SIG DSS
What are the rules for building a successful model-driven DSS? Model-driven DSS
What are the similarities and differences between Data-Driven and Document-Driven DSS? Document-driven DSS
What are the skills of a data scientist? DSS Foundations
What are the steps to develop data-based decision support? DSS Foundations
What are the \"hot\" DSS research topics? Evaluating DSS Projects
What are the “best” DSS case studies at DSSResources.COM? DSS Applications
What are \"best practice\" guidelines for decision process flowcharts? Building DSS
What can DSS designers learn from video games? Building DSS
What companies have gained a competitive advantage by building a DSS? Building DSS
What criteria should be used for evaluating DSS software packages? Evaluating DSS Projects
What criteria should be used for evaluating proposed plans? DSS Theory
What criteria should be used to evaluate BI/DW vendor solutions? DSS Foundations
What Data Warehouse software and configurations are used in universities? Data-driven DSS
What decision support data should be anonymous, confidential, private? DSS Foundations
What decision support is needed for scheduling tasks? DSS Foundations
What decisions are appropriate for model-driven DSS? Model-driven DSS
What do I need to know about Data Warehousing/OLAP? Data-driven DSS
What do managers need to know about DSS? DSS Theory
What do managers need to know about IS/IT, MIS and DSS? DSS Theory
What DSS interface design is \'best\' for eliciting values? Building DSS
What evaluation criteria are used for decision support projects? DSS Foundations
What factors impact decision support project implementation risk? Evaluating DSS Projects
What factors indicate a special study is more appropriate than a DSS? Building DSS
What happened at DSSResources 2007-2010? DSS Foundations
What happened at DSSResources.COM in 2001? DSSResources.com
What happened at DSSResources.COM in 2004? DSSResources.com
What if decision support is incorrect? DSS Foundations
What increases success for data-based decision support? DSS Foundations
What influences acceptance of decision support technologies? DSS Foundations
What is a "performance" dashboard? Data-driven DSS
What is a client/server architecture for DSS? DSS Foundations
What is a columnar database? DSS Foundations
What is a computer supported special decision study? DSS Foundations
What is a cost estimation DSS? DSS Applications
What is a data flow diagram? DSS Foundations
What is a data lake? DSS Foundations
What is a data modeler? DSS Foundations
What is a data scientist? DSS Foundations
What is a data warehouse appliance? Data-driven DSS
What is a data warehouse? DSS Foundations
What is a data-driven decision making organization? DSS Foundations
What is a database? DSS Foundations
What is a decision process audit? DSS Foundations
What is a decision support model? DSS Foundations
What is a decision support system feasibility study? Building DSS
What is a decision-centric organization? DSS Foundations
What is a document database? DSS Foundations
What is a DSS cost benefit analysis? DSS Foundations
What is a DSS? DSS Foundations
What is a flat data file? DSS Foundations
What is a good replacement for models built using IFPS? Model-driven DSS
What is a Group Decision Support System (GDSS)? How do GDSS work? Group DSS
What is a man-computer symbiosis? DSS Foundations
What is a Management Information System? DSS Foundations
What is a modern decision support system? DSS Foundations
What is a negotiation support system? DSS Foundations
What is a Planning Support System? DSS Foundations
What is a recommender system? DSS Foundations
What is a RESTful decision support application? DSS Foundations
What is a robust decision support quantitative model? DSS Foundations
What is a Spatial DSS? Data-driven DSS
What is a spreadsheet-based DSS? Model-driven DSS
What is a system? DSS Foundations
What is ACID and BASE in database theory? DSS Foundations
What is active enterprise financial planning? DSS Applications
What is advanced or next generation Decision Support? Evaluating DSS Projects
What is Alter\'s DSS taxonomy? DSS Foundations
What is an algorithmic system? DSS Foundations
What is an appropriate DSS deployment strategy? Building DSS
What is an enterprise information architecture? DSS Foundations
What is an enterprise-class translytical database? DSS Foundations
What is an example of a decision process? DSS Theory
What is an information system? DSS Foundations
What is an Interorganizational DSS? DSS Foundations
What is analytical processing? DSS Foundations
What is analytics? DSS Foundations
What is augmented decision-making? DSS Foundations
What is best practice for data visualization? DSS Foundations
What is big data analytics? DSS Foundations
What is business analytics? DSS Foundations
