Tlus article IS based on the author's expenence m superwsmg the development and lmplementatlon of a dlstnbuted onhne retall bankmg decwon support system (DSS) for Arab National Bank (ANB) m Ryadh -Saudi Arabia
The system emphawes the different components and charactenstlcs of DSS m terms of flexlbihty, responsiveness, ease of use. mteractwe interface, and the use of an adaptive process for design and lmplementatlon
The system prowdes branch management wth faclhties for direct control and momtonng of branch operations and for immediate access to mformation needed for dewIon makmg Customer serwce was drastically reduced from an average of 30 mtnutes per transaction to a one mmute average The prototypmg approach made it possible to sohcit user partlcipatlon and to facdltate the trammg and converS,on processes wlch m turn eased the way for smooth and succeasful implementation
Keywords
Dewion support systems (DSS). Prototypmg, User partwpatlon, Interactwe Interface, Bank automation Mohammed H Omar 1s an Assistant Professor of Management Systems at the Umversity of IZlchmond Vqqma B A from the Amencan Umverslty of Beirut, his MIS and Ph D m Management Information Systems from Texas Tech Umversity m 1979 He worked as a MIS executive Manager m a bank and as a computer consultant He also taught at the Umversity of South Carolina-Spartanburg Hts research interests include decision support and expert systems, end user computmg, user satlstactlon, and Tystem development methodologes