Title: Types of Information Systems
1Types of Information Systems
2Case Frito Lay
Frito-Lay, Inc., a snack food subsidiary of
Pepsi-Cola, outfitted its 10,000-person direct
store-delivery sales force with handheld
terminals used while calling on the 400,000
stores that sell its 100 products. Salespeople
use the terminals to enter replenishment orders
and record the number of stales removed after
their 35-day shelf life. Based on this data, a
printer in the truck prints an invoice handed to
the store manager as part of the days
deliveries. Salespeople hook the terminals to
telephone lines to transfer each days data to
the companys mainframe computers in Dallas. The
system saves salespeople four or five hours of
paperwork per week.
3The mainframes in Dallas consolidate the data
each night as part of Frito-Lays internal
replenishment system. Requirements for that
system changed drastically in the 1980s, and
Frito-Lays regional competitors became stronger.
Frito-Lay had to be able to respond quickly to a
variety of competitive challenges, ranging from
price changes to totally new products.
Coordination between manufacturing and sales had
to be much tighter because the company needed to
be able to run local promotions on Thursday for a
product that would have to be available on
Monday.
4The system also used a data warehouse to provide
comprehensive, up-to-date data for studying sales
by any combination of product, store, and time
period. In South Texas, the data from this
system showed an unexpected drop in sales of
Tostitos tortilla chips. Research into the cause
of the drop indicated that a small competitor had
launched a white corn tortilla chip. Frito-Lay
developed a competitive white corn product within
three months and regained market share.
5QuestionWhat type(s) of information systems
does the case illustrate?Debate
6The Frito-Lay information system supports a range
of communication and decision-making functions
typically associated with different types of
information systems. It is a transaction
processing system because it is used to enter
orders from each retailer. It can be considered a
management information system or executive
information system because it provides
information in a readily available form for
managements use. It is a decision support system
because it supports decision making by helping
route drivers, customers, and managers obtain
needed information in a genuinely useful form.
7Frito-Lay
- Customers
- Frito-lay Customers
- Managers and others who use data
- Products
- Complete and timely information accessible for
decision-making - Convenience and low-cost for salespeople and
customers related to ordering and managing
inventory - Business Process
- Steps
- Track customer inventories of Frito-Lay products
- enter orders
- Consolidate data about orders and the market
- Use data for monitoring and decision-making
8Frito-Lay
- Business Process
- Rationale Use hand-held terminals to collect
data during sales calls. Consolidate the
information in a system that supports decision
making. - Participants
- Driver and salespeople
- Marketing managers
- Information
- Inventory by product and customer
- Customer orders
- sales by product, region, and period
- Technology
- hand held terminals
- computers
- telecommunications networks
9Introduction
- We can think of information systems as providing
three basic functions - support for decision-making (from computation
capabilities) - support for communication
- support for access to information
- We will explore these concepts in depth over the
next few weeks. The concepts are introduced here. - Types of information systems will be introduced
and we will look at how they affect
decision-making, communication, and information
access.
10Capabilities of Information Systems
- 1. Fast and Accurate Data Processing, with
large-Capacity Storage and Rapid Communication
Between Sites. - Computer and telecommunications systems
- exploited by operational support systems
- deriving management reporting from volumes of
data - business opportunities built on this capability
- e.g. consolidate financial results from multiple
organizational sites - 2. Instantaneous Access to Information
- on-line, ad-hoc access to databases
- tailorable graphical interfaces
- support of knowledge-workers
- e.g. EIS allowing executive access to yesterdays
sales
11Capabilities of Information Systems - 2
- 3. Means of Coordination
- bringing parts of organizations together in a
common effort - office information systems
- project management systems
- portable computing widening the reach of
information systems creating the virtual office - inter-organizational information systems
coordinating efforts of cooperating enterprises. - Coordinate means to harmonize in a common action
or effort - e.g. planning, scheduling, and running a
workgroup project
12Capabilities of Information Systems - 3
- 4. Boundary Spanning
- IS link an organization to the outside world
- EDI replacing paper documents
- connecting suppliers with customers
- Enables organizations to more quickly receive
information about their environment - Use of the Internet and Web presence to make
contact with customers - e.g. companies that have project teams to monitor
public forums - e.g. investigating the competitive opportunities
in new markets
13Capabilities of Information Systems - 4
- 5. Support for Decision Making
- Informing managers and permitting them to select
from alternative courses of action. - 6. Supporting Organizational Memory and Learning
- organizational memory the means by which
knowledge from the past exerts influence on
present organizational activities. - Preserving the experience the organization has
delivering products and services - e.g. Auto manufacturers preserve electronic
designs, hotels maintain customer preferences - Development of Knowledge Management Systems
- organizations that acquire knowledge and modify
behavior are learning.
