Chapter 12 Flashcards
def. management
A process by which organizational goals are achieved through the use of resources
resources are considered the ____ of the management process and the org’s goals are the _______
resources are the inputs, goals are the outputs
def. productivity
The ratio between the inputs to a process and the outputs from that process
how is a manager’s success often measured?
productivity
What are the three basic roles a manager performs?
- Interpersonal roles (figurehead, leader, liaison)
- Informational Roles (monitor, disseminator, spokesperson, analyzer)
- Decisional roles (entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, negotiator)
What basic roles of a manager does IT support?
all three (interpersonal, informational, decisional)
def. decision
a choice among two or more alternatives that individuals and groups make
T or F: Decisions are made at scheduled intervals
false, made continuously
t or F: decision-making is a systematic process
true
What are Herbert Simon’s 3 major phases of decision-making?
intelligence, design, and choice
What happens in the decision making process once the choice has been made/
the decision is implemented
What happens in the intelligence phase of the decision-making process?
managers examine a situation and then identify and define the problem or opportunity
What happens in the design phase of the decision-making process?
- decision makers construct a model for addressing the situation. They perform this task by making assumptions that simplify reality and by expressing the relationships among all of the relevant variables.
- Managers validate the model by using test data.
- decision makers set criteria for evaluating all of the potential solutions
what happens in the choice phase of the decision-making process?
involves selecting a solution or course of action that seems best suited to resolve the problem. This solution (the decision) is then implemented
When is implementation successful?
if the proposed solution solves the problem or seizes the opportunity
what happens if the decision (solution) fails?
then the process returns to the previous phases
What are the 4 main reasons/trends that make decision-making difficult?
- The number of alternatives is constantly increasing, due to innovations in technology, improved communications, the development of global markets, and the use of the Internet and e-business
- Most decisions must be made under time pressure
- decisions are becoming more complex. It is usually necessary to conduct a sophisticated analysis in order to make a good decision
- It is often necessary to rapidly access remote information, consult with experts, or conduct a group decision-making session, all without incurring major expense, Bringing everything together quickly and inexpensively represents a serious challenge
What are the two major dimensions of the various types of decisions?
Type of decision (Problem Structure)
Nature of decision
What are the three general types of decisions/ problem structures?
structured, semi-structured, unstructured
What are the three different natures of decisions?
operational control, management control, strategic planning
What do structured decisions deal with?
routine and repetitive problems for which standard solutions exist
what happens when making a structured decision
first three phases of the decision process—intelligence, design, and choice—are laid out in a particular sequence, and the procedures for obtaining the best (or at least a good enough) solution are known
what are two basic criteria used to evaluate proposed solutions? (structured decisions)
minimizing costs and maximizing profits
what types of decisions are candidates for decision automation?
structured decisions
What are unstructured decisions?
- intended to deal with “fuzzy,” complex problems for which there are no cut-and-dried solutions
- there is no standardized procedure for carrying out any of the three phases.
What play an important role in making unstructured decisions?
human intuition and judgement
what are some typical unstructured decisions?
planning new service offerings, hiring an executive, and choosing a set of research and development (R&D) projects for the coming year
T or F: BI (business intelligence) can make unstructured decisions
F: it cannot make unstructured decisions, but it can provide information that assists decision makers
What are semi-structured decisions
in which only some of the decision process phases are structured
what do semi-structured decisions require?
a combination of standard solution procedures and individual judgement
what are some examples of semi-structured decisions?
setting marketing budgets for consumer products, performing capital acquisition analysis, and trading bonds
def. operational control
Executing specific tasks efficiently and effectively
def. management control
Acquiring and using resources efficiently in accomplishing organizational goals
def. strategic planning
The long-range goals and policies for growth and resource allocation
Strategic decisions define the context in which ________ decisions are made
management control decisions
management control decisions define the context in which ____________
operational control decisions are made
Problems that lower-level managers encounter on a regular basis typically have a _____ level of structure
high
def. management science/operations research
For each type of structured decision, prescribed solutions have been developed, which often include mathematical formulas. This approach is called management science or operations research, and it also is executed with the aid of computer
def. Business intelligence
an umbrella term that encompasses all decision support applications
what does BI encompass?
not only applications, but also technologies and processes. It includes both “getting data in” (to a data mart or warehouse) and “getting data out” (through BI applications)
What is the significant change taking place in relation to BI?
