David Patel
Appendix A - Management Support Systems
Academic Objective 2 – Management Support Systems
A2 The principles of Management Support Systems and its influence on
my application – do school management support systems differ to
typical organisational ones?
A2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 1
A2.2 Management Support Systems ............................................................... 1
A2.3 Types and Levels of Decision Making ..................................................... 3
A2.4 Types of Management Support System .................................................. 3
A2.4.1 Management Information Systems ....................................................... 4
A2.4.2 Decision Support Systems.................................................................... 5
A2.4.2.1 Group Decision Support Systems ...................................................... 7
2.4.3 Expert Systems ....................................................................................... 7
A2.4.5 Executive Information Systems ............................................................ 7
2.4.5 Required MSS for Different Problem Domains........................................ 8
A2.5 Principles, Objectives and Characteristics ............................................... 8
A2.5.1 MSS Technology .................................................................................. 9
A2.6 Further Categorisation ............................................................................. 9
A2.6.1 Categorisation by Functionality............................................................. 9
A2.6.2 Categorisation by Amount of Users .................................................... 11
A2.7 Conclusions ........................................................................................... 11
A2.1 Introduction
The aim of this chapter is to explore what a Management Support System
(MSS) is, including its main principles, functions, characteristics and
objectives, and to then state how these issues will influence and be
represented in the school MSS. I will also look into the different categories of
MSS within organisations whilst investigating whether school MSS differ to
those used within typical organisations.
A2.2 Management Support Systems
Management Support Systems are used widely within a whole range of
different organisations. Scott Morton (1984), describes MSS as those
knowledge systems that “…use Information Technologies to support
management”. Fidler and Rogerson (1996), go on further to define a MSS as
“…a Computer-Based Information System (CBIS) that supports management
via support of decision making and/or information handling activities”.
From these two definitions it is clear that a MSS is an information system that
is computerised, which allows for the input and manipulation of data to display
and present the user with the information necessary to provide better
informed decisions, and to handle information in an appropriate way. It is also
important to consider that a MSS does not make any decisions; rather they
are designed to be semi-structured and only when used in conjunction with
effective management analysis, can a MSS be truly successful. Diagram 2.1
created by the author, aims to illustrate these points.
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Diagram 2.1: Management Support Systems – A Definition
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A2.3 Types and Levels of Decision Making
The first step in understanding and trying to distinguish the differing types of
MSS, is to understand the types of decisions they aim to assist with. These
can be split broadly into three categories:
1. Unstructured Decisions – involves decision-making circumstances
whereby it is often difficult to foresee most of the decision processes
ahead.
2. Semi-Structured Decisions – whereby many decision processes can be
foreseen, however still lacking a definite recommended solution without
further assessment.
3. Structured Decisions – whereby the decision-making circumstances
allow the decision processes to be foreseen in advance.
Additionally there are generally three levels of decision-making (associated
with the three levels of management), these are summarised in table 2.1,
along with their typical characteristics.
Table 2.1: Levels of Decision Making
Long time horizons
Large scale resources
Unstructured and judgemental decisions
Uncertainty and risk
Intermittent decisions
Difficult to define
External and internal factors
Tactical
Medium to short term horizons
(Middle-Management) Allocating limited resources
Decisions about how policy is implemented
Less uncertainty and risk
Greater focus on internal factors
Decisions limited to within bounds set by others
Operational
Short term horizons
(Lower-Management) Small scale resources
Structured decisions
Little risk
Regular and repetitive decisions
Clear objectives and decisions
Strategic
(Top-Management)
A2.4 Types of Management Support System
Further exploration of a MSS in seeking its main principles and functions
reveals that different types of MSS actually exist (or what could be considered
MSS). This is due to the fact that CBIS incorporates many different types of
information systems, including Transaction Processing Systems (TPS) such
as till systems in retail shops, Management Information Systems (MIS) that
can summarise transaction data, and automated office systems, which
includes payroll systems for example. According to Sean (2001) MSS
actually “… consist of DSS (Decision Support Systems), Expert Systems (ES)
and Executive Information Systems (EIS)”. This raises another question, are
all these computer based systems actually management support systems, as
it seems that CBIS is a very general term to define MSS. Indeed, according
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Appendix A - Management Support Systems
to Finlay (1992), ”…there is a need for a common categorisation of types of
Management Support Systems”. The amount of literature available on this
topic is vast, different authors have various viewpoints on the subject and tend
to categorise in slightly different ways albeit within a common theme. This
can be illustrated with the above example of Sean (2001), who excludes MIS
from a type of MSS, whereas Fidler and Rogerson (1996) categorically state
MIS as a type of MSS, along with DSS, EIS, ES and GDSS (Group Decision
Support Systems). In order to effectively understand management support
systems, to gain knowledge of their principles and objectives, I have chosen
to examine each one further to discover their main characteristics and
purposes. This will also help in exploring whether school MSS differs to those
used within other organisations.
