CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 571Decision Support System ApplicationsInformation Systems Theories and ImplementationBig Data and Business Intelligence

A Critical Analysis of Decision Support Systems Research

Open access
Arnott, David, Pervan, Graham·2005·Journal of Information Technology
DOI 10.1057/palgrave.jit.2000035
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

This paper critically analyses the nature and state of decision support systems (DSS) research. To provide context for the analysis, a history of DSS is presented which focuses on the evolution of a number of sub-groupings of research and practice: personal DSS, group support systems, negotiation support systems, intelligent DSS, knowledge management-based DSS, executive information systems/business intelligence, and data warehousing. To understand the state of DSS research an empirical investigation of published DSS research is presented. This investigation is based on the detailed analysis of 1,020 DSS articles published in 14 major journals from 1990 to 2003. The analysis found that DSS publication has been falling steadily since its peak in 1994 and the current publication rate is at early 1990s levels. Other findings include that personal DSS and group support systems dominate research activity and data warehousing is the least published type of DSS. The journal DSS is the major publishing outlet; US ‘Other’ journals dominate DSS publishing and there is very low exposure of DSS in European journals. Around two-thirds of DSS research is empirical, a much higher proportion than general IS research. DSS empirical research is overwhelming positivist, and is more dominated by positivism than IS research in general. Design science is a major DSS research category. The decision support focus of the sample shows a well-balanced mix of development, technology, process, and outcome studies. Almost half of DSS papers did not use judgement and decision-making reference research in the design and analysis of their projects and most cited reference works are relatively old. A major omission in DSS scholarship is the poor identification of the clients and users of the various DSS applications that are the focus of investigation. The analysis of the professional or practical contribution of DSS research shows a field that is facing a crisis of relevance. Using the history and empirical study as a foundation, a number of strategies for improving DSS research are suggested.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1057/palgrave.jit.2000035

Cites

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

No citation lists for this paper

No citation lists for this paper yet — checked again daily.

