Seminar 2 Information Systems & Knowledge Management

Purpose Knowledge management and role of decision support system in informed business decisions

Data, Information and Intelligence

Data are facts or recorded measures of certain things/events Information is data processed/formatted to support decision-making or define relationship between two acts Business Intelligence is the subset of data and information that actually has some explanatory power enabling power to enable effective managerial decision-making

Example: HKB
Purchased products are recorded in Kot Lakhpat Ware House by scanner forming data Each item checked out/sold is recorded and becomes data Inventory system structures data in a way that it can generate stock reports, can place orders for more stocks, hence turning data into information Information from Liberty and DHA stores sales and inventory records may be used by analysts to determine trends in customer purchases, needs for opening new stores in new localities: Johar Town, DHA Phase 6

Characteristics of Valuable Information

Relevance: How pertinent particular information is to the situation at hand Quality: The degree to which data is accurate, valid and reliable for the situation in hand Timeliness: Business is a dynamic field in which out-of-date information can lead to poor decisions. Data must be current and provided at right time Completeness: Information on all aspects of the decision to be made

 Who has the best pizza in Lahore? The answer to this question requires knowledge Knowledge is a blend of previous experience, observations, insight and that that forms organizations memory. It is a key resource and competitive advantage Knowledge Management is the process of creating an inclusive, comprehensive, easily accessible organizational memory or intellectual capital. Sales people play a key role in getting knowledge about customers, products and companys capabilities. This knowledge can be used in data ware house to assist decision-making at many levels.

Knowledge Management

Types of Knowledge
Explicit knowledge, which can be expressed in words and numbers and shared in the form of data, scientific formulae, product specifications, manuals, universal principles, and so forth. This kind of knowledge can be readily transmitted across individuals formally and systematically. Tacit knowledge is highly personal and hard to formalize, making it difficult to communicate or share with others. Subjective insights, intuitions and hunches fall into this category of knowledge. Furthermore, tacit knowledge is deeply rooted in an individual's action and experience, as well as in the ideals, values or emotions he or she embraces. It has two dimensions: Technical dimension, which encompasses informal and hard-to-pin-down skills or crafts often captured in the term "know-how". Master craftsmen/three-star chefs, develop a wealth of expertise at their fingertips--years of experience. But they often have difficulty articulating technical/scientific principles behind what they know. Cognitive" dimension that consists of beliefs, perceptions, ideals, values, emotions and mental models so ingrained in us that we take them for granted. They cannot be articulated easily, but they shapes the way we perceive the world around us.

Global Information System

An organized collection of computer hardware, communication equipment, software, data, and people designed to capture, store, update, manipulate, analyze, and immediately display information about worldwide business activities. It is a tool for providing past, present and projected information on internal operations and external activity It uses satellite communications, computers, storage devices, Internet and WWW that are changing the business models Example: UPS service delivery tracking, RFID tags

Business Research Categories

Foundational to answer basic questions. What business should we be in? Testing addresses things like new product concepts, promotional ideas. How effective they will be? Issues examines how specific issues impact the firm. How does organizational structure impact employee job satisfaction and turnover? Performance monitors specific metrics profitability, delivery times. They are critical in real-time management. The potential impact of policy changes

 A computer-based system that helps decision makers confront problems through direct interaction with databases and analytical software programs. The purpose of a decision support system is to store data and transform them into organized information that is easily accessible to managers. Modern decision-support system greatly facilitates customer relationship management to address exchanges between firm and customers

Decision Support System

 Bring together lots of pieces of information customer profiles sales, market trends marketing effectiveness/responsiveness Provides the enterprise with a complete, dependable, and integrated view of its customer base. Management, salespeople, customer service, and perhaps the customer can directly access information e.g. other products a customer has purchased match customer needs with satisfying product offerings remind customers of service requirements

CRM

 Internal records: Accounting reports of sales and inventory

figures, provide considerable data. Data about costs, shipments, inventory, sales, and other aspects of regular operations are routinely collected and entered into the computer.

Sources of Input For a DSS

Proprietary business research: Projects gathering of

new data to investigate specific problems. Not conducted regularly, market research

Sales persons Input: Customer complaints, comments,

changes in competitors goods and services Behavioral Tracking: Scanner data, automated customer counts

Web tracking: Social media, face book, blogs

Outside vendors and external distributors:

Industry sales trends, competitors, market share, demographics

Information Technology and Business

Environmental scanning entails all info gathering designed to
detect changes in the external operating environment of the firm that is usually beyond firms control

Smart agents: software capable of learning an Internet users

preferences and automatically searching out info in selected websites and distribute it

Pull technology enable customers request info from a Webpage

and browser determines a response the customer essentially asks for the data

Push technology send data to users computer without a request

being made. Software guess customer preference from previous experience

Cookies: Provides saves onto the computer of someone who visits.

Tracks websites and files visited

Intranet
Private data network Uses internet standards and technology Firewalls for security

Conclusion
Business a dynamic activity Technologies are changing continuously and fast Information is the currency of the century Companys knowledge base or intellectual capital provides competitive advance for best decision-making Information systems are the best way to get authentic, right and relevant information instantly