Interactive, Flexible, and Adaptable Decision Support Systems

Over the four decades of its history, decision support systems (DSSs) have moved from a radical movement that changed the way information systems were perceived in business, to a mainstream commercial information technology movement that all organizations engage. This interactive, flexible, and adaptable computer-based information system derives from two main areas of research: the theoretical studies of organizational decision making done at the Carnegie Institute in the 1950s and early 1960s as well as the technical work on interactive computer systems which was mainly performed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Keen & Morton, 1978). DSSs began due to the importance of formalizing a record of ideas, people, systems, and technologies implicated in this sector of applied information technology. But the history of this system is not precise due to the many individuals involved in different stages of DSSs and various industries while claiming to be pioneers of the system (Arnott & Pervan, 2005; Power, 2003). DSSs have become very sophisticated and stylish since these pioneers began their research. Many new systems have expanded the frontiers established by these pioneers yet the core and basis of the system remains the same. Today, DSSs are used in the finance, accounting, marketing, medical, as well as many other fields.