References 121 · Cited by 571

Research works printed but not linked: 101

  1. Ackoff, R.L. (1967) Management misinformation systems. Management Science, 14(4), 147-156.
  2. Alavi, M. and Carlson, P. (1992) A review of MIS research and disciplinary development. Journal of Management Information Systems, 8(4), 45-62.
  3. Alavi, M. and Joachimsthaler, E.A. (1992) Revisiting DSS Implementation research: A meta-analysis of the literature and suggestions for researchers. MIS Quarterly, 16(1), 95-116.
  4. Alavi, M. and Leidner, D.E. (2001) Review: Knowledge management and knowledge management systems: conceptual foundations and research issues. MIS Quarterly, 25(1), 107-136.
  5. Alter, S.L. (1980) Decision Support Systems: Current Practice and Continuing Challenges (Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA).
  6. Anthony, R.N. (1965) Planning and Control Systems: A Framework for Analysis (Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration, Cambridge, MA).
  7. Arnott, D. (2004) Decision support systems evolution: Framework, case study and research agenda. European Journal of Information Systems, 13(4), 247-259.
  8. Arrow, K.J. (1951) Social Choice and Individual Values (Wiley, New York).
  9. Basu, A. and Blanning, R.W. (1994) Metagraphs: A tool for modelling decision support systems. Management Science, 40(12), 1579-1600.
  10. Benbasat, I. and Zmud, R.W. (1999) Empirical research in information systems: The question of relevance. MIS Quarterly, 23(1), 3-16.
  11. Bui, T. and Jarke, M. (1986) Communication design for Co-op: A group decision support system. ACM Transaction on Office Information Systems, 4(2), 81-103.
  12. Carlsson, S., Brezillon, P., Humphreys, P., Lunberg, B.G. McCosh, A. and Rajkovic, V. (Eds.) (2000) Proceedings of IFIP TC8/WG8.3 International Conference on Decision Support Through Knowledge Management. Stockholm, Sweden: Stockholm University/Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden.
  13. Carlsson, S.A. and Lundberg, B.G. (2000) Preface and introduction. Proceedings of IFIP TC8/WG8.3 International Conference on Decision Support Through Knowledge Management. Stockholm, Sweden: Stockholm University/Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden.
  14. Cavaye, A.L.M. (1996) Case study research: A multi-faceted research approach for IS. Information Systems Journal, 6, 227-242.
  15. Chaudhury, A. (1995) A process perspective to designing individual negotiation support systems. Group Decision and Negotiation, 4(6), 525-548.
  16. Chen, M. (1995) A model-driven approach to accessing managerial information: The development of a repository-based executive information system. Journal of Management Information Systems, 11(4), 33-63.
  17. Chen, W.S. and Hirschheim, R. (2004) A paradigmatic and methodological examination of information systems research from 1991 to 2001. Information Systems Journal, 14, 197-235.
  18. Cooper, B.L., Watson, H.J., Wixom, B.H. and Goodhue, D.L. (2000) Data warehousing supports corporate strategy at First American Corporation. MIS Quarterly, 24(4), 547-567.
  19. Craig, R.S., Vivona, J.A. and Bercovitch, D. (1999) Microsoft Data Warehousing (Wiley, New York).
  20. Dearden, J. (1972) MIS is a mirage. Harvard Business Review, 50(1), 90-99.
  21. Dennis, A.R., George, J.F., Jessup, L.M., Nunamaker, J.F. Jr. and Vogel, D.R. (1988) Information technology to support group meetings. MIS Quarterly, 12(4), 591-624.
  22. DeSanctis, G. and Gallupe, R.B. (1985) Group decision support systems: A new frontier. Data Base, 16(2), 3-10.
  23. DeSanctis, G. and Gallupe, R.B. (1987) A foundation for the study of group decision support systems. Management Science, 33(5), 589-609.
  24. Dennis, A.R. and Gallupe, R.B. (1993) A history of group support systems empirical research: Lessons learned and future directions. In L.M. Jessup and J.S. Valacich (Eds.) Group Support Systems: New Perspectives. (New York, Macmillan), Chapter 3.
  25. Devlin, B.A. and Murphy, P.T. (1988) An architecture for a business and information system. IBM Systems Journal, 27(1), 60-81.
  26. Dubin, R. (1978) Theory Building (The Free Press, New York).
  27. Eisenhart. K.M. (1989) Building theories from case study research. Academy of Management Review, 14, 532-550.
  28. Eom, S.B. (1995) Decision Support Systems Research: Reference Disciplines and a Cumulative Tradition. Omega: The International Journal of Management Science, 23(5), 511-523.
