MIS
CHAPTER 12
MANAGEMENT SUPPORT
SYSTEMS
Hossein BIDGOLI
MIS, Chapter 12
©2011 Course Technology, a part of Cengage Learning
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
learning outcomes
LO1
Define types of decisions and phases of the
decision-making process in a typical organization.
LO2
LO3
Describe a decision support system.
LO4
Describe group support systems, including
groupware and electronic meeting systems.
LO5
Summarize uses for a geographic information
system.
Explain an executive information system’s
importance in decision making.
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
l e a r n i n g o u t c o m e s (cont’d.)
LO6
Describe guidelines for designing a management
support system.
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Types of Decisions in an Organization
• Structured decisions
– Well-defined standard operating procedure exists
– Also called programmable tasks
– Can be automated
• Semistructured decisions
– Not as well-defined by standard operating procedures
– Include a structured aspect that benefits from
information retrieval, analytical models, and
information systems technology
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Types of Decisions in an Organization (cont’d.)
• Unstructured decisions
– Unique; typically one-time decisions
– Do not rely on standard operating procedure
– Decision maker’s intuition plays the most important
role
– Information technology offers little support for these
decisions
• Management support systems (MSSs)
– Different types of information systems have been
developed to support certain aspects and types of
decisions
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Phases of the Decision-Making Process
• Herbert Simon
– Winner of the 1978 Nobel Prize in economics
– Defines three phases in the decision-making process:
intelligence, design, and choice
– Fourth phase, implementation, can be added
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
The Intelligence Phase
• Decision maker examines the organization’s
environment for conditions that need decisions
• Data is collected from a variety of sources and
processed
• Decision maker can discover ways to approach
the problem
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
The Intelligence Phase (cont’d.)
• Three parts
– First: determine what the reality is
– Second: get a better understanding of the problem by
collecting data and information about it
– Third: gather data and information needed to define
alternatives for solving the problem
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
The Design Phase
• Objective
– Define criteria for the decision
– Generate alternatives for meeting the criteria
– Define associations between the criteria and the
alternatives
• Defining associations between alternatives and
criteria involves understanding how each
alternative affects the criteria
• Information technology doesn’t support this
phase of decision making much
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
The Choice Phase
• Best and most effective course of action is
chosen
– From the practical alternatives
• Analyze each alternative and its relationship to
the criteria to determine whether it’s feasible
• Decision support system (DSS) can be
particularly useful in this phase
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
The Implementation Phase
• Organization devises a plan for carrying out the
alternative selected in the choice phase
• Obtains the resources to implement the plan
• DSS can do a follow-up assessment on how well
a solution is performing
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Decision Support Systems
• Decision support system (DSS)
– Interactive information system
– Consisting of hardware, software, data, and models
(mathematical and statistical)
– Designed to assist decision makers in an organization
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Decision Support Systems (cont’d.)
• Requirements:
– Be interactive
– Incorporate the human element as well as hardware
and software
– Use both internal and external data
– Include mathematical and statistical models
– Support decision makers at all organizational levels
– Emphasize semistructured and unstructured tasks
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Components of a Decision Support System
• Three major components
– Database
– Model base
• Includes mathematical and statistical models that
enable a DSS to analyze information
– User interface
• What users make use of to access the DSS
• DSS engine
– Manages and coordinates these major components
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Exhibit 12.2
MIS, Chapter 12
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Components of a DSS
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
DSS Capabilities
•
•
•
•
•
What-if analysis
Goal-seeking
Sensitivity analysis
Exception reporting analysis
More capabilities, such as:
– Graphical analysis, forecasting, simulation, statistical
analysis, and modeling analysis
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Roles in the DSS Environment
• Roles include:
– User, managerial designer, technical designer, and
model builder
• Users
– Most important role because they’re the ones using
the DSS
• Managerial designer
– Defines the management issues in designing and
using a DSS
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Roles in the DSS Environment (cont’d.)
• Technical designer
– Focuses on how the DSS is implemented
• Model builder
– Liaison between users and designers
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Costs and Benefits of Decision Support Systems
• Benefits of a DSS:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Increase in the number of alternatives examined
Fast response to unexpected situations
Ability to make one-of-a-kind decisions
New insights and learning
Improved communication
Improved control over operations
Cost savings from being able to make better decisions
and analyze several scenarios (what-ifs) in a short
period
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Costs and Benefits of Decision Support Systems
(cont’d.)
–
–
–
–
Better decisions
More effective teamwork
Time savings
Making better use of data resources
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Executive Information Systems
• Branch of DSSs
• Interactive information systems that give
executives easy access to internal and external
data
• Typically include:
– “Drill-down” features
– Digital dashboard
• Ease of use
– EIS designers should focus on simplicity when
developing a user interface
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Executive Information Systems (cont’d.)
