DECISION MAKING COMPUTER PROCESSES AND MANAGERS

Decision Making Computer Processes and Managers



Abstract

The growth of the Internet and information technology often leads to more customer requests and can mean that a small staff must cope with a large number of business processes. Effective management under these circumstances requires a computer system able to support these business processes. Such a system cannot be developed without modeling business processes, which requires a great deal of “in-house” information from the people who participate in business processes - information on routines, rules, etc. In general, it is not enough to get the process participants to describe their actions - they should first achieve a deeper understanding of the processes themselves (in terms of goals, activities, etc). A technique called state flow (SF) has been developed to help process participants understand processes. The paper gives an overview of the application of the SF technique in building models of two business processes: a decision-making process; and a process of recruiting new members (for a non-profit association).

Table of Contents

1INTRODUCTION4

1.1Statement of the Problem6

1.2Nature and Significance of Problem6

1.3Objective of the Research7

1.4Hypothesis9

2METHODOLOGY9

2.1Decision Support Methods10

2.1.1Decision Analysis10

2.1.2Operational Research12

3DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS14

3.1Decision Systems15

4CONCLUSION17

REFERENCES19

Decision Making Computer Processes and Managers

Introduction

Decisions that are made by managers in organizational environments are sometimes limited if a decision involves information outside a managers scope and the lack of information combined with other factors as, emotions, anger, cognitive dissonance, (Jones, p. 8) or all of the strengths and frailties in humans may affect a decision that a manager makes.

It is thought that there are differences between personal decisions and business organizational decisions that are made by managers and a reason may be that humans possess abilities to quickly change their decisions whereas a computer program cannot until modified, (Brazerman, 1999).

The learning process of decision making is time consuming and riddled with errors until a manager can feel comfortable and reinforced by peers from making successful decisions. Decisions are important to organizations because they provide choices and create paths to longevity and profits for that organization.

Historically successful decision makers were considered born leaders and when the industrial revolution began Fredrick Taylor changed the belief with his theory of, “Scientific Management Principals,” (The Principals of Scientific Management, 1911). Fredrick Taylor proved that an organizations no longer had to wait until a leader is born all you have to do is educate a person so that they will make educated decisions based upon correct information taught in college courses. This revolutionary idea was in concert with Henry Ford who needed managers to control the vast complexity of mass producing automobiles for the public, (p. 13).

Throughout the years decision making processes have been refined through a span of control network and a division of labor that restricts each manager to their particular department, (Trapped in the Net p. 17). A hierarchical system controls the departments which eventually conclude to the CEO. Information to make decisions travelled from a CEO down the chain of command to the receiver and the information the traversed back up ...