  29. Eom, S.B. (1996) Mapping the intellectual structure of research in decision support systems through author cocitation analysis (1971-1993). Decision Support Systems, 16(4), 315-338
  30. Eom, S.B. (1999) Decision Support Systems Research: Current State and Trends. Industrial Management and Data Systems, 99(5), 213-220.
  31. Eom, S.B. and Lee, S.M. (1993) Leading Universities and Most Influential Contributors in DSS Research: A Citation Analysis. Decision Support Systems, 9(3), 237-244.
  32. Fitzgerald, B. (2000) System development methodologies: The problem of tenses. Information Technology and People, 13(3), 13-22.
  33. Fitzgerald, G. (1992) Executive information systems and their development in the U.K.: A research study. International Information Systems, 1(2), 1-35.
  34. Galliers, R.D. (1992) Choosing information systems research approaches. In R.D. Galliers (Ed.), Information Systems Research: Issues, Methods and Practical Guidelines (Blackwell Scientific, London), 144-162.
  35. Galliers, R.D. (1994) Relevance and rigour in information systems research: Some personal reflections on issues facing the information systems research community. In B.C Glasson, I.T. Hawryszkiewycz, B.A. Underwood and R. Weber (Eds.). Business process re-engineering: Information systems opportunities and challenges (Elsevier North-Holland, Amsterdam), 93-101.
  36. Gillenson, M. L. and Stutz, J. D. (1991) Academic issues in MIS: Journals and books. MIS Quarterly, 15(4), 447-452.
  37. Gorry, G.A. and Scott Morton, M.S. (1971) A framework for management information systems. Sloan Management Review, 13(1), 1-22.
  38. Gray, P., Aronofsky, J.S., Helmer, O., Kane, G.R. and Perkins, T.E. (1981) The SMU decision room project. Proceedings of DSS-81: The First International Conference on Decision Support Systems, Atlanta, Georgia, June 8-10.
  39. Guba, E.G. and Lincoln, Y.S. (1994) Competing paradigms in qualitative research. In N.K. Denzin and Y.S. Lincoln (Eds.). Handbook of Qualitative Research (Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA), 105-117.
  40. Hardgrave, B. C. and Walstrom, K. A. (1997) Forums for MIS scholars. Communications of the ACM, 40(11), 119-124.
  41. Hirschheim, R. (1992) Information systems epistemology: An historical perspective. In R. Galliers (Ed.), Information systems research: Issues, methods and practical guidelines (Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford), 28-60.
  42. Holsapple, C., Johnson, L., Manakyan, H. and Tanner, J. (1994) Business computing research journals: A normalized citation analysis. Journal of Management Information Systems, 11(1), 131-140.
  43. Huber, G.P. (1984) Issues in the design of group decision support systems. MIS Quarterly, 8(3), 195- 204.
  44. Iivari, J. (1991) A paradigmatic analysis of contemporary schools of IS development. European Journal of Information Systems, 1(4), 249-272.
  45. Inmon, W. and Hackathorn, R. (1994) Using the Data Warehouse. (John Wiley and Sons, New York).
  46. Jarke, M., Jelassi, M.T. and Shakun, M.F. (1987) MEDIATOR: Toward a negotiation support system. European Journal of Operations Research, 31(3), 314-334.
  47. Jelassi, M.T., Kersten, G. and Zionts, S. (1990) An introduction to group decision and negotiation support. In M.T.Jelassi, G. Kersten, and S. Zionts (Eds.) Readings in Multiple Criteria Decision Making. (Springer-Verlag: Berlin).
  48. Kaplan, R.S. and Norton, D.P. (1996) The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action. (Harvard Business School Press, Cambridge, MA).
  49. Karim, A.S., Hershauer, J.C. and Perkins, W.C. (1998) A simulation of partial information use in decision making: Implications for DSS design. Decision Sciences, 29(1), 53-85.
  50. Keen, P.G.W. and Gambino, A.J. (1983) In J.L. Bennett (Ed.) Readings in Decision Support Systems (Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA).
  51. Keen, P.G.W. and Scott Morton, M.S. (1978) Decision Support Systems: An Organisational Perspective. (Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA).
  52. Kendall, K.E. (1997) The significance of information systems research on emerging technologies: seven information technologies that promise to improve managerial effectiveness. Decision Sciences, 28(4), 775-792.
  53. Kersten, G.E. (1987) On two roles decision support can play in negotiation. Information Processing and Management, 23(5), 605-614.
