Learning Objectives

Lesson 1

• discuss at an introductory level how information technology can be used to assist managerial decision-making;

• distinguish between strategic, operational, and tactical decisions;

• discuss at an introductory level who makes decisions within an organisation and how these decisions are typically implemented,

• discuss at an introductory level the importance of Internet and Web-based technologies in the implementation of decision support systems.

Lesson 2

• describe various decision styles and factors that influence decision-making;

• discuss several of the more important capabilities of decision support systems;

• name and discuss the major components of decision support systems;

• discuss, using some specific examples, the types of models used for decision support systems;

• name and describe the purpose of each phase of Simon's methodology and how those phases relate to the use of a decision support system.

Decision Making LO

• explain** what a decision is and what decision-making is;
• discuss** why decision-making is a significant role for people involved in business management activites;
• list and describe** some of the important factors involved in making decisions;

** by explain or discuss or describe I mean write or say something that will help another person understand the concepts.

Decision Support Methodology LO

• name and describe each of Simon's four phases of decision-making,
• discuss how decision style, cognition, management style, personality and other factors influence a decision-making process,
• begin to discuss how support for decision-making can be provided in practice through the use of different types of models that can be used throughout Simon's 'design phase'.

Modelling & Analysis LO

• identify and describe some typical components that make up a Management Support System ,
• discuss, with examples, different types of models.

Lesson 3 Business Intelligence

• Describe issues in data collection, problems, and quality
• Begin to describe the characteristics, organization and use of business data
• Begin to explain how the web impacts data collection, organisation and presentation
• Explain the importance and use of a data warehouse
• Begin to understand the tools used for business intelligence

Business Analytics LO

• define the concepts Business Analytics
• begin to understand the use of technology solutions in the use of Business Analytics

Data Warehousing LO

• define the concepts of the Data Warehouse
• begin to understand the concepts of On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP)

Data Acquisition LO

• clearly differentiate between data, information, and knowledge
• discuss several data quality and integrity issues