DSS in Business

DSS (Decision Support Systems) were created to assist in the decision making process. This system is broadly used in both the business and management fields. In management, DSS are looked upon as being very critical systems. An example would be a manager’s use of Knowledge Based Systems (1). These systems are interactive software-based systems intended to help decision makers compile useful information from a combination of raw data, documents, and personal knowledge, or business models to identify and solve problems and make decisions (1). It can be looked upon as an interactive assistant who is knowledgeable in different scenarios.

 Many companies today use a tool called an Executive Dashboard (1). An Executive Dashboard is software that allows faster decision making, identification of negative trends, and better allocation of business resources (1). These systems don’t actually think for the manager; his/her intuition is still needed regardless. It merely assists in making better, more efficient decisions when related to risks (3). Making a decision that is based on past data, can prove success. These programs calculate different probabilities. It helps to foresee the future; by seeing what the chance of certain occurrences is.

 Aside from helping make decisions, these programs also assist in checking up on the condition of a company internally. This will help the businessmen/women to detect if the health of their enterprise needs to be replenished or be maintained (4). If replenishment or maintenance is needed, proper actions will be executed. This also will help managers keep on top of their operations so they don’t get thrown “out of the loop”. If used correctly, it will be quite beneficial for the company's future. Because of customization, these support systems cater to its user and whatever information they are seeking. 

Dashboards for property management can be configured in numerous ways to show both consumption and cost data for buildings (4). As a property manager of commercial real estate, my father uses these systems in times when profitability needs to be increased. Working under the owners/ investors of the property; my father’s job is to have the building running as cost efficient as possible. When implementing dashboards, it is very important to pick indicators that are consistent with the company’s broad goals and present them to the appropriate managers and employees (2). When the goal is profitability, management's DSS will flag any costly expenditure such as energy (which happens to be the most costly). After it is flagged, the right actions are then implemented to solve the issue. References

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_support_system
 2. http://www.encompassgroupllc.com/articles-case-studies/article-executive-dashboards-not-just- for-executives/
 3. http://www.imanet.org/PDFs/Public/SF/2010_03/03_2010_ballou.pdf
 4. http://businessintelligencetalk.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html?m=1