Decision Support Systems: Directed and Nondirected Change

The Decision Support Systems (DSS) literature is in general agreement that use of DSS leads to individual and organizational change, but there is no consensus as to whether DSS and their designers serve as agents for directed or nondirected change. Researchers have proceeded from two different sets of premises, drawing different conclusions about the nature of DSS. This paper considers both views, examining how differences in designers' attitudes toward change agency ought to be manifest in the features of the DSS they implement. Two attributes of DSS, “system restrictiveness” and “decisional guidance,” are discussed as the basis for understanding differences in DSS following from differences in designer attitudes toward change. Using these two attributes, four DSS strategies for directed change and five strategies for nondirected change are presented.