CC6052 Management Support Systems

Week 6

Management Support Systems

Outline of different types of MSS Nature of support offered
1

Last two weeks

Management
functions, roles, levels, productivity

Decisions
categories, disciplines, cognitive style, etc. special session on judgement and decision-making

Decision-making
theory, phases, approaches, models

Data and information

types, sources, processes, value, characteristics

Support for management decision-making

This week
A brief outline of different types of MSS:
Management Information Systems (MIS)
information reporting systems, databases

Executive Information Systems (EIS) Business Intelligence (BI) Decision Support Systems (DSS)
DSS and Group DSS

Expert Systems (ES)

rules enhancing the use of a specialist database mimicking experts

What support do MSS provide?

Typical scenario (simplified)

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

Data mart Tactical management MIS

Operational users
TPS or OLTP * TPS databases

MIS: Information Reporting Systems

Management Information Systems (MIS)

Systems providing feedback on organisational activities and supporting managerial decision-making Sometimes used to mean:

Information Reporting Systems

Systems to generate reports containing information that can be used to support decision-making Periodic reports Exception reports Ad hoc reports
including end user ad hoc query and reporting tools
5

MIS and Databases

Management Information Systems (MIS)

Provide information to management, typically based on summarised operational (i.e. internal) data

may be derived directly from the TPS database itself

or
operational data may be periodically migrated to a specific reporting database
could be a simple copy or a more sophisticated transformation suitable for reporting purposes reporting database might be called a data mart
6

Executive Information Systems (EIS)

Executive Information Systems

Systems used by senior management
select retrieve manage information to support the achievement of an organisation's business objectives
7

Executive Information Systems (EIS)

Executive Information Systems

Characteristics

easy-to-use graphical user interface, e.g. an executive dashboard provide reporting and analysis (OLAP*) features

enable managers to drill down from summary information to detail data based on an organisation-wide repository of information, e.g. a data warehouse (with data from multiple TPS sources)

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

Executive Information Systems (EIS)

From: http://centerview.corda.com/corda/dashboards/welcomegroups/main.dashxml
9

(14 October 2010)

Executive Information Systems (EIS)

From: http://centerview.corda.com/corda/dashboards/welcomegroups/main.dashxml (14 October 2010)

10

Executive Information Systems (EIS)

From http://centerview.corda.com/corda/dashboards/welcomegroups/main.dashxml
11 (14 October 2010)

Executive Information Systems (EIS)

12

http://centerview.corda.com/corda/dashboards/EuropeanPopulations/main.dashxml#cordaDash=1002
(14 October 2010)

Executive Information Systems (EIS)

13

http://centerview.corda.com/corda/dashboards/examples/sales/main.dashxml#cordaDash=1000
(14 October 2010)

Executive Information Systems (EIS)

From http://centerview.corda.com/corda/dashboards/welcomegroups/main.dashxml
14

(14 October 2010)

Executive Information Systems (EIS)

15

From: http://centerview.corda.com/corda/dashboards/welcomegroups/main.dashxml
(14 October 2010)

Executive Information Systems (EIS)

16

http://www.dashboardinsight.com/dashboards/screenshots/corda-centerview-dashboard.aspx
(7 November 2012)

Executive Information Systems (EIS)

Dashboard design winner 2012: http://www.perceptualedge.com/blog/?p=1374

17

(7 November 2012)

Executive Information Systems (EIS)

Dashboard design runner-up 2012:

http://www.perceptualedge.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/dashboard-competition-runner-up.png

18

(7 November 2012)

Executive Information Systems (EIS)

19

From: http://www.iexecutivedashboard.com/solution/screenshots.html

(7 November 2012)

Executive Information Systems (EIS)

20

From: http://www.iexecutivedashboard.com/solution/screenshots.html

(7 November 2012)

Executive Information Systems (EIS)

21

From: http://www.iexecutivedashboard.com/solution/screenshots.html
(7 November 2012)

Executive Information Systems (EIS)

22

From: http://www.iexecutivedashboard.com/solution/screenshots.html
(7 November 2012)

Executive Information Systems (EIS)

