Information technology in education
Content
Information technology in education
Information technology has found its own place in the field of education. It was earlier thought that information technology would make people more dependent on computers but it has resulted in a number of advantages. Technology has resulted in increased interaction between the students and the use of newer ways of educating them. If information technology is not used in a proper manner then it can be worse than the older technologies used in education. The students can make use of computers to do their regular practice sessions and drills, which is similar to their workbooks. Moreover with the use of information technology teachers can make their lectures more attractive and colorful helping students to understand better. Academic achievements of information technology In the past 15 years the schools in United States has increased their budget to focus on classroom technology to as much as $5 billion per annum.This is because of the fact that government and the educational experts believe that the use of information technology in education can result in improved learning. However there is one point that is constantly being argued on as to whether the use of information technology will pose as a challenge to the critical thinking capacity of the students. This particular issue is under scan and there are a lot of researches going on. But still when compared to the advantages that information technology focuses in education is more as compared to the issues that are brought into notice. With the use of information technology in educational institutes the communication servers have made it easy for the teachers to inform the parents about the absence of their children and their performance. It has also helped the teachers in solving various issues related to homework assistance. Conjugation of information technology and education The use of information technology is of primary importance in education. It?s use in education has two basic reasons.First that the students will become familiar with information technology and this would be helpful for their future as all as to get jobs. The second advantage is that the teaching standards will improve and will be effective. With the society increasingly becoming dependent on information technology and the processing of every work with it, made it important for every individual to have basic knowledge about information technology. The educational institutes should make sure that IT qualifications are developed by means of their incorporation in all activities in the education sector and an individual student must have an active and critical attitude to developments and not submissively allow technological development to set the pace. Information technology in education improving communication
The information systems used in school are affordable and easy to be used by the school authorities as well as by the students. One of such systems is the computing system. With this system any changes in the schedule or events that are made are recorded in the system and the parents and students can easily access this information. The teachers can also post information about the homework and any changes in its schedule. These days all the schools have their own websites and this has also resulted in improved communication. Any alterations posted on the website can be accessed by both students and teachers. Information Technology as a part of syllabus Information technology especially, computers has been included as a part of the educational syllabus. It is now helping students in shaping their future for careers in technology. The basic computer knowledge gives the students the basic requirements to compete with the expanding technological world. If we would have talked 20 years ago then children were just taught computer basics and a few programs in computers. But now in school itself students are taught various languages that are taught in graduation. With these basic skills in IT such students can easily start a career in the technology industry after obtaining higher education.Learning the basic skills at a primary level helps students in understanding and developing their concepts. There are also vocational programs in information technology focusing on computers. These aim at software and hardware technologies and also computer theory and its applications.Students gain deep knowledge about the algorithm analysis, artificial intelligence, computer architecture, computer networking, computer graphics, data structures, high-level language programming, information technology (IT), and operating systems. Besides, these vocational trainings can also help students in developing crucial skills necessary to achieve Bachelor or Doctorate degree in Computer Science through higher educational venues, such as universities and colleges. It is very important that the IT policies of the educational institutes should make up-to-date qualifications and integrate new pedagogic opportunities. Information technology opens new grounds. Personalized form of teaching helps individuals to develop in their field and increase their learning power. Today the IT oriented education has become more organized and interesting as compared to the previous modes
Impact of Information Technology on Business
Everyone is aware of the fact that information technology certainly has had a significant effect on all business sectors. Let's discuss more about the impact of information technology on business.
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Information technology is a wide field, and has enabled organizations across the world to work in an efficient manner. It plays a very important role in effective management and running of a business. The use of information technology in organizations is inevitable, be it any type of company like manufacturing or medicinal sector. It has contributed largely to the process advancements in organizations. The exact impact of information technology on business administration can be determined by the elements mentioned below. Basic Elements of Information Technology Software and Applications Software is an important part of information technology which relates to computer applications that enable a company to generate, store, program, and retrieve data as and when needed. There are many softwares developed for different purposes. All operations in the business sector are carried out by software that are assigned for executing specific tasks. Without these computer applications the businesses wouldn't have been able to carry out their functions in a proper and efficient manner. Operating systems, ERPs, special purpose applications, and web browsers are some examples of different softwares. There are some softwares which are exclusively built to contribute to the proper collaborative working of all sections of the businesses, which are known as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). These are complex applications which enable people to efficiently manage all functions and operations of all processes in the businesses. Hardware Devices These are various computer equipments that house the softwares. Devices like microcomputers,
mid-size servers, and huge mainframe systems are some examples of hardware. Businesses have to maintain a huge collection of important data. For this purpose, they employ these devices which are responsible for storing confidential company data and retrieving it back when required. Other hardware devices include network devices that are used for providing Internet access to the businesses to work and communicate expeditiously. There are even devices which enable manufacturing tools and equipments to work accurately in the industrial sector. Running Businesses with Information Technology Small scale businesses need to buy software packages that would cater to their specific management, operational, and functional needs. For this purpose, they need to approach firms and IT manufacturers who deal in such software applications. Other IT services include Internet marketing and email marketing, web hosting and promotions, and maintaining client networks. Larger businesses on the other hand have their own operational and functional employees who develop software applications and work on several IT needs of the businesses. They usually purchase ERP softwares to coordinate different processes and functions into a single application, which is actually more convenient. Manufacturing businesses may make use of servers and databases to store their vast data regarding inventory, B2B, B2C, FMCG (in the retail business sector), etc. Automobile manufacturers use computers to guide manufacturing and designing tools to function in a precise manner, ruling out the possibilities of any human error. Businesses all around the globe have to take the aid of information technology in some way or the other to keep themselves in sync with the market and the world. There are several departments in business organizations such as HR and recruitment, finance and payroll, administration, and security. All these departments utilize IT to carry out their respective operations in a productive manner and efficient manner. The information technology role in business sector certainly is of a great importance, which enables businesses to effectively and successfully plan, manage, execute strategies which lead to profit. Moreover, the impact of information technology on business is on the rise, as several advancements are focused on to be implemented in various business processes.
