A framework for analyzing the information monitoring and decision support system investment tradeoff dilemma: an application to crisis management

The simplest form of a system consists of an input, a process which adds value to the input, and an output containing actionable information. The value of the output from a system is a function of not only the quality of the input but also the appropriateness, validity, and reliability of the transforming process. For certain classes of decisions such as those that correspond to crisis management, even the most simplistic version of a system presents problems for system developers and hence decision makers. Unlike in highly structured decision settings where precise models exist and high quality data is readily available, decision making in crisis settings involves ill-structured tasks which pose considerable problems for those responsible for the investment of a limited information resource budget. This paper presents a framework for analyzing the information monitoring decision support system tradeoff dilemma that occurs in crisis management settings, it concludes with several insights and recommendations for future research.