A2.4.1 Management Information Systems
As stated above, MIS merely summarise transaction data, this is verified by
Fidler & Rogerson (1996) who state that MIS were “… developed by many
organisations to provide a set of periodic information reports to management”.
Therefore MIS exist to provide support for routine operational decisions in an
organisation. They aim to aid with relatively structured decisions and improve
upon efficiency in this area, for instance by reducing costs through replacing
clerical staff, and decision making can be made by managers once the
appropriate information has been provided to them. The MIS can effectively
collect, organise, store and retrieve data. Again this information usually comes
from Transaction Processing Systems (also known as Electronic Data
Processing (EDP). TPS are not MSS, rather subsets of MIS, or information
systems in their own right, however individually they do not provide
management with decision making assistance. There are criticisms of MIS, in
that they may not actually reduce costs through providing batch reports, but
only provide “… more timely and correct information”1. Additionally, according
to Gray, P. (1994) MIS are often oriented “… toward transaction processing,
record keeping, and cost accounting rather than decision making”. This is
exemplified in a report which examines MIS in the Human Services industry,
which states that systems “…typically focus on tracking of client or
administrative activities (accounting, fund raising, human resources) without
providing an integrated view of operations that is useful in guiding
management decisions”2. According to the same source, for an MIS to be
effective there are five important characteristics:
1. Ease of use – the system should be easy to use and require little
training (including users with little computer knowledge) to acquire
constructive information.
2. Meaningful – the system should provide meaning to data by
summarising in useful methods and be formatted and presented
effectively utilising graphs and tables for instance where necessary.
3. Multiple levels of detail – the system should connect multiple levels of
detail enabling the user to view high level information first, and then dig
into further detail if required (i.e. drilldown).
1
2
Finlay, P. 1989
http://www.socialent.com/resources/articles/pdfs/overviewtomgt.pdf
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4. Flexibility – the system should be flexible enough to enable the user to
sort data in different orders or be more selective with target groups of
required data.
5. Accuracy – the system must be wholly accurate, providing credible
information that does not require the user to verify data consistently.
A2.4.2 Decision Support Systems
Decision Support Systems (DSS) have been defined as “…an interactive
computer-based system which facilitates solution of unstructured problems by
a decision maker” (Sean, 2001). Other authors such as Mark Silver (1991)
simply define it as a computer based information system (CBIS), and others
add that it helps with both semi-structured as well as unstructured decisions.
What is clear is that there does not seem to be one standard and accepted
definition for DSS. Some authors even argue that DSS is just one form of
MIS as there does not seem to be any significant differences between the two
of where one starts and another finishes. Figure 2.2 summarises these
viewpoints from various authors. However, despite this confusion, DSS still
have defining principles and characteristics. DSS can provide support for
decision makers at all levels of management, assisting with interdependent
and sequential decisions. Paul Gray has developed and refined seven
principles that a DSS should incorporate and adopt to become successful,
which is based on other people’s research and findings as well as his own
research and experience. Table 2.2 has been adapted from Gray, P. (1994),
it lists his seven principles along with the corresponding characteristics which
a DSS should adopt to prove the effectiveness of such a system.
