Distributed decision support systems: a perspective

A distributed decision support system (DDSS) is defined as a decision support system which supports distributed organizational decision making. The author develops and illustrates the DDSS concept and explores its usefulness in furthering research and practice in the DSS field. Distributed decision making is taken as the foundation for any DDSS. The domain for distributed decision support involves situations in which decision models are semi-structured and decision criteria are semi-determined among decision makers. This domain may be usefully understood as juxtaposed between two other domains, those of distributed communications and distributed computing. Alternative strategies for distributed decision support include decision ordering, information sharing, and negotiated choice. These strategies have distinctly different implications for system restrictiveness, guidance, and focus.<>