Applications of Information Technology in Retailing
By Vikas Saraf MBA, IFDP-IIM Indore Director Incharge Dr. Pankaj Tiwari MBA, Ph.D. Asst. Professor - Marketing Management Vijeta Malviya BE, MBA Asst. Professor - Human Resource Management Vidyasagar Institute of Management (VIM)
Vallabh Nagar (BHEL), Bhopal±462 021
Abstract This paper presents the applications of Information Technology in retailing. The retail market is a state of exponential growth. Retailing includes all the activities involved in selling goods or services for the final consumer. These activities include demand and sales forecasting, inventory management, store management, transportation etc. This paper focused on how Information Technology may be beneficial in retailing? Information technology is the capability to electronically input process, store, and output, transmit, and receive data and information. It plays a very important role in today's business world. New technologies evolved in retailing are Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Smart Operating Solution Smart Ops, and Point of Sale (POS) etc. The result indicates that, retail complexities may reduce with the help of Information Technology solutions. The right solution can result in improved productivity and major cost saving through key advantages such as more accurate supply chain, forecasting and better inventory management. Information Technology also help retailers to solve major problems related to customer services like customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. Introduction "Retailing includes all the activities involved in selling goods or services directly to final consumer for their personal, non business use". Retail is all about selling, selling big and selling huge. It's all about ensuring that the customer first of all comes to the store and then buys. This also means that one should connect to the customer and should be able to hold him in one place and give him all that he desires from one location. One of the key factors in achieving an organized and efficient retail operation is the use of technology as an enabler . Information Technology is the key enabler to improving customer satisfaction, operational efficiencies and by extension, profitability. Technology has been the great enabler of business and especially retail enterprise. We are now wireless and seamless and cashless and everything less and can get any information we want and need. A typical pan national retail operation would have multiple regional warehouses, offices and retail outlets. In such an operation, how does the headquarters know the daily turnover at each of its outlets, how does it know which products are selling the most in which region at which outlet, how does one store know if a stock ± out item in its own inventory is available at another store location for whom it is slow moving item? Most of these issues can be solved by the appropriate use of technology. Need of Information Technology in Retailing Information Technology Information technology, as defined by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), is " the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware." Encompassing the computer and information systems industries, information technology is the capability to electronically input, process, store, output, transmit, and receive data and information, including text, graphics, sound, and video, as well as the ability to control machines of all kinds electronically.
Information Technology's Role Today Every day, people use computers in new ways. Computers are increasingly affordable; they continue to be more powerful as information-processing tools as well as easier to use. Computers in Business One of the first and largest applications of computers is keeping and managing business and financial records. Most large companies keep the employment records of all their workers in large databases that are managed by computer programs. Similar programs and databases are used in such business functions as billing customers, tracking payments received and payments to be made, and tracking supplies needed and items produced, stored, shipped, and sold. In fact, practically all the information companies need to do business involves the use of computers and information technology. How Information Technology involved in Retailing Operations * Forecasting: Forecasting is the process of estimation in unknown situations. It's an essential and very important process in any business organization. Business leaders and economists are continually involved in the process of trying to forecast, or predict, the future of business in the economy. Business leaders engage in this process because much of what happens in businesses today depends on what is going to happen in the future. 1. Retail Demand Forecasting: Modern demand-forecasting systems provide new opportunities to improve retail performance. Although the art of the individual merchant may never be replaced, it can be augmented by an efficient, objective and scientific approach to forecasting demand. Large-scale systems are now capable of handling the mass of retail transaction data ± organizing it, mining it and projecting it into future customer behavior. This new approach to demand forecasting in retail will contribute to the accuracy of future plans, the satisfaction of future customers and the overall efficiency and profitability of retail operations. * Inventory Management: Inventory can be either raw materials, finished items already available for sale, or goods in the process of being manufactured. Inventory is recorded as an asset on a company's balance sheet. To optimize the deployment of inventory, retailers need to manage the uncertainties, constraints, and complexities across their global supply chain on continuous basis. This allows them to improve their inventory forecasting ability and accurately set inventory targets. An IT solution is a proven and market leading solution for determining optimal time-varying inventory targets for every item, at every location throughout supply chain. This allows retailers you to significantly reduce inventory without adversely affecting service levels. * Store Management: Another example where Information technology can be beneficial is a store management. That alerts out-of-place or stock-out items. A store, commonly a shop or stall for the retail sale of commodities, but also a place where wholesale supplies are kept, exhibited, or sold. A place where something is deposited for safekeeping is called store. The in-store system use magnetic strips or barcodes or RFID to monitor actual versus intended product location on the floor or in the stockroom. Retail's Complexity: the Information Technology Solution Much of the retail operations functionality is driven by customized point solutions in areas such as merchandizing, supply chain management, in-store operations, seasonality and promotions planning. This means the underlying IT systems to drive operations are equally complex.
IT systems are at the heart of retail operations and hence play a central role in alleviating pressure points in the retail sector. The converse also holds true²retailers who do not manage their IT landscape effectively will find that, in time, the IT systems become part of the problem rather than components of the solution. There are two critical areas where IT can reduce Complexity and improve results:
FUNCTIONAL RETAIL AREAS Merchandizing systems impact top-line revenues and need to be configured, customized and managed effectively for the retailer to improve its top line. To achieve this, retailers need to effectively mine large amounts of data and leverage this data to carry out effective forecasting, assortment planning, and collaboration with its suppliers so that promotions and other merchandizing activities are effective and efficient. Supply chain systems are key from a bottom line point of view as they play a key role in getting the right product to the right place at the right time²which in turn impacts the inventory levels and the rate of flow of products through the retailer's stores, both of which are significant components of the retailer's cost of doing business. DATA CLEANSING AND ARCHITECTURE IMPROVEMENT Data cleansing, and thereafter, effective mining (via large data warehouses) is fundamentally important in the retail space because so much decision-making is based on data. If the data is bad, the effectiveness and efficiency of carrying out retail operations is hampered. This becomes particularly crucial when the retailer is implementing new systems and a large data conversion effort is required²it becomes essential that the old data be effectively cleaned, re-architect and made ready in the new system, so that the business functions can make decisions effectively. In challenges, place ever-greater demands on retailers. It systems are at the complexity of products, scale and processes, along with supply chain heart of retail operations and hence play a central role in alleviating pressure points in the retail sector.