Table 2.2: Seven Principles for DSS Success
Principle
1. DSS should improve decision
making
2. DSS should contain as much
“intelligence” about the user’s
problem as possible
3. DSS should be used through
whatever usage pattern is most cost
effective
4. DSS should be used by experts
who understand what they mean and
how they should be used
Corresponding DSS Characteristic
 Support and aid decision making
rather than automated decision
making
 Stress effectiveness rather than
efficiency
 Should support all phases of the
decision process
 Should not impose a decision
process on a decision maker
 Help with semi-structured and
unstructured decisions





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Used directly by managers
Interactive
Easy to use
Cosmetically appealing
Used directly by managers
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Appendix A - Management Support Systems
5. DSS should be controllable by
users




6. DSS should contain whatever

data, models, display capabilities, and 
human intermediaries are needed


7. DSS should be implemented
through whatever development
strategy is most cost effective and
least risk prone in the setting


Controllable by the user
Easy to use
Flexible
Shouldn’t impose a decision
process on the user
Contain broad data bases
Integrate models and data bases
Contain graphical capabilities
Does not contain automatic
optimisation
Design must be evolutionary
Should be built using prototypes
Fig. 2.2: Relationships Between MIS and DSS3
3
Finlay, P. 1989
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A2.4.2.1 Group Decision Support Systems
The main difference between Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS) and
lone-user DSS is that they facilitate solutions of problems “… by a set of
decision makers working together”4, as opposed to individually. Obviously the
technology required to comply with this situation would need to be altered
(use of networking for instance), however the main principles and objectives
remain the same.
2.4.3 Expert Systems
Expert Systems (ES) arose in the 1980s based on Artificial Intelligence
research and technology, they aim to “… replace and mimic human decision
makers in making repetitive decisions in a narrow domain” (Sean, 2001). ES
manages this by dealing with problems and situations where human
competence is required rather than human specialist expertise, utilising builtin logic rules. They can also be designed to provide specific advice within a
specialised area, for example (… whether a particular merger with a given
company would be a good move for a particular organisation”. Therefore the
distinction between ES and other MSS is that ES seems to replace the human
decision maker in a specific area, whereas MSS aid the decision maker in
broader areas. However, according to Silver (1991) Expert Systems are not
MSS within their own right but rather a “… subclass of DSS”. Finlay (1992)
backs up this argument by stating that ES should not “… be considered a
distinct class of MSS”. Despite this ES can be combined and integrated with
DSS and EIS.
A2.4.5 Executive Information Systems
In contrast to both MIS and DSS, an Executive Information System (also
referred to as Executive Support Systems, ESS) has been defined as an
“…important tool to serve the information needs of executives” (Sean, 2001),
with Watson (1997) adding that it is “…a computerised system that provides
executives with easy access to internal and external information that is
relevant to their critical success factors”5. This insinuates that EIS are only
used by top-level executives within a firm, with the focus to provide some kind
of advantage by aligning information with business objectives and goals.
Indeed, companies are looking toward computerised systems to “gain
competitive advantage over rivals”6, and EIS would seem to fit this bill by
seeking to gain a strategic advantage by assessing both internal and external
environments to seek factors vital to the businesses success.
According to Watson (1997), EIS are tailored to individual executives, usually
by functional department, and this is corroborated by Silver (1991) who states
that the features of the system should “…reflect the unique needs of
executives”. An EIS will extract, filter, compress data into and track critical
data, from both internal and external databases, aiding top management with
unstructured decision making, with information presented in a tabular format,
graphically, or textually. The information can encompass exception reporting,
trend analysis and incorporates drilldown techniques whereby the user can
access the detail of summarised data. As EIS are designed to be handled
4
Sean, B. 2001
Watson, H.I. et al 1997
6
Fidler, C., Rogerson, S. 1996
5
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Appendix A - Management Support Systems
and used by executives it is essential that they are as user-friendly as
possible and “…require little or no training to use” (Watson, 1997).
An unconventional feature of an EIS compared with other support systems is
in its communication abilities and many incorporate email and computer
conferencing abilities and also integrate electronic diaries and phonebooks.
2.4.5 Required MSS for Different Problem Domains
From examining the different types of MSS available, a matrix table has been
designed (see table 2.3) to show typical examples of problems and tasks that
each MSS can support, which is divided into the type and level of decision
making required.
