An Approach for Designing Management Support Systems: The Design Science Research Process and its Outcomes

In English Design science research involves creating and evaluating
innovative methods and approaches to be used in design practice.
We present an approach to be used in the process of designing
Management Support Systems (MSS). The nature of managerial
work makes the design, development, and implementation of
MSS a major challenge. The MSS literature suggests that
determining MSS requirements and specification of MSS are the
most critical phases in MSS design and development. We present
an approach that can be used as a guide for MSS design, with a
primary focus on MSS requirements determination and how
requirements can be fulfilled using information and
communication technologies (ICT). The approach builds on
Quinn and associates’ competing values model (CVM) of
organizational effectiveness. The approach can guide MSS
designers in designing MSS that support different managerial
roles, i.e., the development of MSS that support managerial
cognition, decision, and action.