MARKETING DECISION support system
Marketing decision support system (MDSS)
A system used to manipulate a collection of data to interpret and explore potential business scenarios in order to make management decisions. Marketing decision support systems (MDSS) are considered by some businesses a key tool in gaining the edge over competitors. MDSS can be used to assist, rather than supersede, employee decision makers in the complicated scenarios which are common in marketing.
Also MDSS can be defined as
A coordinated collection of data, systems, and techniques with supporting software and hardware by which an organization gathers and interprets relevant information from business and the environment and turns it into a basis for marketing action
An emerging trend in the realm of marketing has been the increased application of marketing decision support system (MDSS) technology to aid with decision-making (DM). Developing a sound and robust marketing strategy has never been an easy task. The success or failure of a company’s marketing effort depends on the interaction of numerous internal and external factors, combined with the knowledge and intuition of the decision-makers themselves.
Marketing DM requires a comprehensive analysis of environments both inside and outside the firm. It requires a wide range of strategic information, including hard and soft information, and it requires managers to deal with issues that involve a high degree of uncertainty, subjectivity and ambiguity. Marketing also involves managers’ intuition, judgment, and personal vision.
These characteristics of marketing decisions present a real challenge to decision-makers. While managers certainly possess specific strengths and advantages in handling such decisions, they are often nonetheless limited by their knowledge and background, a lack of the analytical skills necessary to undertake