The High Technology Retailing Environment New Technologies Evolved in Retailing 1. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Radio Frequency Identification in the retail industry has solved major problems related to customer services. With the help of RFID it becomes easy for the sales staff to locate a particular item in the store and check its availability in less time. It's a data collection technology that uses electronic tags for storing data. The tag, also known as an "electronic label," "transponder" or "code plate," is made up of an RFID chip attached to an antenna. Transmitting in the kilohertz, megahertz and gigahertz ranges, tags may be battery-powered or derive their power from the RF waves coming from the reader. Like bar codes, RFID tags identify items. However, unlike bar codes, which must be in close proximity and line of sight to the scanner for reading, RFID tags do not require line of sight and can be embedded within packages. Depending on the type of tag and application, they can be read at a varying range of distances. In addition, RFIDtagged cartons rolling on a conveyer belt can be read many times faster than bar-coded boxes. RFID in retail helps in the following ways: (a) Improves the level of customer service (b) Increases customers loyalty (c) Better Inventory Management (d) Item level tracking
The future of RFID is very bright in retail sector, as right from inventory management to product manufacturing, this system provides a more efficient and advanced retail experience to both the customer and the seller. 2. Smart Operating System Supply chains can look very different from industry to industry. But companies across industries share a common challenge -- finding ways to better manage growing uncertainty and complexity to improve supply chain performance. To improve their supply chains, companies across industries have made sizable investments in a range of technology solutions, yet significant profitability improvements have remained elusive. Largely unaddressed has been the opportunity to use enterprise and supply chain data to support key inventory planning decisions that fuel execution systems and activities -- something beyond a mere spreadsheet or desktop solution. SmartOps customers are proactively managing supply chain uncertainty across all stages to improve their total
chain inventory planning, so that their customer service levels can be stabilized and even increased while overall costs to the business are minimized. SmartOps enterprise software solutions support many initiatives and challenges associated with different manufacturing and distribution industries from Lean Manufacturing, Just-In-Time (JIT), and Six Sigma initiatives, to postponement strategies, to Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment (CPFR), and Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) activities. SmartOps inventory optimization algorithms manage uncertainties in the data and offer visibility into the drivers of inventory at the item-location-time period level of detail. SmartOps is able to do that because it looks at the right granularity of data to adequately manage safety stock levels and understand where the biggest ongoing opportunities for improvement are within their supply chains. 3. Point of Sale Capturing data at the time and place of sale. Point of sale systems use computers or specialized terminals that are combined with cash registers, bar code readers, optical scanners and magnetic stripe readers for accurately and instantly capturing the transaction. Point of sale systems may be online to a central computer for credit checking and inventory updating, or they may be stand-alone machines that store the daily transactions until they can be delivered or transmitted to the main computer for processing. Point of sale (POS) systems is electronic systems that provide businesses with the capability to retain and analyze a wide variety of inventory and transaction data on a continuous basis. POS systems have been touted as valuable tools for a wide variety of business purposes, including refining target marketing strategies; tracking supplier purchases; determining customer purchasing patterns; analyzing sales (on a daily, monthly, or annual basis) of each inventory item, department, or supplier; and creating reports for use in making purchases, reorders, etc. Basic point of sale systems currently in use includes standalone electronic cash registers, also known as ECRs; ECR-based network systems; and controller-based systems. All function essentially as sales and cash management tools, but each has features that are unique. Conclusion This result demonstrates the significant role of information technology in today's business world and in retail management. It indicates that a sound Information Technology system is imperative to success in large format retail. IT system can be leveraged to increase efficiencies in supply chain and vendor management as well as centralize their control. The findings from this study shows that with an efficient IT system a retailer can observe sales and consumer behavior more efficiently and accurately and thus plan its sourcing and customer promotions more effectively. This result also lead to the conclusion that use of new technologies in retailing helps to increase customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. An IT system is also beneficial for various retailing related operations. Retailers need to understand that technology is not a sunk cost but rather an investment to reduce heavy longterm costs. It is an investment to maintain competitive advantage for long-term growth. References
Decision support system
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search
Example of a Decision Support System for John Day Reservoir.
A decision support system (DSS) is a computer-based information system that supports business or organizational decision-making activities. DSSs serve the management, operations, and planning levels of an organization and help to make decisions, which may be rapidly changing and not easily specified in advance. DSSs include knowledge-based systems. A properly designed DSS is an interactive software-based system intended to help decision makers compile useful information from a combination of raw data, documents, personal knowledge, or business models to identify and solve problems and make decisions. Typical information that a decision support application might gather and present are:
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inventories of information assets (including legacy and relational data sources, cubes, data warehouses, and data marts), comparative sales figures between one period and the next, projected revenue figures based on product sales assumptions.
The decision support system option educates the student in the design, implementation and use of computerized systems that support business managers in the decision-making process. A decision support system (DSS) is a computer system that typically encompasses mathematical models as well as informational databases and a user interface in order to provide recommended decisions to manager-users. A DSS differs from a traditional information system (IS) or management information system (MIS) in that it
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not only provides the user with information, databases or reports, as does an IS or MIS, but it also provides answers to user queries, i.e., decisions, through its modeling component. In essence a DSS is a computer system that helps managers make decisions. Students in the DSS option take a variety of specialized courses in the information technology field that enhances their ability to develop computer decision support systems. Course topics include information systems, database management, networks and telecommunications, security, decision support system development and implementation, visual interface design, artificial intelligence, client/server systems, internet systems development, and simulation as well as various mathematical modeling techniques. Specific computing language skills include C++, Visual Basic (VB.net) and JAVA. The job market for graduates of the DSS option is excellent. Over 100 companies and government organizations annually interview BIT seniors. DSS graduates typically obtain jobs in the information technology field. Job titles include consultant, technical consultant, systems analyst, systems developer, network administrator, management analyst, programmer analyst, project analyst, database developer, software developer, programming consultant, information manager, applications developer, and information management consultant, among many others. The largest single type of employer of DSS option graduates is typically consulting firms such as Accenture, KPMG, CGI, Deloitte & Touche, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Booz Allen Hamilton, among many others. However, numerous other types of companies and organizations hire DSS graduates to work in various IT-related jobs.
Application of it in inventory Oracle has introduced a Windows-based mobile client that will allow workers to access its supply chain management software directly from the retail floor or warehouse. The app, called PeopleSoft Mobile Inventory Management, has been folded into Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise Supply Chain Management suite. It requires a copy of the PeopleSoft Inventory and Fulfillment Management application to operate. The app is aimed mainly at industrial devices, which are still primarily using versions of Windows Mobile, the precursor to Windows Phone 7. It can run on portable wireless mobile devices running Windows Mobile 5 and 6, which are still offered by companies such as Intermec and Motorola. It will also work on a desktop version of Windows. The software does not run on the more recently released Windows Phone 7, but Oracle is working on a version for that operating system as well, an Oracle spokesperson confirmed. The company does not, however, have a potential release date for that version. With the software, users can check the inventory for the availability of items without having to walk to the actual storage location. It can also be used on the warehouse floor to reconcile the physical inventory against what is recorded in the database.
With the appropriate hardware attached, the software can scan barcodes and reconcile them directly with the back-end inventory systems, potentially reducing the errors that may occur when inventory numbers are entered by hand. The software runs in the Windows Mobile browser and communicates with the Java-based application logic located on an application server. The user interface has the same look and feel across multiple devices. User log-ins are authenticated directly against the back-end PeopleSoft system. This is the first mobile Oracle application that uses the company's Application Development Framework (ADF) Mobile, middleware that manages the information exchange between the handheld clients and back-end Oracle systems. The client was developed for health care customers as a way to get better control over inventory and receipt of medical supplies, though the software can be used across all industries with physical inventory, the company claims.
Decision support system
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Example of a Decision Support System for John Day Reservoir.
A decision support system (DSS) is a computer-based information system that supports business or organizational decision-making activities. DSSs serve the management, operations, and planning levels of an organization and help to make decisions, which may be rapidly changing and not easily specified in advance.
DSSs include knowledge-based systems. A properly designed DSS is an interactive software-based system intended to help decision makers compile useful information from a combination of raw data, documents, personal knowledge, or business models to identify and solve problems and make decisions. Typical information that a decision support application might gather and present are:
y y y
inventories of information assets (including legacy and relational data sources, cubes, data warehouses, and data marts), comparative sales figures between one period and the next, projected revenue figures based on product sales assumptions.
