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CC6052 Management Support Systems

Revision and Review

Key Concepts covered in module

System concepts
MIS, DSS, ES, EIS, BI, ...

Technology concepts
Database: Data warehouse, data mart, data mining, OLAP Other technologies: AI, ES, ANNs, fuzzy logic, genetic algorithms, intelligent agents, game theory

Management techniques
SMART objectives, KPIs, KM, what if? analysis ...

Functional business concepts

CRM, ERP, HRM, Supply chain management, ...
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Exam format

Exam is 2 hours

Choice of any three questions from five

All questions carry equal marks No compulsory question Case study is provided (Officionado Ltd) Some questions will relate directly to case study

use case study for examples apply your knowledge in context of the case study
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Similar past papers Management Support Systems Old codes: BS3002, CC3001

Summary
Management Support Systems key issues Certainty, risk and uncertainty Database, data mart, data warehouse Data, information and knowledge Data mining Data transformation Definitions: OLAP, OLTP Executive dashboard Expert Systems and Intelligent Systems Strategic analysis SWOT and Balanced Scorecard Types and sources of data
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Summary
Management Support Systems key issues Certainty, risk and uncertainty Database, data mart, data warehouse Data, information and knowledge Data mining Data transformation Definitions: OLAP, OLTP Executive dashboard Expert Systems and Intelligent Systems Strategic analysis SWOT and Balanced Scorecard Types and sources of data
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Decisions: categories
Decisions can be made in the face of:

Uncertainty
Several possible outcomes for each course of action Decision-maker does not know (and cannot estimate) probabilities

Risk
Decision-maker must consider several possible outcomes for each course of action Probabilities of given outcomes are known or can be estimated

Certainty
Assumes full and complete knowledge is available Decision-maker knows the outcome of each course of action
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Summary
Management Support Systems key issues Certainty, risk and uncertainty Database, data mart, data warehouse Data, information and knowledge Data mining Data transformation Definitions: OLAP, OLTP Executive dashboard Expert Systems and Intelligent Systems Strategic analysis SWOT and Balanced Scorecard Types and sources of data
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Typical (simplified) scenario

External data? Strategic management EIS
Data warehouse
Data mart
* TPS = Transaction Processing Systems * OLTP = Online Transaction Processing

Tactical management MIS

Operational users TPS or OLTP *

TPS databases

Data marts
More than a database Similar to a data warehouse, but
for departmental rather than organisational use

specifically designed for the information needs of a particular group

rather than just based on data that happens to exist
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Data warehouses

Accessed by BI applications

retrieve data for analysis using OLAP

Contain multi-dimensional data, e.g. sales data by

customer (and customer groupings) product (and product categories) time period

e.g. month, quarter, year

geographic region e.g. area of town, district, country, world

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Data warehouses

Subject-oriented

customer, product, ...

Integrated

collected from diverse sources, internal and external

Time variant

accurate at some frozen point in time, not time of access, not right now

Non-volatile

static, not updated in DW, transferred from volatile TPS periodically

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in support of managements decision-making process

for Management Support Systems

Summary
Management Support Systems key issues Certainty, risk and uncertainty Database, data mart, data warehouse Data, information and knowledge Data mining Data transformation Definitions: OLAP, OLTP Executive dashboard Expert Systems and Intelligent Systems Strategic analysis SWOT and Balanced Scorecard Types and sources of data
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Data, information or knowledge?

Data, information and knowledge...

Names of areas and map references would be considered data Details of distances and direction between areas would be information Details of routes constitutes knowledge
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Summary
Management Support Systems key issues Certainty, risk and uncertainty Database, data mart, data warehouse Data, information and knowledge Data mining Data transformation Definitions: OLAP, OLTP Executive dashboard Expert Systems and Intelligent Systems Strategic analysis SWOT and Balanced Scorecard Types and sources of data
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Data mining

Used to identify

in the data within a data warehouse Has applications in Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
analysis of loyalty card data analysis of web-site activity
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Data mining

Identifying patterns, trends or correlations in the data...

