Page 62 - DCAP208_Management Support Systems

Unit 5: Modeling and Analysis

8. Current Trends in Modeling: One recent trend in modeling involves the development of Notes
model libraries and solution technique libraries. Some of these codes can be run directly
on the owner’s web server for free, and others can be downloaded and run on an individual’s
PC, Unix machine, or server. The availability of these codes means that powerful
optimization and simulation package are available to decision makers who may have
only experienced these tools from the perspective of classroom problems.
There is a clear trend toward developing and using Web tools and software to access and even
run software to perform modeling, optimization, simulation, and so on. This has, in many ways,
simplified the application of many models to real-world problems. Another trend, involves the
lack of understanding of what models and their solutions can do in the real world.
There is a continuing trend toward making MSS models completely transparent to decision
maker.

Example: Multidimensional analysis (modeling) involves data analysis in several
dimensions.
There is also a trend to model a model to help in its analysis. An influence diagram is a graphical
representation of a model; that is, it is a model of a model. Some influence diagram software
packages are capable of generating and solving the resultant model.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:

1. .................... is a key element in most DSS and a necessity in a model-based DSS.
2. An .................... is a graphical representation of a model; that is, it is a model of a model.

5.2 Static and Dynamic Models

DSS models can be classified as static or dynamic models.

Static Models

Static Models describe a single interval of a situation. A static model takes a single snapshot of
a situation. During this snapshot, everything occurs in a single interval.

Example: A decision about whether to make or buy a product is static in nature.

Dynamic Models

Dynamic models represent scenarios that change over time.

For example, a 5 years profit and loss projections in which the input data (costs, prices, and
quantities) change from year to year.
Dynamic models are time dependent. Dynamic models use, represent, or generate trends and
patters over time, show averages per periods, moving averages, and comparative analyses.
When a static model is constructed to describe a given situation, it can be expanded to represent
the dynamic nature of the problem.

Task Compare and contrast static and dynamic models.

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