Enhancing Decision Making
- 1. Enhancing decision-makingCS330July 21, 2009Allan Caine, adcaine@cs.uwaterloo.ca
- 2. outlineLeaning ObjectivesExample: School Division’s Salary BudgetTypes of DecisionsStages in Decision-makingManagerial roles and system failureDecision Support Systems and Sensitivity AnalysisDemo of Excel’s Pivot Tables (Data Analysis)Executive Support SystemsGroup Decision Support SystemsAllan Caine, adcaine@cs.uwaterloo.ca2
- 3. Learning objectivesDescribe different types of decisions and the decision-making processAssess how information systems support the activities of managers and management decision makingDemonstrate how decision-support systems (DSS) differ from MIS and how they provide value to the businessDemonstrate how executive support systems (ESS) help senior managers make better decisions.Evaluate the role of information systems in helping people working in a group make decisions more efficiently.3Allan Caine, adcaine@cs.uwaterloo.ca
- 4. School division’s salary budgetTeacher’s salary is a function ofEducation: B. Ed., M.Ed. Ph.D.Years of Experience: 1 to 10 plus 15Full time Equivalence: between 0.1 and 1.0Administrative Allowance, if anyBudget is the sumTeachers’ salariesCost of benefitsAnticipated increase in salary gridNot an easy calculation!Allan Caine, adcaine@cs.uwaterloo.ca4
- 5. Salary gridAllan Caine, adcaine@cs.uwaterloo.ca5Record assumed increasehere
- 6. Brownlee school infoAllan Caine, adcaine@cs.uwaterloo.ca6Change the experience in column CChange Adamache’s FTE in cell E6
- 7. QuestionsTo the nearest dollar, what is the current cost of salaries plus benefits at Brownlee School? $________________If the salary grid were to increase 2%, what would be the cost of salaries and benefits at Brownlee School? $______________Now, add one year’s experience to Adamache, Brown, Batavia and Hopewell. Make Adamache full time. Using the assumption from the previous question, what would be the cost of salaries and benefits at Brownlee School? $_____________In what ways would this budgeting system using Excel (or Open Office) improve management’s decision-making capabilities over hand calculations? Consider that this example is for one school only. School Divisions typically have many schools with hundreds of teachers under their employ.Allan Caine, adcaine@cs.uwaterloo.ca7
- 8. Types of decisionsUnstructured DecisionsNovel, non-routine decisions requiring judgment and insightsExamples: Approve capital budget; decide corporate objectives Structured DecisionsRoutine decisions with definite proceduresExamples: Restock inventory; determine special offers to customersSemi-structured DecisionsOnly part of decision has clear-cut answers provided by accepted proceduresExamples: Allocate resources to managers; develop a marketing planAllan Caine, adcaine@cs.uwaterloo.ca8
- 9. Brownlee schoolWere the decisions we made: unstructured? structured? or semi-structured? Consider:Allan Caine, adcaine@cs.uwaterloo.ca9
- 10. Stages in decision-makingAllan Caine, adcaine@cs.uwaterloo.ca10What is the problem at Brownlee School?How would the options be discovered?How would the best solution be assessed?How do we assess if the solution is working?
- 11. Managerial rolesClassicalPlanOrganizeCo-ordinateDecideControlBehavioralInterpersonalInformationalDecisionalAllan Caine, adcaine@cs.uwaterloo.ca11
- 12. Why do management systems fail?Quality of InformationManagement FiltersOrganizational Inertia and PoliciesAllan Caine, adcaine@cs.uwaterloo.ca12
- 13. Decision support systemsAllan Caine, adcaine@cs.uwaterloo.ca13
- 14. Sensitivity analysisAllan Caine, adcaine@cs.uwaterloo.ca14Is the analysis we did with Brownlee School an example ofsensitivity analysis? Why or why not?
- 15. Excel pivot tablesDemonstration of the basics of Pivot TablesAnswering non-routine questionsAllan Caine, adcaine@cs.uwaterloo.ca15
- 16. Executive support systemThe role of executive support systems in the firmBusiness value of executive support systemsExecutive support systems and the digital firmNational Life: ESS for business intelligenceBonita Bay Properties and Nova Scotia Power Corporation: Monitoring corporate performance with digital dashboards and balanced scorecard systemsAllan Caine, adcaine@cs.uwaterloo.ca16
- 17. Group decision support systemAllan Caine, adcaine@cs.uwaterloo.ca17