Management

Support Systems

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Major MS Systems

Management Information
Systems (MIS)

Decision Support Systems (DSS)

Group Decision Support Systems
(GDSS)

Executive Support Systems (ESS)

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Management Information Systems
(MIS)

MIS were the original type of mgmt
support systems.

Produce information that support day-
to-day decision-making needs of mgmt.

Predefined information products.

Structured types of decision situations.

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MIS - Attributes
 Inputs: high volume data
 Processing: simple models
 Outputs: summary reports
 Users: middle managers
 Structured decisions
 Example: Annual budgeting

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MIS - Management Reporting
Alternatives
 Periodic scheduled reports
 Uses pre-specified format to provide
info. on a regular basis.
 Typical e.g.
 Weekly sales analysis reports
 Monthly financial statements
 Exception Reports
 Produced when exceptional conditions occur

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MIS - Management Reporting
Alternatives (Cont’d)
 Demand reports and responses
 Info. is provided whenever a manager
demands it.
 DBMS query languages and report
generations allow this.

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MIS - Online Analytical
Processing

Enables managers and analysts to interactively
examine & manipulate large amounts of
detailed and consolidated data from many
perspectives

Analyze complex relationships to discover
patterns, trends, and exception conditions

Real-time

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MIS - Basic Analytical Operations

Consolidation
 Aggregation of data

Drill-Down
 Rivers direction of consolidation
 Detailed data that comprises
consolidated data are displayed

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MIS - Basic Analytical Operations
(Cont’d)

Slicing and Dicing
 Refers to the ability to look at the data-
base from different viewpoints.
 e.g.
 sales by region
 sales by product
 sales by salesperson
 When performed along a time axis,
helps analyze trends and find patterns
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Decision Support Systems (DSS)

Provide interactive information support in smi-
structured and unstructured decision-making
processes.

DSS use:
 Model base (Analytical models)
 Database
 A decision maker’s own insights and
judgments
 Interactive modeling process

Are Adhoc-systems
 Support specific types of decisions and the personal decision-
making styles and needs of individual managers.

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DSS and MIS Differences
 MIS focuses on providing managers with
pre-specified information products.
 Report on the performance of the organization
 More structured problems

 DSS focuses on providing information

interactively to support specific types of
decisions by individual managers.
 Semi-structured and unstructured problems

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Types of Decision Support Systems
Model-driven DSS
• Use models to perform “what-if” and similar
analysis
 Data-driven DSS
• Integrated with large pools of data in major
enterprise systems and Web sites
• Support decision making by enabling user to extract
useful information
• Data mining: Can obtain types of information such
as associations, sequences, classifications, clusters,
and forecasts

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 Using Model-driven DSS
Model: An abstract representation that illustrates the
components or relationships of a phenomenon
 Model-Examples:
 Linear programming models
 Forecasting modes
 Capital budgeting
 Goal programming
 Model-base management can provide
integrated or alternative models.

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Using Model-driven DSS (Cont’d)
 Involves an interactive analytical
modeling process
 Managers make inquiries and
responses using input and output
medias
 e.g. Responses to What If…Changes
 Managers are exploring possible
alternatives. DSS helps them to find
the best alternative.

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DSS - Analytical Modeling Alternatives

What-if analysis

Sensitivity analysis

Goal-seeking analysis

Optimization analysis

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What-if analysis

Managers make changes to variables or
relationships among variables, and observe
the resulting changes in the values of other
variables.

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Sensitivity Analysis

A special case of what-if analysis

The value of one variable is changed
repeatedly, and the resulting changes on
other variables are observed

Typically used when there is uncertainty
about the assumptions made in estimating
the value of certain key variables

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Goal-Seeking Analysis

Instead of observing how changes in a variable
affect other variables, goal-seeking sets a target
value (a goal) for a variable, then repeatedly
changes other variables until the target value is
achieved

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Optimization Analysis

A more complex extension of goal-seeking

The goal is to find the optimum value for
one or more target variables, given certain
constraints

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Data Mining for Decision Support
(Data-driven DSS)

Software analyzes vast amounts of data

Attempts to discover patterns, trends, &
correlations

May perform regression, decision tree,
cluster detection, or market basket
analysis

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 Components of DSS
• DSS database: A collection of current or historical data
from a number of applications or groups

• DSS software system: Contains the software tools for data

analysis, with models, data mining, and other analytical
tools

• DSS user interface: Graphical, flexible interaction

between users of the system and the DSS software tools

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Components of DSS (Cont’d)

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DSS-Attributes
 Inputs: low volume data
 Processing: interactive
 Outputs: decision analysis
 Users: Top managers, professionals
 Flexible, adaptable
 Sophisticated modelling tools
 Example: contract cost analysis

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Business Value of DSS
• Providing fine-grained information for decisions that
enable the firm to coordinate both internal and external
business processes much more precisely

