Decision Support Systems
February 19 – February 23
§ Four Phases of Decision Making:
o In the intelligence phase, you recognize and detect signals or signs that a problem is occurring or that an opportunity exists. Such signs might include customers asking for a new feature in a product, raising costs, declining sales, etc (p. 181).
o In the design phase, you develop as many possible ways to solve a problem or take advantage of an opportunity (p. 181).
o In the choice phase, you evaluate each possible solution and pick the best one (p. 181).
o In the implementation phase, you implement the choice you made in the last step, monitor the results, and make adjustments as necessary (p. 181).
o The four phases do not have to be carried out in order. You may back up and repeat steps as necessary (p. 181).
§ Types of Decisions:
o A structured decision involves processing a certain kind of information in a specified way. No feel or intuition is necessary (p. 182).
o A nonstructured decision is one that has no precise way to get a right answer. There are generally several “right” answers (p. 182).
o Most decision are a mix of structured and nonstructured (p. 182).
o A recurring decision is that happens repeatedly and you follow the same set of rules each time (p. 182).
o A nonrecurring decision is one that you make infrequently and you may have to make it using a different set of criteria each time (p. 182).
§ Decision Support Systems:
o A decision support system (DSS) is a highly flexible and interactive IT system that is designed to support decision making when the problem is not structured (p. 183).
o DSS is not designed to make a decision for you, but instead to provide a tool to improve your effectiveness as a decision maker. You still must bring your own judgment to the decision making process (p. 184).
o Components of a DSS:
§ The data management component performs the function of sorting and maintaining the information that you want your database to use (p. 184).
· It consists of organizational, external, and personal information.
§ The model management component stores information and maintains models (p. 184).
· A model is used to represent an event, fact, or situation. Examples include statistical analysis (such as analysis of variance or linear regression) or what-if analysis. One of your jobs as a decision maker will be choose the appropriate model.
§ The user interface management component allows you to communicate with the DSS (p. 186).
· The user interface is the part of the system you see. Through the user interface, you enter information, commands, and models.
§ Geographic Information System (GIS):
o A geographic information system (GIS) is a DSS designed specifically to analyze spatial information (p. 187).
§ Spatial information is any information that can be shown in map form, such as roads, the distribution of the bald eagle population, sewer systems, or the path of a hurricane (p. 187).
o Information to supply your GIS may come from numerous places: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, even some private businesses will sell you this information (pp. 188-189).