Page 206 - DMGT505_MANAGEMENT_INFORMATION_SYSTEM

Unit 10: Enhancing Decision Making for the Digital Firm

that an organization performs (e.g., a marketing function or a production function). This type of Notes
DSS is categorized by purpose; function-specific DSS help a person or group accomplish a specific
decision task. General-purpose DSS software helps support broad tasks like project management,
decision analysis, or business planning.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
1. .................................. Decision Making determine new ideas or improvements to current
products or services.
2. Business analysts describe a .................................. decision as one in which all three
components of a decision—the data, process, and evaluation are determined.
3. .................................. are a class of computerized information systems that support decision-
making activities.
4. .................................. DSS includes systems that use accounting and financial models,
representational models, and optimization models.

10.2 Business Intelligence and Decision Support

Business intelligence is defined as a novel expression in information technology. The importance
of business intelligence varies from context to context. The term illustrates the procedure of
converting data into information and then into knowledge. The intelligence is claimed to be
more functional to the user as it passes during each step. BI illustrates a set of concepts and
methods to perk up business decision making by means of actuality based support systems.
Gartners’s definition of business intelligence involves all the ways an enterprise can explore,
access and examine information in the data warehouse to expand insights that guide to improved,
informed decisions. BI tools comprise ad hoc query, report writing, decision support systems,
executive information systems and methods like statistical analysis and online analytical
processing (OLAP).
One of most absolute definitions of the business intelligence can be located on the IBM’ website:

“Business intelligence is the gathering, managing, analyzing and sharing of information so as to
gain insights that can be used to make enhanced decisions. Business intelligence converts
information into intelligence, intelligence into knowledge, and knowledge into business
perception. Combining advanced methods like data warehousing, data mining, and decision
support, business intelligence systems provide the capability to convert information into
influential customer relationship management systems that can assist generate stronger, more
profitable relationships, recognize new business opportunities – even anticipate customer
demands.” Business Intelligence (BI) can be seen as an umbrella that covers a whole range of
concepts. BI can be approached approximately as being a Data Warehouse, with three layers on
top of it: Queries & Reports, OnLine Analytical Processing and Data Mining (see the pyramid
below). Authors and companies accept this ordering extensively. Though, other orderings exist
as well, with the consequence that some contradict each other. That is just because the boundaries
among the diverse components are very vague.
The above ordering of components hanging below Business Intelligence is extensively adopted.
Though, it must be said that there are authors who do not accept these four components, or who
name only some of them and add other components.

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