• Helping with decisions in

• Supply Chain Management

• Customer Relationship Management
• Pricing Decisions
• Asset Utilization
• Production Planning

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Business Value of DSS (Cont’d)
• Data Visualization: Presentation of data in graphical forms,
to help users see patterns and relationships

• Geographic Information Systems (GIS): Special category of

DSS that display geographically referenced data in
digitized maps

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 A DSS for Customer Analysis and
Segmentation

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 Web-Based Customer DSS
• DSS based on the Web and the Internet can support
decision making by providing online access to various
databases and information pools along with software for
data analysis
• Customer decision making has become increasingly
information intensive, with Internet search engines,
intelligent agents, online catalogs, Web directories, e-mail,
and other tools used to help make purchasing decisions.
• Customer DSS support the decision-making process of an
existing or potential customer.

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Group Decision Support Systems
(GDSS)
• GDSS is an interactive computer-based system
used to facilitate the solution of unstructured
problems by a set of decision makers working
together as a group

• Designed to increase the effectiveness of group

decision making

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Main Components of GDSS
• Hardware (conference facility, audiovisual
equipment, etc.)

• Software tools (Electronic questionnaires,

brainstorming tools, voting tools, etc.)

• People (Participants, trained facilitator, support

staff)

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Overview of a GDSS Meeting
• In a GDSS electronic meeting, each attendee has a
workstation.

• The workstations are networked and are connected to the

facilitator’s console, which serves as the facilitator’s
workstation and control panel, and to the meeting’s file
server.

• All data that the attendees forward from their workstations

to the group are collected and saved on the file server.

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Overview of a GDSS Meeting (Cont’d)
• The facilitator is able to project computer images onto the
projection screen at the front of the room.

• Many electronic meeting rooms have seating arrangements

in semicircles and are tiered in legislative style to
accommodate a large number of attendees.

• The facilitator controls the use of tools during the meeting.

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 Group System Tools

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 Business Value of GDSS
• Traditional decision making meetings support an optimal
size of three to five attendees. GDSS allows a greater
number of attendees.

• Enable collaborative atmosphere by guaranteeing

contributor’s anonymity.

• Enable non-attendees to locate organized information after

the meeting.

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 Business Value of GDSS (Cont’d)
• Can increase the number of ideas generated and the quality
of decisions while producing the desired results in fewer
meetings

• Can lead to more participative and democratic decision

making

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Executive Support Systems (ESS)

Combine many of the features of MIS and
DSS

Intended to provide top executives with
immediate, easy access to information
about the firm’s “critical success factors”

Alternative names

Enterprise Information Systems

Executive Information Systems

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Features of an ESS

Information presented in forms
tailored to the preferences of the users

Provide online status access, trend
analysis, exception reporting, and drill-
down capabilities

Access and integrate, a broad range of
internal and external data

Easy to use (minimal or no training
required)
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ESS-Attributes
 Inputs: aggregate data
 Processing: interactive
 Outputs: projections
 Users: senior managers
 Designed to the individual
 Example: 5 year operating plan

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The Role of an ESS
• ESS can bring together data from all parts of the
firm and enable managers to select, access, and
tailor them as needed.
• It tries to avoid the problem of data overload so
common in paper reports.
• Can integrate comprehensive firm-wide
information and external data in timely manner
• Inclusion of modeling and analysis tools usable
with a minimum of training
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Business Value of an ESS
• Ability to analyze, compare, and highlight
trends
• Graphical interface enables users to review
data more quickly and with more insight,
speeding decision making.
• Timeliness and availability of data enables
more timely decision making, helping
businesses move toward a “sense-and-respond”
strategy.

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Business Value of an ESS (Cont’d)
• Increases upper management span of control,
better monitoring

• ESS based on enterprise-wide data can be used

for decentralization of decision making or
increase management centralization.

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Management Opportunities, Challenges
and Decisions
Management Opportunities:
• Management Support Systems provide
opportunities for increasing precision, accuracy,
and rapidity of decisions and thereby
contributing directly to profitability

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Management Opportunities, Challenges
and Decisions (Cont’d)
Management Challenges:
• Building systems that can actually fulfill
Executive Information Requirements

• Changing management thinking to make

better use of systems for decision support

• Organizational resistance

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Management Opportunities, Challenges
and Decisions (Cont’d)
Solution Guidelines:
Flexible Design and Development:

• Users must work with IS specialists to identify a

problem and a specific set of capabilities that will
help them arrive at decisions about the problem.
• The system must be flexible, easy to use, and
capable of supporting alternative decision
options.

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Management Opportunities, Challenges
and Decisions (Cont’d)
Training and Management Support:

• User training, involvement, and experience;

top management support; and length of use
are the most important factors in the success of
management support systems.

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