• Require access to both internal and external
data
– So that executives can spot trends, make forecasts,
and conduct different types of analyses
• Should also collect data related to an
organization’s “critical success factors”
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Executive Information Systems (cont’d.)
• Digital dashboard
– Integrates information from multiple sources and
presents it in a unified, understandable format
– Often charts and graphs
• Many digital dashboards are Web-based
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Reasons for Using EISs
• EIS increases managers’ productivity
• EIS can convert information into other formats
• EIS can spot trends and report exceptions
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Avoiding Failure in Design and Use of EISs
• Factors that can lead to a failed EIS:
–
–
–
–
–
Corporate culture isn’t ready
Organizational resistance to the project
Project is viewed as unimportant
Management loses interest or isn’t committed
Objectives and information requirements can’t be
defined clearly
– System doesn’t meet its objectives
– System’s objectives aren’t linked to factors critical to
the organization’s success
– Project’s costs can’t be justified
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Avoiding Failure in Design and Use of EISs (cont’d.)
–
–
–
–
–
–
Developing applications takes too much time
System is too complicated
Vendor support has been discontinued
Executives themselves
Nature of executives’ work
Nature of information the EIS provides
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
EIS Packages and Tools
• Generally designed with two or three
components:
– Administrative module for managing data access
– Builder module for developers to configure data
mapping and screen sequencing
– Runtime module for using the system
• Some EIS packages provide a data storage
system
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
EIS Packages and Tools (cont’d.)
• Tasks that managers perform for which an EIS is
useful:
–
–
–
–
Tracking performance
Flagging exceptions
Ranking, comparing, spotting trends
Investigating/exploring
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Group Support Systems
• Use computer and communication technologies
to formulate, process, and implement a decisionmaking task
• Considered a kind of intervention technology
that helps overcome the limitations of group
interactions
• Reduce communication barriers
• Introduce order and efficiency into situations
that are inherently unsystematic and inefficient
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Group Support Systems (cont’d.)
• Useful for:
–
–
–
–
–
Committees
Review panels
Board meetings
Task forces
Decision-making sessions that require input from
several decision makers
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Groupware
• Assist groups in:
– Communicating, collaborating, and coordinating their
activities
• Intended more for teamwork than for decision
support
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Groupware (cont’d.)
• Some capabilities of groupware include:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Audio and video conferencing
Automated appointment books
Brainstorming
Database access
E-mail
Online chat
Scheduling
To-do lists
Workflow automation
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Groupware (cont’d.)
• Examples of Web-based GSS tools:
– Microsoft Office SharePoint Server and IBM Lotus
Domino
• Other software used for e-collaboration:
– Electronic meeting systems, such as Microsoft
LiveMeeting, Metastorm, and IBM FileNet
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Groupware and Health IT
The overall goal of Clinical Groupware is to provide a
unified view of the patient by collecting and analyzing data
and information from a variety of sources. It has the
following benefits:
•
•
•
•
Inexpensive to acquire and use
Offers evidence-based guidance
Routinely collects quality and performance measures
Provides a collaborative workflow platform
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Electronic Meeting Systems
• Enable decision makers in different locations to
participate in a group decision-making process
• Include:
– Real-time computer conferencing
– Video teleconferencing
– Desktop conferencing
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Advantages and Disadvantages of GSSs
• Advantages:
– Costs as well as stress are reduced due to decreased
travel
– More time to talk with each other and solve problems
– Shyness isn’t as much of an issue in GSS sessions
– Increasing collaboration improves the effectiveness of
decision makers
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Advantages and Disadvantages of GSSs (cont’d.)
• Disadvantages:
–
–
–
–
Lack of the human touch
Unnecessary meetings
Security problems
Costs of GSS implementation are high
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Geographic Information System
• Captures, stores, processes, and displays
geographic information
• Uses spatial and nonspatial data
• Uses three geographic objects:
– Points
– Lines
– Areas
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Geographic Information System (cont’d.)
• Common example of a GIS:
– Getting driving directions from Google Maps
– User-friendly interface that helps you visualize the
route
– After you make a decision, you can print driving
directions and a map
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
GIS Applications
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Education planning
Urban planning
Government
Insurance
Marketing
Real estate
Transportation and logistics
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Guidelines for Designing a Management Support
System
•
•
•
•
•
Get support from the top
Define objectives and benefits clearly
Identify executives’ information needs
Keep the lines of communication open
Hide the system’s complexity and keep the
interface simple
• Keep the “look and feel” consistent
• Design a flexible system
• Make sure response time is fast
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Chapter 12 Management Support Systems
Summary
• Different types of decisions
• Phases of decision making in a typical
organization
• DSS:
– Components, capabilities, key players, and costs and
benefits
• Executive information systems
• Group support systems
• Geographic information systems
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