What is business intelligence? DSS Foundations
What is currently possible with communications-driven decision support? DSS Foundations
What is currently possible with Communications-Driven DSS? Communications-driven DSS
What is data mining and how is it related to DSS? Knowledge-driven DSS
What is data visualization? DSS Foundations
What is data warehousing? DSS Foundations
What is data-driven decision making? DSS Foundations
What is decision automation? DSS Foundations
What is decision support planning? DSS Theory
What is decision-oriented diagnosis for building DSS? Building DSS
What is DevOps and is it important to decision support? DSS Foundations
What is digital data? DSS Foundations
What is digital transformation of an organization? DSS Foundations
What is DSS 2.0? DSS Foundations
What is ETL software and how is it related to DSS? Data-driven DSS
What is evidence-based decision making? DSS Foundations
What is evidence? DSS Foundations
What is group-chat? DSS Foundations
What is Hadoop? DSS Foundations
What is high-velocity decision making? DSS Foundations
What is involved in providing decision support for global enterprises? DSS Theory
What is localization of decision support and analytics? DSS Foundations
What is logical decision making? DSS Foundations
What is machine data? Data-driven DSS
What is machine learning? DSS Foundations
What is mobile business analytics and intelligence? DSS Foundations
What is mobile business intelligence? DSS Foundations
What is mobile decision support? DSS Theory
What is next generation BI? DSS Foundations
What is operational business intelligence? Data-driven DSS
What is operations analysis? DSS Foundations
What is opportunistic decision making? DSS Foundations
What is Planners Lab? Model-driven DSS
What is PlanningDSS.COM? Planning DSS
What is predictive analytics? DSS Foundations
What is real-time decision support? Building DSS
What is relational algebra? DSS Foundations
What is reporting software? DSS Foundations
What is required in an evidence-based decision process? DSS Foundations
What is sabermetrics? DSS Foundations
What is self-service business intelligence? DSS Foundations
What is social media? DSS Foundations
What is sustainability-based decision making? DSS Foundations
What is Tableau? DSS Foundations
What is the "answer" to my DSS question? DSS Foundations
What is the actual usage of DSS? Building DSS
What is the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP)? Model-driven DSS
What is the best approach for organizing data? DSS Foundations
What is the best data analytics approach? DSS Foundations
What is the context of decision making? DSS Foundations
What is the danger of cognitive computing? DSS Foundations
What is the design concept for PlanningDSS.com? Planning DSS
What is the difference between a DBMS and an RDBMS? DSS Foundations
What is the difference between a DSS and a DSS generator? Building DSS
What is the difference between formative and summative DSS evaluation? Evaluating DSS Projects
What is the difference between knowledge management and decision support? DSS Foundations
What is the distilled \"wisdom\" about decision support? DSS Foundations
What is the expanded DSS framework? DSS Foundations
What is the history of AIS SIG DSS: ISDSS? AIS SIG DSS
What is the history of computerized decision support? DSS Foundations
What is the history of DSSResources.com? DSSResources.com
What is the impact of a prediction on decision-making behavior? DSS Foundations
What is the impact of information management on the organization? DSS Foundations
What is the impact of social media on decision making? DSS Foundations
What is the job of a datawarehouse administrator? DSS Foundations
What is the job of a decision support analyst? DSS Foundations
What is the life cycle for a document? Document-driven DSS
What is the need for decision support? DSS Foundations
What is the OODA loop? DSS Foundations
What is the output of a decision support system? Building DSS
What is the potential size of the NSEERS database? DSS Applications
What is the process for designing decision support software? Building DSS
What is the relation between Design Science and building DSS? Building DSS
What is the relationship between DSS and BAM? Building DSS
What is the relationship between DSS and Expert Systems? Knowledge-driven DSS
What is the relationship of expert systems and business decision support? Knowledge-driven DSS
What is the role of decision support in precision farming? DSS Foundations
What is the role of decision support in virtual organizations? Communications-driven DSS
What is the ROMC design approach? DSS Foundations
What is the scope of database administration? DSS Foundations
What is the status of Clinical and Hospital Administration DSS? Knowledge-driven DSS
