Approaches to Decision Support Systems at Traditional Firms in the US and China: Which Side Has Fared Better?

Abstract

Relying on decision support systems (DSS) to improve corporate competitiveness is a risky yet crucial enterprise undertaking.
Corporate America has taken on such complex and daunting tasks for decades, and has paid a high price for learning tricks in dealing with related
issues. Recently, Chinese companies began to look into information technology for ways to improve their global competitiveness. Their
information systems have since evolved from being transactional to informational. The Chinese companies now face the same pitfalls of
developing and operating DSS that have tripped many American firms. While it is natural to expect that followers will learn from mistakes of
their predecessors, it is unfortunate that history often repeats itself. Are Chinese firms able to take a shortcut on modernizing their business
operations through DSS, or must they also go through the painstaking process of trial and error? In search of clues to answer these questions,
we have analyzed the approaches to DSS taken by one firm in the US and the other in China. The two firms have similar histories and are of
similar repute in their respective countries. This paper presents intriguing results of their different strategies and practices on DSS and
analyzes the findings and implications.