Management Information Systems

Study Notes

Types of decisions in an organization:
- Structured decisions: can be automated, with well-defined standard operating procedures
- Semistructured decisions: include a structured aspect, benefiting from information retrieval, analytical models, and information systems technology
- Unstructured decisions: one-time decisions with no standard operating procedure, relying on the decision maker's intuition

Intelligence phase: examines the organization's environment, collecting data from various sources to identify problems and opportunities
Design phase: defines the criteria for a decision, generating alternatives and defining associations between criteria and alternatives
Choice phase: selects the best alternative, analyzing each option and its relationship to the criteria
Implementation phase: carries out the selected alternative, devising a plan and obtaining resources

Interactive information systems that assist decision makers in an organization
Components:
- Database: includes internal and external data and a database management system (DBMS)
- Model base: includes mathematical and statistical models for analyzing information
- User interface component: allows users to access the DSS
Capabilities:
- What-if analysis
- Goal-seeking
- Sensitivity and exception reporting analysis
- Graphical analysis, forecasting, simulation, statistical analysis, and modeling analysis

Interactive information systems that provide executives with easy access to internal and external data
Features:
- Drill-down capabilities
- Digital dashboard: integrates information from multiple sources and presents it in a unified, understandable format
Benefits:
- Increase in the number of alternatives examined
- Fast response to unexpected situations
- Ability to make one-of-a-kind decisions
- New insights and learning
- Improved communication, control, and decisions
- Cost and time savings
- Effective teamwork and use of data resources

Assist decision makers working in groups, using computer and communication technologies to formulate, process, and implement a decision-making task
Features:
- Real-time computer conferencing
- Video teleconferencing
- Desktop conferencing
Advantages:
- Reduced costs and stress
- Increased collaboration and effectiveness
- Decreased shyness

Capture, store, process, and display geographic information
Uses spatial and nonspatial data for storing complex geographic objects (points, lines, areas)
Examples: Google Maps, identifying routes and visualizing the routeDisplayStyle;### GIS Applications
Education planning is one of the categories where GIS is applied.
Urban planning is another category where GIS is used.
GIS is also used in government, insurance, marketing, real estate, and transportation and logistics.

Top management support is crucial for a successful management support system.
Objectives and benefits of the system should be clearly defined.
Identifying executives' information needs is essential for a management support system.
Keeping lines of communication open is vital for the system's success.
The system's complexity should be hidden, and the interface should be kept simple.
Maintaining consistency in design is important for a management support system.
The system should be designed to be flexible.
Fast response time is essential for a management support system.

Different types of information systems are developed to support certain aspects and types of decisions.
Decision support systems (DSS) are designed to assist decision-makers in an organization.
EIS designers should focus on simplicity when developing a user interface.