Week 11: Chapter 9 Managerial Support Systems:

Section 9.1 - Before You Go On…

1. Describe the decision-making process proposed by Simon.

Decision is a choice that individuals and groups make among two or more alternatives; decision making is a systematic process. Simon (1977) describes the process as composed of three major phases: intelligence, design and choice. A fourth phase implementation was added later. His model illustrates the four stage process, indicating which tasks are included in each phase.

An overview of the Model: http://sbaweb.wayne.edu/~absel/bkl/vol15/15aa.pdf

2. Why do managers need IT support?

Despite the widespread availability of information, making decisions is becoming increasingly difficult owing to the following trends:

· The number of alternatives to be considered is constantly increasing, due to innovations in technology, improves communications, the development of global markets, and the use of the Internet and e-business. A key to good decision making is to explore and compare many relevant alternatives. The more the alternatives that exist, the more computer-assisted search and comparisons are needed.

· Typically, decisions must be made under time pressure. Frequently it is not possible to process information manually fast enough to be effective.

· Due to increased uncertainty in the decision environment, decisions are becoming more complex. It is usually necessary to conduct a sophisticated analysis in order to make a good decision. Such analysis requires the use of modeling.

· It is often necessary to access remote information rapidly, consult with experts, or conduct a group decision-making session, all without incurring large expenses. Decision makers can be in different locations, as can the information. Bringing them all together quickly and inexpensively may be a difficult task.

3. Describe the decision matrix.

The decision matrix is has three primary classes of problem structure and the three broad categories of the nature of decisions can be combined in a decision support matrix that consists of nine cells, as seen in the diagram below. Low –level managers usually perform the structures and operational control-orientated tasks (cells 1,2and 4). The tasks in 3, 5, and 7 are usually the responsibility of middle managers and professional staff. Finally tasks in cells 6, 8, and 9 are generally the responsibility of senior executives.

Page 266 of Introduction to Information Systems By Rainer and Turban

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Section 9.2 - Before You Go On…

1. Describe the capabilities of data mining.

Data mining derives its name from searching for valuable business information in a large databases, data warehouse, or data mart. Data mining can perform two basic operations: predicting trends and behaviours and identifying previously unknown patterns. We emphasise the multidimensional analysis provides users with a view of what is happening, and what will occur in the future.

• · Data mining automates the process of finding predictive information in large databases.


• · Can use past data to identify regular customers


• · Forecasting bankruptcy


• · Detecting fraudulent credit card transactions

Data Mining: http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty/jason.frand/teacher/technologies/palace/datamining.htm
Section 9.3 - Before You Go On…

1. What are some of the capabilities of digital dashboards?

A digital dashboard, or dashboard report, is a visually intuitive display of data for monitoring personal or work group contributions to overall goals of the business. Dashboards provide easy-to-use access to enterprise data and help organizations track performance and optimize decision-making. At-a-glance, executives, managers, and business users can immediately understand their organization’s health through a range of insightful data visualizations such as key performance indicators (KPIs), tables, graphs, trend indicators, gauges, heat maps, and many more.
Digital dashboards enable business users to intuitively flip through many different perspectives of corporate performance without ever leaving the dashboard, allowing them to quickly and easily identify problems and diagnose root causes. Dashboards combine data from a variety of data sources into a single view, providing the user with multi-disciplined, multi-dimensional performance feedback on every dashboard.

Digital Dashboard - http://www.microstrategy.com/digital-dashboard/