OR BASED DSS

OPERATIONAL RESEARCH
Operational Research is the use of advanced analytical
techniques to improve decision-making.

Why? Because it makes sense to make the best use of

available resources.
Uses? Scheduling, Facility planning, Forecasting, Marketing
etc.
DSS
A decision support system (DSS) is a computer-based application
that collects, organizes and analyzes business data to facilitate
quality business decision-making for management, operations and
planning.
Why? For compiling a variety of data from many sources Such as
raw data, documents, and personal knowledge from employees,
management, executives and business models. DSS analysis helps
companies to identify and solve problems, and make decisions.
Uses? Medical diagnosis, credit loan verification, evaluating bids on
engineering projects, business and business management,
agricultural production at the farm and policy levels, forest
management and railroad (for evaluation of defective rails).
Components of OR-Based
Decision Support System
Decision support systems based on Operations research
models can be of immense value to the decision makers. The
components of a typical Decision support system are as
follows:-
Data base
Graphical User Interface (GUI); web enabled using java or
VBA
Algorithms, pre- and post- processor
What-if analysis
Report generators
How things work?
Real world
situation

Problems
Models

Methods

Solution
Applications

Rescheduling aircraft in response to groundings and delays

Planning production for printed circuit board assembly
Scheduling equipment operators in mail processing &
distribution centers
Developing routes for delivery of a product
Adjusting nurse schedules in light of daily fluctuations in
demand
The OR Process
It is a process which cycles through stages in which problem is
identified, solutions are constructed and evaluated and then
implemented in real world.
 Monitoring
In this stage OR study arises when there is an acknowledgement
that some aspect of a system could be organized and managed
better.

It requires a process that continually observes the system and

identifies when its current modes of operation begin to perform
poorly.

At that point of time, it may lead to different demands for the output
which can be achieved by different inputs.
Modelling, Formulation and
Validation
In Modelling,the issues are formulated and a model is
constructed to represent the system and how it addresses
the issues.

Then the model will be validated against available data and

then its behavior will be explored.
Exploration
This stage will concentrate increasingly on optimisation to
determine how the systems performance might be improved.

Cycles of modelling and exploration together lead to a

conception of an improved manner of operating the system.

This improvement may be an incremental change in its

operating characteristics, in which the outputs are achieved
via different means.
Implementation
This stage needs to recognise the social/technical nature of
improving a process.

Modifications may reduce theoretical optimality but increase

its acceptability which in turn may be necessary for this
solution to be implemented.

Model informs and gives direction to the implementation

stage but does not dictate it.
Knowledge Management System
Definition
A knowledge management system (KMS) is a system for
applying and using knowledge management principles.
These include data-driven objectives around business
productivity, a competitive business model, business
intelligence analysis and more.

A knowledge management system is made up of different

software modules served by a central user interface.
Some of these features can allow for data mining on
customer input and histories, along with the provision or
sharing of electronic documents. Knowledge management
systems can help with staff training and orientation,
support better sales, or help business leaders to make
critical decisions
Multidisciplinary Nature of KM
Knowledge management draws upon a vast number of diverse fields
such as:
Organizational science
Cognitive science
Linguistics and computational linguistics
Information technologies such as knowledge-based systems,
document and information management, electronic performance
support systems, and database technologies
Information and library science
Technical writing and journalism
Anthropology and sociology
Education and training
Storytelling and communication studies
Collaborative technologies such as Computer-Supported
Collaborative Work (CSCW) and groupware as well as intranets,
extranets, portals, and other web technologies
The Two Major Types of Knowledge: Tacit and Explicit

Properties of tacit knowledge

Ability to adapt, to deal with new and exceptional situations
Expertise, know-how, know-why, and care-why
Ability to collaborate, to share a vision, to transmit a culture
Coaching and mentoring to transfer experiential knowledge on a one-
to-one, face-to-face basis

Properties of explicit knowledge

Ability to disseminate, to reproduce, to access and re-apply
throughout the organization
Ability to teach, to train
Ability to organize, to systematize, to translate a vision into a mission
statement, into operational guidelines
Transfer knowledge via products, services, and documented
processes
 16

Knowledge Hierarchy
Knowledge Management

Tacit Tacit Explicit

Explicit
Knowledge Knowledge
This type of This type of knowledge
knowledge exists in can be
peoples heads, not Knowledge Processed by
articulated or information systems
documented Codified and recorded
Archived and protected
Information

Data
KM Significance
Knowledge assets have often become more important to companies
than financial and physical assets and are often the only way for a
company to distinguish itself from its competitor & gain competitive
advantage