  54. Kersten, G.E. and Shapiro, T. (1986) Generalized approach to modelling negotiation. European Journal of Operations Research, 26(1), 142-149.
  55. Kimball, R. (1996) The Data Warehousing Toolkit. (John Wiley and Sons, New York).
  56. Kimball, R., Reeves, L., Ross, M. and Thornwaite, W. (1998) The Data Warehousing Lifecycle Toolkit. (John Wiley and Sons, New York).
  57. King, J.L. and Lyytinen, K. (2004) Reach and grasp. MIS Quarterly, 28(4), 539-551.
  58. Konsynski, B.R., Kottemann, J.E., Nunamaker, J.F., Jr. and Stott, J.W. (1985) PLEXSYS-84: An integrated development environment for information systems. Journal of Management Information Systems, 1(3), 64-104.
  59. Kraemer, K.L. and King, J.L. (1988) Computer-based systems for cooperative work and group decision making. ACM Computing Surveys, 20(2), 115-146.
  60. Kuhn, H.W. and Tucker, A.W. (Eds.) (1950) Contributions to the Theory of Games (Annals of Mathematics Study No. 24). (Princeton University Press, Princeton).
  61. Lewis, L.F., Keleman, K.S. and Garcia, J.E. (1996) Possible barriers and challenges to the adoption of group support systems. Group Decision and Negotiation, 6(2), 189-194.
  62. Linton, J.D. and Johnston, D.A. (2000) A decision support system for planning remanufacturing at Nortel Networks. Interfaces, 30(6), 17-31.
  63. Lowry, P.B., Romans, D. and Curtis, A. (2004) Global journal prestige and supporting disciplines: A scientometic study of information systems journals. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 5(2), 29-77.
  64. McCosh, A.M. (2004) Keynote Address. The 2004 IFIP International Conference on Decision Support Systems. (IFIP, Prato, Italy).
  65. McGrath, J.E. and Hollingshead, A.B. (1993) Putting the "group" back in group support systems" Some theoretical issues about dynamic processes in groups with technological enhancements. In L.M. Jessup and J.S. Valacich (Eds.) Group Support Systems: New Perspectives. (Macmillan: New York), Chapter 4.
  66. Meador, C.L. and Ness, D.N. (1974) Decision support systems: An approach to corporate planning. Sloan Management Review, 15(2), 51-68.
  67. Meredith, R., Shanks, G., Arnott, D. and Carlsson, S (Eds.) Decision Support in a Complex and Uncertain World: Proceedings of the 2004 IFIP International Conference on Decision Support Systems. (IFIP, Prato, Italy).
  68. Mylonopoulos, N.A. and Theoharakis, V. (2001) On-Site: Global perceptions of IS journals. Communications of the ACM, 44(9), 29-33.
  69. Nandhakumar, J. (1996) Executive information system development: A case study of a manufacturing company. Journal of Information Technology, 11, 199-209.
  70. Nash, J. (1950) The bargaining problem. Econometrica, 18(2), 155-162.
  71. Nash, J. (1953) Two-person cooperative games. Econometrica, 21(1), 128-140.
  72. NCR (1998) How to Build a Data Warehouse, Data Warehousing Workshop: Module 4. [Course notes] NCR Corporation.
  73. Nunamaker, J.F., Jr., Dennis, A.R., Valacich, J.S., Vogel, D.R. and George, J.F. (1991) Electronic meeting systems to support group work. Communications of the ACM, 34(7), 40-61.
  74. Pearson, J.M. and Shim, J.P. (1994) An empirical investigation into decision support systems capabilities: A proposed taxonomy. Information and Management, 27(1), 45-57.
  75. Pervan, G.P. (1998) A review of research in group support systems: Leaders, approaches and directions. Decision Support Systems, 23(2), 149-159.
  76. Pervan, G.P. and Atkinson, D.J. (1995) GDSS research: An overview and historical analysis. Group Decision and Negotiation, 4(6), 475-485.
  77. Press, L. (1992) Lotus Notes (groupware) in context. Journal of Organizational Computing, 2, 315- 320.
  78. Raiffa, H. (1982) The Art and Science of Negotiation. (Belknap Press, Cambridge, MA).
  79. Rangaswamy, A. and Shell, G.R. (1997) Using computers to realize joint gains in negotiations: Toward an 'Electronic Bargaining Table'. Management Science, 43(8), 1147-1163.
  80. Rockart, J.F. (1979) Chief executives define their own data needs. Harvard Business Review. 57, March-April, 81-93.
  81. Saunders, C. (1998) The role of business in IS research. Information Resource Management Journal, Winter, 11(1), 4-6.
  82. Silver, M.S. (1991) Systems that Support Decision Makers: Description and Analysis. (John Wiley and Sons, New York).
