Foundations and Technologies for Decision Making Flashcards

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering the foundations of decision making, Simon's four phases, and the characteristics and components of Decision Support Systems (DSS).

Decision Making

A process of choosing among two or more alternative courses of action for the purpose of attaining one or more goals.

Intelligence Phase

The first phase of Simon's decision-making process involving scanning the environment, identifying problem situations or opportunities, and monitoring results.

Design Phase

The second phase of Simon's decision-making process where a model is constructed, tested, and validated, and possible courses of action are developed and analyzed.

Choice Phase

The third phase of Simon's decision-making process where the actual decision is made and includes the search, evaluation, and recommendation of an appropriate solution.

Implementation Phase

The fourth phase of Simon's decision-making process involving putting a recommended solution to work and initiating a new order of things.

Effectiveness

A measure of decision-making quality often described as 'goodness' or 'accuracy.'

Efficiency

A measure of performance related to 'speed' or the use of 'less resources.'

Groupthink

A characteristic where group members reach a consensus or accept a solution without critical reasoning, which can lead to bad decisions.

Decision Style

The manner by which decision makers think and react to problems, perceiving problems through a cognitive response, values, and beliefs.

Satisficing

A form of suboptimization based on Simon's idea of bounded rationality, where one seeks a desired level of performance rather than the absolute best.

Normative Models

Models based on optimization where the chosen alternative is demonstrably the best of all possible options, assuming rational decision makers.

Descriptive Models

Models that describe things as they are or are believed to be without providing a direct solution, such as mathematical simulations.

Heuristic Models

Models based on suboptimization where the chosen alternative is the best of only a subset of possible alternatives, often used for complex problems.

Model-driven DSS

DSS primarily developed around one or more optimization or simulation models involving complex model formulation and management.

Data-driven DSS

DSS that process data into information and present it to decision makers, often utilized in OLAP and reporting analytics software systems.

Communication-driven DSS

DSS that use computer, collaboration, and communication technologies to support tasks and groups.

Document-driven DSS

Text-based DSS that rely on knowledge coding, analysis, search, and retrieval, including most Knowledge Management Systems (KMS).

Knowledge-driven DSS

DSS that use knowledge technologies and artificial intelligence to address specific decision support needs.

Data Management Subsystem

A DSS component that includes the database, the database management system (DBMS), a data directory, and a query facility.

Model Management Subsystem

A DSS component containing the model base, the model base management system (MBMS), modeling languages, and execution processors.

Principle of Choice

A criterion used in the design phase that describes the acceptability of a solution approach and reflects decision-making objectives.

Sensitivity Analysis

An activity in the choice phase used to determine how changes in model variables affect the overall solution.

Goal Seeking

A choice phase activity where a system is used to find the input required to achieve a specific desired output.

Problem Decomposition

The process of breaking down complex problems into simpler subproblems to facilitate a solution during the intelligence phase.