History
According to Keen (1978),[1] the concept of decision support has evolved from two main areas of research: The theoretical studies of organizational decision making done at the Carnegie Institute of Technology during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the technical work on interactive computer systems, mainly carried out at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 1960s. It is considered that the concept of DSS became an area of research of its own in the middle of the 1970s, before gaining in intensity during the 1980s. In the middle and late 1980s, executive information systems (EIS), group decision support systems (GDSS), and organizational decision support systems (ODSS) evolved from the single user and model-oriented DSS. According to Sol (1987)[2] the definition and scope of DSS has been migrating over the years. In the 1970s DSS was described as "a computer based system to aid decision making". Late 1970s the DSS movement started focusing on "interactive computer-based systems which help decision-makers utilize data bases and models to solve ill-structured problems". In the 1980s DSS should provide systems "using suitable and available technology to improve effectiveness of managerial and professional activities", and end 1980s DSS faced a new challenge towards the design of intelligent workstations.[2] In 1987 Texas Instruments completed development of the Gate Assignment Display System (GADS) for United Airlines. This decision support system is credited with significantly reducing travel delays by aiding the management of ground operations at various airports, beginning with O'Hare International Airport in Chicago and Stapleton Airport in Denver Colorado.[3][4] Beginning in about 1990, data warehousing and on-line analytical processing (OLAP) began broadening the realm of DSS. As the turn of the millennium approached, new Web-based analytical applications were introduced. The advent of better and better reporting technologies has seen DSS start to emerge as a critical component of management design. Examples of this can be seen in the intense amount of discussion of DSS in the education environment.
DSS also have a weak connection to the user interface paradigm of hypertext. Both the University of Vermont PROMIS system (for medical decision making) and the Carnegie Mellon ZOG/KMS system (for military and business decision making) were decision support systems which also were major breakthroughs in user interface research. Furthermore, although hypertext researchers have generally been concerned with information overload, certain researchers, notably Douglas Engelbart, have been focused on decision makers in particular.
[edit] Taxonomies
As with the definition, there is no universally-accepted taxonomy of DSS either. Different authors propose different classifications. Using the relationship with the user as the criterion, Haettenschwiler[5] differentiates passive, active, and cooperative DSS. A passive DSS is a system that aids the process of decision making, but that cannot bring out explicit decision suggestions or solutions. An active DSS can bring out such decision suggestions or solutions. A cooperative DSS allows the decision maker (or its advisor) to modify, complete, or refine the decision suggestions provided by the system, before sending them back to the system for validation. The system again improves, completes, and refines the suggestions of the decision maker and sends them back to him for validation. The whole process then starts again, until a consolidated solution is generated. Another taxonomy for DSS has been created by Daniel Power. Using the mode of assistance as the criterion, Power differentiates communication-driven DSS, data-driven DSS, documentdriven DSS, knowledge-driven DSS, and model-driven DSS.[6]
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A communication-driven DSS supports more than one person working on a shared task; examples include integrated tools like Microsoft's NetMeeting or Groove[7] A data-driven DSS or data-oriented DSS emphasizes access to and manipulation of a time series of internal company data and, sometimes, external data. A document-driven DSS manages, retrieves, and manipulates unstructured information in a variety of electronic formats. A knowledge-driven DSS provides specialized problem-solving expertise stored as facts, rules, procedures, or in similar structures.[6] A model-driven DSS emphasizes access to and manipulation of a statistical, financial, optimization, or simulation model. Model-driven DSS use data and parameters provided by users to assist decision makers in analyzing a situation; they are not necessarily data-intensive. Dicodess is an example of an open source model-driven DSS generator.[8]
Using scope as the criterion, Power[9] differentiates enterprise-wide DSS and desktop DSS. An enterprise-wide DSS is linked to large data warehouses and serves many managers in the company. A desktop, single-user DSS is a small system that runs on an individual manager's PC.
[edit] Components
Design of a Drought Mitigation Decision Support System.
Three fundamental components of a DSS architecture are:[5][6][10][11][12]
1. the database (or knowledge base), 2. the model (i.e., the decision context and user criteria), and 3. the user interface.
The users themselves are also important components of the architecture.[5][12]
[edit] Development Frameworks
DSS systems are not entirely different from other systems and require a structured approach. Such a framework includes people, technology, and the development approach.[10] DSS technology levels (of hardware and software) may include:
1. The actual application that will be used by the user. This is the part of the application that allows the decision maker to make decisions in a particular problem area. The user can act upon that particular problem. 2. Generator contains Hardware/software environment that allows people to easily develop specific DSS applications. This level makes use of case tools or systems such as Crystal, AIMMS, and iThink. 3. Tools include lower level hardware/software. DSS generators including special languages, function libraries and linking modules
An iterative developmental approach allows for the DSS to be changed and redesigned at various intervals. Once the system is designed, it will need to be tested and revised for the desired outcome.
[edit] Classification
There are several ways to classify DSS applications. Not every DSS fits neatly into one category, but may be a mix of two or more architectures. Holsapple and Whinston[13] classify DSS into the following six frameworks: Text-oriented DSS, Database-oriented DSS, Spreadsheet-oriented DSS, Solver-oriented DSS, Rule-oriented DSS, and Compound DSS. A compound DSS is the most popular classification for a DSS. It is a hybrid system that includes two or more of the five basic structures described by Holsapple and Whinston.[13] The support given by DSS can be separated into three distinct, interrelated categories[14]: Personal Support, Group Support, and Organizational Support. DSS components may be classified as:
1. 2. 3. 4. Inputs: Factors, numbers, and characteristics to analyze User Knowledge and Expertise: Inputs requiring manual analysis by the user Outputs: Transformed data from which DSS "decisions" are generated Decisions: Results generated by the DSS based on user criteria
intelligence
needed]
DSSs which perform selected cognitive decision-making functions and are based on artificial or intelligent agents technologies are called Intelligent Decision Support Systems (IDSS).[citation
The nascent field of Decision engineering treats the decision itself as an engineered object, and applies engineering principles such as Design and Quality assurance to an explicit representation of the elements that make up a decision.
[edit] Applications
As mentioned above, there are theoretical possibilities of building such systems in any knowledge domain. One example is the clinical decision support system for medical diagnosis. Other examples include a bank loan officer verifying the credit of a loan applicant or an engineering firm that has bids on several projects and wants to know if they can be competitive with their costs. DSS is extensively used in business and management. Executive dashboard and other business performance software allow faster decision making, identification of negative trends, and better allocation of business resources. A growing area of DSS application, concepts, principles, and techniques is in agricultural production, marketing for sustainable development. For example, the DSSAT4 package,[15][16]
developed through financial support of USAID during the 80's and 90's, has allowed rapid assessment of several agricultural production systems around the world to facilitate decisionmaking at the farm and policy levels. There are, however, many constraints to the successful adoption on DSS in agriculture.[17] DSS are also prevalent in forest management where the long planning time frame demands specific requirements. All aspects of Forest management, from log transportation, harvest scheduling to sustainability and ecosystem protection have been addressed by modern DSSs. A comprehensive list and discussion of all available systems in forest management is being compiled under the COST action Forsys A specific example concerns the Canadian National Railway system, which tests its equipment on a regular basis using a decision support system. A problem faced by any railroad is worn-out or defective rails, which can result in hundreds of derailments per year. Under a DSS, CN managed to decrease the incidence of derailments at the same time other companies were experiencing an increase.
