Assignment 2

(Decision Support System & Expert System)

Submitted To:

Prof. Dr. Vinay Singh

By
Ishan Kakkar (2019MBA-13)
Assignment 2
Q1. Describe the importance and role of Collaborative Computing Technologies in Group
Support Systems
1. Group Support System (GSS)
A group support system (GSS) is any combination of hardware and software that enhances
groupwork. Common group activities take place with computer assistance, which are:
• Information retrieval
• Information sharing
o Parallelism
o Anonymity
• Information use
A GSS support participants by improving productivity and effectiveness of meetings as a result:
• More efficient decision-making
• Increase effectiveness of decisions
Computers have been used for several decades to facilitate group-work and group decision
making, lately, collaborative tools have received even greater attention due to their increased
capabilities and ability to save money.

2. Groupware (A Pre-cursor to GSS)

The name Groupware signifies a software providing collaborative support to groups
• Its applications are temporal & setting oriented in nature (time/place)
• Groupware applications make use of Internet technologies to facilitate communication.
• Groupware applications offer the following capabilities:
▪ Electronic brainstorming (Where team members remotely brainstorm)
▪ Free flow of ideas and comments
▪ Electronic conferencing or videoconferencing
▪ Group scheduling and calendars
▪ Conflict resolution
▪ Model building
▪ Electronic document sharing
▪ Voting services
▪ Electronic meeting services also available
• Enterprise-wide systems are expensive in cost and human resources.

3. Collaboration
• The primary aim of groupwork is collaboration and there can be no collaboration
without communication.
• For this communication the internet platform supplies fast, reliable, inexpensive
support.
• Another important aspect is that groups need not only communication, but information
and knowledge.
• Information may be located external to the project
• Members can be located in different places and work at different times
• Collaboration allows for rapid solutions
• During collaboration a situation might arise which may exhibit normal team problems
of synergy or conflict
• Collaboration effectiveness in dependent on time & place as mentioned above. A
representation with regards to temporal synchronicity & place setting is shown below.

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Assignment 2
Same Time Different Time

Same Place 1. GSS in decision room

1. GSS in decision room
2. Web-based GSS
2. Web-based GSS
3. Workflow Management System
3. Multimedia Presentation System
4. E-mail
4. Whiteboard
5. Document Sharing
5. Document Sharing
6. Video Conferencing Playback

1. Web-based GSS
1. Web-based GSS 2. Video Conferencing Playback
2. Video Conferencing 3. Audio Conferencing
Different Place

3. Audio Conferencing 4. Computer Conferencing with

4. Computer Conferencing memory
5. Whiteboard 3. Whiteboard
6. Document Sharing 5. Document Sharing
7. E-mail 6. E-mail
7. Workflow Management System
Time/Place Communication Framework & CCT.

4. GSS/CCT Deployment & Roles

GSS/CCT are deployed and used under three main roles

4.1.Special purpose decision room

• These are special Electronic meeting rooms in the organisation’s building where
people across various teams, can collaborate.
• The software/application of the GSS operates across LAN
• It allows for face-to-face meetings
• Trained facilitator coordinates meeting
• Group leader structures meeting with facilitator

4.2.Multiple use facility

• There exist general purpose computer labs in many organisations where different
team members & stake holders engage in collaborative work from the workstations
of this lab.
• Effective way to lower costs
• Here too trained facilitator coordinates meeting
• Group leader structures meeting with facilitator

4.3.Web-based groupware with clients

• Anytime/anyplace meetings with deadlines established. (Especially useful in
current times like this where people are working from homes)
• Software bought or leased. (Now-a-days there are platform subscriptions, like
Microsoft teams, riot.im etc. which allow a specific no. of people to join)
• There are no facility costs but subscriptions cost may be involved (usually are).
• These services are very flexible in nature.

