Information Systems in BusinessChap010docres.docx

Information Systems in BusinessChap010docres.docx

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InformationSystemsinBusinessChap010docres

10DecisionSupportSystems

CHAPTEROVERVIEW

Chapter10:

DecisionSupportSystemsshowshowmanagementinformationsystems,decisionsupportsystems,executiveinformationsystems,expertsystems,andartificialintelligencetechnologiescanbeappliedtodecision-makingsituationsfacedbybusinessmanagersandprofessionalsintoday’sdynamicbusinessenvironment.

LEARNINGOBJECTIVES

Afterreadingandstudyingthischapter,youshouldbeableto:

1.Identifythechangestakingplaceintheformanduseofdecisionsupportinbusiness.

2.Identifytheroleandreportingalternativesofmanagementinformationsystems.

3.Describehowonlineanalyticalprocessingcanmeetkeyinformationneedsofmanagers.

4.Explainthedecisionsupportsystemconceptandhowitdiffersfromtraditionalmanagementinformationsystems.

5.Explainhowthefollowinginformationsystemscansupporttheinformationneedsofexecutives,managers,andbusinessprofessionals:

a.Executiveinformationsystems

b.Enterpriseinformationportals

c.Knowledgemanagementsystems

6.Identifyhowneuralnetworks,fuzzylogic,geneticalgorithms,virtualreality,andintelligentagentscanbeusedinbusiness.

7.Giveexamplesofseveralwaysexpertsystemscanbeusedinbusinessdecision-makingsituations.

SUMMARY

•Information,Decisions,andManagement.Informationsystemscansupportavarietyofmanagementdecision-makinglevelsanddecisions.Theseincludethethreelevelsofmanagementactivity（strategic,tactical,andoperationaldecisionmaking）andthreetypesofdecisionstructures（structured,semistructured,andunstructured）.Informationsystemsprovideawiderangeofinformationproductstosupportthesetypesofdecisionsatalllevelsoftheorganization.

•DecisionSupportTrends.MajorchangesaretakingplaceintraditionalMIS,DSS,andEIStoolsforprovidingtheinformation,andmodelingmanagersneedtosupporttheirdecisionmaking.Decisionsupportinbusinessischanging,drivenbyrapiddevelopmentsinend-usercomputingandnetworking;InternetandWebtechnologies;andWeb-enabledbusinessapplications.Thegrowthofcorporateintranetsandextranets,aswellastheWeb,hasacceleratedthedevelopmentof“executive-class”interfaceslikeenterpriseinformationportalsandWeb-enabledbusinessintelligencesoftwaretools,aswellastheirusebylowerlevelsofmanagementandindividualsandteamsofbusinessprofessionals.Inaddition,thegrowthofe-commerceande-businessapplicationshasexpandedtheuseofenterpriseportalsandDSStoolsbythesuppliers,customers,andotherbusinessstakeholdersofacompany.

•ManagementInformationSystems.Managementinformationsystemsprovidepre-specifiedreportsandresponsestomanagersonaperiodic,exception,demand,orpushreportingbasistomeettheirneedforinformationtosupportdecisionmaking.

•OLAPandDataMining.Onlineanalyticalprocessinginteractivelyanalyzescomplexrelationshipsamonglargeamountsofdatastoredinmultidimensionaldatabases.Datamininganalyzesthevastamountsofhistoricaldatathathavebeenpreparedforanalysisindatawarehouses.Bothtechnologiesdiscoverpatterns,trends,andexceptionconditionsinacompany’sdatathatsupportbusinessanalysisanddecisionmaking.

•DecisionSupportSystems.Decisionsupportsystemsareinteractive,computer-basedinformationsystemsthatuseDSSsoftwareandamodelbaseanddatabasetoprovideinformationtailoredtosupportsemi-structuredandunstructureddecisionsfacedbyindividualmanagers.Theyaredesignedtouseadecisionmaker’sowninsightsandjudgmentsinanadhoc,interactive,analyticalmodelingprocessleadingtoaspecificdecision.

•ExecutiveInformationSystems.Executiveinformationsystemsareinformationsystemsoriginallydesignedtosupportthestrategicinformationneedsoftopmanagement;however,theiruseisspreadingtolowerlevelsofmanagementandbusinessprofessionals.EISareeasytouseandenableexecutivestoretrieveinformationtailoredtotheirneedsandpreferences.Thus,EIScanprovideinformationaboutacompany’scriticalsuccessfactorstoexecutivestosupporttheirplanningandcontrolresponsibilities.

•EnterpriseInformationandKnowledgePortals.EnterpriseinformationportalsprovideacustomizedandpersonalizedWeb-basedinterfaceforcorporateintranetstogivetheiruserseasyaccesstoavarietyofinternalandexternalbusinessapplications,databases,andinformationservicesthataretailoredtotheirindividualpreferencesandinformationneeds.Thus,anEIPcansupplypersonalizedWeb-enabledinformation,knowledge,anddecisionsupporttoexecutives,managers,andbusinessprofessionals,aswellastocustomers,suppliers,andotherbusinesspartners.AnenterpriseknowledgeportalisacorporateintranetportalthatextendstheuseofanEIPtoincludeknowledgemanagementfunctionsandknowledgebaseresourcessothatitbecomesamajorformofknowledgemanagementsystemforacompany.