Features offered by Executive Dashboard (commercial product):
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

From: http://www.iexecutivedashboard.com/solution/screenshots.html
23

(7 November 2012)

Executive Information Systems (EIS)

Executive Dashboard promises (commercial product):

Effectively identify, track, trend, and correct problems as you evaluate the health of key areas of your organization Continually identify operational efficiencies Proactively identify and apply corrective measures

From: http://www.iexecutivedashboard.com/solution/screenshots.html
24

(7 November 2012)

Business Intelligence (BI)

Business Intelligence

... a broad category of applications and technologies for gathering storing analysing providing access to data to help enterprise users make better business decisions
Visit Microsoft's BI website: http://www.microsoft.com/bi/default.aspx Jaspersoft: http://www.jaspersoft.com/ http://www.domo.com/#video
25

Business Intelligence (BI)

Business

Intelligence

an industry term covering a wide range of applications and technologies including:

Data warehouse Data mining Decision Support Systems Ad hoc query and reporting tools Statistical analysis Forecasting

Performance management
OLAP (Online analytical processing - multiple views of data relationships)
26

Decision Support Systems (DSS)

Decision Support Systems

Computer-based IS that provide managers with

information

tools

to support semi-structured and unstructured decision-making

27

Decision Support Systems (DSS)

Decision Support Systems

support decision making in all its phases

use data (similar to MIS), with

significant analysis capabilities (e.g. using modelling techniques)

link intellectual resources of people

with computing capabilities to improve decision quality

can support the process by helping to identify

28

a range of valid solutions to a given problem

Group Decision Support Systems

Group Decision Support Systems

Specialist software to bring a group together to solve problems with the help of polling, questionnaires, brainstorming and scenario creation

uses special-purpose software, hardware and location designed to encourage positive group behaviour
ideas generation, conflict resolution, freedom of expression

designed to minimise negative group behaviour

destructive conflict, miscommunication and 'group-think'
29

From Database to Expert System

A database

is a collection of related data

A knowledge-based

system (KBS) uses facts and heuristics (rules of thumb) as experts do expert system models human competence in a particular specialist field; it may use facts and rules, and deal with uncertainty
30

An

Modelling knowledge
Knowledge
rules facts truths reasons heuristics

is treated as any

acquired from experts that have been found useful in the problem solving domain
31

Expert Systems & AI Languages

An

expert system is a KBS that mimics thought processes to solve problems in a particular domain Artificial intelligence languages can be used to build KBS and expert systems Prolog and Lisp are used in this context to build expert systems We will look at some simple Prolog
32

Prolog
Prolog

comes from logic programming In Prolog we can

represent

facts ask questions use variables (e.g. what is X?) construct rules
A collection

of Prolog facts can be regarded as a

33

database

Prolog
Facts

in Prolog
Meaning Gold is valuable Jane is female John owns gold John is Marys father Joe likes fish Joe likes Mary Mary likes books John likes books
34

Fact valuable(gold). female(jane). owns(john, gold). father(john, mary). likes(joe, fish). likes(joe, mary). likes(mary, books). likes(john, books).

Prolog

We can ask questions of our Prolog database

?- likes(joe, money). no * nothing in the facts to say that Joe likes money ?- likes(mary, joe). no * just because Joe likes Mary, it does not mean Mary likes Joe ?- likes(mary, books). yes * Mary likes books is stored in the database ?- king(john, france). no * nothing in the facts to say that John is the King of France In Prolog, no means not as far as I know rather than definitely not
35

Prolog
Using

variables in Prolog

Variables

begin with capital letters We can ask Does Joe like X?

?-likes(joe, X). X = fish; * Joe likes fish is stored in the facts X = mary; * Joe likes Mary is stored in the facts no * there is no record of Joe liking anything else

The semicolon asks for any other solutions Here we find that there are only two answers
36

Prolog
We can ask a question using a variable Is there something that John and Mary both like?

?-likes(mary, X), likes(john, X). X = books; no Prolog tells us that John and Mary both like books There is nothing else recorded that they both like
37

Prolog

We can construct rules using Prolog facts Rule for a person to be a sibling of another:
person X is the sibling of person Y if person X has mother M and father F AND person Y has mother M and father F

In Prolog, the rule is written as:

sibling-of (X, Y) :- parents (X, M, F), parents (Y, M, F).

