Decision Support Systems vs. Managetment Information Systems

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A decision support system can be defined as, “a system in which one or more computer and computer programs assist in decision-making by providing information” (Decision support system, 2012). The difference between these two systems basically is the way that they function. A management information system is used by management, internal decision making, and lastly, in making documentation. Decision support systems help the workers to make decisions from day to day. Management information systems are used by both upper level and mid-level management, in contrast to decision support systems. Decision support systems are used by all management levels, and the data it uses is not only internal, but external too (Laudon & Laudon, 2012). A decision support system is made up of three parts, the database, the model base, and the user interface. All of these parts could either be very broad or very basic in nature depending on what kind of decision support system is being utilized. The database, or DBMS, is made up of organized, real-life information, such as consumer account files, history of goods that were sold, or planned work hours for the week. The model base, or MBMS, is made up of several models, all depending on what sort of analyzing that the system will do. Look at it this way, if the system’s aim is to provide projections of sales for a variety of situations, one particular model could be a linear regression formula made up of old sales and other data. The user interface puts the two into a system that works together and gives the person making the decision information about how to maintain the data as well as the models (Decision Support Systems, 2012). An example of where a decision support system would help a company in making internal decisions would be if a company needed to know what would happen to their return on investment if a factory

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