Institutional and ad hoc DSS and their effective use

ABSTRACT

The term decision support system (DSS) applies to the subset of management information systems that truly support decision-making processes. This term excludes structured decision systems that essentially present the appropriate decisions for management approval, as is the case in many inventory-control or billing systems. This paper differentiates between two classes of decision support systems: institutional DSS, which deal with decisions of a recurring nature, and ad hoc DSS, which deal with specific problems that are usually not anticipated or recurring. An understanding of these two classes of decision support systems facilitates making explicit both their common and different computational needs. This analysis has provided a basis for the development of computational facilities to support effectively their common needs. This paper briefly describes some of those computational facilities and illustrates their use in systems (institutional and ad hoc) which are being effectively used to support regional energy decisions in New England.

REFERENCES

• 1: (Alter, 1975): Alter, Steven. A study of computer-aided decision making in organizations. Unpublished doctoral thesis, MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, MA, 1975.
• 2: (Alter, 1976): Alter, Steven. Computer-aided decision making in organizations: A decision support systems typology. Report Nos. CISR-11 and WP855-76, MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, MA, May 1976.
• 3: (Altshuler and Plagman, 1974): Altshuler, Gene and Plagman, Bernard. User/system interface within the context of an integrated corporate data base. Proceedings AFIPS National Computer Conference, 43, (1974), 27--33.
• 4: (Anthony, 1965): Anthony, R. N. Planning and Control Systems: A Framework for Analysis. Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration, Boston, 1965.
• 5: (Bennett, 1974): Bennett, John L. Integrating users and decision support systems. Proceedings Sixth Annual SMIS Conference, September 1974, 77--86.
• 6: (Berry, 1976): Berry, George. Energy conservation analysis and monitoring system. Working Paper No. NEEMIS-004TR, MIT Energy Laboratory, Cambridge, MA, July 1976.
• 7: (Brooks, 1976): Brooks, Lynn A. (Commissioner). Final report: crisis energy management program. State of Connecticut Department of Planning and Energy Policy, Hartford, CT, September 16, 1976.
• 8: (Brown, 1976): Brown, H. Energy in our future. Annual Review of Energy, 1, Annual Reviews, Inc., March 1976.
• 9: (Cambridge Project, 1971): Cambridge Project, Annual Report: July 1970--June 1971, MIT, Cambridge, MA, July 1971.
• 10: (Carlson et al., 1974): Carlson, Eric D., J. Bennett, G. Giddings and P. Mantey. The design and evaluation of an interactive geo-data analysis and display system. IFIP Congress 74, 1974, 1057--1061.
• 11: Donald D. Chamberlin , Raymond F. Boyce, SEQUEL: A structured English query language, Proceedings of the 1974 ACM SIGFIDET (now SIGMOD) workshop on Data description, access and control, p.249-264, May 01-03, 1974, Ann Arbor, Michigan [doi>10.1145/800296.811515]
• 12: E. F. Codd, A relational model of data for large shared data banks, Communications of the ACM, v.13 n.6, p.377-387, June 1970 [doi>10.1145/362384.362685]
• 13: Gordon Bitter Davis, Management Information Systems: Conceptual Foundations, Structure and Development, McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, NY, 1974
• 14: (Donovan, 1976a): Donovan, J. J. NEEMIS: An overview. Report No. CISR-10, MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, MA, February 1976.
• 15: John J. Donovan, Databsse system approach the management decision support, ACM Transactions on Database Systems (TODS), v.1 n.4, p.344-369, Dec. 1976 [doi>10.1145/320493.320500]
• 16: (Donovan and Fischer, 1976): DonovaN, J. J., and Fischer, W. P. Factors affecting residential heating energy consumption. Working Paper No. MIT-EL-76-004WP, MIT Energy Laboratory, Cambridge, MA, June 1976.
• 17: (Donovan and Jacoby, 1973): Donovan, J. J., and Jacoby, H. D. New England energy management information system. Research proposal submitted to the New England Regional Commission, Boston, 1973.
• 18: (Donovan and Jacoby, 1975): Donovan, J. J., and Jacoby, H. D. GMIS: An experimental system for data management and analysis. Working Paper No. MIT-EL-75-011WP, MIT Energy Laboratory, Cambridge, MA, September 1975.
• 19: (Donovan and Keating, 1976): Donovan, J. J., and Keating, W. R. NEEMIS: Text of governors presentation. Working Paper No. MIT-EL-76-002WP, MIT Energy Laboratory, Cambridge, MA, February 1976.
• 20: (Donovan and Madnick, 1975): Donovan, J. J., and Madnick, S. E. Hierarchical approach to computer system integrity. IBM Systems Journal, 14, 2 (1975), 188--202.
