UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS: 2015/2016
EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN DATA
ANALYICS/MASTER OF SCIENCE IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS
MANAGEMENT
MDA 5203/MISM 5203 – DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS
DATE: AUGUST 2018 TIME: 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer Question One & ANY OTHER TWO questions.
QUESTION ONE
a) Giving an example, explain what a decision support system is. [3Marks]
b) Apart from the users, explain any three components of a Decision Support System indicating
the key functions that they perform in the system. [6Marks]
c) Decision Support Systems can use a hierarchical data model to store and organize data.
Using a well labeled diagram, explain the hierarchy of data in data in such a system.
[5Marks]
d) Discuss any four decision style categories used in decision support system. [4Marks]
e) Decision support systems are described as domain specific systems. Support this statement
using an appropriate example. [2Marks]
QUESTION TWO
a) Explain how a Decision Support Systems can be used to improve an organization that deals
with selling of electronic devices in an E-commerce environment. [5Marks]
b) One of the main functions of model base management system is model manipulation. Using
a relevant example, briefly explain the why model is important in development of any
Decision Support Systems. [4Marks]
c) Explain the main types of executive systems with relevant examples. [6Marks]
QUESTION THREE
a) Giving examples, explain the four limitation that hinders human from making effective
decisions [8Marks]
b) How can Decision Support Systems be used to deal with the limitations above?
[3Marks]
c) Explain how relationship of culture to performance may affect the decision generated by the
Decision Support Systems in a given context. [4Marks]
QUESTION FOUR
Kilimani College registers ten thousand students every year. These students take different courses
offered in the college. However, there is a problem in that two-thirds of the students do not make it
to graduation. The board of directors have not been able to make an informed decision on how to
solve the problem at hand. So they give a contract to design and develop a decision support system
for them.
a) Describe the modeling decision processes that you will follow. [5Marks]
b) List two that you will use during your design. [1 Marks]
c) Explain the problems that you are likely to encounter during the development processes.
[5Marks]
d) Explain how you would minimize or solve the problems. [4Marks]
