  Decision analysis (DA) and the rich set of tools developed by researchers in
decision making under uncertainty show great potential to penetrate the
technological content of the products and services delivered by firms in a
variety of industries as well as the business processes used to deliver those
products and services to market. In this paper I describe work in progress at
Sun Microsystems in the application of decision-analytic methods to Operational
Decision Making (ODM) in its World-Wide Operations (WWOPS) Business Management
Group. Working with membersof product engineering, marketing, and sales,
operations planners from WWOPS have begun to use a decision-analytic framework
called SCRAM (Supply Communication/Risk Assessment and Management) to structure
and solve problems in product planning, tracking, and transition. Concepts such
as information value provide a powerful method of managing huge information
sets and thereby enable managers to focus attention on factors that matter most
for their business. Finally, our process-oriented introduction of
decision-analytic methods to Sun managers has led to a focused effort to
develop decision support software based on methods from decision making under
uncertainty.
