A framework for distributed decision support systems

Decision support systems have been primarily designed to support individual decision making. From the viewpoint of organizational decision making, an even greater potential gain can be achieved by using computers to support distributed decision making. Distributed decision support systems offer a methodology which can be used to combine distributed and heterogeneous models and problem solving processes under a single unified framework. In this paper, a formal definition of distributed decision support systems is provided. A framework for building the components of a distributed decision support system is then introduced. In particular, the authors examine the language system, problem solving system, and coordination components of the system