Table 2.3: MSS Required to Support Different Types and Levels of
Decision Making
Type of
Decision
Structured
Level of Decision Making
Strategic
Tactical
Operational
Investment
Warehouse
location
SemiStructured
Unstructured
Support
System
Required
Building new
plant
Budget
analysis
Accounts
receivable
Short-term
forecasting
Credit
evaluation
Order entry
Mergers and Project
acquisitions
planning
R&D planning Negotiating
New
technology
development
Recruiting an
executive
EIS
ES
MIS, DSS,
EIS, ES
Support
System
Required
MIS
Production
scheduling
DSS
ES
Inventory
control
Buying
software
DSS
ES
Selecting a
cover for
magazine
MIS
A2.5 Principles, Objectives and Characteristics
Although there are different types of MSS, they all seem share common
characteristics to meet their objectives (although there are distinguishing
features in some instances). Sprague and Watson (1986) have summarised
the characteristics which define an MSS as:
1. Tendency to be aimed at the less well-structured, underspecified
problems that upper level management face.
2. Attempt to combine the use of models or analytic techniques with
traditional data access and retrieval functions.
3. Specifically focus on features which make them easy to use by noncomputer people in an interactive mode.
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4. Emphasise flexibility and adaptability to accommodate changes in the
environment and the decision making approach of the user.
Again, these common elements point to a computer based system which can
be used by users who may not be highly experienced with computers, aiming
to help with semi-structured and unstructured problems.
At the moment there does not seem to be any distinction between a school
MSS compared to an organisational MSS. An MSS type and capabilities,
rather than the type of organisation it is being used in, defines an MSS.
A2.5.1 MSS Technology
Another common element to MSS is the hardware and software required to
run it. Typically, the MSS software will consist of three components:
1. Data Management – comprising of the main database which will house
data from Transaction Processing Systems for example, and data from
external sources (if required).
2. Model Management – the software system required to analyse the
data. This will include query and report designers.
3. User Interface – this must be as user-friendly as possible due to not
being necessarily used by IT staff, presenting findings well in an
appropriate manner.
According to one source7, MSS software tools are not expensive, ranging
between approximately £300 and £800. This range of tools includes:
 Crystal Reports (Seagate Software)
 Intelligent Query (IQ Software)
 Impromptu (Cognos)
 Power Play (Cognos)
Additionally, database management systems that provide data analysis and
reporting functions such as Microsoft Access, Oracle 2000 and Borland
FoxPro, can all be utilised in building MSS. All these applications will run on a
standard PC of today.
A2.6 Further Categorisation
Thus far Management Support Systems have been categorised by the types
of MSS available, including MIS, EIS and DSS. Although this helps in finding
a category to fit the school MSS into, there are other methods which have
been discussed by various authors to categorise MSS in differing ways. This
section aims to explore those viewpoints in further seeking a solution to
categorising a school MSS.
A2.6.1 Categorisation by Functionality
A logical framework has been developed by Fidler and Rogerson (1996) for
viewing MSS functionality and capability. Their framework has been adopted
and is represented in figure 2.3 overleaf.
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Fig. 2.3: Logical Framework For Viewing MSS Capabilities
MSS
Decision
Making
Information
Handling
Passive
As-needed
Active
Periodic
As-needed
Periodic
As can be seen in figure 2.3 above, MSS capabilities can be divided into
those that are designed with the primary purpose of information handling; and
those that aid decision making. Decision making is further categorised by
either passive or active decision making, both of which can be provided on
either a periodic (e.g. monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc) or alternatively on a asneeded and required basis. At this stage it is crucial to understand that a
MSS does not just do either information handling or decision making, rather
an amalgamation of the two functions will be used to create a fully functional
MSS, and information handling will inevitably have a role in attributing to the
decision making process. Also, as-needed functions can consist of the
functions found in periodic functions e.g. monthly sales figures may need to
be reproduced with the latest sales figures available at any point in time.
