Decision Support Tools

Advantages and Limitations

Though advancements in information technology in the 21st century have increased the popularity and development of computer technology–based tools, these tools still are riddled with limitations. The merits of these tools include the following:

• Efficiency: The tools allow better understanding of a problem and impacts of potential solutions, thereby resulting in faster decision making and time saving.
• Effective: Because of availability of information regarding problems, DSTs enable improved decision making and better decisions.
• Participatory: Because data and other ancillary information are readily available, the tools enhance communication and collaboration among participants.
• Cost savings: Because a group of users can use the same tool, DSTs reduce costs for labor and for technology and infrastructure purchase.
• Satisfaction: The tools assist in determining adverse impacts of different solutions to a problem. It is, therefore, possible to choose a decision satisfactory to decision makers.
• Accessibility: Use of the Internet/World Wide Web has increased accessibility of a DST to any individual interested in the decision-making process. These tools eliminate the influence of demographic/income/ethnic/cultural diversity of decision makers on decisions.
• Promote learning: Use of these tools and constant updating of information help [Page 255]decision makers learn new concepts and better understand the relationship between a problem and potential solutions.
• Increase organizational control: By storing all information shared by decision makers about a problem, these tools work as a warehouse of information. Thus, they allow managers responsible for problem solving to choose the best solutions based on participant information.

The limitations of these tools include:

• Overemphasize decision making: Although DSTs support decision making, the success of a decision is influenced by social/political/cultural characteristics of the problem-managing organization. Hence, managers should decide the appropriateness of using these tools with regard to a problem.
• Relevant information: Because the information is public, citizens tend to believe in the relevancy of information. It is, therefore, imperative to check and update relevancy and accuracy of data and information.
• Unanticipated effects: Information availability is crucial for successful use of these tools. The amount of information available can influence users’ final decision, thereby leading to chaotic decisions and other such effects.
• Obscuring responsibility: Decision makers rely on available data/information to make appropriate decisions. Decision makers may blame the tool for their actions rather than assuming responsibility. Decision makers and managers should understand the role of the tool in decision making, and developers must also understand the problem and provide relevant information.
• Objectivity: The tool can be used to rationalize certain decisions that might not be acceptable to the broader community. Hence, managers responsible for final deployment of a decision should account for this problem.
• Status reduction: Managers may argue that the tool can diminish their status in the overall organizational structure, thereby resulting in lack of reliability in the tool. Developers and users of these tools need to resolve the status issue.
• Information overload: DSTs can manage and reduce information load on a user. Developers and managers of these tools need to monitor user perception and provide adequate information to make a suitable decision.

Components of a DST

A DST comprises four main components: (1) a user interface allowing user interaction with the tool, and graphic functions to visualize outcomes and reporting tools; (2) an interactive database management system to access different sources of data, information, and knowledge; (3) a model-based management system comprising models and analytical tools and functions to analyze and interpret data to help in making decisions; and (4) the network and architecture of the tool that assists its deployment on a network for user-group access. A DST can also be classified based on its input (problems that need to be analyzed, associated data/information), user expertise (required expertise and knowledge of users to solve problems and analyze information), output (the final information that will be used in formatting user decisions), and result (the final decision made based on user inputs).

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