14Capabilities of Information Systems - 5
- 7. Routinizing Organizational Practice
- e-mail and conferencing systems providing new
protocols for interaction of people within an
organization. - Expert systems approve/refuse credit card
transactions assures high consistency. - Order processing cycle
- Routinizing of organizational practice does not
take away from the creativity of individuals. It
may leave time and opportunity for greater
productivity and knowledge work. - E.g. electronic processing of insurance policy
with the support of workflow systems
15Capabilities of Information Systems - 6
- 8. Differentiation of Products and Services
- Firms compete by making their products and
services different from others. - Gain an initial competitive advantage.
- E.g. FedEx tracking packages and shipments
- allows for mass customization
- 9. Modeling
- model future economic conditions, prospective
products, and the environment where they will
operate. - Model simplified representation of a real
object or phenomenon - knowledge workers manipulate models of reality in
order to gain understanding - e.g. the spreadsheet
- e.g. product engineered and tested electronically
before a physical prototype is made.
16Capabilities of Information Systems - 7
- 10. Automation
- fully automate certain business functions by
replacing human labor - e.g. POS systems
- However, loss of clerical positions gives rise to
jon functions responsible for maintaining the
system and developing new ones to analyze and
exploit volumes of new information. - E.g. lights-out data centers run with out human
participation.
17Improving Communication and Decision Making
Performance within Business Processes
RATE OF OUTPUT Improve communication Communicate
more information or more types to more
people Improve decision making Make more
decisions using better, more complete
information CONSISTENCY Improve communication
Make sure different people receive the same
communication Improve decision making Make sure
repetitive decisions are made in the same
way PRODUCTIVITY Improve communication Achieve
more communication with less effort Improve
decision making Make better decisions with less
effort
18Improving Communication and Decision Making
Performance within Business Processes
CYCLE TIME Improve communication Eliminate
undesirable delays in communication Improve
decision making Eliminate unnecessary delays in
decision making FLEXIBILITY Improve
communication Permit communication in many
different forms Improve decision making Maintain
decision quality across a wider range of
situations SECURITY Improve communication Make
sure communications go only to the intended
recipients Improve decision making Make sure
decisions are controlled only by those authorized
to make the decisions
19Basic Concepts of Communication
20Communication
- Communication is an interpersonal process of
sending and receiving symbols with messages
attached to them.
21General Model of a Communication System
Feedback
Receiver Decoder
Transmitter encoder
Source
Destination
Channel
Noise and Distortion
22Basic Communication Concepts
- Social Context
- Personal, Impersonal, and Anonymous Communication
- Time, Place, and Direction of Communication
23Social Context
- The situation and relationships within which
communication takes place. - Social presence
- Organizational position
- Relationships
- Cultural Norms
- Age
- Gender
- The topic being discussed
- Nonverbal communication
- Media Richness Theory
24Personal, Impersonal, and Anonymous Communication
- Personal - the relationship between sender and
receiver matters. It affects form and content. - Impersonal - The sender and receivers
relationship does not matter. Both serve as
agents of the organization. - Anonymous - The senders identity is hidden from
the recipient.
25Time, Place, and Direction of Communication
- Synchronous - The sender and Receiver are
available simultaneously - Asynchronous - The sender and receiver are not
available simultaneously. - Place Involves Physical Presence
- Direction One-way vs. Two Way communication.
26Common Communications Classified By Time and
Place
Presentation Systems Copyboards PC
Projectors Facilitation Services Polling
Systems Group Decision Rooms
Transaction databases World Wide Web Shared
Files Electronic Mail Voice Mail Shift Work
Communications
SAME PLACE
EDI Transaction databases Electronic
Mail Computer Conferencing Voice
Mail Fax Pre-recorded Radio/TV
DIFFERENT PLACE
Typical Telephone Video Telephone Video
Conferencing Live Radio TV Broadcast
SAME TIME
DIFFERENT TIME
27What are some approaches for Information Systems
to improve communications?
