Context sensitive decision analysis based on the investigation of organizational information networks
Résumé
This paper reports on our application of network analysis to a large organisation undergoing drastic changes. To develop new techniques that enable DSS researchers and developers to analyse the context of the organisations where they must contribute to decision making, we investigated the political, organisational and environmental factors that shape the decision making processes of a case study organisation. We also analysed the relationship between the IS department and the other functional areas in order to analyse the contribution of IS staff to the decision making of this organisation. Our results indicate that the approach used in this research — network analysis — provides a valuable analytical framework in trying to capture the reality of decision making in an organisation and has the potential to provide the basis for a novel method for developing DSS applications. They also confirm that awareness of the context of decision making is paramount for the development of DSSs that make a worthy contribution to the management of an organisation. Finally, they indicate that the contribution of IS to the decision making of an organisation is related to the quality of relations between IS staff and staff in other departments.