Horses for courses - a stakeholder view of the evaluation of GDSS's

Evaluation of the performance of GDSSs has been dominated by an experimental and laboratory based ap-
proach. Other writers have argued for evaluation to be based in the "real-world" of decision making teams. The
evaluation criteria have tended to ignore many of the issues that would be paramount for some of the stake-
holders in the evaluation process. This article seeks to explore the criteria that might be used by a wide variety
of stakeholders, including developers, facilitators, clients, key actors, vendors, as well as academics. By drawing
together the criteria associated with all of the stakeholders we discover a broader, and possibly more thorough,
framework for evaluation. The evaluation of any particular GDSS in relation to other GDSSs can then be seen
in the context of contingent weighting applied to each of the criteria where each GDSS is able to be seen in its
best light and in relation to its declared aims.
This article argues for a more eclectic and contingent approach to the evaluation of GDSSs which will
encourage their future development to be clearer about purpose and the boundaries of their use.