Since its introduction in the early 1970s the Decision Support System (DSS) concept has attracted a lot of attention from academics as well as users from business organizations. The literature abounds with accounts of systems that are claimed to have used the concept. The common characteristics of most of these systems are that they rely heavily on the use of quantitative models. In ill‐structured and higher level decision making quantitative models are used in conjunction with the qualitative models; in these cases a different approach and method in DSS development needs to be adopted. The objectives of this paper are twofold: to give a brief overview of the concept of DSS and Knowledge‐Based Systems and to describe the approach adopted and experience gained in conceptual analysis and modelling of the decision making process in an attempt to develop a Knowledge‐Based Decision Support System for Public Sector Management.