Top Management's Role in Promoting Decision Support Systems Efficiency: An Exploratory Study in Government Sector in Saudi Arabia

Despite overwhelmingly positive reviews for decision support systems, the IS literature has produced inconsistent results regarding the role of top management and the effectiveness of these systems. IS researchers are concerned with there being a widening gap between research and practice, leading to the current study, focusing on the relevance of these two constituencies. This study employs the Delphi methodology in relation to Saudi Arabia to investigate the reality of the decision support systems in governmental organizations and the diverse issues related to making effective use of them by increasing the role of top management. The findings revealed that there is an absence of a role for IT in the decision-making process, and that there is a lack of robust data warehouse systems capable of supporting organizations' top management with high-quality information. The study revealed various required reforms of various governmental and institutional arrangements and obligational aspects of the efficiency of decision support systems.