Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Information Systems: Creating Business Value John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Mark Huber, Craig Piercy, and Patrick McKeown
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Chapter 3: Doing Knowledge Work to Create Business Value
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. What We Will Cover: Knowledge Work Activities Decisions, Decisions—Making Decisions at the Individual Level Problem Solving
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Student ROI (Return on Investment) Your investment of time and effort in this course will result in your being able to answer these questions: 1.What are some activities that you as a knowledge worker will likely perform to add business value to your organization? 2.How do structure and quality information influence the nature of the decisions made by knowledge workers? 3.How can knowledge workers use the IADD model of problem solving to create business value?
Simon & the Rational Person Humans can be rational actors, their rationality is bounded by their limitations Humans tend to satisfice, or settle on the first acceptable option, rather optimizing Information stored in computers can increase human rationality if accessible when needed The central problem is not how to organize to produce efficiently, but how to organize to make decisions (i.e. process information)
Information Technology Provides Assistance to... Capture, and codify and create knowledge Communicate and/or distribute knowledge Collaborate with other workers Make procedures standard and routine
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Knowledge Work Activities
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Knowledge Work Activities Discovery Transformation Analysis Synthesis Communication
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Discovery What is Discovery? Why are search engines an important part of the discovery process? How are Discovery, Intranets, and “best practices” related?
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Transformation What is transformation? How do databases relate to the transformation of data? Why is database management systems (DBMS) software important to the transformation process?
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sales Data for WildOutfitters
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Transforming Data Visually Why is this view of the data more useful than the raw data on the previous slide?
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Analysis Analysis is … ______ software is widely used for the analysis process. Why is this so? How does “GIGO” link discovery to analysis?
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Synthesis Synthesis is the …. What is one frequently used way of synthesizing data into useful information and knowledge? An ______ and ______ synthesis of the results of an ______ is essential to solving the right problem and making sound decisions.
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Communication Communication is the …. Some communication technologies like ______ and ______ ______ focus on physically sharing a message Other communication technologies help in ______ ______. ______ and ______ ______ software are important communication tools.
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Communication Technologies Visit to discover a very useful meeting-related communication tool.
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Example of Knowledge Work Activities Activity Example Discovery Transformation Analysis Synthesis Communication
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Making Decisions at the Individual Level A decision is a …. A structured decision is …. A semistructured decision is …. An unstructured decision is …. Relative to decision making, structure, and uncertainty, why are Information Systems are important?
Two Key Issues Uncertainty –Lack of information Ambiguity –Lack of structure
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Using CARROTS As a knowledge worker, your work centers on finding and using quality data, information, and knowledge. As a decision maker, the quality of a decision often depends on the quality of the inputs used to inform the decision. CARROTS: C________, A________, R________, R________, O________, T________, and S________ Why is CARROTS is a useful acronym?
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Using Carrots Information Characteristic Example Complete Accurate Reliable Relevant Objective Timely Source
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Summary of Decision Making
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Problem solving When does a problem exist? A problem can result from past …. ? Why is it important to recognize that a problem exists? How do we define problem solving? Problem Solving …
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. IADD Model The IADD model consists of four major steps, I________, A________, D________, and D__. Investigate: Analyze: Decide: Do:
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. IADD Problem Solving Model Q1. Why are knowledge work and decision making at the heart of problem solving? Q2. Why is the IADD model shown as an unbroken loop?
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Investigate During the Investigate stage, knowledge workers …. Problems can be defined or identified … –(1) –(2) –(3)
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Analyze In the analyze stage …. What is the role of alternative solutions generated during the analysis stage? How can IS can help with analysis:
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Decide In the decide stage knowledge workers …. During the decide stage, …. How do knowledge workers actually decide which solution to pick?
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Do What happens during the “Do” stage? What does the “Do” stage often require?. Do it! (1) _____________ (2) _____________ (3) _____________ (4) _____________
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Summary of IADD Problem Solving Model IADD StagesPurpose of each stage of our problem solving model Investigate Analyze Decide Do
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Putting it All Back Together
Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Questions to think about Can you explain how knowledge work activities relate to (1) decision making and (2) problem solving? How are decision making and problem solving related?