Abstract
Evolutionary development has been central to the theory and practice of decision support systems (DSS) since the inception of the field. Terms such as ‘adaptive’ and ‘evolutionary’ capture the organic nature of the development of a decision support system. However, the terms are rarely defined and their meaning varies widely in the research literature. The aim of this paper is to contribute to decision support systems theory by investigating and clearly specifying the nature of the evolutionary process of a DSS. Using insights from other disciplines and prior DSS research, a framework for understanding DSS evolution is developed based on the aetiology, lineage, and tempo of evolution. The descriptive validity of the framework is demonstrated by applying it to published DSS studies and to an intensive case study of DSS development. The framework and the case study findings are used to define a research agenda that is important for evolutionary DSS development.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adam F and Murphy C (1995) Information flows amongst executives: their implications for systems development. Journal of Strategic Information Systems 4(4), 341–355.
Alavi M (1984) An assessment of the prototyping approach to information systems development. Communications of the ACM 27(6), 556–563.
Alter SL (1980) Decision Support Systems: Current Practice and Continuing Challenges. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.
Angehrn AA and Jelassi T (1994) DSS research and practice in perspective. Decision Support Systems 12, 257–275.
Antes J, Campen L, Derigs U, Titze C and Wolle G-D (1998) SYNOPSE: a model-based decision support systems for the evaluation of flight schedules for cargo airlines. Decision Support Systems 22, 307–323.
Arinze OB (1991) A contingency model of DSS development methodology. Journal of Management Information Systems 8(1), 149–166.
Atkinson P and Hammersley M (1994) Ethnography and participant observation. In Handbook of Qualitative Research (DENZIN NK and LINCOLN YS, Eds), pp 248–261, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Avison DE and Fitzgerald G (1995) Information Systems Development: Methodologies, Techniques and Tools (2nd edn). McGraw-Hill, Maidenhead, UK.
Baskerville R and Wood-Harper AT (1998) Diversity in information systems action research methods. European Journal of Information Systems 7, 90–107.
Benbasat I, Goldstein DK and Mead M (1987) The case research strategy in studies of information systems. Management Information Systems Quarterly 11(3), 369–386.
Beynon-Davies P, Carne C, Mackay H and Tudhope D (1999) Rapid application development (RAD): an empirical view. European Journal of Information Systems 8, 211–223.
Botha S, Gryffenberg I, Hofmeyer FR, Lausberg JL, Nicolay RP, Smit WJ, Uys S, Van der merwe WL and Wessels GJ (1997) Guns or butter: decision support for determining the size and shape of the South African National Defense Force. Interfaces 27(1), 7–28.
Cavaye ALM (1996) Case study research: a multi-faceted research approach for IS. Information Systems Journal 6, 227–242.
Cole RE (1991) Participant observer research: an activist role. In Participatory Action Research (WHYTE WF, Ed.), pp 159–166, Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA.
Courbon J-C (1996) User-centered DSS design and implementation. In Implementing Systems for Supporting Management Decisions: Concepts, Methods and Experiences (HUMPHREYS P, BANNON L, McCOSH A, MLGLIARESE P and POMEROL J-C, Eds), pp 108–122, Chapman & Hall, London.
Courbon J-C, Grajew J and Tolovi J (1978) Design and implementation of Interactive decision support systems: an evolutive approach, Technical Report, Institute d'Administration des Enterprises, Grenoble, France.
Darwin CR (1996 first published 1859) The Origin of Species. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Dawkins R (1996) Climbing Mount Improbable. Viking, London.
Eisenhart KM (1989) Building theories from case study research. Academy of Management Review 14, 532–550.
Galliers RD (1992) Choosing information systems research approaches. In Information Systems Research: Issues, Methods and Practical Guidelines (GALLIERS RD, Ed.), pp 144–162, Blackwell Scientific, London.
Gould SJ (2002) The Structure of Evolutionary Theory. Belknap/Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Gould SJ and Eldredge N (1977) Punctuated equilibria: the tempo and mode of evolution reconsidered. Paleobiology 3, 115–151.
Gunter A and Frolick M (1991) The evolution of EIS at Georgia Power Company. Information Executive 4(4), 23–26.
Hurst Jr EG, Ness DN, Gambino TJ and Johnson TH (1983) Growing DSS: a flexible, evolutionary approach. In Building Decision Support Systems (BENNETT JL, Ed.), pp 111–132, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.
