MIS Decision Making - Vocabulary Flashcards

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts from the lecture notes on MIS decision making and information quality.

Decision making

The process of selecting among alternatives to achieve organizational goals; central to managerial work.

Mintzberg's managerial roles

Henry Mintzberg's classification of manager activities into interpersonal, informational, and decisional roles.

Interpersonal roles

Managerial roles involving leading, representing the organization, and communicating with others.

Informational roles

Managerial roles as the central source and distributor of information within the organization.

Decisional roles

Managerial roles involving making decisions, solving problems, and allocating resources.

Fayol's five functions

The five fundamental management activities: planning, organizing, coordinating, deciding, and controlling.

High-velocity decision making

Rapid, data-driven decisions typically executed by computers to process large data quickly.

Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)

A multi-criteria decision model that decomposes a problem into a hierarchy and prioritizes options.

Balanced Scorecard

A strategic planning framework using KPIs across four perspectives to align actions with strategy.

Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

A measurable value that shows how effectively an objective is achieved.

Executive Support System (ESS)

An information system that provides executives with access to critical performance data.

Balanced Scorecard perspectives

The four areas measured by the scorecard: financial, internal processes, learning and growth, and customers.

Data quality

The degree to which information is accurate, complete, relevant, valid, timely, and consistent.

Accuracy

How well data describes real-world conditions.

Completeness

The extent to which data includes all necessary elements.

Relevance

The usefulness of data for the decision at hand.

Validity

The soundness of data collection methods and processes.

Timeliness

Data available when needed.

Consistency

Uniformity of data across sources and versions.

MIS (Management Information System)

An information system that supports decision making with routine reports.

Exception report

A report highlighting outliers or deviations from expected performance.

Production report

A report tracking current and forecasted production levels and goals.

Forecasting report

A report projecting future performance and whether goals will be met.

Pivot table

A data-analysis tool in spreadsheets that summarizes data across dimensions to reveal patterns.

Belief Outcome Action (BOA) framework

A framework for structuring research questions about information systems, including belief formation, action formation, and outcome terminology.

Belief formation

The process by which beliefs, desires, and opportunities about the operating environment are formed.

Action formation

The process of translating beliefs into organizational actions.

Outcome terminology

Methods used to measure and monitor belief and action outcomes.

MCDA (Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis)

An analysis method that compares multiple criteria to inform decisions, not limited to monetary units.

MCDA five-step process

Describe context; Identify options; Identify objectives/criteria; Measure each criterion; Calculate values.

5 Whys

A problem-solving technique that asks 'why' repeatedly to identify root causes.

Structured decisions

Routine decisions guided by predefined procedures and standards.

Unstructured decisions

Strategic decisions without predefined guidelines, requiring judgment.

Semi-structured decisions

Decisions with a mix of structured elements and unstructured elements.

Decision matrix

A tool to compare options against criteria to select the best alternative.

Herbert Simon four-stage model

Intelligence, Design, Choice, Implementation—the four stages of the decision-making process.