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Assignment 2
Collaborative Computing/GSS & Web-Impact
Collaborative
Web Impacts Impacts on the Web
Computing/GSS

1. Consistent, friendly, graphical

1. Improvements in
user interface for client units
management,
2. Convenient, fast access to
hardware, software; and
team members
infrastructure due mainly to
3. Improved collaboration tools
collaboration in (Webbased)
4. Access to data / information /
Collaboration CASE and other systems
knowledge on servers
analysis and design tools
5. Enables document sharing
2. Improvements in site design
6. Enables anywhere/anytime
and development methods
collaboration.
3. Simultaneous Web surfing
7. Enables collaboration between
(e.g., Groove)
companies, customers & vendors

1. Improved, fast communication

among group members and inks
to data / information /
Communication knowledge sources Same as above
2. Makes audio and video
conferencing a reality, especially
for individuals not using a LAN

1. Consistent, friendly, graphical

user interface for clients
2. Communication support
Decision Rooms 3. Access to Web-based tools Same as above
4. Room design teams can
collaborate to provide dramatic
improvements in facilities
Mixed-mode
Same as above Same as above
Facilities
Co-located Team
Facilities Provides fast connections to enable
Same as above
(members in real-time collaboration
different locations)

4.4.GSS Meeting Process

• Group leader meets with facilitator to plan meeting structure.
• Participants meet on computers.
• Group leader or facilitator poses question.
• Participants brainstorm by entering comments into computer.
• Facilitator employs idea organization software to sort comments into common
themes.
• Results are displayed.

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Assignment 2
• Facilitator or group leader leads discussion.
• Themes are prioritized.
• Highest priority topics are either sent through the process again for further
discussion or a vote is taken.
• Standard Process
▪ Exploratory idea generation
▪ Idea organization tool
▪ Prioritization
▪ New idea generation
▪ Selection of final idea
• Success based upon effectiveness, reduction in costs, better decisions, increased
productivity

Q2. How Knowledge Management processes help in enterprise wise decision making
using Information System?

Knowledge management is the process of creating, sharing, using and managing the knowledge
and information of an organization. It refers to a multidisciplinary approach to achieve
organisational objectives by making the best use of knowledge.

Knowledge management helps enterprise in wise decision making using several IT tools along
with the human creativity and innovative powers. There are two fundamental approaches to
knowledge management:
• The Process Approach: The process approach attempts to codify organizational
knowledge through formalized controls, processes, and technologies. Organizations
adopting the process approach may implement explicit policies governing how
knowledge is to be collected, stored, and disseminated throughout the organization. The
process approach frequently involves the use of information technologies, such as
intranets, data warehousing, knowledge repositories, decision support tools, and
groupware, to enhance the quality and speed of knowledge creation and distribution in
the organizations. The main criticisms of the process approach are that it fails to capture
much of the tacit knowledge embedded in firms and forces individuals into fixed
patterns of thinking.
• The Practice Approach: The practice approach to knowledge management assumes
that a great deal of organizational knowledge is tacit in nature, and that formal controls,
processes, and technologies. are not suitable for transmitting this type of understanding.
Rather than building formal systems to manage knowledge, the focus of this approach
is to build the social environments or communities of practice necessary to facilitate
the sharing of tacit understanding.
• Hybrid Approaches: The hybrid approach to knowledge management is used in many
organizations. This is basically the mixture of both process and practice approach, it is
used in the early development process when it may not be very clear how to extract
useful knowledge.

The knowledge in a good KM system is never finished because the environment changes over
time, and the knowledge must be updated to reflect the changes. The cycle works as follows:

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Assignment 2

1. Create knowledge - Knowledge is created as people determine new ways of doing

things or develop know-how. Sometimes external knowledge is brought in. Some of
these new ways may become best practices.
2. Capture knowledge - New knowledge must be identified as valuable and be re-
presented in a reasonable way.
3. Refine knowledge - New knowledge must be placed in context so that it is actionable.
This is where human insights (tacit qualities) must be captured along with explicit facts.
4. Store knowledge - Useful knowledge must then be stored in a reasonable format in a
knowledge repository so that others in the organization can access it.
5. Manage knowledge - Like a library, the knowledge must be kept current. It must be
reviewed to verify that it is relevant and accurate.
6. Disseminate knowledge - Knowledge must be made available in a useful format to
anyone in the organization who needs it, anywhere and anytime.

