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a) (i) Decision Support System (DSS)
These are information systems that support managers in day-to-day decisionmaking and most of them are used in semi-structured problems. DSSs emphasize on small simple models, which can be easily understood and used by mangers rather than complex integrated systems which need information system specialists to operate. They cut across both data support and transaction processing.
(ii) DSS software components:
3 main components:
1. The data management subsystem (the database)
2. The dialogue/use interface subsystem
3. The model management subsystem
The dialogue model is basically a user interface at which the user enters data into the system or views data from the system.
The data management component consists of current or historical data from a number of applications or groups. It may be in the form of a small database residing on a PC that contains a subset of corporate data that has been downloaded and possibly combined with external data. Alternatively, the DSS database may be a massive data warehouse that is continuously updated by major organizational transaction processing systems (including enterprise systems and data generated by website transactions). The data in DSS databases are generally extracts or copies of production databases so that using the DSS does not interfere with critical operational systems.
The model management component consists of a system that maps data to models in order to produce results that could be used to support decision-making. A model is and abstract representation that illustrates the components or relationships that illustrates the components or relationships of a phenomenon. A model could be a physical one (such as a model airplane), a mathematical one (such as an equation) or a verbal one (such as a description of a procedure for writing and order).
b) (i) Expert system
This is a knowledge-intensive computer program that captures the expertise of a human in limited domains of knowledge. An expert system could assist decisionmaking in an organization by asking relevant questions and explaining the reasons for adopting certain actions.
(ii) Advantages of expert systems in decision-making:
1. Enable high quality decisions to be made.
2. They reduce the number of decision makers since they partly automate the process of decision-making. This implies lower labour costs.
3. They ensure accountability since they provide reasons for proposing an action.
4. Since they support managers in decision-making, they enable decisions to be made within a short time period.
5. Since expert systems capture human expertise, they enable organizations to fully retain intellectual resources for future decision-making.
Gregorymasila1 answered the question on March 28, 2018 at 13:19
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