Chapter 6 Global information Systems, Decision Support Systems, Expert Systems

Learning Outcome Understands why multinational corporations must use global information systems Able to explain typical software components Understands the elements and use of Geographic Information Systems

Global information System (GIS) Is the development of information systems and applications which is used to deliver information worldwide within a defined context.

Global IS Management Many cultural, political, and geoeconomic realities that must be confronted in order for business to succeed in global market Focus on developing global business IT strategies and managing global e-business applications and systems developments

Global IS Management Political challenge countries have rules regulating or prohibiting transfer of data across their national boundaries Others severely restrict, tax or prohibit imports of hardware and software

Global IS Management Geoeconomic challenges cost of living and labor costs in various countries Cultural challenges Differences in languages,cultural interests, religions, customs, social attitudes Work styles and business relationships

Global IS Management Define core business processes Identify the Core Systems to Coordinate Centrally Make the Benefits Clear Ability to switch information efficiently Vast improvement in production, operation and supply and distribution Ability to optimized the use of corporate funds over a much larger capital base

Growth of International Information Systems Transformation of industrial economies and societies into knowledge- and information based economies. Emergence of global economy and global world order Many firms will be replaced by fast moving networked corporations that transcend national boundaries

Growth of International Information Systems Design and assemble of laptop computer: CPU – designed and built in US DRAM – designed in US, built in Malaysia Screen – designed and assembled in Japan Keyboard – from Taiwan Made possible because of international information and telecommunication systems

The Global Business Drivers General Cultural Factors Specific Business Factors Global communication and transportation technologies Global Markets Development of global culture Global production and operations Political stabilityGlobal workforce Global knowledge baseGlobal economies of scale

Factors driving GIS General cultural factors and specific business to consider Growth of cheap international communication and transportation has created world culture Political stability and growing global knowledge base that is widely shared contribute also to the world culture

Decision Support Systems (DSS) Assist management in decision making by combining data, sophisticated analytical models and tools, and user-friendly software into single powerful systems that can support semi structured or unstructured decision making

Types of DSS Model-driven DSS Stand alone systems isolated from major organizational information systems that used some type of model to perform “what-if” and other analysis Data driven DSS Analyze large pools of data found in major organizational systems Support decision making by allowing users to extract useful information that was previously buried in large quantity of data

Cargo Revenue Optimization Cargo Booking Agent (1) Cargo Reservation System (2) CargoProf Revenue Management System (3) Passenger Reservation System (4) Passenger Booking Agent Flight Schedule Server (5)

Cargo Revenue Optimization (1) Booking agent requests a cargo reservation (2) Cargo Reservation system passes the shipment details and customer contract rate to (3)CargoProf

Cargo Revenue Optimization (4) Passenger reservation system feeds a passenger forecast to the flight schedule server's cargo capacity forecaster (5), which calculates expected cargo capacity each night for every flight. It passes this capacity data to CargoProf, which calculates for each flight with available cargo space the minimum prices that a booking must meet or exceed Cargo reservation system then accepts or reject the request

Components of DSS DSS Database – collection of current or historical data from a number of applications or groups DSS Software System – contains the software tools that are used for data analysis Common models are libraries of statistical models – able to anaylze series of data

Components of DSS Optimizing models – determine the proper mix of products within a given market to maximize profits Forecasting models – forecast sales. Sensitivity analysis models – ask “What-if” questions repeatedly to determine the impact of changes in one or more factors on outcome DSS user interface – easy interactions

Examples of DSS ORGANIZATION General Accident Insurance Bank of America United Airlines DSS APPLICATIONS Customer buying patterns & fraud detection Customer profiles Flight Scheduling & passenger demand forecasting

Components of DSS DSS Database External Data TPS DSS Software System Models OLAP Tools Datamining Tools User Interface User

Data Visualization Easier for user to digest and act upon by using charts, tables, graphs, maps, digital images, three-dimensional presentations, animations, and other data visualization technologies

Geographic Information Systems Are a special category of DSS that use data visualization technology to analyze and display data for planning and decision making in the form of digitized maps Can assemble, store, manipulate and display geographically referenced information, tying data to points, lines, and areas on a map

Geographic Information Systems To help state and local governments calculate emergency response times to natural disasters To help banks identify the best locations for installing new branches or ATM terminals

Expert Systems Information systems that solve problems by capturing knowledge for a very specific and limited domain of human expertise Capture the knowledge of skilled employees in the form of a set of rules Can assist decision making by asking relevant questions and explaining the reasons for adopting certain actions

A-B If INC>50,000 Ask about car payments Else EXIT B - C If car payment <10% of income Ask about mortgage payment Else EXIT C – D If mortgage payment <20% of income Grant credit Else EXIT D – E If D ask about years employed E - F If years >4 Grant 10,000line Else Do G F Limit 10,000 G - H If years< 4 Ask about other debt H –F If other debt < 5% of Income DoF Else DoI I Limit 3,000 D Grant credit line

Expert Systems A series of these rules can be knowledge base Contains : IF-THEN AI shell – is the programming environment of an expert system Inference engine – strategy used to search through the rule base in an expert system; can be forward or backward chaining

Expert Systems Forward chaining – strategy for searching the rule base in an expert system that begins with the information entered by the user and searches the rule base to arrive at a conclusion Backward chaining - strategy for searching the rule base in an expert system that acts like a problem solver beginning with a hypothesis and seeking out more information until the hypothesis is either proved or disproved