Igbaria M, Sprague Jr RH, Basnet C and Foulds L (1996) The impacts and benefits of a DSS: the case of FleetManager. Information and Management 31, 215–225.
Janson MA and Smith LD (1985) Prototyping for systems development: a critical appraisal. Management Information Systems Quarterly 9, 305–315.
Jirachiefpattana W, Arnott DR and O'Donnell PA (1996) Executive information systems development in Thailand. In Implementing Systems for Supporting Management Decisions: Concepts, Methods and Experiences (HUMPHREYS P, BANNON L, McCOSH A, MILGLIARESE P and POMEROL J-C, Eds), pp 203–224, Chapman & Hall, London.
Keen PGW (1980) Adaptive design for decision support systems. Data Base 12(1/2), 15–25.
Keen PGW and Gambino TJ (1983) Building a decision support system: The mythical man-month revisited. In Building Decision Support Systems (BENNETT JL, Ed.), pp 133–172, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.
Lewis H (1962) Catastrophic selection as a factor in speciation. Evolution 16, 257–271.
Meador CL and Ness DN (1974) Decision support systems: an application to corporate planning. Sloan Management Review 15(2), 51–68.
Nandhakumar J (1996) Design for success?: critical success factors in executive information systems development. European Journal of Information Systems 5, 62–72.
Ness DN (1975) Interactive systems: theories of design. In Proceedings of the Joint Wharton/ONR Conference on Interactive Information and DSS. The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Niehaus RJ (1995) The evolution of strategy and structure of a human resource planning DSS application. Decision Support Systems 14, 187–204.
O'Donnell PA, Arnott DR and Gibson M (2002) Data warehouse development methodologies: a comparative analysis. In Decision Making and Decision Support in the Internet Age (ADAM F, BREZILLON P, HUMPHREYS P and POMEROL J-C, Eds), pp 387–398, Oak Tree Press, Cork, Ireland.
Pearson JM and Shim JP (1994) An empirical investigation into decision support systems capabilities: a proposed taxonomy. Information and Management 27, 45–57.
Price PW (1996) Biological Evolution. Harcourt Brace, Orlando, FL.
Rigby B, Lasdon LS and Waren AD (1995) The evolution of Texaco's blending systems: from OMEGA to StarBlend. Interfaces 25(5), 64–83.
Sage AP (1991) Decision Support Systems Engineering. John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Shaffer DR (1985) Developmental Psychology: Theory, Research and Applications. Brooks/Cole, Monterey, CA.
Shakun MF (1991) Airline buyout: evolutionary systems design and problem restructuring in group decision and negotiation. Management Science 37(10), 1291–1303.
Shim JP, Warkentin M, Courtney JF, Power DJ, Sharda R and Carlson C (2002) Past, present, and future of decision support technology. Decision Support Systems 33, 111–126.
Silver MS (1991) Systems that Support Decision Makers: Description and Analysis. Wiley, Surrey, UK.
Simpson GG (1944) Tempo And Mode in Evolution. Columbia University Press, New York.
Sprague Jr RH and Carlson ED (1982) Building Effective Decision Support Systems. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Stabell CR (1983) A decision oriented approach to building DSS. In Building Decision Support Systems (BENNETT JL, Ed.), pp 221–260, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.
Stake RE (1994) Case studies. In Handbook of Qualitative Research (DENZIN NK and LINCOLN YS, Eds), pp 236–247, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Suvachittanont W, Arnott DR and O'Donnell PA (1994) Adaptive design in executive information systems development: A manufacturing case study. Journal of Decision Systems 3(4), 277–299.
Valusek JS (1994) Adaptive design of DSS: a user perspective. In Decision Support and Executive Information Systems (GRAY P, Ed.), pp 78–86, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
Walstrom KA and Wilson RL (1997) An examination of executive information system (EIS) users. Information and Management 32(2), 75–83.
Watson HJ, Rainer RK and Koh CE (1991) Executive information systems: a framework for development and a survey of current practices. Management Information Systems Quarterly March, 13–30.
Wixom BH and Watson HJ (2001) An empirical investigation of the factors affecting data warehouse success. Management Information Systems Quarterly 25(1), 17–41.
Yin RK (1994) Case Study Research: Design and Methods (2nd edn). Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA.
Young LF (1989) Decision Support and Idea Processing Systems. William Brown, Dubuque, IA.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Arnott, D. Decision support systems evolution: framework, case study and research agenda. Eur J Inf Syst 13, 247–259 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.ejis.3000509
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.ejis.3000509