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Decision Support System Effectiveness: A Review and an Empirical Test

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Author Info

  • Ramesh Sharda

    (College of Business Administration, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078)

  • Steve H. Barr

    (College of Business Administration, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078)

  • James C. McDonnell

    (Arthur Andersen and Company, 1345 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10105)

Registered author(s):

    Abstract

    Despite the increasing popularity of decision support systems (DSS), effectiveness of such systems remains unproven. Past research claiming usefulness of the DSS has relied largely on anecdotal or case data. The relatively few laboratory experiments report mixed results regarding the effects of a decision aid. This study reviews the results of prior investigations and examines the effectiveness of DSS-aided decision makers relative to decision makers without a DSS over an eight-week period. An executive decision making game was used in two sections of a business strategy course. Three-person teams in one section used a DSS while the teams in the other section played the game without such an aid. Various measures of decision quality were recorded. Overall, the groups with access to the DSS made significantly more effective decisions in the business simulation game than their non-DSS counterparts. The DSS groups took more time to make their decisions than the non-DSS groups at the beginning of the experiment. However, the decision times converged after the third week. The DSS teams reported investigating more alternatives and exhibited a higher confidence level in their decisions than the non-DSS groups, but these differences were not statistically significant.

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    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.34.2.139
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    Bibliographic Info

    Article provided by INFORMS in its journal Management Science.

    Volume (Year): 34 (1988)
    Issue (Month): 2 (February)
    Pages: 139-159

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    Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:34:y:1988:i:2:p:139-159

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    Related research

    Keywords: decision support systems; information systems; evaluation; man-machine systems;

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    Cited by:
    1. Salo, Ahti A., 1995. "Interactive decision aiding for group decision support," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 134-149, July.
    2. Vetschera, Rudolf & Walterscheid, Heinz, 1993. "A process-oriented framework for the evaluation of managerial support systems," Discussion Papers, Series 1 264, University of Konstanz, Department of Economics.
    3. Lilien, Gary L. & Rangaswamy, Arvind & van Bruggen, Gerrit H. & Wierenga, Berend, 2002. "Bridging the marketing theory-practice gap with marketing engineering," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 111-121, February.
    4. Leeuwen, Jerry van & Heijden, Hans van der & Kronsteiner, Reinhard, 2003. "Group Decision Support for Resource Allocation Decisions in Three-Person Groups," Serie Research Memoranda 0025, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    5. Gelderman, Maarten, 1997. "Task difficulty, task variability and satisfaction with management support systems: consequences and solutions ~," Serie Research Memoranda 0053, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    6. Lu, Hsi-Peng & Yu, Huei-Ju & Lu, Simon S. K., 2001. "The effects of cognitive style and model type on DSS acceptance: An empirical study," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(3), pages 649-663, June.
    7. Bruggen, G.H. van & Smidts, A. & Wierenga, B., 2000. "The Powerful Triangle of Marketing Data, Managerial Judgment, and Marketing Management Support Systems," Research Paper ERS-2000-33-MKT, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus Uni.

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