Decision Support System in improving the decision making process: A study on public and private universities in northern Iran

摘要

This study investigated the effects of Decision Support Systems (DSS) in decision making on long-term planning, short-term planning and budgeting of universities in northern Iran. The study used the descriptive research design of survey type. Data were collected from a sample of 600 subjects consisting of 400 academic staff holding administrative staff positions and 200 senior administrative staff with head-of-unit position using stratified random sampling technique. Data collected were analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, means, standard of deviation and t-test statistics. The three hypotheses generated were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that DSS was not adequately used in decision making process on long-term planning, short-term planning and budgeting. There was no significant difference [t-cal (0.58) < t-tab (1.96); t-cal (1.91) < t-tab(1.96)] between private and public universities in terms of the use of DSS for decision making process on both long- and short-term planning. There was significant difference [t-cal (2.27) > t-tab (1.96)] in the use of DSS for decision making on budgeting between private and public universities in favor of the private universities. It is recommended that the DSS units should be adequately financed and maintained to ensure a free flow of information and adequate use of DSS in decision making on short- and long-term planning as well as budgeting.