Chapter Thirteen

1
Chapter Thirteen

• Information Technology in Management

2
Chapter Outline

• Managing a Business or Organization
• Information Technology to Support Managerial
  Decision Making

3
The Traditional Functions of a Manager

• Managers seek to accomplish organizational goals.
• Information technology supports managerial
  functions.

4
The Traditional Roles of a Manager

• Managers may need to perform all three roles at
  one time.

5
Types of Management Decisions

• Managers use several methods to solve different
  types of problems in a variety of situations.

6
Levels of Management
7
Information Requirements of a Manager

• Organizational goal
• Provide the right information at the right time
  in the right form.
• Example semistructured decision about a
  marketing plan.
• Historical sales data
• Future-oriented sales data

8
Dimensions and Characteristics of Information
Time

• Timeliness
• Currency
• Frequency
• Time period

9
Dimensions and Characteristics of Information
Content

• Accuracy
• Relevance
• Completeness
• Scope

10
Dimensions and Characteristics of Information
Form

• Clarity
• Detail
• Order
• Presentation
• Media

11
Information and Management Levels
12
Information Technology and Managerial
Communication

• Information technology can
• Increase the number of messages transmitted to
  more people
• Ensure messages go only to those who need the
  information
• Eliminate unnecessary time delays
• Vary the form of the message with multimedia.

13
Communication Concepts

• Communication is the expression of an idea.
• Communication is sent through a channel.
• Communication requires a receiver.
• Feedback clarifies garbled messages.

14
Collaborative Work
15
Office Automation Evolution

• Mainframes were used for accounting and payroll.
• Personal computers with office application
  software became popular.
• Power struggles often occurred between mainframe
  and PC supporters.

16
Office Automation Evolution

• Today companies network PCs, mainframes and thin
  clients together.
• Groupware allows sharing calendars, documents
  and messages among workers.

17
Distributed Computing

• Today companies may have PCs, mainframes,
  workstations and thin clients networked together.
• Workers may access mainframe database using their
  PC or terminal.
• Workers may use Web browser to access data on
  company intranet.
• May not even know where the data is stored.

18
Paperless Office

• Computers now deliver more mail messages than
  postal carriers.
• The volume of on-line publishing is rapidly
  growing.
• The amount of paper used is not decreasing as
  much as once predicted, but we do use paper
  differently.

19
Information Technology and Decision Making

• Decision making involves
• Understanding the problem
• Identifying possible solutions
• Selecting the most desirable solution
• Implementing the decision.

20
Types of Decision Making Models

• Mental model how a persons beliefs,
  assumptions, and interpretation of reality are
  organized.
• Mathematical/quantitative model reality
  represented as numerical relationships among key
  variables (e.g., budget spreadsheet).

21
Types of Decision Making Models

• Analog model pictorial representation of a
  situation (e.g., organizational chart, stock
  market graph).
• Iconic model physical replica of reality (e.g.,
  CAD developed scale model of a product).

22
Individual Decision Styles

• Reflect how individuals
• Emphasize certain phases of decision making
• Use certain types of models
• Use information in unique ways
• Emphasize certain beliefs and values.

23
Individual Decision Styles

• Rational
• Satisficing
• Systematic
• Intuitive
• Bureaucratic
• Political
• Garbage can

24
Supporting Decision Makers with Technology

• Information systems that effectively support
  decision making will be flexible and adaptable
  enough to support a variety of individual and
  organizational styles.

25
Management Information Systems (MIS)

• Managers use the system to access corporate
  business process information.

26
Management Information Systems (MIS)

• Give managers the information needed to make
  decisions about operational activities.
• Provide three types of reports detailed,
  summary and exception.
• Typically provided to managers as scheduled
  reports.

27
Decision Support Systems (DSS)

• Managers can use the system interactively to
  analyze data.

28
Decision Support Systems (DSS)

• Useful for non-routine decisions
• Managers manipulate information
• Three major components
• Data management
• Model management
• Dialog management.

29
Group Decision Support Systems (GDDS)

• Groups of managers use the system interactively
  to analyze data.

