Types of Information System – Decision Support Systems (DSS), and Expert Systems 07 th November 2011

Decision-Support Systems (DSS) A type of information system that provide middle management with sophisticated data and information analysis to support semi- structured and unstructured decision making. Support non-routine decision making for middle management Focus mainly on problems that are new and unique – What is important here??

DSS DSS use both internal and external information Internal: from information systems within the organisation such as TPS and MIS External: from sources outside the organisation such as current stock prices, new legislation, etc

DSS DSS use a variety of models to effectively analyse the data. Also use a range of techniques allowing for condensing large amounts of data and information into more effective formats. – Some layouts are more effective than others! – E.G. A graph may be more effective than a chart in a given scenario

DSS DSS may vary in terms of how much they rely on analytical models. For instance… – one DSS may extensively use analytical models to make complex decisions – whereas another DSS may extensively extract useful information from a large data source instead – Combinations of the above are often employed!

Voyage-Estimating DSS Figure 2-5 (Laudon & Laudon) This DSS operates on a powerful PC. It is used daily by managers who must develop bids on shipping contracts.

DSS Example Case Study from Laudon & Laudon P. 489 Renault DSS

Expert System A type of information system that captures the expertise of a human in limited domains of knowledge (Laudon & Laudon) These systems capture the knowledge of skilled employees in the form of explicit rules so as to enable others in the organisation to avail of them!

Expert System These explicit rules captured by the expert system contributes to the stored learning of the firm. Expert systems lack the information processing capabilities of humans! Therefore expert systems are limited in their field of application!

Expert System – How they work They model human knowledge in a way that the computer will be able to process it. – This knowledge is modelled as a set of rules – collectively known as the knowledge base Typically model from between hundreds to thousands of explicit rules depending on the complexity of the problem

Expert System – How they work Strategy used to search through the knowledge base is called the inference engine. The inference engine relies mainly on one of 2 strategies: 1.Forward Chaining 2.Backward Chaining

Office Automation Systems A type of information system that supports a range of office activities that lead to improved work flow between workers. Office automation systems often enable more effective and efficient processing of office activities such as calculating paychecks, sending automated s, providing instant access for a credit card processor to validate credit cards, etc