Management Decision Support for Individuals and Groups
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TradeOff
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Q: What is a DSS?
A: A Decision Support System (DSS) is a decision aid used by managers and other decision-makers to make higher quality decisions more productively. DSS's can broadly be classified into two categories, namely:
- qualitative versus quantitative systems; and
-
individual versus group use.
Trade-Off is a DSS with advanced capabilities in the qualitative and group application area, with a lesser, but nevertheless important, emphasis on quantitative and individual applications.
Q: What is a GDSS?
A: A GDSS is a decision support system that supports a decision body comprised of several individuals with some or all of the following characteristics:
- diverse backgrounds
- diverse cultures
- entrusted with the task of generating proposals for solving problems
- reaching consensus decisions to address problems, usually of great complexity.
- given limited time to perform its task
- given limited or no quantitative background information to base decisions upon.
The TradeOff system has been designed to provide support under these conditions. In addition, TradeOff can actually measure the degree and the quality of the consensus reached or prevailing within a committee, and it does so mostly non-verbally, based on the judgmental inputs of the members of the committee.
Q: Is a DSS or a GDSS equivalent to Operations Research?
A: Yes and no
DSS can be seen as one of the tools in the family of Operations Research (OR) method, which includes inter alia, Markov analysis, linear and nonlinear programming, transport modelling, critical path analysis and a plethora of statistical techniques, to mention but a few. These methods are normally quantitative analytical in nature, and rely heavily on computer power for the manipulation of data to provide sensible quantitative results upon which managerial and operational decisions can be based.
A GDSS, on the other hand, deals mostly with non-quantifiable decision parameters, for which mathematical / statistical analysis cannot be used, and is therefore not equivalent to OR. In fact, a GDSS focuses mainly on the qualitative side of managerial / political decision-making, and utilises the results of OR as an input for the quantitative component of the decision parameters that make up the overall input requirements to the decision-making process. The TradeOff system focuses mainly on these qualitative components, where the greatest needs are for true managerial and political decision-making.
Q: If TradeOff is a GDSS, can it also be used by individuals in need of resolving conflicting issues around difficult decisions?
A: Yes. Quite often, individuals are confronted with situations where they have to reach a decisions based on qualitative decision parameters. Choosing a career is a case in point. Any other situation where a dynamic future in a changing environment can render the smartest decision of today, totally detrimental tomorrow, would fall in the same category. Trade-off can assit the individual to a large extend in these kinds of decisions, but can understandably not guarantee the successful outcome of such decisions. What it can, however do, is to provide a framework for the swift updating of decisions taken in the past in an effort to adapt as painlessly as possible to a new set of circumstances.
Q: Do I need special equipment to use the TradeOff system?
A: For use by an individual or small groups, all that is needed is an average personal computer runnig on Windows XP operating system or later. The situation gets awkward if the committee grows larger, and for very large groups, one would need special equipment. If the system is, however used in an institution that uses a LAN computing setup, you can usually get by, using the server as a host for the database of the system. The same goes for a setup where one can assign a location on the internet as the host for the database, For use in a large conference hall, however, one would need special voting pads linked by radio signals or hard wire to communicate with a central control unit. GSA Consuling, in partnershhip with Ancil Research Laboratories, designs and produces the Leonardo Voting Pads for this purpose and can tailor-make it to suit the needs of the customer.
Q: Is the TradeOff system based on sound managerial theory?
A: Yes. The initial theoretical framework for the system was the basis for a doctoral thesis, and can in simplified form be reviewed in the Help-file of the TradeOff system.
Q: Is there a difference between managerial and operational decision-making?
A: Yes, there is.
Some of the characteristic differences between these may be summarized as indicated in below.
Operational Decision-making
Recurring Non-recurring
Can correct if wrong Must be right first time
Numeric variables
Short time span
Single or few criteria
Manager is trainable
Reasonably reversible
Managerial Decision-making
Non-recurring Must be right first time Qualitative variables Medium to long time spans Multiple criteria Cannot train the manager Non reversible