A study of the factors leading to sustainable group decisions developed in a creative decision support system

Problems facing modern society are unstructured and complex rendering traditional decision support with the formation of single solutions inadequate. Decision support systems (DSS) have recently sought to address this issue by providing creative decision support to facilitate the generation of several alternative solutions to a problem, with particular emphasis on groups. Although it is recognised that decision support can improve the quality of decision making, asofyet there has been no exploration of the sustainability of these decisions. Is group decision support akin to management fads that over time fade through a lack of durable results? This paper presents a study which sought to take the first steps to inform this question by investigating retrospectively the sustainability of the decisions made by a group supported through a Group Decision Support System (GDSS). Through an explorative, qualitative research process we sought to understand whether group decision support provides fundamentally short-term gain, or if long-term effects are possible. In-depth interviews were conducted firstly with experts in decision-making theory and support; and, secondly, with a group that had received decision support in a creative group decision support environment. We found that to ensure decisions made in group decision support systems the decisions must be reinforced also after the initial decision has been made to ensure sustainability. This has implications for all decision support aimed at supporting complex decisions where the decision is not an isolated occurrence.