Association

one event is connected to another event one event leads to a later event new patterns that may lead to new ways of organising the data gathering & documenting groups of facts not previously known discovering patterns in data leading to reasonable predictions
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Sequence or path analysis

Classification

Clustering

Forecasting

MIS, EIS/OLAP and Data Mining

MIS Who are in the top 20% of our customers? EIS / OLAP Who are the top 20% customers for a particular product range and/or in a particular geographic region and/or in a particular time period? Data mining What are the characteristics of our top 20% of customers?

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Summary
Management Support Systems key issues Certainty, risk and uncertainty Database, data mart, data warehouse Data, information and knowledge Data mining Data transformation Definitions: OLAP, OLTP Executive dashboard Expert Systems and Intelligent Systems Strategic analysis SWOT and Balanced Scorecard Types and sources of data
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Data and information: processes

Data is processed or transformed to produce information

Examples of data processes:

classification rearranging / sorting aggregating performing calculations selection exceptions presentation (graph / table / chart / diagram)

Information produced used to support decision-making

(Chaffey, 2003) 19

Summary
Management Support Systems key issues Certainty, risk and uncertainty Database, data mart, data warehouse Data, information and knowledge Data mining Data transformation Definitions: OLAP, OLTP Executive dashboard Expert Systems and Intelligent Systems Strategic analysis SWOT and Balanced Scorecard Types and sources of data
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On Line Analytical Processing (OLAP)

Functionality for real-time analysis of multi-dimensional data Term is used to cover end-user software or or both the software and the data

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On Line Analytical Processing (OLAP)

OLAP allows users to navigate through multi-dimensional data (a hypercube)

which dimensions to view?

time, area, sales, products, customers, income, profit...

how to aggregate the data?

profit per customer, sales per employee, trends over time...

slice and dice data mining...

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On Line Analytical Processing (OLAP)

OLAP analysing data in visual form, different dimensions

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On Line Transaction Processing (OLTP)

Updating database
When an item is: ordered by a customer sold reduce number in stock delivered new stock available on order waiting for delivery reduced lower price to encourage sale returned not wanted by customer faulty damaged or not working missing unable to locate item

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Summary
Management Support Systems key issues Certainty, risk and uncertainty Database, data mart, data warehouse Data, information and knowledge Data mining Data transformation Definitions: OLAP, OLTP Executive dashboard Expert Systems and Intelligent Systems Strategic analysis SWOT and Balanced Scorecard Types and sources of data
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Executive Information Systems (EIS)

Executive Information Systems

Characteristics

easy-to-use graphical user interface, e.g. an executive dashboard for casual users of the system want answers, not SQL skills! provide reporting and analysis (OLAP*) features enable drill down from summary information to detail data managers want to make strategic decisions based on an organisation-wide repository of information, e.g. a data warehouse (with data from multiple TPS sources used by senior management: select, retrieve & manage information to support the achievement of an organisation's business objectives

* OLAP = Online analytical processing - do not confuse with OLTP!

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Executive Information Systems (EIS)

Executive dashboard tools
pie chart

graph

simulation, animation, picture

dial
combined representations

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Map with hot spots of activity

Executive Information Systems (EIS)

Typical features offered in commercial products:
Unlimited Drill Downs Drill Downs both Vertically and Horizontally Custom Views Track Projects and Milestones with Email Alerts Trending of Data Create "if then" expressions for detailed analytics Advanced Charting and Graphing Detailed Reports Identify, track, trend, and correct problems Identify operational efficiencies Proactively identify and apply corrective measures

How could Officionado managers make use of such a system...? clients...orders...products...product groups...suppliers...staff
best clients: corporate/private best products: which sell well, which sell best within product group sales staff: most sales/most revenue suppliers: suppliers of most popular products areas: where there are most sales

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Summary
Management Support Systems key issues Certainty, risk and uncertainty Database, data mart, data warehouse Data, information and knowledge Data mining Data transformation Definitions: OLAP, OLTP Executive dashboard Expert Systems and Intelligent Systems Strategic analysis SWOT and Balanced Scorecard Types and sources of data
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Transferring expertise

Expert

Knowledge engineer

Expert system

User

Development (including knowledge acquisition)