In terms of information handling an MSS will need to manage both information
preparation (via data entry) and communication. Information will need to be
stored electronically through an appropriately designed MSS format, and then
communicated and presented via a suitable media format (e.g. textually,
graphically). It is important to consider how to classify what Fidler and
Rogerson (1996) interpret as passive and active decision making. Passive
decision making has been defined as those activities which are concerned
with “…the provision of information reports which can be used to support
management decision making activities” (such as Microsoft Access reporting
capabilities). Whereas active decision making “…involves the provision of
mechanisms for the analysis and manipulation of information interactively to
provide greater insight into the decision situation and associated options”
(such as Microsoft Access queries which provide an option to select and
display required data).
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A2.6.2 Categorisation by Amount of Users
Finlay’s (1992) categorisation of MSS in its broadest form implies that the
main distinction between types of MSS can be divided into two very distinct
categories, either:
 Lone-user MSS
 Group MSS (GMSS)
Management Support Systems can be designed to be used by an individual
manager or by a group of users. His theory is that lone-user MSS increase
and enhance interaction with the user, which should eventually lead to a more
through analysis and highly focused decisions. However GMSS require
individuals to meet before decisions can be generated in a group context (not
dissimilar to section A2.4.2.1 GDSS).
A2.7 Conclusions
In examining Management Support Systems, what becomes clearly apparent
is that there are discrepancies and confusion with naming conventions and
definitions of differing types of MSS. Indeed, there seems to be no widely
accepted standard sets of definitions. However, what is clear and prominent
is that a MSS is a computer based system which aids and assists the decision
maker, it does not make decisions for them (such as expert systems), and
does not consist of all information systems (such as Transaction Processing
Systems), although these can be incorporated into a MSS if necessary.
Three main categories of MSS exist, each with common and distinguishing
features and functionality to help with differing problem domains, assisting
different levels of management. These consist of MIS, DSS and EIS. MIS
help with structured decisions on an operational level, DSS with semistructured and unstructured decisions on a tactical level, and EIS with semistructured and unstructured decisions on both strategic and tactical levels.
Additionally MIS deals with past data and makes no attempt to foresee the
future or apply context dependent analysis as with DSS and EIS. It could be
argued that MIS is incorporated into all MSS, and conforms to the information
handling and passive decision making objectives in Fidler and Rogersons
framework of functionality (section A2.6.1). DSS can handle both these
functions, in addition to active decision making, and an EIS is an
amalgamation of the two systems, however it takes into account both internal
and external data and can provide communication abilities. It is also
important to consider that there are two types of categories of MSS within
those discussed above, these are lone-user MSS and group-user MSS.
Group-user MSS add networking abilities and assist a group of decision
makers. The main principles and characteristics of these MSS have been
highlighted throughout this document, however to summarise the main points,
an MSS must be:
 User-friendly and easy to use, requiring minimal or no training
 Provide meaningful information across multiple levels
 Contain intelligence to assist with less-well structured problems
 Have strong display capabilities in different formats if required
 Be flexible and adaptable to cope with environmental changes
In answering the original question, do school MSS differ to typical
organisational ones? The simple answer is no. This is due to the fact that
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MSS are not categorised by the type of organisation they are being used in,
but by the functionality they offer. The school MSS is certainly a lone-user
MSS as it is to be used singly by the assessments coordinator at Shaftesbury
Junior School in making decisions. The proposed system should assist with
both passive and active decision making activities. Therefore the school MSS
could be defined as a DSS, aiding middle management with tactical level
operations. Companies are looking toward computerised systems to gain
competitive advantage over rivals, to achieve economies of scale and use
resources effectively. However in the context of the school system, it is not
about gaining a competitive advantage, but rather a system to help provide a
better service to their pupils, by identifying those pupils who are
underachieving or not performing to their full potential, this can be pointed out
and something can hopefully be done about this. So in this context, yes an
MSS does differ in education compared with business usage, as the
emphasis and purpose is slightly different. However it can also be argued
that the principles are the same, seeking to use resources effectively, and
gaining competitive advantage over other schools by improving overall
performance. Therefore it is justified in stating that school MSS do not differ
from typical organisational ones.
From examining MSS, the effect upon my system is that managers expect
value from a system, to achieve this the system has to conform to the
organisational objectives and strategy. Therefore my system will have to
comply with the requirements requested of it to realise this objective and
comply with the main characteristics of MSS discovered throughout this
chapter (in particular with those associated with DSS).
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