Chapter 9

Information, Decision
Support

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Decision Making and Problem Solving

Management Information Systems
Decision Support Systems
Group Decision Support Systems
Artificial Intelligence and Special-Purpose
Systems

9.1

Decision Making and

Problem Solving
Key Terms

Decision making
Problem solving
Programmed decisions
Nonprogrammed decisions
Optimization model
Heuristics

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Decision Making
& Problem Solving Process
Intelligence Stage

Potential Problems and

opportunities are identified
and defined

Design Stage

Alternative solutions to the

problem are developed

Choice Stage

Select a course of
action

Decision
Making

Problem
Solving

Implementation

Solution put into

effect

Monitoring

Evaluate the
implementation

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Decision Types
Programmed decisions

MIS

Structured situations with well defined

relationships
Quantifiable

Non-programmed decisions

DSS

Ill-structured situations with vague or changing

relationships between variables
Not easily quantifiable in advance

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MIS vs. DSS

A MIS sheds light on a
wide-range of common,
day-to-day business
decisions.

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A DSS supports
decision making for
specific unique and
difficult decisions.

Optimization and Heuristic

Approaches
An optimization model finds the best
solution, usually the one that will best
help individuals or organizations meet
their goals.
Heuristics, often referred to as rules
of thumbcommonly accepted
guidelines or procedures that usually
find a good solution, but not
necessarily the optimal solutionare
often used in the decision-making
process.
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9.2

Management Information
Systems
Key Terms

Management Information System (MIS)

Scheduled report
Demand report
Exception report

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Management Information
Systems (MIS)
MIS: an information system
designed to provide routine
information to managers
and decision makers

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MIS Input and Output

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Reports, Reports, Reports

www.cognos.com/products/business_intelligence/reporting_sapbw/
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Reports
Scheduled Reports are produced
periodically on a schedule; daily, weekly,
monthly, quarterly, annualy, ect.
Demand Reports are developed to get
certain information at a persons request.
Exception Reports are automatically
produced when a situation is unusual or
requires action.

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9.3

Decision Support Systems

Key Terms
Decision Support System
What-if analysis
Goal-seeking analysis

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Decision Support Systems

A decision support system
(DSS) is an information system
used to support problem-specific
decision making.

www.epocrates.com
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What-if?
What-if analysis
is the process of
making
hypothetical
changes to
problem data
and observing
the impact on the
results.

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What-if is used in projecting paths of hurricanes

Goal-seeking
Goal-seeking analysis is the process of
determining what problem data is required
for a given result.

What must be done in order to safely

withdraw troops within a year?

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9.4

Group Decision Support

Systems
Key Terms
Group decision support system (GDSS)
Groupware

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Group Decision Support

Systems (GDSS)
A GDSS or
computerized
collaborative work
system is
designed to
provide effective
support in group
decision-making
settings.
A GDSS is flexible, supports anonymous input, and reduces negative group dynamics

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Groupware
GDSS software, called groupware, helps
with joint work group scheduling,
communication, and management.
www.lotus.com

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9.5

AI and Special-Purpose
Systems
Key Terms

Robotics
Vision systems
Natural language processing
Learning systems
Neural network
Fuzzy logic

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Genetic algorithm
Intelligent agent
Expert system (ES)
Virtual reality
Geographic information system (GIS)
Game theory

An Overview of AI
AI systems simulate human thought and
behavior.
www.cyc.com

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Interesting Statistics
It has been estimated that
computers that can exhibit
humanlike intelligence
including musical and
artistic aptitude, creativity,
the ability to move
physically through the world,
and emotional
responsiveness require
processing power of 20
million billion calculations
per second (petaflops).

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Robotics
Robotics involves
developing mechanical
or computer devices to
perform tasks that
require a high degree
of precision or are
tedious or hazardous
for humans.

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Other Forms of AI
Vision systems permit computers to
capture store and interpret visual imaged
and pictures.
Natural language processing, or speech
recognition, allows a computer to
understand and react to statements and
commands made in a natural language.
Learning systems allow the computer to
change how it functions or reacts to
situations based on feedback it receives.

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Other Forms of AI
A neural network is a computer system that can act
like or simulate the functioning of the human brain.
Fuzzy logic allows computers to deal with
ambiguous criteria or probabilities and events that
are not mutually exclusive.
A genetic algorithm is an approach to solving large,
complex problems where a number of algorithms or
models change and evolve until the best one
emerges.

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Other Forms of AI
An intelligent agent consists of programs and a
knowledge base used to perform a specific task for a
person, a process, or another program.
As expert system (ES) acts or behaves like a
human expert in a field or area.

Physicians rely on expert systems to

analyze complex medical data.

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Specialized Systems
Virtual reality is a computer-simulated environment
or event.

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Specialized Systems
A geographic
information system
(GIS) is capable of
storing, manipulating, and
displaying geographic or
spatial information
including maps of
locations or regions
around the world.

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Specialized Systems
Game theory involves
developing strategies for people,
organizations, or even countries
that are competing against each
other.
Informatics combines traditional
disciplines, like science and
medicine, with computer systems
and technology.

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Chapter 9 Questions?

Dont forget to turn

your phone on!!
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