28Approaches for Improving Communication
- 1. Make face to face communication more
effective. - 2. Eliminate Unnecessary Person to Person
Communication - 3. Make Communications more systematic
- 4. Combine and Extend Electronic Communications
29Making Face to Face Communication More Effective
- Presentation Technologies
- Blackboard
- Prepared Paper Handouts
- Overhead projector or slide projector with color
transparencies - Electronic Blackboard
- Computer LCD Display panels
- Computer for What-If Scenarios
- Computer-controlled Multi-media
- Computer controlled multi-media with interactive
control.
30Eliminate Unnecessary Person to Person
Communication
- Substitute on-line Access to data
- Example Supplier/Customer Relationships as
discussed in Interorganizational Information
systems - ATM access
- Automated Telephone Attendants
- Danger of becoming too impersonal
31Making Communication Systematic
- Contrast communication between people vs.
communication between machines. - The business Memo Header
- To
- From
- Date
- Re
- Having structure reduces the effort required to
figure out what the communication means. - Even with communication between groups of people,
repetitive aspects of communication are
systematized.
32Combine and Extend Electronic Communication
Functions
- Early communication technologies have been
combined and extended to create more powerful
communication technologies. - Example Telegraph, Telephone, Radio Broadcast
- Consider how more modern technologies are being
combined. - More convergence of computing and communications
technologies.
33Question How have the different degrees of
social presence in communication, or how have
time, place, and direction of communication
affected a situation in which you have been
involved?
34Basic Decision-Making Concepts
35Steps in Decision Making
36Types of Information Systems
37Different Classification Schema
- There is no one hard and fast rule for
classifying information systems. Some way we
might consider - By Organizational Level
- By Major Functional Area
- By the Support Provided by the System
- By the Information System Architecture
38Classification of IS Organizational Levels
- Consider the hierarchical nature of
organizations. Although many organizations are
reengineering themselves and transforming
themselves to other structures, the vast number
of organizations have a hierarchical structure.
Typical information systems that follow
organizational levels are - Departmental or functional area
- Enterprise Information Systems ( e.g. vendors
today market enterprise systems - PeopleSoft,
SAP). - Inter-organizational Systems (e.g. American
Airlines Sabre)
39Classification of IS Major Functional Area
- Departmental information systems may follow
traditional Functional Areas - The accounting system
- the finance system
- the manufacturing (operation/production) system
- the marketing system
- the human resource system
- Note in each functional area, there may be basic
computerized tasks that essential to the
operations of the organization and are routine in
nature (e.g. preparing a payroll and billing a
customer).
40Classification of IS Major Functional Area - 2
- Such tasks are mission-critical and often are
supported by transaction processing systems
(TPS). TPS support tasks in all functional
areas. - In each functional area it is often possible to
fund dozens of IS-specific applications. - The functional area classification is outdated
and perpetuates the notion of functional silos or
functional islands of information. - There is the need for cross-functional
information systems.
41Major Functional Areas
- Primary Activities
- Manufacturing
- Materials Management (logistics)
- Engineering
- Testing and Quality Control
- Maintenance and Service
- Marketing and Sales
- Support Activities
- Accounting
- Finance
- Strategic Planning
- Human Resource Management
- Research and Development
- Procurement (Purchasing)
- Public Relations
- Information Systems
42Classification of IS Support Provided
- Another way to classify IS is by the type of
support provided regardless of the functional
area involved - Transaction Processing Systems (TPS) - supporting
routine operations central to the mission of the
organization. - Management Information Systems (MIS) - supporting
functional managers. - Office Automation Systems (OAS) - supporting
office workers. - Group Support Systems (GSS) - supporting people
working in groups
43Classification of IS Support Provided
- Decision Support Systems (DSS) - supporting
managers and analysts. - Executive Information Systems (EIS) - supporting
executives - Execution systems - systems that directly support
the organizations value-added work (e.g. help
sales people sell, doctors practice medicine,
architects design, etc.) - Intelligent Support system - supporting knowledge
workers using Expert systems (ES) and artificial
neural networks (ANN)
44Classification of ISBy Nature of Activity
Supported
- Operational Systems - deal with day to day
operations. Often involve TPS. Systems used by
first-line managers (supervisors). Operational
decisions are of short-term nature. - Managerial or Tactical - used by middle
management short-term planning, organizing, and
controlling. Managerial systems are broader in
scope that operational systems. They are often
equated with MIS. - Strategic - deal with long-term situations which
significantly affect how business is conducted. - Note Reference Gorry Scott-Morton article.
