Decision Support SystemsFebruary 20 – February 24 Businesses use information technology tools to analyze information very quickly to help you create a competitive advantage. These tools fall into two categories: decision making systems and artificial intelligence (p. 180). The book makes an interesting quote that I want you to notice. “The big winners in tomorrow’s business race will be those organization’s that are ‘big of brain and small of mass’ (p. 180). Four Phases of Decision Making:o In the intelligence phase, you recognize and detect signals or signs that a problem is occurring or that an opportunity exists. Such signs might include customers asking for a new feature in a product, raising costs, declining sales, etc (p. 181).o In the design phase, you develop as many possible ways to solve a problem or take advantage of an opportunity (p. 181).o In the choice phase, you evaluate each possible solution and pick the best one (p. 181).o In the implementation phase, you implement the choice you made in the last step, monitor the results, and make adjustments as necessary (p. 181).o The four phases do not have to be carried out in order. You may back up and repeat steps as necessary (p. 181).  Types of Decisions:o A structured decision involves processing a certain kind of information in a specified way. No feel or intuition is necessary (p. 182).o A nonstructured decision is one that has no precise way to get a right answer. There are generally several “right” answers (p. 182).o Most decision are a mix of structured and nonstructured (p. 182).o A recurring decision is that happens repeatedly and you follow the same set of rules each time (p. 182).o A nonrecurring decision is one that you make infrequently and you may have to make it using a different set of criteria each time (p. 182). Decision Support Systems:o A decision support system (DSS) is a highly flexible and interactive IT system that is designed to support decision making when the problem is not structured (p. 184).o DSS is not designed to make a decision for you, but instead to provide a tool to improve your effectiveness as a decision maker. You still must bring your own judgment to the decision making process (p. 185).o Components of a DSS: The data management component performs the function of sorting and maintaining the information that you want your database to use (p. 186).- It consists of organizational, external, and personal information. The model management component stores information and maintains models (p. 186).- A model is used to represent an event, fact, or situation. Examples include statistical analysis (such as analysis of variance or linear regression) or what-if analysis. One of your jobs as a decision maker will be choose the appropriate model. The user interface management component allows you to communicate with the DSS (p. 186).- The user interface is the part of the system you see. Through the user interface, you enter information, commands, and models.  Geographic Information System (GIS):o A geographic information system (GIS) is a DSS designed specifically to analyze spatial information (p. 187). Spatial information is any information that can be shown in map form, such as roads, the distribution of the bald eagle population, sewer systems, or the path of a hurricane (p. 187).o Information to supply your GIS may come from numerous places: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, even some private businesses will sell you this information (pp.