EIS and DSS

Executive Information System and Decision Support System

Executives and those in the senior management of big organizations are faced with major decisions daily . Executives are acting based on insufficient information . This is because they simply cannot accommodate the immense bulk of information surrounding the issues that they are deciding upon . As such , they need to enlist the help of other people within the organization to help them in making decisions

Executive Information System (EIS ) is a kind of management information systems that seeks to gather , digest and present the most relevant

information surrounding the issues under consideration . The focus of EIS is on the presentation of data and information in graphs and user-friendly interfaces . The strength of EIS is the way it helps top management and executives in the analysis , comparison and focusing on the trends in the identified indicators or variables (Salmeron , 2002 This will then provide assistance to executives in the area of performance monitoring and identification of challenges and problems in these issues

Decision Support Systems (DSS ) is also another means of presenting information and in making important decisions . It makes use of computers and presents information through various computer-based applications with emphasis on the alternatives and how these alternatives are weighed against each other . Also , the focus of DSS is on issues that do not easily fit into pre-conceived structures and categories . DSS also provides assistance , not only to top managers but to individuals , groups and other members in setting alternatives and providing models of support and presentation of data (Power , 2002

Both EIS and DSS provide important assistance to decision-makers but DSS is not only for top-level managers , but also for other organizational personnel who are involved in decision-making one way or another

Reference

Power , D . J (2002 . Decision Support Systems : Concepts and Resources for Managers . Westport : Quorum Books

Salmeron , J . L (2002 . EIS Profitability , Costs and Benefits : An Evolutionary Approach . Industrial Management Data Systems , 102 (5-6 284-288...