A Decision Support System (DSS) may help managers and executives make informed and logical decisions based on past trends. A DSS is “a computer-based information system that supports business or organizational decision-making activities… help to make decisions, which may be rapidly changing and not easily specified in advance.”1 There are several different types of DSS including Communication-driven DSS, Data-driven DSS, Document-driven DSS, Knowledge-driven DSS and Model-driven DSS. All of which compile different types of data to aid in the decision making of a particular problem. Data-driven DSS are particularly useful because they allow managers to query and manipulate specific data such as, sales or budget to make an informed decision that will benefit the company as a whole. Data-driven DSS can also be supplemented with other information systems such as Geographic Information system (GIS) to provide further analysis, observe trends and make a better decision based on data relating to a specific region. Supplementing a DSS with a GIS managers are able to make better decisions on a greater scale which could increase the total profit of a company
The backbone of a data-driven DSS is a data warehouse which is a database that “integrates a very large amount of current and historical data from various internal and external sources and databases.”2 A data warehouse is where all the data that a company has previously gathered is stored. Access to this data allows managers to tailor specific queries of relevant data which the manager can analyze to identify patterns or relationships from their company’s past decisions and make new decisions which may be more beneficial to the company.
A Geographic Information System is “a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographical data.”3 A GIS can superimpose data from a DSS on to a map to provide a visual representation of the data that a manager can use to indentify which sales strategies are most productive in a particular region. Managers can also use this data to determine where their products are most in-demand allowing the company to open stores at sites which could potentially yield more customers. Using a DSS in this manner allows managers make better decisions on a regional scale that could benefit the business.
An example of using a DSS in conjunction with a GIS is, if a company implements a new sales strategy and the sales drop in a particular region. The manager may query the sales data of that region and compare the number of transactions, sales on products (i.e. buy one get one 50% off, 20% off) and net profit of each store within that region before and after the implementation of the new strategy. The manager may then analyze the data and determine which sales were bringing in the most customers and adjust their sales strategy accordingly.
In conclusion, a company can stand to significantly increase its profits, and make better decisions by using a DSS to compare previously gathered data and a GIS to provide a visual representation of that data.
