Decision making in the context of regulatory policy: Is there a role for DSS?

Organizations in various business areas operate in an increasingly regulated environment. Policy makers and regulators rely on certain assumptions rooted in various theoretical models when designing schemes to influence the decision making of economic actors. Using examples from different regulated domains this paper argues that various dimensions of a decision making situation-such as the definition of the problem, the role of participants, the strategy of the decision maker, the management of information, or the process-may be utilized by regulations or agencies as mechanisms to manipulate organizational decision making. Beyond policy design, it is contended that these dimensions can be used (1) to understand the role decision support systems play in regulated environments and (2) to make recommendations pertaining to the design and implementation of DSS dedicated to supporting managers in heavily regulated environments.