What is the difference between Efficiency and Effectiveness? Who in the organization is typically more responsible for achieving Efficiency vs. achieving Effectiveness - and why? How does this difference in job responsibility affect the approach to decision support provided to different levels of management in the organization?
Chapter 1 talked about the difference between data, information, business intelligence and knowledge (pp. 6-10) Decision Support systems typically operate at the "higher end" of this spectrum often employing sophisticatedalgorithms to process data.
What is an algorithm?
What kinds of Decision Support systems are there, what do they do, and what are they used for? What are the key differences between them? (A few of the kinds are described in the textbook - I suggest you start there. We will then expand the discussion in conference. This is a "fun" area for a lot of us.)
What kinds of Decision Support capabilities do you already have on your computer (e.g. in Microsoft Excel?) Please consider developing an on-line demo of such a Decision Support example that we can show in class
What kinds of Decision Support capabilities can you find on the internet? Please consider developing an on-line demo of such a Decision Support example that we can show in class
What is a sensitivity analysis? What is goal seek? Why are both of these particularly important when launching a new business?
What is data mining? What kinds of algorithms are used in data mining? As a business owner, what kinds of benefits can you get out of it? As an individual what kinds of concerns might this practice raise?