[edit] Benefits
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Improves personal efficiency Speed up the process of decision making Increases organizational control Encourages exploration and discovery on the part of the decision maker Speeds up problem solving in an organization Facilitates interpersonal communication Promotes learning or training Generates new evidence in support of a decision Creates a competitive advantage over competition Reveals new approaches to thinking about the problem space Helps automate managerial processes
Information technology has found its own place in the field of education. It was earlier thought that information technology would make people more dependent on computers but it has resulted in a number of advantages. Technology has resulted in increased interaction between the students and the use of newer ways of educating them. If information technology is not used in a proper manner then it can be worse than the older technologies used in education. The students can make use of computers to do their regular practice sessions and drills, which is similar to their workbooks. Moreover with the use of information technology teachers can make their lectures more attractive and colorful helping students to understand better. Academic achievements of information technology In the past 15 years the schools in United States has increased their budget to focus on classroom technology to as much as $5 billion per annum.This is because of the fact that government and the educational experts believe that the use of information technology in education can result in improved learning. However there is one point that is constantly being argued on as to whether the use of information technology will pose as a challenge to the critical thinking capacity of the students. This particular issue is under scan and there are a lot of researches going on. But still when compared to the advantages that information technology focuses in education is more as compared to the issues that are brought into notice. With the use of information technology in educational institutes the communication servers have made it easy for the teachers to inform the parents about the absence of their children and their performance. It has also helped the teachers in solving various issues related to homework assistance. Conjugation of information technology and education The use of information technology is of primary importance in education. It?s use in education has two basic reasons.First that the students will become familiar with information technology and this would be helpful for their future as all as to get jobs. The second advantage is that the teaching standards will improve and will be effective. With the society increasingly becoming dependent on information technology and the processing of every work with it, made it important for every individual to have basic knowledge about information technology. The educational institutes should make sure that IT qualifications are developed by means of their incorporation in all activities in the education sector and an individual student must have an active and critical attitude to developments and not submissively allow technological development to set the pace. Information technology in education improving communication
The information systems used in school are affordable and easy to be used by the school authorities as well as by the students. One of such systems is the computing system. With this system any changes in the schedule or events that are made are recorded in the system and the parents and students can easily access this information. The teachers can also post information about the homework and any changes in its schedule. These days all the schools have their own websites and this has also resulted in improved communication. Any alterations posted on the website can be accessed by both students and teachers. Information Technology as a part of syllabus Information technology especially, computers has been included as a part of the educational syllabus. It is now helping students in shaping their future for careers in technology. The basic computer knowledge gives the students the basic requirements to compete with the expanding technological world. If we would have talked 20 years ago then children were just taught computer basics and a few programs in computers. But now in school itself students are taught various languages that are taught in graduation. With these basic skills in IT such students can easily start a career in the technology industry after obtaining higher education.Learning the basic skills at a primary level helps students in understanding and developing their concepts. There are also vocational programs in information technology focusing on computers. These aim at software and hardware technologies and also computer theory and its applications.Students gain deep knowledge about the algorithm analysis, artificial intelligence, computer architecture, computer networking, computer graphics, data structures, high-level language programming, information technology (IT), and operating systems. Besides, these vocational trainings can also help students in developing crucial skills necessary to achieve Bachelor or Doctorate degree in Computer Science through higher educational venues, such as universities and colleges. It is very important that the IT policies of the educational institutes should make up-to-date qualifications and integrate new pedagogic opportunities. Information technology opens new grounds. Personalized form of teaching helps individuals to develop in their field and increase their learning power. Today the IT oriented education has become more organized and interesting as compared to the previous modes
Impact of Information Technology on Business
Everyone is aware of the fact that information technology certainly has had a significant effect on all business sectors. Let's discuss more about the impact of information technology on business.
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Information technology is a wide field, and has enabled organizations across the world to work in an efficient manner. It plays a very important role in effective management and running of a business. The use of information technology in organizations is inevitable, be it any type of company like manufacturing or medicinal sector. It has contributed largely to the process advancements in organizations. The exact impact of information technology on business administration can be determined by the elements mentioned below. Basic Elements of Information Technology Software and Applications Software is an important part of information technology which relates to computer applications that enable a company to generate, store, program, and retrieve data as and when needed. There are many softwares developed for different purposes. All operations in the business sector are carried out by software that are assigned for executing specific tasks. Without these computer applications the businesses wouldn't have been able to carry out their functions in a proper and efficient manner. Operating systems, ERPs, special purpose applications, and web browsers are some examples of different softwares. There are some softwares which are exclusively built to contribute to the proper collaborative working of all sections of the businesses, which are known as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). These are complex applications which enable people to efficiently manage all functions and operations of all processes in the businesses. Hardware Devices These are various computer equipments that house the softwares. Devices like microcomputers,
mid-size servers, and huge mainframe systems are some examples of hardware. Businesses have to maintain a huge collection of important data. For this purpose, they employ these devices which are responsible for storing confidential company data and retrieving it back when required. Other hardware devices include network devices that are used for providing Internet access to the businesses to work and communicate expeditiously. There are even devices which enable manufacturing tools and equipments to work accurately in the industrial sector. Running Businesses with Information Technology Small scale businesses need to buy software packages that would cater to their specific management, operational, and functional needs. For this purpose, they need to approach firms and IT manufacturers who deal in such software applications. Other IT services include Internet marketing and email marketing, web hosting and promotions, and maintaining client networks. Larger businesses on the other hand have their own operational and functional employees who develop software applications and work on several IT needs of the businesses. They usually purchase ERP softwares to coordinate different processes and functions into a single application, which is actually more convenient. Manufacturing businesses may make use of servers and databases to store their vast data regarding inventory, B2B, B2C, FMCG (in the retail business sector), etc. Automobile manufacturers use computers to guide manufacturing and designing tools to function in a precise manner, ruling out the possibilities of any human error. Businesses all around the globe have to take the aid of information technology in some way or the other to keep themselves in sync with the market and the world. There are several departments in business organizations such as HR and recruitment, finance and payroll, administration, and security. All these departments utilize IT to carry out their respective operations in a productive manner and efficient manner. The information technology role in business sector certainly is of a great importance, which enables businesses to effectively and successfully plan, manage, execute strategies which lead to profit. Moreover, the impact of information technology on business is on the rise, as several advancements are focused on to be implemented in various business processes.
