************************************************************ DSS News by D. J. Power June 3, 2001 -- Vol. 2, No. 12 A Bi-Weekly Publication of DSSResources.COM ************************************************************ Check the Partner Program at http://dssresources.com ************************************************************ Featured: * DSS Wisdom * Ask Dan! -- Is there a Theory of Decision Support Systems? * What's New at DSSResources.COM * DSS News Stories ************************************************************ Each week, we have about 3000 unique visitors at DSSResources.COM. This newsletter has more than 550 subscribers from 50 countries. Please forward this newsletter to people interested in Decision Support Systems. ************************************************************ DSS Wisdom According to Gordon Davis (1974), "The value of information is the value of the change in decision behavior because of the information (less the cost of the information). An interesting aspect of this concept is that information has value only to those who have the background knowledge to use it in a decision. The most qualified person generally uses information most effectively but may need less information since experience (frame of reference) has already reduced uncertainty when compared with the less-experienced decision maker." (p. 180) Davis, Gordon B., Management Information Systems: Coonceptual Foundations, Structure, and Development. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1974. ************************************************************ Ask Dan! Is there a Theory of Decision Support Systems? Yes and No ... This question has not been addressed extensively in the academic Decision Support Systems literature. I can't discuss the answer or answers to this question adequately in this column, but I'll try to provide a starting point for a more complete paper. Let me begin by briefly reviewing what I consider the broadest set of ideas or propositions that come closest to the start of a theory of decision support or decision support systems. The propositions all come from the work of the late Herbert Simon. >From Simon's classic Administrative Behavior (1945) ... Simon's Proposition 1: Information stored in computers can increase human rationality if it accessible when it is needed for the making of decisions. Simon's Proposition 2: Specialization of decision-making functions is largely dependent upon the possibility of developing adequate channels of communication to and from decision centers. Simon's Proposition 3: Where a particular item of knowledge is needed repeatedly in decision, the organization can anticipate this need and, by providing the individual with this knowledge prior to decision, can extend his area of rationality. This is particularly important when there are time limits on decisions. >From Simon's paper on "Applying Information Technology to Organization Design", we can identify 3 additional propositions in a Theory of DSS. Simon's Proposition 4: "In the post-industrial society, the central problem is not how to organize to produce efficiently (although this will always remain an important consideration), but how to organize to make decisions--that is, to process information." Simon's Proposition 5: From the information processing point of view, division of labor means factoring the total system of decisions that need to be made into relatively independent subsystems, each one of which can be designed with only minimal concern for its interactions with the others. Simon's Proposition 6: The key to the successful design of information systems lies in matching the technology to the limits of the attentional resources... In general, an additional component (man or machine) for an information-processing system will improve the system's performance only if: 1. Its output is small in comparison with its input, so that it conserves attention instead of making additional demands on attention; 2. It incorporates effective indexes of both passive and active kinds (active indexes are processes that automatically select and filter information for subsequent transmission); 3. It incorporates analytic and synthetic models that are capable not merely of storing and retrieving information, but of solving problems, evaluating solutions, and making decisions. A number of other authors have discussed topics related to a theory of DSS and perhaps in a later column I can examine ideas about when DSS are and should be used and ideas related to the design and development of DSS. Simon's propositions address the need for and effectiveness of decision support systems. Simon, Herbert A., Administrative Behavior, A study of decision-making processes in administrative organization (3rd edition). New York: The Free Press, 1945, 1965, 1976. Simon, Herbert A., "Applying Information Technology to Organization Design", Public Administration Review, Vol. 33, pp. 268-78, 1973. ************************************************************ What's New at DSSResources.COM 05/25/2001 Created Partner/Reseller Information page for people interested in promoting the DSSResources.COM Subscriber Zone. 05/22/2001 Published case example by Palisade Staff, "Procter & Gamble Uses @RISK and PrecisionTree World-Wide", Palisade Corp., Spring 2001, URL DSSResources.COM/cases/procterandgamble.html. ************************************************************ DSS News Stories - May 19 to June 1, 2001 05/31/2001 Bill Gates demonstrates Office XP at product launch; focuses on productivity gains. 05/30/2001 IBM names seven researchers as Fellows, its most prestigious technical honor. 05/29/2001 Crystal Decisions announces release of Crystal Analysis Professional. 05/29/2001 Intel Itanium chip-based computers expected to enter production soon. 05/24/2001 Gartner says that worldwide database software market increased 10% in 2000. 05/22/2001 Worldwide sales of Microsoft's Pocket PC reach one million units. 05/21/2001 Webcast on making decisions with InfoImage Decision Portal 4 on Wednesday, May 23, 2001, at 1 p.m. EDT. ************************************************************ This newsletter is available online at http://dssresources.com/newsletters/ . ************************************************************ DSS News is copyrighted (c) 2001 by D. J. Power. Please send your email to power@dssresources.com. You have previously subscribed to the DSS News Mailing List. To unsubcribe, send an email to dssresources-unsubscribe@topica.com . |