Consultation

Objective: transfer expertise from expert to ES to non-expert (user) Involves: Knowledge acquisition (knowledge elicitation from a person) Knowledge representation Knowledge inferencing Knowledge transfer to user

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Turban (2001)

Gathering expertise

Structured interviews

Expert is interviewed identifies important items in the domain identifies associated attributes

Repertory Grid Analysis

create a scale of characteristics (opposites) place items on scale solutions are placed on grid (table)

Triads

Groups of three items are classified why two are alike, and the third different combine in many different ways

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Triads example
left-wing
Ed Miliband

deceased
Ronald Reagan

female
Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher

Ronald Reagan

Margaret Thatcher

Ed Miliband

Ronald Reagan

Ed Miliband

right-wing

living

male
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Knowledge representation

Knowledge identified, stored and represented

Semantic networks Association lists (alists) Search trees
depth-first search breadth-first search

Frames Facts Rules

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Rules

Production rules
format:
pattern action typically in the form of ifthen rules in prolog: predicate is true if components satisfied
sibling(X,Y) :- parents(X, M, F), parents(Y, M, F). X is a sibling of Y if X has mother M and father F and Y has mother M and father F

Check whether person X is their own sibling!

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Intelligent agents

Intelligent agents are programs that...

work in the background without direct human intervention... perform specific, repetitive, and predictable tasks... for an individual user, business process, or software application... with some degree of independence

Agents use in-built/learned knowledge to accomplish tasks/make decisions for the user

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Intelligent agents - levels

Level 0 - e.g. web browsers

agents retrieve documents for user under direct orders e.g. user specifies URL

Level 1 - search engines

agents provide a user-initiated search facility

Level 2 - software agents

o
o o

maintain users profiles

monitor Internet information notify users when relevant information is found

Level 3 - learning or truly intelligent agents

o

have a learning and deductive component of user profiles to help a user who cannot formalise a query or target for a search

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Intelligent agents - applications

Intelligent agents
can be programmed to make decisions based on user's personal preferences e.g.
delete junk e-mail schedule appointments travel over interconnected networks to find the cheapest airfare

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Intelligent agents - applications

An agent is like a personal digital assistant collaborating with the user in the same work environment can help the user by
o o o o o

performing tasks on the user's behalf training or teaching the user hiding the complexity of difficult tasks helping the user collaborate with other users monitoring events and procedures

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Summary
Management Support Systems key issues Certainty, risk and uncertainty Database, data mart, data warehouse Data, information and knowledge Data mining Data transformation Definitions: OLAP, OLTP Executive dashboard Expert Systems and Intelligent Systems Strategic analysis SWOT and Balanced Scorecard Types and sources of data
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SWOT analysis
Involves a detailed and exhaustive assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the business and the opportunities and threats presented by its product markets and other environments such as suppliers and technology developers

(Pearson, 1999)
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SWOT analysis

Otns p ue p i o t r i En xa tr l e fcs ar t o

Ta ht r s e

C Sg t ns r t eh

D We s e s a s k e n

Itr lar n acs e ft n o

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Balanced Scorecard

Traditional performance measurement based mainly on financial measures

Balanced scorecard designed to translate overall mission and business strategy into specific, quantifiable goals Usually divided into 4 key areas:
financial customer internal business process learning and growth

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Summary
Management Support Systems key issues Certainty, risk and uncertainty Database, data mart, data warehouse Data, information and knowledge Data mining Data transformation Definitions: OLAP, OLTP Executive dashboard Expert Systems and Intelligent Systems Strategic analysis SWOT and Balanced Scorecard Types and sources of data
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Data and information: types, sources

Types of data:
qualitative quantitative internal external private

Managers need information to support their decision-making i.e. any management decision will have associated information needs

Sources of data:

Information:

data processed for a purpose reduces uncertainty about a situation

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(Chaffey, 2003)

Summary
Management Support Systems key issues Certainty, risk and uncertainty Database, data mart, data warehouse Data, information and knowledge Data mining Data transformation Definitions: OLAP, OLTP Executive dashboard Expert Systems and Intelligent Systems Strategic analysis SWOT and Balanced Scorecard Types and sources of data
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Good luck in all your examinations!

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