¹Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia

Correspondence: Professor David Arnott, Decision Support Systems Laboratory, Monash University, PO Box 197, Caulfield East VIC 3145, Australia. Tel: +61 3 9903 2693; Fax: +61 3 9903 1204; E-mail: david.arnott@infotech.monash.edu.au

Received 4 October 2002; Revised 15 April 2003; Re-revised 15 June 2004; Accepted 10 August 2004; Published online 28 September 2004.

Abstract

Evolutionary development has been central to the theory and practice of decision support systems (DSS) since the inception of the field. Terms such as 'adaptive' and 'evolutionary' capture the organic nature of the development of a decision support system. However, the terms are rarely defined and their meaning varies widely in the research literature. The aim of this paper is to contribute to decision support systems theory by investigating and clearly specifying the nature of the evolutionary process of a DSS. Using insights from other disciplines and prior DSS research, a framework for understanding DSS evolution is developed based on the aetiology, lineage, and tempo of evolution. The descriptive validity of the framework is demonstrated by applying it to published DSS studies and to an intensive case study of DSS development. The framework and the case study findings are used to define a research agenda that is important for evolutionary DSS development.