The business environment in which organizations operate today is ever changing,
and it’s becoming more and more complex. Organizations, both private and public,
feel increasing pressures that force them to respond quickly to changing conditions
and to be innovative in the way they operate. Such activities require organizations to
be agile and make frequent and quick strategic, tactical, and operational decisions,
some of which are very complex. Making such decisions may require considerable
amounts of relevant data, information, and knowledge. Processing these, in the
framework of the needed decisions, must be done quickly, frequently in real-time,
and usually requires some computerized support. (Turban & Aronson, 2007)
In the past, managers used computers that generated huge numbers of reports and
data without direction. Managers were unable to use such data and reports
strategically. Furthermore, internal departments regularly failed to share
information, or they did it too slowly. Operative reports were often produced too late.
In addition, overlapping reporting systems provided data that were not always
accurate. Managers were unable to make timely decisions because they were not
certain what portion of the data was accurate. (Turban & Aronson, 2007)
That’s why executives really need information tools to help them with decisionmaking
in today’s tough, competitive, global business environment. The nature of
this environment requires business executives to restructure their information and
the tools that provide access to it.
DSS has evolved into a field of research, development, and practice. This field has
now grown to the point it is made up of many threads with different, but related
names, such as Executive Information systems, Decision Support systems, expert
support systems, and intelligent support systems. A broader perspective suggests
that all these threads are part of the overall mission to improve the performance of
the...