30
Group Decision Support Systems (GDDS)

• Physical configuration
• Room with appropriate computers
• DSS database and modeling software
• Local area network connections
• Large-screen projections of computer output for
  group viewing
• Communication-oriented software tools for idea
  generation and sharing.

31
Group Decision Support Systems (GDDS)

• Prior to the meeting, managers can use the GDDS
  software to perform sensitivity analysis.
• During the meeting, managers can
• Show their earlier work to others
• Use GDDS software tools to brainstorm and
  organize their ideas.

32
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

• Special type of DSS designed to work with map and
  other spatial information including
• Mapping and analytic software
• Databases of map images, geographic and
  demographic data
• User interface allowing queries and results shown
  on a map.

33
Uses of a GIS

• A GIS can be used to
• Identify the best location for a new retail store
• Analyze customer preferences in a given
  geographical area
• Plan delivery and service routes
• Assist governmental employees such as city
  planners or law enforcement personnel.

34
Executive Information Systems (EIS)

• Used to monitor important economic and social
  trends affecting the company and corporate
  performance.

35
Executive Information Systems (EIS)

• An EIS has similar design components to a DSS
• Data management component provides interactive
  access to data on the companys critical success
  factors
• Model management component includes analytical
  models to identify and study trends in critical
  success factors
• Dialog management components provides a variety
  of output formats.

36
Executive Information Systems (EIS)

• An executive can use the EIS to drill down
  through the available information to the level of
  detail needed.
• Access to up to data internal and external
  information makes an EIS particularly helpful
  during the intelligence phase of decision making.

37
Expert Systems (ES)

• Expert answers are provided to a users questions
  in an interactive process.

38
Expert Systems (ES)

• An expert system supports decision making by
  providing managers with access to computerized
  expert knowledge.
• Such systems are based on years of artificial
  intelligence research.

39
Knowledge Bases for Expert Systems

• Researchers have had little success at developing
  systems with broad, shallow knowledge such as
  known by children.
• Researchers have had success when the knowledge
  base is restricted to narrow, deep domains.

40
Knowledge Base Information

• A knowledge base may contain 200 to 10,000
  if-then rules, which incorporate uncertainty as
  fuzzy rules.
• Example from MYCIN, a medical expert system
• If (1) the infection is primary-bacteremia, and
• (2) the site of the culture is one of the sterile
  sites, and
• (3) the suspected portal of entry of the organism
  is the gastrointestinal tract, then there is
  suggestive evidence (.7) that he identify of the
  organism is bacteriodes.

41
Expert Systems in Perspective

• An expert system can
• Help train new employees
• Reduce the number of human errors
• Take care of routine tasks so workers can focus
  on more challenging jobs

42
Expert Systems in Perspective

• Provide expertise when no experts are available
• Preserve the knowledge of experts after those
  experts leave an organization
• Combine the knowledge of several experts
• Make knowledge available to more people at
  different locations.

43
Expert Systems in Perspective

• Limits of expert systems
• Difficult to build, particularly the knowledge
  base component
• Poorer at planning strategies than human experts
• Less creative than human experts
• Powerless outside their narrow, deep domain of
  knowledge.

44
Comparison of System Design Features
45
Information Systems in Perspective

• Information systems often do not fit neatly into
  one of the five information systems discussed
  (automated office systems, MIS, DSS, EIS, ES).
• The design features incorporated into an
  information system should be based on the
  communication and decision making needs of users.

46
Information Systems in Perspective

• These tools provide information and advice, with
  some risks.
• Poor system design limits decision quality.
• Managers may feel overwhelmed with information.
• User training is essential.
• A system cannot totally replace the human
  communication and decision-making skills
  necessary for successful management.

47
After reading this chapter, you should be able
to

• Describe several aspects of management, the
  information needs of managers, and the types of
  decisions managers make
• Explain several basic communications concepts

48
After reading this chapter, you should be able
to

• Discuss several ways that information technology
  is used to help managers collaborate and
  communicate more effectively
• Explain several decision-making concepts

49
After reading this chapter, you should be able
to

• Describe several ways that information technology
  is used to help managers make decisions more
  effectively
• Discuss the issues that should be included in an
  organizations information code of ethics