Applications of Information Technology in Retailing
By Vikas Saraf MBA, IFDP-IIM Indore Director Incharge Dr. Pankaj Tiwari MBA, Ph.D. Asst. Professor - Marketing Management Vijeta Malviya BE, MBA Asst. Professor - Human Resource Management Vidyasagar Institute of Management (VIM)
Vallabh Nagar (BHEL), Bhopal±462 021
Abstract This paper presents the applications of Information Technology in retailing. The retail market is a state of exponential growth. Retailing includes all the activities involved in selling goods or services for the final consumer. These activities include demand and sales forecasting, inventory management, store management, transportation etc. This paper focused on how Information Technology may be beneficial in retailing? Information technology is the capability to electronically input process, store, and output, transmit, and receive data and information. It plays a very important role in today's business world. New technologies evolved in retailing are Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Smart Operating Solution Smart Ops, and Point of Sale (POS) etc. The result indicates that, retail complexities may reduce with the help of Information Technology solutions. The right solution can result in improved productivity and major cost saving through key advantages such as more accurate supply chain, forecasting and better inventory management. Information Technology also help retailers to solve major problems related to customer services like customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. Introduction "Retailing includes all the activities involved in selling goods or services directly to final consumer for their personal, non business use". Retail is all about selling, selling big and selling huge. It's all about ensuring that the customer first of all comes to the store and then buys. This also means that one should connect to the customer and should be able to hold him in one place and give him all that he desires from one location. One of the key factors in achieving an organized and efficient retail operation is the use of technology as an enabler . Information Technology is the key enabler to improving customer satisfaction, operational efficiencies and by extension, profitability. Technology has been the great enabler of business and especially retail enterprise. We are now wireless and seamless and cashless and everything less and can get any information we want and need. A typical pan national retail operation would have multiple regional warehouses, offices and retail outlets. In such an operation, how does the headquarters know the daily turnover at each of its outlets, how does it know which products are selling the most in which region at which outlet, how does one store know if a stock ± out item in its own inventory is available at another store location for whom it is slow moving item? Most of these issues can be solved by the appropriate use of technology. Need of Information Technology in Retailing Information Technology Information technology, as defined by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), is " the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware." Encompassing the computer and information systems industries, information technology is the capability to electronically input, process, store, output, transmit, and receive data and information, including text, graphics, sound, and video, as well as the ability to control machines of all kinds electronically.
Information Technology's Role Today Every day, people use computers in new ways. Computers are increasingly affordable; they continue to be more powerful as information-processing tools as well as easier to use. Computers in Business One of the first and largest applications of computers is keeping and managing business and financial records. Most large companies keep the employment records of all their workers in large databases that are managed by computer programs. Similar programs and databases are used in such business functions as billing customers, tracking payments received and payments to be made, and tracking supplies needed and items produced, stored, shipped, and sold. In fact, practically all the information companies need to do business involves the use of computers and information technology. How Information Technology involved in Retailing Operations * Forecasting: Forecasting is the process of estimation in unknown situations. It's an essential and very important process in any business organization. Business leaders and economists are continually involved in the process of trying to forecast, or predict, the future of business in the economy. Business leaders engage in this process because much of what happens in businesses today depends on what is going to happen in the future. 1. Retail Demand Forecasting: Modern demand-forecasting systems provide new opportunities to improve retail performance. Although the art of the individual merchant may never be replaced, it can be augmented by an efficient, objective and scientific approach to forecasting demand. Large-scale systems are now capable of handling the mass of retail transaction data ± organizing it, mining it and projecting it into future customer behavior. This new approach to demand forecasting in retail will contribute to the accuracy of future plans, the satisfaction of future customers and the overall efficiency and profitability of retail operations. * Inventory Management: Inventory can be either raw materials, finished items already available for sale, or goods in the process of being manufactured. Inventory is recorded as an asset on a company's balance sheet. To optimize the deployment of inventory, retailers need to manage the uncertainties, constraints, and complexities across their global supply chain on continuous basis. This allows them to improve their inventory forecasting ability and accurately set inventory targets. An IT solution is a proven and market leading solution for determining optimal time-varying inventory targets for every item, at every location throughout supply chain. This allows retailers you to significantly reduce inventory without adversely affecting service levels. * Store Management: Another example where Information technology can be beneficial is a store management. That alerts out-of-place or stock-out items. A store, commonly a shop or stall for the retail sale of commodities, but also a place where wholesale supplies are kept, exhibited, or sold. A place where something is deposited for safekeeping is called store. The in-store system use magnetic strips or barcodes or RFID to monitor actual versus intended product location on the floor or in the stockroom. Retail's Complexity: the Information Technology Solution Much of the retail operations functionality is driven by customized point solutions in areas such as merchandizing, supply chain management, in-store operations, seasonality and promotions planning. This means the underlying IT systems to drive operations are equally complex.
IT systems are at the heart of retail operations and hence play a central role in alleviating pressure points in the retail sector. The converse also holds true²retailers who do not manage their IT landscape effectively will find that, in time, the IT systems become part of the problem rather than components of the solution. There are two critical areas where IT can reduce Complexity and improve results:
FUNCTIONAL RETAIL AREAS Merchandizing systems impact top-line revenues and need to be configured, customized and managed effectively for the retailer to improve its top line. To achieve this, retailers need to effectively mine large amounts of data and leverage this data to carry out effective forecasting, assortment planning, and collaboration with its suppliers so that promotions and other merchandizing activities are effective and efficient. Supply chain systems are key from a bottom line point of view as they play a key role in getting the right product to the right place at the right time²which in turn impacts the inventory levels and the rate of flow of products through the retailer's stores, both of which are significant components of the retailer's cost of doing business. DATA CLEANSING AND ARCHITECTURE IMPROVEMENT Data cleansing, and thereafter, effective mining (via large data warehouses) is fundamentally important in the retail space because so much decision-making is based on data. If the data is bad, the effectiveness and efficiency of carrying out retail operations is hampered. This becomes particularly crucial when the retailer is implementing new systems and a large data conversion effort is required²it becomes essential that the old data be effectively cleaned, re-architect and made ready in the new system, so that the business functions can make decisions effectively. In challenges, place ever-greater demands on retailers. It systems are at the complexity of products, scale and processes, along with supply chain heart of retail operations and hence play a central role in alleviating pressure points in the retail sector.