What is the status of Knowledge Management (KM)? Document-driven DSS
What is the status of Pal Mickey? DSS Applications
What is the technology adoption curve? Is it relevant to DSS? DSS Theory
What is the telephone test? DSS Foundations
What is the theory of decision support systems? DSS Theory
What is the theory of relational databases? DSS Foundations
What is the \"true story\" about using data mining to identify a relationship between sales of beer and diapers? Knowledge-driven DSS
What is User Experience (UX) design for building DSS? DSS Foundations
What is virtualization? DSS Foundations
What is visual analytics? DSS Foundations
What is your analysis of the history and current status of DSS? DSS Foundations
What is/was IFPS? Model-driven DSS
What kind of DSS does Mr. X need? Building DSS
What method is best for building an enterprise-wide, data-driven DSS? Building DSS
What questions are important for evaluating a BI proposal? DSS Foundations
What questions should be answered in a decision situation? DSS Foundations
What role does a data steward have in providing decision support? DSS Foundations
What rules should guide DSS user interface design? Building DSS
What should be taught in a Business Intelligence/Data-Driven DSS course? Data-driven DSS
What should managers know about business intelligence and data-driven decision support? DSS Foundations
What should managers know about predictive analytics and model-driven decision support? DSS Foundations
What skills do data-driven decision makers need? DSS Foundations
What skills do team leaders need for conducting effective virtual decision-making meetings? Communications-driven DSS
What software can help implement the Basel accords? DSS Foundations
What software companies sell data-driven DSS? Building DSS
What software tools should be used to build Web-based DSS? Building DSS
What SQL knowledge do managers need for decision support queries? Data-driven DSS
What staffing is needed for DW/BI/DSS? Building DSS
What steps can lead to digital transformation? DSS Foundations
What steps create a data-driven organization? DSS Foundations
What technical and human factors influence DSS success? Building DSS
What technologies are used for decision automation? DSS Foundations
What technologies are used for managing big data? DSS Foundations
What theories are especially relevant to decision support research? DSS Foundations
What type of DSS is a Revenue Management application? DSS Applications
What type of DSS is it? DSS Theory
What universities offer masters degrees in analytics and data science? DSS Foundations
What user characteristics are important when designing decision support applications? DSS Foundations
What vendors dominate the DSS product space? Evaluating DSS Projects
What vendors have communications-driven DSS for collaboration? DSS Foundations
What was the first computerized decision support system (DSS)? DSS Foundations
What Wikipedia resources are useful for a database management course? DSS Foundations
What will the DSS headline be in FORTUNE Magazine in 2010? DSS Foundations
When is a decision framed properly? DSS Foundations
When is a group DSS most appropriate? DSS Foundations
When is \"real-time\" decision support desirable and needed? Building DSS
When should managers use communications-driven decision support tools? Communications-driven DSS
Where can I find information about KPIs for building DSS in different industries? Data-driven DSS
Where can I find or download a DSS demo? DSS Applications
Who are the major vendors of Excel add-in programs for building model-driven DSS? Model-driven DSS
Who are the pioneers in the field of computerized decision support? Building DSS
Who manages decision support capabilities in an organization? DSS Foundations
Who originated the term Business Intelligence (BI)? DSS Foundations
Who should participate in building decision support capabilities? DSS Foundations
Who uses computerized decision support and analytics? DSS Foundations
Who uses computerized decision support? Building DSS
Why are decision support case studies important? DSS Foundations
Why are quantitative models useful for decision support? DSS Foundations
Why are some organizations slow to adopt new decision support technologies? DSS Foundations
Why are transportation problems popular applications for DSS? DSS Applications
Why do organizations need databases? DSS Foundations
Why do some managers resist using DSS? DSS Foundations
Why is a person kept in the decision cycle? DSS Foundations
Why is decision support needed? DSS Foundations
Why study computerized decision support? DSS Foundations
Why use a common language when developing and using decision support? DSS Foundations
Will thinking machines make better decisions than people? DSS Foundations

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