Researching decision support : what do we need to know?

The EPSRC funded KIM Grand Challenge project to investigate the use of Knowledge and Information Management techniques in the context of the emerging product-service paradigm in engineering is introduced. The paper focuses on the topic addressed by Task 3.3 of this project, decision support. An outline is offered of an approach to decision support which combines the Unique Adequacy (UA) requirement of methods with Transformation-Flow-Value (TFV) theory. UA requires that reports are [1] grounded in a detailed inside knowledge of the topic and [2] are theory neutral. TFV theory emphasises the importance of flows in the analysis of production. It is suggested that these two approaches may be usefully combined to facilitate: [1] the design of through life decision support; and [2] the creation of the through-life community of practice which makes possible the sharing of information across the whole product-service life cycle