1.  STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING
 Decision Making
 Strategy
 A plan for solving a problem
 Problem
 Identify what the problem is
 Solve
 Come up with a plan to solve a problem
 Model
 A simplified representation
 Decision Support Systems (DSS)
 Sensitivity Analysis
 The study of the impact that changes in one or more
parts of the model
 What-if Analysis
 Checks the impact of a change in an assumption on the
proposed solution
 Goal-seeking Analysis
 Finds the inputs necessary to achieve the desired level of
output
 Executive Information Systems
 Consolidation
 Aggregation of information

2.  Complex grouping of interrelated information
 Drill-down
 Enables users to view details and details of details
 Monthly, weekly, daily, and even hourly
 Slice-and-dice
 Ability to look at information from different perspectives
 Digital Dashboards
 Market Pulse
o Daily sales numbers
o Market share
o Subscriber turnover
 Customer Service
o Problem resolved on first call
o Call center wait times
o On-time repair calls
 Cost driver
o Number of repair trucks
o Repair jobs completed per day
o Call center productivity
 Artificial Intelligence
 Artificial Intelligence (AI)
 Simulates human intelligences

3.  Learn, understand, and reason
 Expert Systems
 Computerized advisory programs
 Imitate the reasoning processes of experts
 Neural Networks
 Artificial Neural Network
 Attempts to emulate the way the human brain works
 Genetic Algorithms
 Mimics the evolutionary, survival-of-the-fittest process
to generate increasingly better solutions to a problem
 Best suited to decision making environments
 Intelligent Agents
 A special-purpose knowledge-based information system
 Makes decisions and completes task
 BUSINESS PROCESSES
 Understanding the Importance of Business Processes
 Business Process
 A standardized set of activities that accomplish a specific
task
 For instance, processing and order
 Customer facing processes
 Product or service that is received by external customers

4.  Business facing processes
 Invisible to external customer
 Essential to effective business management
 Includes goal setting, day-to-day planning, performance
feedback, and resource allocation