(The colours are used to indicate person X , person Y , mother M and father F; they do not appear in Prolog)

38

Prolog
Using

rules in Prolog, we no longer need everything to be represented as facts can ask the Prolog database a question using rules as well as facts can also ask a question using variables within a rule (e.g. Who is a sibling of Alice?)
39

We

We

Prolog
Facts - the Prolog database male(albert). male(edward). female(alice). female(victoria) parents(edward, victoria, albert). parents(alice, victoria, albert). If we now ask a question - using our rule: sibling-of(alice, edward). yes * Alice and Edward have the same parents sibling-of(alice, fred). no * Fred is not in the database, so Prolog says "no"
40

image from:http://blog.londonconnection.com/?cat=1 (14 October 2010)

Prolog

How could we amend the rule to ask if someone is the sister of someone else? Could someone be their own sister? How could we specify this (in English)? These are the kinds of problems faced in building an expert system
- getting the facts and rules right - making the tests in the correct sequence
41

Expert Systems (ES)

Expert System ... decision-making computer software designed to imitate human expert performance in a specialised field

42

Expert Systems (ES)

Expert System

expertise of a human expert extracted using knowledge acquisition techniques 'knowledge' stored as facts & rules - used as required makes inferences and arrives at a specific conclusion consists of knowledge base, inference engine and user interface

shell - expert system without the knowledge

enables

creation of expert system just add knowledge!

43

Types and levels of decisions: Types of IS

Management Level Strategic Decision Types IS Support EIS BI & OLAP GDSS DSS & GDSS Tactical ES

MIS
TPS (OLTP) ES

Operational

44

Types and levels of decisions: Expert system offering decision Types of IS that would otherwise require
Management Level Strategic human expertise Decision IS Support Types EIS BI & OLAP GDSS DSS & GDSS Tactical ES

MIS
TPS (OLTP) ES

Operational

45

Types and levels of decisions: Expert system offering decision Types of IS that would otherwise require
Management Level Strategic human expertise Decision IS Support Types EIS BI & OLAP GDSS DSS & GDSS Tactical ES

MIS
TPS (OLTP) ES

Operational

46

Types and levels of decisions: Senior managers have Types of IS acquired expertise through
Management Level Strategic experience Decision Types IS Support EIS BI & OLAP GDSS DSS & GDSS Tactical ES

MIS
TPS (OLTP) ES

Operational

47

Useful website and examples

Example of a DSS application package Business intelligence / OLAP / ad hoc query & reporting tools

www.expertchoice.com (free 15-day trial available!)

http://www.jaspersoft.com/
http://www.jaspersoft.com/regForms/download-30day-trial/index.php?leadsource=PPCGoogle&gclid=CJTNgtjJxasCFcIKfAodCgMz1A (free 30-day trial)

www.businessobjects.com (see Product Overview page) www.cognos.com (see Product Overview page) www.hyperion.com www.oracle.com/technology/products/discoverer

Expert Systems
search for Mycin, Prospector, DENDRAL (well-known early ES) search for Emycin (empty Mycin - expert system shell) http://www.ghg.net/clips/CLIPS.html
48

Further reading

Chaffey, D. (ed.), 2003, Business Information Systems, 2nd ed., FT Prentice Hall Management information systems: pages 252 - 263 Laudon, K. & Laudon, J., 2004, Management Information Systems, 8th ed., Pearson Prentice Hall Database Trends: pages 234-238 + DSS, GDSS + EIS: pages 349-364 Lucey, T., 1997, Management Information Systems, 8th edition, Continuum Computers and MIS: pages 224 - 233 Turban E. & Aronson J.E., 2001, Decision Support Systems and Intelligent Systems (6th edition), Prentice Hall Business Publishing MSS - an overview: pages 13 - 23 Whiteley, D., 2004, Introduction to Information Systems, Palgrave Management Information: pages 171-184 + ES: pages 161-169
49