Abstract
M.Sc. (Computer Science)
The attitude of critics towards decision support systems vary
from a major breakthrough to just another bussword. The
objective of this study is to design an expert system that can
advise the ignorant to design, implement and evaluate a decision
support system.
In chapter one criteria that will influence the design of a
decision support system were identified. The four areas the were
looked into:
Organisational long term goals and -strategy
Attitude of the people in the organization
The tasks of management
The problem a decision support system will be designed for.
A list of 'criteria were compiled and carried forward to chapter
two.
In chapter two a decision support system was defined and the
components of the system discussed. The influence that the
criteria (of chapter one) had on the components of the decision
support system were decided.
Chapter three discussed a subset of a decision support system
namely expert systems. This chapter were motivated by two
things:
The objective of this study was to design an expert system
According to the definition of a decision support system
(chapter two) an expert system is a subset of a decision
support system.
A brief description of the components of an expert system and a
layout of the different rule bases were given. An implementation
methodology will be discussed.
In chapter four a methodology were described to measure user
satisfaction after a decision support system were implemented. A
summary of this chapter were accepted for publication as an
article in 'Information and Systems Management'.
Chapter five discussed a look into the future of decision
support systems. A complete Super Intelligent System was
described. Although this is fictitious it could trigger ideas
for other studies.