In the past, organizations used BI to support only management. Today, however, BI applications are increasingly available to employees, suppliers, customers, and even regulators. These groups rely on BI to provide them with the most current information.
How do BI targets differ (general)?
- their focus
- scope;
- level of sponsorship, commitment, and required resources;
- technical architecture;
- impact on personnel and business processes;
- benefits.
What are the three BI targets that represent levels of change?
- The development of one or a few related BI applications.
- The development of infrastructure to support enterprise-wide BI.
- Support for organizational transformation.
describe “The development of one or a few related BI applications.”
- BI target often is a point solution for a departmental need, such as campaign management in marketing
- Sponsorship, approval, funding, impacts, and benefits typically occur at the departmental level
- organizations usually create a data mart to store the necessary data, have to make sure it does not become a “data silo”, that stores info inconsistent/not able to be integrated with data used elsewhere in org
describe “The Development of Infrastructure to Support Enterprise-Wide BI”
- supports both current and future BI needs
- crucial component of BI at this level is an enterprise data warehouse
- senior management often provides sponsorship, approval, and funding
- impacts and benefits are felt throughout the organization
describe “Support for Organizational Transformation”
- a company uses BI to fundamentally transform the ways it competes in the marketplace.
- BI supports a new business model, and it enables the business strategy
- sponsorship, approval, and funding originate at the highest organizational levels.
- impact on personnel and processes can be significant, and the benefits accrue across the organization
- closely aligned with corporate performance management
def. corporate performance management
The area of business intelligence involved with monitoring and managing an organization’s performance, according to key performance indicators (KPIs) such as revenue, return on investment, overhead, and operational costs
what additional factors does CPM include for online businesses?
the number of page views, server load, network traffic, and transactions per second
what does BI allow managers and analysts do (in general)?
allows them to analyze data to obtain valuable information and insights concerning the organization’s KPIs
What is a good strategy to study the ways in which organizations use Business Intelligence Applications?
consider how the users analyze data, how they present the results of their analyses, and how managers and executives (who can also be users) implement these results
def. real-time BI
Business intelligence that enables users to employ multi-dimensional analysis, data mining, and decision support systems to analyze data in real time
def. online analytical processing (or multi-dimensional analysis) (OLAP)
A set of capabilities for “slicing and dicing” data using dimensions and measures associated with the data
-OLAP involves “slicing and dicing” data stored in a dimensional format, drilling down in the data to greater detail, and aggregating the data.
def. data mining
The process of searching for valuable business information in a large database, data warehouse, or data mart
What are the two basic operations data mining can perform?
(1) predicting trends and behaviours, and (2) identifying previously unknown patterns
BI applications typically provide users with a view of what has happened; data mining helps to explain _________, and it predicts ____________
data mining helps to explain why it is happening, and it predicts what will happen in the future
How does data mining help predict trends and behaviours?
- data mining automates the process of finding predictive information in large databases.
- Questions that traditionally required extensive hands-on analysis now can be answered directly and quickly from the data
how does data mining help identify previously unknown patterns?
can identify previously hidden patterns in a single step
- ex. buying beer and diapers at the same time at convenience stores
- detecting fraudulent credit card transactions
how can data mining be used in retailing and sales?
predicting sales, preventing theft and fraud, and determining correct inventory levels and distribution schedules among outlets
how can data mining be used in banking
Forecasting levels of bad loans and fraudulent credit card use, predicting credit card spending by new customers, and determining which kinds of customers will best respond to (and qualify for) new loan offers.
how can data mining be used in manufacturing and production?
Predicting machinery failures, and finding key factors that help optimize manufacturing capacity
how can data mining be used in insurance?
Forecasting claim amounts and medical coverage costs, classifying the most important elements that affect medical coverage, and predicting which customers will buy new insurance policies.
how can data mining be used in policing?
Tracking crime patterns, locations, and criminal behaviour; identifying attributes to assist in solving criminal cases. Several cities have teamed up with IBM to analyze crime history and to strategically deploy police officers
how can data mining be used in health care?
Correlating demographics of patients with critical illnesses, and developing better insights on how to identify and treat symptoms and their causes
how can data mining be used in marketing?
Classifying customer demographics that can be used to predict which customers will respond to a mailing or buy a particular product
how can data mining be used in higher education?
