The use of two planning decision support systems in combination for the redesign of an MBA information technology programme

The application of two decision support systems to the redesign of an MBA information technology course is described. One of the decision support systems was based on the Analysis of Interconnected Decision Areas (AIDA) technique and the other on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). AIDA essentially chooses the highest valued combination of a set of components of a design subject to a set of constraints. The values of these components were derived using the AHP technique partly on the basis of inputs from staff and students and partly based on the authors’ judgements. The constraints, which had an important role in determining the solution were determined using the authors’ judgement.