DSS in a Local Government Context – How to Support Decisions Nobody Wants to Make?

Abstract

This paper reports and analyses a case where a Decision Support System (DSS) was used in a local government for the purpose of arriving at a decision on a complicated and politically infected issue the City Council despite years of effort had failed to sort out. It was assumed that a strict and open method would make the grounds for the decision clearer, and that people would accept a clearly motivated decision even though they personally preferred another solution. The project was also intended as a test of new methods for potential adoption into normal practices. The analysis shows mixed understanding of, and mixed belief in, the method. While generally happy with the project work, also this time the Council failed to make a decision as constituency concerns eventually overruled the rationality of the arguments in the decision making council. The case raises issues of both the potential for DSS in a political context and the nature of political decision making. In particular we conclude that DSS use has to be carefully crafted but swiftly executed, and more than a one-off effort as a change process is involved.