•ArtificialIntelligence.Themajorapplicationdomainsofartificialintelligence（AI）includeavarietyofapplicationsincognitivescience,robotics,andnaturalinterfaces.ThegoalofAIisthedevelopmentofcomputerfunctionsnormallyassociatedwithhumanphysicalandmentalcapabilities,suchasrobotsthatsee,hear,talk,feel,andmove,andsoftwarecapableofreasoning,learning,andproblemsolving.Thus,AIisbeingappliedtomanyapplicationsinbusinessoperationsandmanagerialdecisionmaking,aswellasinmanyotherfields.

•AITechnologies.ThemanyapplicationareasofAIaresummarizedinFigure10.26,includingneuralnetworks,fuzzylogic,geneticalgorithms,virtualreality,andintelligentagents.Neuralnetsarehardwareorsoftwaresystemsbasedonsimplemodelsofthebrain’sneuronstructurethatcanlearntorecognizepatternsindata.Fuzzylogicsystemsuserulesofapproximatereasoningtosolveproblemswhendataareincompleteorambiguous.Geneticalgorithmsuseselection,randomizing,andothermathematicfunctionstosimulateanevolutionaryprocessthatcanyieldincreasinglybettersolutionstoproblems.Virtualrealitysystemsaremultisensorysystemsthatenablehumanuserstoexperiencecomputer-simulatedenvironmentsasiftheyactuallyexisted.Intelligentagentsareknowledge-basedsoftwaresurrogatesforauserorprocessintheaccomplishmentofselectedtasks.

•ExpertSystems.Expertsystemsareknowledge-basedinformationsystemsthatusesoftwareandaknowledgebaseaboutaspecific,complexapplicationareatoactasexpertconsultantstousersinmanybusinessandtechnicalapplications.Softwareincludesaninferenceengineprogramthatmakesinferencesbasedonthefactsandrulesstoredintheknowledgebase.Aknowledgebaseconsistsoffactsaboutaspecificsubjectareaandheuristics（rulesofthumb）thatexpressthereasoningproceduresofanexpert.Thebenefitsofexpertsystems（suchaspreservationandreplicationofexpertise）mustbebalancedwiththeirlimitedapplicabilityinmanyproblemsituations.

KEYTERMSANDCONCEPTS

1.AnalyticalModelling（395）:

Interactiveuseofcomputer-basedmathematicalmodelstoexploredecisionalternativesusingwhat-ifanalysis,sensitivityanalysis,goal-seekinganalysis,andoptimizationanalysis.

a.Goal-SeekingAnalysis（396）:

Makingrepeatedchangestoselectedvariablesuntilachosenvariablereachesatargetvalue.

b.OptimizationAnalysis（396）:

Findinganoptimumvalueforselectedvariablesinamathematicalmodel,givencertainconstraints.

c.SensitivityAnalysis（395）:

Observinghowrepeatedchangestoasinglevariableaffectsothervariablesinamathematicalmodel.

d.What-ifAnalysis（395）:

Observinghowchangestoselectedvariablesaffectothervariablesinamathematicalmodel.

2.ArtificialIntelligence（405）:

Thesimulationofhumanthoughtprocesses.

3.BusinessIntelligence（383）:

Atermprimarilyusedinindustrythatincorporatesarangeofanalyticalanddecisionsupportapplicationsinbusinessincludingdatamining,decisionsupportsystems,knowledgemanagementsystems,andonlineanalyticalprocessing.

4.DataMining（397）:

Usingspecial-purposesoftwaretoanalyzedatafromadatawarehousetofindhiddenpatternsandtrends.

5.DataVisualizationSystems（392）:

Systemsthatrepresentcomplexdatausinginteractivethree-dimensionalgraphicalformssuchascharts,graphs,andmaps.Thesetoolshelpuserstointeractivelysort,subdivide,combine,andorganizedatawhileitisinitsgraphicalform.

6.DecisionStructure（382）:

Informationsystemsthatsupportavarietyofmanagementlevelsanddecisions.Theseincludethethreelevelsofmanagementactivity（strategic,tactical,andoperational）,andthreetypesofdecisionstructures（structured,semi-structured,andunstructured）.

7.DecisionSupportSystem（384）:

Aninformationsystemthatutilizeslogicmodels,adatabase,andadecisionmaker’sowninsightsinanad-hoc,interactiveanalyticalmodellingprocesstohelpsupportdecisionmaking.

8.EnterpriseInformationPortal（401）:

Provideweb-enabledaccesstodatabasesanddecisionsupporttoexecutives,managers,employees,suppliers,customers,andotherbusinesspartnersviaasingle,customizableinterface.

9.EnterpriseKnowledgePortal（403）:

Providesuserswithaccesstoenterpriseknowledgebasesthroughasingle,customizableinterface.

10.ExecutiveInformationSystem（399）:

Aninformationsystemthatprovidesstrategiclevelinformationtailoredtotheneedsoftopmanagement.

11.ExpertSystem（411）:

Acomputer-basedinformationsystemthatusesacomplexrulesettoprocessinformationandactasaconsult