DELOS REYES, MARISSE F.

3BSAIS-B
AEIC 325-Managing Information and Technology

Module 1: Introduction to Managing Information Technology

Lesson 3: Types of Information Systems

APPLICATION:
For each of the following situations, select the appropriate management support system (MSS)
to aid the user: decision support system, executive support system, or expert system. In each
case, describe the MSS that you recommend.

1. You’re trying to identify a rash on your arm.

 EXPERT SYSTEM
Expert systems (ES) are programs that mimic the judgment of experts by following
sets of rules that experts would follow. They’re useful in such diverse areas as medical
diagnosis. Additionally, expert system is a computer program that, when well-crafted,
gives decision support in the form of accurate diagnostic information or, less commonly,
suggests treatment or prognosis. Diagnostic, therapeutic, or prognostic advice is given
after the program receives information (input) about the patient, usually via the
patient’s physician. Expert systems have characteristics which make them dissimilar
from other kinds of medical software.
2. You own two golf courses in the Northeast, and you’re thinking about building one in Florida.
You need to gather and analyze information about your current operations in the Northeast, as
well as external information about the golf industry in Florida.
 DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM
A decision support system (DSS) is an interactive system that collects, displays, and
integrates data from multiple sources to help managers make nonroutine decisions. Managers
might find the data needed to determine whether there’s sufficient demand for a Golf building
in Florida. The DSS will apply both types of data as variables in a quantitative model that
managers can analyze and interpret. People must make the final decision, but in making sense
of the relevant data, the DSS makes the decision-making process easier—and more reliable.

3. You own three McDonald’s franchises. Every morning, you want to know the revenues and
costs at each store. You’re also interested in a breakdown of revenues by product and costs by
category of expense (salaries, food and ingredients, maintenance, and so on).

 EXECUTIVE SUPPORT SYSTEM

Executive information system (EIS), which provides ready access to strategic information
that’s customized to their needs and presented in a convenient format. Using an EIS, for
example, a McDonald’s executive might simply touch a screen to view key
summary information that highlights in graphical form a critical area of corporate
performance, such as revenue trends. After scanning this summary, our executive can
“drill down” to retrieve more detailed information—for example, revenue trends by
resort or revenue trends from various types of activities, such as gaming, hotel, retail,
restaurant, or entertainment operations.