Lost knowledge given the enormous of baby boomers that will be changing
jobs or retiring in next few years cause productivity cost of an employee
leaving 85% of their base salary due to their replacements mistakes, lost
knowledge and lost skill( Beazley et al, 2002)

Relate to the concept of knowledge half-life, from which it is found that

knowledge reaches obsolescence, on average, in 500 days, but can be
much quicker in some areas
- Lost knowledge obviously has a cost, estimated that $115 billion sits idle in
lost knowledge affiliated with production technologies

- An astounding example of this is the loss of the original computer source

code, written in the 1950s, that spawned the Y2K software crisis, has cost
businesses worldwide an estimated $1 trillion (Petch, 1998)
 18

Knowledge Cycle
Innovation Cycle KM Cycle
Collect
Codify
Identify
Classify

Embed
Product/ Knowledge Organize/
Process Create Store
Repository

Share/
Diffuse Use/Exploit Disseminate
Access
 Seven Levers of KM
Customer Knowledge - the most vital knowledge
Knowledge in Products - smarts add value
Knowledge in People - but people walk
Knowledge in Processes - know-how when needed
Organizational Memory - do we know what we know?
Knowledge in Relationships - richness and depth
Knowledge Assets - intellectual capital
Why Implement KMS?
IBM, Oracle, Cisco
Measure intranet value at over $1 billion

BT, UK telecommunications
company
Employee ideas have saved 100 million

Sodexhos SuperSleuth
Cash reward for employees submitting
sales leads
Led to over $90 million in sales volume
Common Misconceptions

1.Knowledge is just as important, if not more so, to a smaller company

trying to compete in the rapidly changing global marketplace. Smaller
companies must capture, assimilate, and capitalize on every
advantage they can find, including KNOWLEDGE

2.Smaller firms have the advantages from Culture and Organizational

structure in place that is much more conducive to implementing
knowledge management effort such as type of environment, which is
predicated more on social relationship, familiarity and trust between
employees

A little Knowledge that acts is worth more than much knowledge that is
idle.(Kahlil Gibran)
Whos Responsible?
Everyone:
Managers/Supervisors
Leaders as knowledge champions

The Knowledgeable
Not a problem of knowing, but of access

End Users
Feedback
Psychological barriers
Role of IT in Implementation

The biggest contributor to this brilliant growth of the

knowledge management system is information technology.

Lee et al. also say, ...there are negative perspectives

about information technology.

According to a managing partner at a KM consultancy firm

based in New York, The biggest misconception that IT
leaders make is that knowledge management is about
technology...Usually people begin a KM project by focusing
on the technology...But the key is people...
Strategy for Implementing KM
The MeCTIP model

Organizational
Climate

Macro- Technical,
Environment Informational,
Personal

Technical
Climate
Strategy for Implementing KM
Macro-environment
External Factors
Globalization
Technology
Organizational
E-companies Climate

Macro- Technical,
Environment Informational,
Personal

Technical
Climate
Strategy for Implementing KM
Organizational Climate
Structure
Formal Structures
Cross-functional project groups
Cross-discipline learning groups
Informal Structures Organizational
Grapevine/Underground Climate

Cliques
Macro- Technical,
Strategy/Goals Environment Informational,
Personal
Culture
Technical
Climate

The difference between, ...what is formally

agreed and what actually takes place.
Strategy for Implementing KM
Technical Climate
Infrastructure
Response to change
Resistance to change/Conflict
Listen to negative feedback Organizational
Climate
Conflict leads to improved ideas
Macro- Technical,
Environment Informational,
Personal

Technical
Climate
Strategy for Implementing KM
Technical
System Standardization
Compatibility
Usability
Organizational
Climate

Macro- Technical,
Environment Informational
, Personal
Technical
Climate
Strategy for Implementing KM
Informational
Info fatigue
Infofamine
Infoglut
According to Lee et al, ...users do Organizational
not know how to utilize effectively Climate

the vast pool of information.

Macro- Technical,
Environment Information
al, Personal
Technical
Climate
Strategy for Implementing KM

Personal Organizational
Climate
Knowledge roles
Motivation Macro-
Environment
Technical,
Informational
, Personal
Learning networks Technical
Climate
Maintaining KM Systems

Provide Adequate Access

Intranets
Classes
Psychological Barriers
Ook Lee study
103 questionnaires from Korean KMS users
93 respondents were reluctant to say that a knowledge management
piece was not valid
Maintaining KM Systems
Use it or lose it
Cook compares KMS to draining battery
Share knowledge
Knowledge is individual power, not group power
Removing knowledge constipation
Crowded closet
Maintaining KM Systems

Incentives
Financial
Big Idea
Pub Money
Organizational Sociology
Know your audience
Be flexible
No single recipe for success
Thank you