Desire2Learn (www.desire2learn.com) provides an application called Degree Compass that recommends courses based on students’ majors, transcripts, and past course success rates. Degree Compass reported a 92-percent accuracy rate across four universities in predicting the grade that a student would receive in a course
how can data mining be used in social good
Datakind (www.datakind.org) is an organization that serves as a bridge between social and “mission-driven” organizations that require assistance in interpreting their data and data scientists who provide their talents, usually for free, for non-commercial purposes.
def. decision support systems (DSSs)
Business intelligence systems that combine models and data in an attempt to solve semi-structured and some unstructured problems with extensive user involvement.
def. models
In decision making, a simplified representation, or abstraction, of reality
What do DSSs enable managers and analysts to do?
access data interactively, to manipulate these data, and to conduct appropriate analyses
def. sensitivity analysis
the study of the impact that changes in one or more parts of a decision-making model have on other parts. Most sensitivity analyses examine the impact that changes in input variables have on output variables.
what are the two types of input variables most models include?
decision variables and environmental variables
when/why do companies generally perform sensitivity analysis?
to determine the impact of environmental variables on the result of the analysis
why is sensitivity analysis extremely valuable?
- enables the system to adapt to changing conditions and to the varying requirements of different decision-making situations.
- It provides a better understanding of the model as well as of the problem that the model purports to describe.
what does what-if analysis try to do?
attempts to predict the impact of a change in the assumptions (input data) on the proposed solution
def. goal-seeking analysis
- represents a “backward” solution approach.
- It attempts to calculate the value of the inputs necessary to achieve a desired level of output
-must also take into account necessary costs
def. dashboards
A business intelligence application that provides rapid access to timely information and direct access to management reports
What are the capabilities of dashboards?
- Drill down
- Critical success factors
- Key performance indicators
- Status access
- Trend analysis
- Exception reporting
def. drill down
The ability to go to details, at several levels; it can be done by a series of menus or by clicking on a drillable portion of the screen
def. critical success factors
The factors most critical for the success of business; these can be organizational, industry, departmental, or for individual workers
def. key performance factors
The specific measures of critical success factors
def. status access
The latest data available on KPI or some other metric, often in real time
def. trend analysis
Short-, medium-, and long-term trend of KPIs or metrics, which are projected using forecasting methods
def. exception reporting
Reports that highlight deviations larger than certain thresholds; reports may include only deviations
what is a unique and interesting application of dashboards to support the informational needs of executives?
Management cockpit
Management Cockpit is a strategic management room containing an elaborate set of dashboards that enable top-level decision makers to pilot their businesses better
what is the goal of a management cockpit
The goal is to create an environment that encourages more efficient management meetings and boosts team performance via effective communication
what does the dashboard do to help achieve the management cockpits goal?
- the dashboard graphically displays KPIs and information relating to critical success factors on the walls of a meeting room called the Management Cockpit Room
- the cockpit-like arrangement of instrument panels and displays helps managers visualize how all of the different factors in the business interrelate
What do the four walls represent in the management cockpit?
- The Black Wall displays the principal success factors and financial indicators.
- The Red Wall measures market performance.
- The Blue Wall projects the performance of internal processes and employees.
- the White Wall indicates the status of strategic projects
what does the management cockpit support by identifying performance indicators?
it supports efforts to translate a corporate strategy into concrete activities
def. geographic information system (GIS)
A computer-based system for capturing, integrating, manipulating, and displaying data using digitized maps
What is GIS’s most distinguishing characteristic? What is it called?
every record or digital object has an identified geographical location
-called geocoding
what does geocoding enable?
- enables users to generate information for planning, problem solving, and decision making
- the graphical format makes it easy for managers to visualize the data
T or F: relatively inexpensive, fully functional PC-based IS packages are not readily available today
false, they are readily available
who provides diversified GIS data?
both government sources and private vendors
What are some applications for GIS?
- Create and use maps.
- Compile geographic data.
- Analyze mapped information.
- Discover and share geographic information.
- Utilize maps and geographic information across a wide range of applications.
- Manage geographic information in a database.
what does using GIS and GPS together produce?
reality mining
which is. new type of technology
what does reality mining allow analysts to do?
allows analysts to extract usage patterns of mobile phones and other wireless devices