45Information Systems Design
- The manner is which an IS is designed depends on
what it is intended to support. - It is important to conceptualize the information
requirements of the organization (See Wetherbe
article). - Often the conceptualization of how information
requirements will be met is called the
information architecture. It is a high-level
description of an organizations information
resources. - The Information Systems infrastructure or
information technology infrastructure is a
related concept.
46Information Systems Design - 2
- The information technology infrastructure is a
description of how computers, networks,
databases, and other facilities are arranged and
how they are operated and managed. - Architecture and Infrastructure are related
aspects of Information System Design. - An analogy is the conceptual planning of a house
(architecture) and the physical construction of
the foundation, walls, roof, etc.
(infrastructure).
47Classification of ISBy Information Systems
Architecture
- Information Systems can be classified according
to the systems architecture - a mainframe based system, sometime called
host-based systems. - a stand-alone personal computer.
- a Networked (or distributed) environment divides
the work between two or more computers. - Cooperative processing (geographic dispersed)
- client-server (generally with LANs)
- enterprise wide (uses intranet)
48Detail on Information Systems by Support Provided
49Transaction Processing Systems
- A transaction is an elementary activity conducted
during business operations (e.g. merchandise
sale). - Earliest Information Systems in organizations.
- Support the monitoring, collection, storage,
processing, and dissemination of the
organizations basic business transactions. - Provides backbone for many other applications
involving other support systems. - On-line systems called OLTP vs. batch
- Routine, repetitive tasks.
50Business Transactions in a Factory
- Payroll employee time cards, employee pay and
deductions, payroll checks. - Purchasing purchase orders, deliveries,
payments (accounts payable) - Sales sales records, invoices and billing,
accounts receivable, sales returns, shipping - Manufacturing production reports,
quality-control reports - Finance and Accounting financial statements, tax
records, expense accounts - Inventory management materials usage, inventory
levels
51Transaction Processing Systems - 3
- In addiiton to processing the routine critical
organizational activities, transaction processing
systems also provide the source data for many
other type of information systems used at the
tactical and strategic levels in the
organization. - Recall that tactical and strategic levels use
aggregated data, over multiple time periods. TPS
are often the source of this information. TPS
often populate data warehouse which provide
on-line analytical processing (OLAP).
52TPS Data Entry Screen
53Management Information Systems
- Systems that convert TPS data into information
for monitoring performance and managing an
organization. - The MIS provides periodic information to
functional (operational) and mid-level (tactical)
managers on routine matters such as operational
efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity. - Example An HRIS can provide the HR manager with
percentages of people who are on vacation or call
in sick. It can compare actual to forecasted
values, or to an industry average. - MIS are used for planning, monitoring, and
control.
54MIS management report
55Methods for Managerial Systems Support (MIS or
Tactical Level)
- 1. Statistical Summaries
- 2. Exception Reports
- 3. Periodic and ad hoc reports
- 4. Comparative analysis
- 5. Projections
- 6. Early detection of problems
- 7. Routine decisions
56Statistical Summaries
- Statistical Summaries - summary of raw data
collected in TPS. - Examples
- Daily production
- weekly absenteeism rate
- monthly usage of utilities
- Enhanced with graphics - a picture tells a
thousand words.
57Exception Reports
- To relieve managers from the information-overload
syndrome, an information system can extract (or
highlight) exceptions. - Produced only when pre-established
out-of-bounds conditions occur - E.G. a report that compares expenses to budget,
all expense items that exceed the budget by more
than 5 per cent are underlined, colored, or
separated from the rest. - Exception reporting helps managers avoid perusal
of incidental figures and concentrate on
deviations from the norm. - Challenge is to define the exceptions vs. normal.
58Periodic and Ad Hoc Reports
- Both statistical summaries and exception reports
can be done on a routine basis or on a demand
basis by users (ad hoc). - Ad hoc requested because they contain
information not available in the routine reports
or because users can not wait for the scheduled
time of the periodic report. - As technology improves, the ability to request
and receive ad hoc reports will improve further.
