Using Data for Efficiency and Effectiveness
Read this chapter for a discussion of how business organizations make decisions and the role information technology plays in decision making. What is the process that uses technology to make automated decisions? Consider system input, decision-making algorithms, and output. How does an organization track the decisions made by the system?
In a previous chapter, you learned how data are typically collected, stored and updated within information systems. In this chapter, we take more of an applications perspective. That is, we examine how individuals and organizations use information systems (and more specifically, computer software applications) to make use of the data that have been collected and stored.
To put this topic into context, we start by examining organizational decision making. Since decision making is at the heart of organizational operations, it is important to understand the link between the use of information systems and efficient and effective decision making.