Several technologies have contributed to significant advances in knowledge management

tools. Artificial intelligence, intelligent agents, knowledge discovery in databases, and
Extensible Markup Language (XML) are examples of technologies that enable advanced
functionality of modern knowledge management systems and form the base for future
innovations in the KM field.
• Artificial Intelligence: AI methods can assist in identifying expertise, eliciting
knowledge automatically and semi automatically, interfacing through natural language
processing, and intelligent search through intelligent agents. AI methods, notably
expert systems, neural networks, fuzzy logic, and intelligent agents, are used in
knowledge management systems to do the following:

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Assignment 2
▪ Assist in and enhance searching knowledge (e.g., intelligent agents in Web
searches).
▪ Help establish knowledge profiles of individuals and groups.
▪ Help determine the relative importance of knowledge when it is contributed to
and
▪ accessed from the knowledge repository.
▪ Scan e-mail, documents, and databases to perform knowledge discovery,
determine
▪ meaningful relationships, glean knowledge, or induce rules for expert systems.
▪ Identify patterns in data (usually through neural networks).
▪ Forecast future results using existing knowledge.
▪ Provide advice directly from knowledge by using neural networks or expert
systems.
▪ Provide a natural language or voice command-driven user interface for a
knowledge management system.
• Intelligent Agents: Intelligent agents are software systems that learn how users work
and provide assistance in their daily tasks. There are other kinds of intelligent agents as
well. There are a number of ways that intelligent agents can help in knowledge
management systems. Typically, they are used to elicit and identify knowledge.
Combining intelligent agents with enterprise knowledge portals is a powerful technique
that can deliver to users exactly what they need to perform their tasks. The intelligent
agent learns what the user prefers to see, and how the user organizes it. Then the
intelligent agent takes over to provide it at the desktop, just as a good administrative
assistant would.
• Knowledge discovery in Databases: Knowledge discovery in databases is a process
used to search for and extract useful information from volumes of documents and data.
It includes tasks known as
▪ Knowledge extraction
▪ Data archaeology
▪ Data exploration
▪ Data pattern processing
▪ Data dredging
▪ Information harvesting
• Extensible Markup Language (XML): Extensible Markup Language (XML) enables
standardized representations of data structures so that data can be processed
appropriately by heterogeneous systems without case-by-case programming. This
method suits e-commerce applications and supply chain management systems that
operate across enterprise boundaries. XML not only can automate processes and reduce
paperwork, but also can unite business partners and supply chains for better
collaboration and knowledge transfer. XML-based messages can be taken from back-
end repositories and fed out through the portal interface and back again. A portal that
uses XML allows the company to communicate better with its customers, linking them
in a virtual demand chain where changes in customer requirements are immediately
reflected in production plans.

Therefore, Knowledge Management processes helps enterprise in wise decision-making using

Information System and following advantages cab be drawn:
• KM enables an enterprise to build and sharpen its competitive edge, for survival and
growth in the competitive globalized economy. By using IT tools, KM enables an
enterprise to design and implement most appropriate corporate strategies.

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Assignment 2
• KM is basically built on the knowledge generated, shared and utilized through a
learning organisation.
• KM provides knowledge which can be embedded in organisational processes. It makes
knowledge available for decision-making purposes. It helps to improve organisational
efficiency, resulting in reduced costs and increased profits, for the organisation.
• KM motivates people to enhance their intellectual capabilities, resulting in new skills,
improvement of existing skills etc.
• KM help an enterprise enhance its goodwill in the global market; enabling it to acquire
more success and prosperity.

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