  83. Simon, H.A. (1977) The new science of management decision (rev. ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. (Original work published 1960).
  84. Sprague, R.H. Jr, and Carlson, E.D. (1982) Building Effective Decision Support Systems. (Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ).
  85. Stanek, S, and Sroka, H. (2001) Building creativity into OSS design framework. Journal of Decision Systems, 10(3-4), 339-378.
  86. Stohr, E.A. and Konsynski, B.R. (Eds.). (1992) Information Systems and Decision Processes. (IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos, CA).
  87. Todd, P. and Benbasat, I. (1991) An experimental investigation of the impact of computer based decision aids on decision making strategies. Information Systems Research, 2(2), 87-115.
  88. Tolliver, E.M. (1971) Myths of automated management systems. Journal of Systems Management, 22(3), 29-32.
  89. Turban, E., Aronson, J.E. and Liang, T-P. (2005) Decision Support Systems and Intelligent Systems (7th ed.). (Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ).
  90. Vandenbosch, B. and Huff, S.L. (1997) Searching and scanning: How executives obtain information from executive information systems. MIS Quarterly, 21(1), 81-107.
  91. Von Neumann, J., and Morgenstern, O. (1947) Theory of Games and Economic Behaviour. (Princeton University Press, Princeton).
  92. Wagner, G.R., Wynne, B.E., and Mennecke, B.E. (1993) Group support systems facilities and software. In L.M. Jessup and J.S. Valacich (Eds.) Group Support Systems: New Perspectives. (Macmillan, New York), Chapter 2.
  93. Walsham, G. (1995a) Interpretive case studies in IS research: Nature and method. European Journal of Information Systems, 4, 74-81.
  94. Walsham, G. (1995b) The emergence of interpretivism in IS research. Information Systems Research, 6(4), 376-394.
  95. Walstrom, K. A., Hardgrave, B. C. and Wilson, R. L. (1995) Forums for Management Information Systems scholars. Communications of the ACM, 38(3), 93-107.
  96. Weber, R. (1987) Towards a theory of artifacts: A paradigmatic base for information systems research. Journal of Information Systems, 1, 3-20.
  97. Webster, J. and Watson, R.T. (2002) Analyzing the past to prepare for the future: Writing a literature review. MIS Quarterly, 26(2), xiii-xxiii.
  98. Whitman, M.E., Hendrickson, A.R., Townsend, A.M. (1999) Research Commentary. Academic rewards for teaching, research and service: Data and discourse. Information Systems Research, 10(2), 99-109.
  99. Wixom, B.H. and Watson, H.J. (2001) An empirical investigation of the factors affecting data warehousing success. MIS Quarterly, 23(1), 17-41.
  100. Wood, J.R.G. and Wood-Harper, A.T. (1993) Information technology in support of individual decision-making. Journal of Information Systems, 3, 85-101.
  101. Yin, R.K. (1994) Case Study Research: Design and Methods (2 nd edn.). (Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA).

Authors
Arnott, D., & Pervan, G.
Affiliations
  • Monash University (AU)
  • Curtin University (AU)
Corresponding author
Pervan, Graham
ORCID
Arnott, David
Venue
Journal of Information Technology
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2005-06
Volume
20
Issue
2
Pages
67-87
ISSN
  • 0268-3962 (ISSN-L)
  • 1466-4437
DOI
10.1057/palgrave.jit.2000035
OpenAlex
W1996654773
Cited by
571
References
121
Citations by year
2026: 28 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 32 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 36 · 2014: 49 · 2013: 34 · 2012: 42
FWCI
43.81
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • Journal of Information Technology (publishedVersion)
  • eSpace (Curtin University) (submittedVersion)
  • Journal of the Association for Information Systems (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Monash University
  • Curtin University of Technology
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Management Information Systems › Decision Support System Applications
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Information Systems Theories and Implementation
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Management Information Systems › Big Data and Business Intelligence
Keywords
decision support system, publication trends, group support systems, negotiation support systems, executive information systems, business intelligence, data warehousing, design science research, research agenda

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review