• 21: (Donovan and Madnick, 1976): Donovan, J. J., and Madnick, S. E. Virtual machine advantages in security, integrity and decision support systems. IBM Systems Journal, 15, 3 (1976), 270--278.
• 22: (Donovan et al., 1975): Donovan, J. J., Gutentag, L. M., Madnick, S. E., and Smith, G. N. An application of a generalized management information system to energy policy and decision making: The user's view. Proceedings AFIPS National Conputer Conference, May 1975, 681--686.
• 23: (Dubin-Mindell-Bloome Associates, 1975): Dubin-Mindell-Bloome Associates. Energy conservation opportunities and guidelines for existing buildings, Parts I and II, West Hartford, CT, January 27, 1975.
• 24: (Forrester, 1975): Forrester, Jay W. Dynamics of socio-economic systems. Report No. D-2230-1, MIT System Group, Cambridge, MA, August 1975.
• 25: (Gerrity, 1971): Gerrity, Thomas P., Jr. Design of man-machine decision systems: An application to portfolio management. Sloan Management Review, 12, 3 (Winter 1971), 59--75.
• 26: (Ginzberg, 1975): Ginzberg, Michael J. Implementation as a process of change: A framework and empirical study. Report Nos. CISR-13 and WP797-75, MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, MA, July 1975.
• 27: (Goldberg, 1974): Goldberg, R. P. Survey of Virtual machine research. Computer, 7, 6 (June 1974), 34--35.
• 28: (Gorry and Scott Morton, 1971): Gorry, G. A., and Scott Morton, M. S. A framework for management information systems. Sloan Management Review, 13, 1 (Fall 1971), 55--70.
• 29: (Gutentag, 1975): Gutentag, L. M. GMIS: Generalized management information system---an implementation description. M. S. Thesis, MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, MA, June 1975.
• 30: (Henninger, 1975): Henninger, R. H. (editor). NECAP-NASA's energy-cost analysis program: Part I User's manual, and Part II Engineering manual. NASA Report No. CR-2590. National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA, September 1975.
• 31: (Hill and Ruderman, 1976): Hill, Richard, and Ruderman, Gerald. An integrated multilanguage approach to application programming. Proceedings Fifteenth Annual Technical Symposium, June 17, 1976, National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD, 171--176.
• 32: (Hittle and Sliwinski, 1975): Hittle, D. C., and Sliwinski, B. CERL thermal loads analysis and system simulation program: Volumes I and II, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, Champaign, IL, 1975.
• 33: (Hollomon, 1975): Hollomon, Herbert. Produce more to stay ahead. Technology Review, January 1975, p. 57.
• 34: (IBM, 1976): IBM (1). IBM virtual machine facility/370: Introduction. Form No. GC20-1800, White Plains, NY, 1976.
• 35: (IBM, 1975a): IBM (2). Information management system: General information manual. Form No. GH20-1260, White Plains, NY, 1975.
• 36: (IBM, 1975b): IBM (3). APL econometric planning language. Form No. SH20-1620 (Product No. 5796PDW), White Plains, NY, 1975.
• 37: (Little, 1970): Little, J. D. C. Models and managers: The concept of a decision calculus. Management Science, 16, 8 (April 1970), B466-B485.
• 38: (Madnick, 1969): Madnick, S. E. Time-sharing systems: Virtual machine concept vs. conventional approach. Modern Data, 2, 3 (March 1969), 34--36.
• 39: Stuart E. Madnick , John J. Donovan, Operating Systems, McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, NY, 1974
• 40: (Morgan, 1976): Morgan, H. DAISY: An applications perspective. Proceedings of the Wharton/ONR Conference on Interactive Decision Support Systems, The Wharton School, Philadelphia, PA, 1976.
• 41: (NEEMIS, 1976): NEEMIS Newsletter, 1, 3, MIT Energy Laboratory, Cambridge, MA, July 1976.
• 42: (NERCOM, 1976): New England Regional Commission (NERCOM). The New England Energy Management Information System, Boston, September 1976.
• 43: (Pakin, 1972): Pakin, S. APL / 360 Reference Manual. Science Research Associates, Chicago, 1972.
• 44: (Pounds, 1969): Pounds, W. F. The process of problem finding. Industrial Management Review, 11, 1 (1969), 1--19.
• 45: (Schober, 1974): Schober, F. EPLAN: An APL-based language for econometric modelling and forecasting. IBM Scientific Center, Philadelphia, 1974.
• 46: James L. McKenney , Morton M. Scott, Management Decision Systems: Computer-Based Support for Decision Making, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA, 1984
• 47: (Scott Morton, 1975): Scott Morton, M. S. Organizing the information function for effectiveness as well as efficiency. Proceedings Seventh Annual SMIS Conference, September 1975, 117--120.
• 48: (Siegel, 1969): Siegel, Abraham J. Unions, employers and the computer. Technology Review, 72, 2 (1969), 36--41.
• 49: Herbert Alexander Simon, The New Science of Management Decision, Prentice Hall PTR, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1977