Ch. 9 - Decision Support in Business

Tonight we learned about two main information systems - MIS (Management Information Systems) and DDS (Decision Support Systems). We learned about three different decision structures - Structured, Unstructured and Semistructured.

Decision Support Systems provide interactive information support to managers during the decision making process. Four types of analytical modeling using DSS include: (1) What-if Analysis, (2) Sensitivity Analysis, (3) Goal-Seeking, and (4) Optimization.

Alternatively, Management Information Systems produce information products that support many of the day-to-day decision-making needs of managers. Alternatives to MIS include: Periodic Scheduled Reports, Exception Reports, Demand Reports & Responses, and Push Reporting.

We also learned a little bit about dashboards, which was really familiar to me. As the Business Manager for The Panther Newspaper here at Chapman, I need to have access to our department budget. Chapman Financial Services uses a program called "Dashboard" (not a very original name) to allow users to track our revenue, expenses, deposits and withdrawals. I can also use the program to track our staff payroll. This program is extremely useful and I really appreciate the ability to have real-time access to our budget.