Building consensus for funds allocation decisions through implementation of a decision support system

Abstract

A discussion is presented of a DDS (decision support system) implemented in the highly political environment of a recently acquired division of a Fortune 50 corporation. The system was developed after an assessment of the fund's allocation decision process and was developed for the decision makers rather than with them or by them. The implementation of this DSS relied on at least two distinct benefits attributed to DSS. First, the DSS provided a basis for group discussion of the factors perceived to be important to a decision at hand. It provided numeric rankings for these factors which could be used for comparison. The use of quantitative models with numeric data, which can be aggregated for review, facilitates objective analysis and reduces cognitive bias which can affect the decision-making process. Second, the DSS added structure in R&D funding decisions.<>