Managers should be able to view current or even
real-time information at any time they wish to do
so. - Query languages to databases facilitate such
inquiry. Web access tools are providing the same.
59Comparative Analysis
- Managers like to see performance values and other
information compared to their competitors, past
performance, or industry standards. - Key Performance Indicators and other Critical
Success Factors can be calculated from primarily
internal information and compared with
information external to the organization. These
measures are often found in Executive Information
Systems.
60Projections
- In contrast to operational systems, which have a
historical orientation, managerial information
systems provide standard projections such as
trend analysis, projection of future sales,
projection of cash flows, or forecasting of
market share. - Many projections will look at historical data and
factors in key environmental factors and factors
(e.g. consumer price index, inflation rate) to
predict the future.
61Early Detection of Problems
- By comparing and analyzing data, managerial
systems can detect problems in their early
stages. - For example, statistical quality control reports
can reveal if a trend for reduced quality is
developing. - This requires defining norms.
62Routine Decisions
- Middle managers are involved in many routine
decisions. - They schedule employees, order materials and
parts, and decide what and when to produce. - Standard computerized mathematical, statistical,
and financial models are available for the
execution of these activities.
63Strategic Potential of Transaction Processing and
Management Reporting Systems
- TPS should not be written off as
efficiency-oriented that requires nothing more
than technical ingenuity - TPS can be enablers of major process innovations
when approached with a TQM perspective. - Redesigned business processes, supported by TPS,
cut through functional business lines and can
ensure rapid and high-quality customer service.
They can be a source of competitive advantage and
generate a wealth of organizational knowledge.
64Strategic Potential of Transaction Processing and
Management Reporting Systems - 2
- Examples
- The Ford Purchasing System highlighted in chapter
2. - NJITs Self-Registration System and other Let
the customer do it himself/herself systems. - TQM systems
- customer-focus
- process-oriented
- total involvement
65Decision Support Systems
- Help people make decisions by providing
- access to data,
- iterative problem-solving
- direct use of models,
- and analysis tools with user-controllable
methods for displaying results. - Normally used in situations where decisions are
semi-structured and unstructured where no one
knows exactly how the decision should be made.
66IS Structured Decision-MakingStructuring loan
authorization
67Decision Support Systems - 2
- DSS grew out of dissatisfaction with the ability
of TPS and MIS to solve a new class of problems. - Repetitive Use of DSS Insurance agents use DSS
to help customers choose policy options.
Different scenarios are reviewed. - Non-repetitive use of DSS models are used to
help evaluate different business strategies. - Note the use of what if? questioning.
68Graphical output from a DSS
69Decision Support Tools
- The use of on-line data analysis tools to explore
large databases of transaction data is called
on-line analytical processing (OLAP). The idea
of OLAP grew out of difficulties analyzing the
data in databases that were continually updated
by TPS. - Periodic downloads of transaction data is stored
in a separate database specifically designed to
support analysis work. This database is called
the data warehouse. - Use of OLAP tools to try and find relevant
patterns in large transaction databases is called
data mining.
70Executive Information Systems
- An EIS is a highly interactive systems which
provides managers and executives flexible access
to information for monitoring operating results
and general business conditions. - EIS attempts to take off where the traditional
MIS. - EIS reporting is tailorable to the user.
71EIS - 1
(a)
(b)
(c)
72EIS - 2
73EIS - 3
74MIS for strategic and policy planning
and decision making
EIS
Management Information for tactical planning
and decision-making
DSS, ES
Management Information for operational planning,
decision-making and control
MIS
Basic Transaction Processing Collection of Core
Business Data
TPS
75Office Automation Systems
- Provide individuals with effective ways to
process personal and organizational business
data, perform calculations, and create documents. - Facilitates everyday information processing tasks
- Includes a wide range of tools such as
spreadsheets, word processors, presentation
packages, and personal databases. Sometimes
e-mail, v-mail, and fax are included. - When used for personal purposes, the work is less
structured. When tools are included for groups
or teams, we often consider the tools groupware.
76Group Support Systems
- Share information with different people working
on different parts of a task. - Controlling work flows and approval loops within
a group. - Incorporating efficient methods of scheduling
meetings. - Other names used are Groupware and
Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW)
systems.
