4/10: Managing Knowledge & IS Tools for Decision-Making

• Knowledge Management– Office & document management systems– Knowledge work systems– Group collaboration systems, intranet knowledge

environments– Artificial intelligence: Expert Systems, Case-based reasoning– Neural networks, Fuzzy logic, Genetic algorithms, Hybrid AI

systems, Intelligent agents• Enhancing Management Decision-Making

– Decision Support Systems (DSS)– Group DSS– Executive Support Systems (ESS)

Knowledge Management• “ The process of systematically and actively

managing and leveraging the stores of knowledge in an organization.”

• An organization’s knowledge base may include:– Structured internal knowledge– External knowledge– Informal internal knowledge (tacit knowledge)

Information Work• “Work that primarily consists of creating or

processing information.”• Two types of workers:

– Data workers: those who process & disseminate information & paperwork.

– Knowledge workers: those who create knowledge; those who design products & services.

Office & Document Management Systems

• 3 basic functions of an office:– Managing & coordinating the work of data &

knowledge workers– Connecting the work of the local info workers with

the larger organization– Connecting the organization to the

external environment

Office Workers: Activities• Managing documents

– Document creation, storage, retrieval, dissemination• Scheduling for individuals & groups• Communicating for individuals & groups

– Voice,digital, & document-based communications• Managing data

Office Systems Help Office Workers• “Computer systems, such as word processing,

voice mail, and imaging that are designed to increase productivity of office workers.”

• Help with:– Document creation, dissemination, & retrieval– Collaboration– Scheduling– Etc.

Document Imaging Systems• Convert printed documents & images to digital

form for storage & access by computer.

• Not-often-used documents can be stored on a jukebox (optical disk system w/ multiple disks).

• Alternative to DIS: Intranets– Workers publish documents to web-based form

directly

Knowledge Work Systems• “Information systems that aid knowledge

workers in the creation and integration of new knowledge in the organization.”

• 3 key roles for knowledge workers:– Keeping the organization up to date with knowledge

in external world– Serving as internal consultants in their areas of

expertise– Acting as change agents to evaluate, initialize, &

promote change.

Requirements for KWS• Specialized tools needed for particular task• User-friendly interface• Access to external databases

• Examples of KWS:– CAD– Virtual reality systems, VRML systems– Investment workstations

CAD: Computer-Aided Design• Automates creation & modification of designs

by using computers.

Virtual Reality, VRML Systems• Have visualization, rendering, and simulation

capabilities beyond conventional CAD.

• VRML: Virtual Reality Markup Language– Virtual reality designed for the Web

Group Collaboration Systems• Groupware

– “Software that provides functions and services that support the collaborative activities of workgroups.”

– Examples:• publishing: tracking multiple users’ edits to a document• replication: keeping identical data on multiple PCs• discussion tracking• security: preventing unauthorized access to data

Group Collaboration Systems• Intranet knowledge environments

– An alternative to traditional groupware– Cheaper, easier to maintain for email, discussion

groups, multimedia Web documents

• Which to choose?– Groupware: projects requiring extensive

coordination & management, editing on the fly, tracking revisions, greater security

– Intranet: simple tasks like sharing documents, email, publishing documents, etc.

Artificial Intelligence• “The effort to develop computer-based systems that

behave like humans.” (inc. hardware & software)• AI systems are based on human expertise, knowledge,

and selected reasoning patterns, but do not exhibit human intelligence.

• Why would businesses want this science-fiction idea?– to preserve expertise that may be lost– to store information in an active form– to create a mechanism invulnerable to human feelings– to eliminate boring & unsatisfying jobs– to enhance an organization’s knowledge base by providing

interactivity.

Expert Systems• “Knowledge-intensive computer program that

captures the expertise of a human in limited domains of knowledge.”

• Narrow & brittle• Perform tasks that a professional could do in a

few minutes or hours.                             

Expert Systems: Parts• Knowledge base: model of human knowledge

used by ES. • Rule base: the part of the knowledge base that is

contained in IF/THEN structures.• Knowledge frames: organizes knowledge into

chunks of interrelated characteristics.• AI shell: programming environment of an ES.

• Knowledge engineer: a systems analyst expert in converting human knowledge into an ES.

Case-based reasoning• “Artificial intelligence technology that

represents knowledge as a database of cases and solutions.”

• Each new case is compared with existing cases to suggest a solution. Each new case is added to the database of cases upon arriving at a satisfactory solution.

Other Intelligent Techniques• Neural networks

– attempt to emulate the processing patterns of the biological brain; have a general capacity to learn.

• Fuzzy logic– rule-based AI that tolerates imprecision using

membership functions.• Genetic algorithms

– Solution evolves through mutation, adaptation, and natural selection out of possible answers.

Intelligent agents• “Software that uses a built-in or learned

knowledge base to carry out specific, repetitive, and predictible tasks for the user, business process, or other software application.”

• Example uses: – wizards in MS Office– delete junk email– find cheapest airfare – search auctions for lowest price on item

• Bots – http://www.mySimon.com

Enhancing Management Decision-Making

• Decision Support Systems (DSS)– “Computer systems for management that combines

data, analytical tools, and models to support semi-structured and unstructured decision-making.

– MIS are predefined management reports, etc., not unstructured.

Two types of DSS• Model-driven DSS

– “Primarily stand-alone system that uses a model to perform “what-if” analysis.”

• Data-driven DSS– “A system that allows users to extract & analyze

information in large databases.”

Data-driven DSS: Datamining• Associations: things linked to a single event.• Sequences: events linked over time.• Classification: patterns that describe a group,

inferring a set of rules.• Clustering: like classification, but no defined

group yet exists.• Forecasting: using a series of values to forecast

what other values may be.

Parts of a DSS• Database: all the data

– historical and/or current from various applications.• Software system

– Software tools used for analysis.• Examples inc.

web-based DSS

Examples of DSS• American Airlines: price & route selection• Frito-Lay: price, advertising, & promotion mix• Texas Oil & Gas: evaluation of drilling sites• General Accident Insurance: fraud detection

Group DSS• “An interactive computer-based system that

facilitates solutions to unstructured problems by decision-makers working as a group.”

• Parts: – Hardware: conference facility itself, PCs, overheads,

etc.– Software tools: electronic questionnaires,

brainstorming tools, voting tools, etc.– People

Executive Support Systems (ESS)• “Information systems for strategic-level

unstructured decision-making in an organization through advanced graphics & communications.”

• Drilling down: ability to move from summary data to lower and lower levels of detail.

Benefits of ESS• Easy to use; little training needed.• Ability to analyze, compare, and highlight

trends.• Enhance quality of decision-making because of

drill-down capability