Issue-based decision support systems for the Egyptian cabinet

  • Authors:

  • Hisham El Sherif;Omar A. El Sawy

  • Affiliations:

  • The Cabinet Information and Decision Support Center and American University in Cairo, Zamalek, Cairo, Egypt;Department of Decision Systems, Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

  • Venue:
  • MIS Quarterly
  • Year:
  • 1988

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Abstract

This paper provides a new approach for managing the design and delivery of information and decision support systems for strategic decision making. It draws on experiences gained from implementing systems and services for enhancing the strategic decision-making process of the Cabinet of Egypt. The article challenges the conventional views of conceptualizing decision support systems and methods for managing them. It introduces an "issue-based" management method for the design and delivery processes. The distinctive features of this approach include a focus on issues rather than decisions, a distinction between information support services and decision support services, prototyping the management of delivery as well as design, and a dynamic tracking back-end. Finally, the article compares the conventional and issue-based DSS approaches. Such a comparison suggests that the issue-based approach can be an effective stepping stone for the design and delivery of executive information systems (EIS) in corporate contexts by providing DSS that are "EIS-ready."