The High Technology Retailing Environment New Technologies Evolved in Retailing 1. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Radio Frequency Identification in the retail industry has solved major problems related to customer services. With the help of RFID it becomes easy for the sales staff to locate a particular item in the store and check its availability in less time. It's a data collection technology that uses electronic tags for storing data. The tag, also known as an "electronic label," "transponder" or "code plate," is made up of an RFID chip attached to an antenna. Transmitting in the kilohertz, megahertz and gigahertz ranges, tags may be battery-powered or derive their power from the RF waves coming from the reader. Like bar codes, RFID tags identify items. However, unlike bar codes, which must be in close proximity and line of sight to the scanner for reading, RFID tags do not require line of sight and can be embedded within packages. Depending on the type of tag and application, they can be read at a varying range of distances. In addition, RFIDtagged cartons rolling on a conveyer belt can be read many times faster than bar-coded boxes. RFID in retail helps in the following ways: (a) Improves the level of customer service (b) Increases customers loyalty (c) Better Inventory Management (d) Item level tracking
The future of RFID is very bright in retail sector, as right from inventory management to product manufacturing, this system provides a more efficient and advanced retail experience to both the customer and the seller. 2. Smart Operating System Supply chains can look very different from industry to industry. But companies across industries share a common challenge -- finding ways to better manage growing uncertainty and complexity to improve supply chain performance. To improve their supply chains, companies across industries have made sizable investments in a range of technology solutions, yet significant profitability improvements have remained elusive. Largely unaddressed has been the opportunity to use enterprise and supply chain data to support key inventory planning decisions that fuel execution systems and activities -- something beyond a mere spreadsheet or desktop solution. SmartOps customers are proactively managing supply chain uncertainty across all stages to improve their total
chain inventory planning, so that their customer service levels can be stabilized and even increased while overall costs to the business are minimized. SmartOps enterprise software solutions support many initiatives and challenges associated with different manufacturing and distribution industries from Lean Manufacturing, Just-In-Time (JIT), and Six Sigma initiatives, to postponement strategies, to Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment (CPFR), and Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) activities. SmartOps inventory optimization algorithms manage uncertainties in the data and offer visibility into the drivers of inventory at the item-location-time period level of detail. SmartOps is able to do that because it looks at the right granularity of data to adequately manage safety stock levels and understand where the biggest ongoing opportunities for improvement are within their supply chains. 3. Point of Sale Capturing data at the time and place of sale. Point of sale systems use computers or specialized terminals that are combined with cash registers, bar code readers, optical scanners and magnetic stripe readers for accurately and instantly capturing the transaction. Point of sale systems may be online to a central computer for credit checking and inventory updating, or they may be stand-alone machines that store the daily transactions until they can be delivered or transmitted to the main computer for processing. Point of sale (POS) systems is electronic systems that provide businesses with the capability to retain and analyze a wide variety of inventory and transaction data on a continuous basis. POS systems have been touted as valuable tools for a wide variety of business purposes, including refining target marketing strategies; tracking supplier purchases; determining customer purchasing patterns; analyzing sales (on a daily, monthly, or annual basis) of each inventory item, department, or supplier; and creating reports for use in making purchases, reorders, etc. Basic point of sale systems currently in use includes standalone electronic cash registers, also known as ECRs; ECR-based network systems; and controller-based systems. All function essentially as sales and cash management tools, but each has features that are unique. Conclusion This result demonstrates the significant role of information technology in today's business world and in retail management. It indicates that a sound Information Technology system is imperative to success in large format retail. IT system can be leveraged to increase efficiencies in supply chain and vendor management as well as centralize their control. The findings from this study shows that with an efficient IT system a retailer can observe sales and consumer behavior more efficiently and accurately and thus plan its sourcing and customer promotions more effectively. This result also lead to the conclusion that use of new technologies in retailing helps to increase customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. An IT system is also beneficial for various retailing related operations. Retailers need to understand that technology is not a sunk cost but rather an investment to reduce heavy longterm costs. It is an investment to maintain competitive advantage for long-term growth. References
Decision support system
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search
Example of a Decision Support System for John Day Reservoir.
A decision support system (DSS) is a computer-based information system that supports business or organizational decision-making activities. DSSs serve the management, operations, and planning levels of an organization and help to make decisions, which may be rapidly changing and not easily specified in advance. DSSs include knowledge-based systems. A properly designed DSS is an interactive software-based system intended to help decision makers compile useful information from a combination of raw data, documents, personal knowledge, or business models to identify and solve problems and make decisions. Typical information that a decision support application might gather and present are:
y y y y
inventories of information assets (including legacy and relational data sources, cubes, data warehouses, and data marts), comparative sales figures between one period and the next, projected revenue figures based on product sales assumptions.
The decision support system option educates the student in the design, implementation and use of computerized systems that support business managers in the decision-making process. A decision support system (DSS) is a computer system that typically encompasses mathematical models as well as informational databases and a user interface in order to provide recommended decisions to manager-users. A DSS differs from a traditional information system (IS) or management information system (MIS) in that it
y
y
y
not only provides the user with information, databases or reports, as does an IS or MIS, but it also provides answers to user queries, i.e., decisions, through its modeling component. In essence a DSS is a computer system that helps managers make decisions. Students in the DSS option take a variety of specialized courses in the information technology field that enhances their ability to develop computer decision support systems. Course topics include information systems, database management, networks and telecommunications, security, decision support system development and implementation, visual interface design, artificial intelligence, client/server systems, internet systems development, and simulation as well as various mathematical modeling techniques. Specific computing language skills include C++, Visual Basic (VB.net) and JAVA. The job market for graduates of the DSS option is excellent. Over 100 companies and government organizations annually interview BIT seniors. DSS graduates typically obtain jobs in the information technology field. Job titles include consultant, technical consultant, systems analyst, systems developer, network administrator, management analyst, programmer analyst, project analyst, database developer, software developer, programming consultant, information manager, applications developer, and information management consultant, among many others. The largest single type of employer of DSS option graduates is typically consulting firms such as Accenture, KPMG, CGI, Deloitte & Touche, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Booz Allen Hamilton, among many others. However, numerous other types of companies and organizations hire DSS graduates to work in various IT-related jobs.
Application of it in inventory Oracle has introduced a Windows-based mobile client that will allow workers to access its supply chain management software directly from the retail floor or warehouse. The app, called PeopleSoft Mobile Inventory Management, has been folded into Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise Supply Chain Management suite. It requires a copy of the PeopleSoft Inventory and Fulfillment Management application to operate. The app is aimed mainly at industrial devices, which are still primarily using versions of Windows Mobile, the precursor to Windows Phone 7. It can run on portable wireless mobile devices running Windows Mobile 5 and 6, which are still offered by companies such as Intermec and Motorola. It will also work on a desktop version of Windows. The software does not run on the more recently released Windows Phone 7, but Oracle is working on a version for that operating system as well, an Oracle spokesperson confirmed. The company does not, however, have a potential release date for that version. With the software, users can check the inventory for the availability of items without having to walk to the actual storage location. It can also be used on the warehouse floor to reconcile the physical inventory against what is recorded in the database.
With the appropriate hardware attached, the software can scan barcodes and reconcile them directly with the back-end inventory systems, potentially reducing the errors that may occur when inventory numbers are entered by hand. The software runs in the Windows Mobile browser and communicates with the Java-based application logic located on an application server. The user interface has the same look and feel across multiple devices. User log-ins are authenticated directly against the back-end PeopleSoft system. This is the first mobile Oracle application that uses the company's Application Development Framework (ADF) Mobile, middleware that manages the information exchange between the handheld clients and back-end Oracle systems. The client was developed for health care customers as a way to get better control over inventory and receipt of medical supplies, though the software can be used across all industries with physical inventory, the company claims.
Decision support system
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Example of a Decision Support System for John Day Reservoir.
A decision support system (DSS) is a computer-based information system that supports business or organizational decision-making activities. DSSs serve the management, operations, and planning levels of an organization and help to make decisions, which may be rapidly changing and not easily specified in advance.
DSSs include knowledge-based systems. A properly designed DSS is an interactive software-based system intended to help decision makers compile useful information from a combination of raw data, documents, personal knowledge, or business models to identify and solve problems and make decisions. Typical information that a decision support application might gather and present are:
y y y
inventories of information assets (including legacy and relational data sources, cubes, data warehouses, and data marts), comparative sales figures between one period and the next, projected revenue figures based on product sales assumptions.