77Group Support Systems - 2
- A form of Group Support systems called GDSS
(Group Decision Support Systems) provides
decision support by providing structure for
meetings. - The meetings can be held synchronously or
asynchronously. - Features of EIES/VC are compatible with GDSS.
78GDSS Room
79Communication Systems
- Helps people work together by sharing information
in different forms. - Examples teleconferencing, video conferencing,
messaging systems. - Sometimes called Computer Mediated Communication
Systems (CMC). - Sometimes the features are considered part of
groupware or office automation systems.
80Options for teleconferencing
81Expert Systems
- Information systems that support the work of
professionals in bounded, but complex situations
where it is recognized that experts do better
than non-experts.
82Example Information Systems in a Human Resource
Department
- The boundaries between different classifications
of IS are not precise and several real-life
systems combine several of the categories. - Follow the descriptions of various HRISs in the
next few slides.
83Transaction Processing in an HRIS
- Keep inventory of personnel
- payroll preparation
- compute salaries and incentive plans
84Management Information Systems as part of an HRIS
- Summary reports (e.g. average salaries in town)
- performance tracking of employees
- labor budget
- preparation, monitoring, and analysis
- short-term scheduling
- match positions and candidates
- fringe benefits monitoring and control
85Decision Support Systems in an HRIS
- Special report (e.g. safety records, equal
opportunity achievements) - Long range planning for human resources
- design of a compensation plan
- quantitative support of labor-management
negotiations
86Expert Systems in an HRIS
- Advice on legal and tax implications during
management-labor negotiations. - Develop social responsibility plans
- select training media
- design comprehensive training programs
87Office Automation in an HRIS
- On-line job interviews and recruiting,
- schedule meetings,
- mailing lists,
- schedule training,
- electronic mail,
- labor news and statistics received on-line
- preparation of training materials
88Executive Information Systems in an HRIS
- Exists at corporate level only
- will measure key performance indicators of the
department (such as dollar per employee)
89IS Impacts on Communication and Decision Making
- Transaction Processing Systems
- Communication
- creates database that can be accessed directly,
thereby making some person to person
communication necessary. - Decision-Making
- gives immediate feedback on decisions while
processing transactions.
90IS Impacts on Communication and Decision Making
- Management Information Systems and Executive
Information Systems - Communication
- Provides a basis of facts rather than options for
explaining problems and solutions - Decision Making
- provides summary information and measures of
performance for monitoring results. - May provide easy ways to analyze the types of
information provided in less flexible form by
older MIS
91IS Impacts on Communication and Decision Making
- Decision Support Systems
- Communication
- analysis using DSS helps provide a clear
rationale for explaining decisions. - Decision Making
- provides tools for analyzing data and building
models - Analysis using a DSS helps define nd evaluate
alternatives
92Information System Examples in Three Functional
Areas of BusinessSales,Manufacturing, and Finance
- OFFICE AUTOMATION SYSTEMS
- COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
- TRANSACTION PROCESSING SYSTEM (TPS)
- MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (MIS) AND EXECUTIVE
INFORMATION SYSTEM (EIS) - DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM (DDS)
- EXECUTION SYSTEM
Reference Table 5.6 in Alter Textbook.
93Transferable Features of IS
- OFFICE AUTOMATION SYSTEMS
- Transferable features
- Multiple forms of information, sometimes used in
combination - Immediacy and interactivity of communication
- Avoidance of unproductive work
- COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
- Transferable features
- Emphasis on communication in addition to data
processing - Consideration of social presence and other
communication characteristics when building
systems - Recognition of the need to handle different
combinations of same or different time or place - Sharing information betwween different people
working on different parts of a task - Controlling work flows and approval loops within
a group - Incorporating efficient methods of scheduling
meetings - TRANSACTION PROCESSING SYSTEMS
- Transferable features
- Control
- Procedures and rules
- Repetitions
94Transferable Features of IS - 2
- MANAGEMENT AND EXECUTICE INFORMATION SYSTEMS
- Transferable features
- Emphasis on measures of performance
- Use of standard formats and measures by people in
different departments - User friendly interface
- User friendly methods for analyzing data
- DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS
- Transferable features
- User-controlled interaction with computers
- Use of models and data
- Information systems applied to semistructured
tasks - EXECUTION SYSTEM
- Transferable features
- Integrating computerized systems into doing the
organizations value added work - Bringing knowledge in active form to people doing
the work