Business Intelligence and Decision Support System - Assignment Example

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE AND DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM Questions and discussions Decision support system: among many other computer based IS (information systems) that are adopted to aid organizational or businesses in making decisions is the DSS (decision support system). Business and organizations are in constant decision-making processes, which in some instances may or not be specified prior to the time of making the decisions. Based on the nature of an organization and the level of technological advancement, decision-making processes may be carried out manually or through mechanization by aid of computerized systems. Therefore, in an organization, various departments such as the management, planning as well as operations departments employ the DSS to aid in the process of making decisions. It would therefore be acknowledged that DSS serves as a tool to aid in organizational/business decision-making and uses analytical tools as well as models, which can access and retrieve data easily than manual means. Besides, the support system adopts high degree of adaptability as well as flexibility and hence accommodates strategic changes in decision-making. In its working, a DSS is software based and is interactive thereby helping persons involved in decision making in the tasks of data compilation from documents, business models as well as from personal knowledge. Among other specialties in the systems is capacity to gather information on assets and inventories, comparative figures between a period and another as well as projections on future revenue records as would be based on sales assumptions. It is also worth noting that the decision support system (s) has main components as being knowledge base (database), the user interface as well as the model itself. A computerized DSS is effective in its application in that it facilitates speedy computations, it improves communication processes, group member productivity is enhanced as well as helps persons overcome cognitive limitations. Business intelligence: The set of methodologies, theories, architectures as well as technologies, which are useful in transforming raw data to become useful or meaningful for any organization or business, refers to what is commonly understood as business intelligence (BI). It is therefore easily conceptualized as a system that enables the interpretation of large amounts of data easy especially in relation to organizational and or business management. Besides having the main user interface such as a dashboard, BI comprises of various other components, which are together with data warehouse, business analytics, business performance, as well as data mining components. The technologies as they are provide an organization or business with such information as historical information, current business information as well as information on predictions of organizational or business future performances. The working of business intelligence is using applications, technologies as well as processes for analysis of internal data (often structured) as well as business processes. It plays a critical role in an organization or business on strategic planning and is most suitably adopted for customer support and profiling, market segmentation and research as well as statistical analysis. Other most relevant applications in which the BI is put into are in the analysis of distribution and inventory. In its architecture, the BI has a ‘business performance management’ portfolio, which is increasingly being adopted by business enterprises in order to effectively manage their operations. On the other hand, the BI dashboard presents an organization or business with a comprehensive pictorial or graphical view especially on corporate performance trends as well as measures. Business intelligence and the decision support system Besides having discussed the business intelligence as well as the decision support systems as distinct systems that are adopted in organizations and business ventures especially in decision-making, it is worth noting that the two are interconnected. The main feature of their connection is spelt in the understanding that they share a similar architecture. The two share common tools of operations where such tools as data mining as well as predictive analysis form core tools and are used by both BI and the DSS. It is generally shown that the business intelligence system evolved from decision support system and that the DSS has the capacity to directly assist in decision-making process unlike the business intelligence, which through provision of accurate as well as timely information indirectly aids in decision making. The DSS is analytical in orientation while the BI works executively and has a strategy orientation. The BI introduces some critical features of advanced technology in management of enterprises and organizations, which the rather traditional DSS does not have. It therefore provides an organization with the capacity to obtain the most necessary information for decision-making. However, despite the differences that would be pointed out between the DSS and the BI, it is worth noting that they are both information systems and they directly or indirectly aid in decision-making processes within businesses and or organizations. They are therefore designed for mining past and future data and this is important in directly or indirectly aiding the management in decision making processes. This therefore shows that though distinct in features, the two are interconnected in purpose especially concerning decision-making processes within organizations and business enterprises. Is the managerial decision making Art or science? The process of decision making in its simplicity concerns the process through which a choice between at least two alternatives is made and this normally revolves around attaining particular goals or objectives. In managerial decision-making processes, information is paramount and therefore the timely and effective utilization of the information in making the choices is critical. Managers are shown to make decisions through systematic processes of constructing models, identifying possible solutions as well as by recommending potential solution through comparing and choosing among many. This therefore outlines a scientific approach, which makes the managerial decision making process scientific. A scientific process in decision making is seen to be methodical, systematic as well as involving quantitative tools and methods in analyzing the scenario, the model representation of real world scenario as well as in identifying and evaluating on available solutions and determining the most appropriate among them. These processes as they are used in decision-making are paramount for any person in management position(s) in that they lead to effectiveness and efficiency in the entire process of making management decisions. Besides, the application of scientific tools in making decisions such as is seen through the computerized systems that are adopted by organizations and business equally qualify the managerial decision making processes to be scientific as against being an art. Nevertheless, it is to be acknowledged that depending on the nature of the problem as being either structured or otherwise unstructured, managers may apply intuition in making decision, which is not an actual attribute of the scientific process of making decisions but rather an aspect of an art. This therefore shows that in some instances, especially with unstructured problems and when relatively easy problems are addressed, managers may apply judgment and intuition as against employing the scientific procedure(s) of decision making. Planners lab: A planner’s lab refers to a modern innovative software which is a computer based and which is applied in among other ways in helping managers while examining financial assumptions as well as in evaluating impacts and results. It is used as a ‘strategy simulator’ with an ‘easy to learn/understand’ language as well as a drag and drop visualization which is easy to use and intuitive. This therefore shows that a planner’s lab is a program that is computer based and not as otherwise would be thought of as being a tool. In its application, the program is designed in a way that it makes decision-making processes easy as persons making the decisions can easily simulate, visualize as well as easily anticipate future projections of an organizational performance(s). Scenario manager: A scenario manager on the other hand is a tool that is incorporated in the Microsoft Office Excel and can handle computations of scenarios involving more than 32 variables. The main application and advantages in using the scenario models in an excel worksheet is that it is possible to create multiple scenarios from a single ‘what-if’ model with each having an own variable sets. It is possible to merge different scenarios created into a common worksheet therefore implying that it is effective. A summary thus developed can be used for comparison purposes where relationships of scenarios created by different persons can be compared. Goal seek: Goal seek is the process through which by use of excel tools, one can be in a position to determine an input by backward evaluation by which a given result could be realized. It is often referred to as back solving and as a tool, it is used in excel in reversing from an outcome to tracing back the original cell(s) used in generating the result. Solver: A solver on the other hand in simplicity refers to distinct mathematical software or a tool that is used in solving mathematical problems. By taking a problem in generic form, a solver as a software or a tool seeks to generate a solution. Use of planners lab: The planners lab would be effective in the problem presented in that it applies techniques as are necessary and effective in financial modeling. It would be effective in examining assumptions set in the financial problem and projecting possible outcomes. The planners lab has the capacity to provide more chooses as well as controls in the case study provides as a program as against the other tools described above. Besides, the program is easy to learn and adopts a model building/planning language. The use of ‘drag and drop’ visualization capacity explains its preference over the others where a decision maker would be in a position to ‘play’ with models drawn from the case and effectively test possible outcomes. Moreover, the design of the planners lab with multiple charts enables a decision maker to simulate, visualize as well as to anticipate future outcome of the computations as are presented hence its added advantage over the rest of similar tools. It would therefore be possible to test and understand the assumptions made in the computations before adopting any strategy, decision or course of action in such a case study by the use of a planners lab. Another strategic feature in using the planners lab is the capacity of it to be used alongside the excel platform for strategic decision-making processes. It is also efficient and effective in saving time and producing quality and accurate figures, which aid in decision making such as is intended in the case study. The use of planners lab is therefore more preferable according to this analysis as against the use of such other tools as the scenario manager. Read More