History
According to Keen (1978),[1] the concept of decision support has evolved from two main areas of research: The theoretical studies of organizational decision making done at the Carnegie Institute of Technology during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the technical work on interactive computer systems, mainly carried out at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 1960s. It is considered that the concept of DSS became an area of research of its own in the middle of the 1970s, before gaining in intensity during the 1980s. In the middle and late 1980s, executive information systems (EIS), group decision support systems (GDSS), and organizational decision support systems (ODSS) evolved from the single user and model-oriented DSS. According to Sol (1987)[2] the definition and scope of DSS has been migrating over the years. In the 1970s DSS was described as "a computer based system to aid decision making". Late 1970s the DSS movement started focusing on "interactive computer-based systems which help decision-makers utilize data bases and models to solve ill-structured problems". In the 1980s DSS should provide systems "using suitable and available technology to improve effectiveness of managerial and professional activities", and end 1980s DSS faced a new challenge towards the design of intelligent workstations.[2] In 1987 Texas Instruments completed development of the Gate Assignment Display System (GADS) for United Airlines. This decision support system is credited with significantly reducing travel delays by aiding the management of ground operations at various airports, beginning with O'Hare International Airport in Chicago and Stapleton Airport in Denver Colorado.[3][4] Beginning in about 1990, data warehousing and on-line analytical processing (OLAP) began broadening the realm of DSS. As the turn of the millennium approached, new Web-based analytical applications were introduced. The advent of better and better reporting technologies has seen DSS start to emerge as a critical component of management design. Examples of this can be seen in the intense amount of discussion of DSS in the education environment.
DSS also have a weak connection to the user interface paradigm of hypertext. Both the University of Vermont PROMIS system (for medical decision making) and the Carnegie Mellon ZOG/KMS system (for military and business decision making) were decision support systems which also were major breakthroughs in user interface research. Furthermore, although hypertext researchers have generally been concerned with information overload, certain researchers, notably Douglas Engelbart, have been focused on decision makers in particular.
[edit] Taxonomies
As with the definition, there is no universally-accepted taxonomy of DSS either. Different authors propose different classifications. Using the relationship with the user as the criterion, Haettenschwiler[5] differentiates passive, active, and cooperative DSS. A passive DSS is a system that aids the process of decision making, but that cannot bring out explicit decision suggestions or solutions. An active DSS can bring out such decision suggestions or solutions. A cooperative DSS allows the decision maker (or its advisor) to modify, complete, or refine the decision suggestions provided by the system, before sending them back to the system for validation. The system again improves, completes, and refines the suggestions of the decision maker and sends them back to him for validation. The whole process then starts again, until a consolidated solution is generated. Another taxonomy for DSS has been created by Daniel Power. Using the mode of assistance as the criterion, Power differentiates communication-driven DSS, data-driven DSS, documentdriven DSS, knowledge-driven DSS, and model-driven DSS.[6]
y y y y y
A communication-driven DSS supports more than one person working on a shared task; examples include integrated tools like Microsoft's NetMeeting or Groove[7] A data-driven DSS or data-oriented DSS emphasizes access to and manipulation of a time series of internal company data and, sometimes, external data. A document-driven DSS manages, retrieves, and manipulates unstructured information in a variety of electronic formats. A knowledge-driven DSS provides specialized problem-solving expertise stored as facts, rules, procedures, or in similar structures.[6] A model-driven DSS emphasizes access to and manipulation of a statistical, financial, optimization, or simulation model. Model-driven DSS use data and parameters provided by users to assist decision makers in analyzing a situation; they are not necessarily data-intensive. Dicodess is an example of an open source model-driven DSS generator.[8]
Using scope as the criterion, Power[9] differentiates enterprise-wide DSS and desktop DSS. An enterprise-wide DSS is linked to large data warehouses and serves many managers in the company. A desktop, single-user DSS is a small system that runs on an individual manager's PC.
[edit] Components
Design of a Drought Mitigation Decision Support System.
Three fundamental components of a DSS architecture are:[5][6][10][11][12]
1. the database (or knowledge base), 2. the model (i.e., the decision context and user criteria), and 3. the user interface.
The users themselves are also important components of the architecture.[5][12]
[edit] Development Frameworks
DSS systems are not entirely different from other systems and require a structured approach. Such a framework includes people, technology, and the development approach.[10] DSS technology levels (of hardware and software) may include:
1. The actual application that will be used by the user. This is the part of the application that allows the decision maker to make decisions in a particular problem area. The user can act upon that particular problem. 2. Generator contains Hardware/software environment that allows people to easily develop specific DSS applications. This level makes use of case tools or systems such as Crystal, AIMMS, and iThink. 3. Tools include lower level hardware/software. DSS generators including special languages, function libraries and linking modules
An iterative developmental approach allows for the DSS to be changed and redesigned at various intervals. Once the system is designed, it will need to be tested and revised for the desired outcome.
[edit] Classification
There are several ways to classify DSS applications. Not every DSS fits neatly into one category, but may be a mix of two or more architectures. Holsapple and Whinston[13] classify DSS into the following six frameworks: Text-oriented DSS, Database-oriented DSS, Spreadsheet-oriented DSS, Solver-oriented DSS, Rule-oriented DSS, and Compound DSS. A compound DSS is the most popular classification for a DSS. It is a hybrid system that includes two or more of the five basic structures described by Holsapple and Whinston.[13] The support given by DSS can be separated into three distinct, interrelated categories[14]: Personal Support, Group Support, and Organizational Support. DSS components may be classified as:
1. 2. 3. 4. Inputs: Factors, numbers, and characteristics to analyze User Knowledge and Expertise: Inputs requiring manual analysis by the user Outputs: Transformed data from which DSS "decisions" are generated Decisions: Results generated by the DSS based on user criteria
intelligence
needed]
DSSs which perform selected cognitive decision-making functions and are based on artificial or intelligent agents technologies are called Intelligent Decision Support Systems (IDSS).[citation
The nascent field of Decision engineering treats the decision itself as an engineered object, and applies engineering principles such as Design and Quality assurance to an explicit representation of the elements that make up a decision.
[edit] Applications
As mentioned above, there are theoretical possibilities of building such systems in any knowledge domain. One example is the clinical decision support system for medical diagnosis. Other examples include a bank loan officer verifying the credit of a loan applicant or an engineering firm that has bids on several projects and wants to know if they can be competitive with their costs. DSS is extensively used in business and management. Executive dashboard and other business performance software allow faster decision making, identification of negative trends, and better allocation of business resources. A growing area of DSS application, concepts, principles, and techniques is in agricultural production, marketing for sustainable development. For example, the DSSAT4 package,[15][16]
developed through financial support of USAID during the 80's and 90's, has allowed rapid assessment of several agricultural production systems around the world to facilitate decisionmaking at the farm and policy levels. There are, however, many constraints to the successful adoption on DSS in agriculture.[17] DSS are also prevalent in forest management where the long planning time frame demands specific requirements. All aspects of Forest management, from log transportation, harvest scheduling to sustainability and ecosystem protection have been addressed by modern DSSs. A comprehensive list and discussion of all available systems in forest management is being compiled under the COST action Forsys A specific example concerns the Canadian National Railway system, which tests its equipment on a regular basis using a decision support system. A problem faced by any railroad is worn-out or defective rails, which can result in hundreds of derailments per year. Under a DSS, CN managed to decrease the incidence of derailments at the same time other companies were experiencing an increase.
[edit] Benefits
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Improves personal efficiency Speed up the process of decision making Increases organizational control Encourages exploration and discovery on the part of the decision maker Speeds up problem solving in an organization Facilitates interpersonal communication Promotes learning or training Generates new evidence in support of a decision Creates a competitive advantage over competition Reveals new approaches to thinking about the problem space Helps automate managerial processes
