Some notes
for
Software Engineering
by Herbert J. Bernstein
© Copyright 1999, 2002 Herbert J. Bernstein
Decision Making
Decision making is important both as part of the design process for
information systems and as an aspect of information systems for delivery
to customers. The decision-making process is intimately related to
the factors which determine the quality of information systems and
their products.
Achieving alignment between organizational goals and IT
- IT driven by the organization vs. organizations
driven by IT
- IT planning
- Enterprise resouce planning systems
- Prepackaged applications
- Integrated via database
- Business processes must conform to ERP
- Detailed needs analysis and risk analysis critical first steps
- Solves Y2K
- e.g. SAP R/3
- Logistics
- Production planning and control,
project management, materials managament, ...
- Human Resources
- Personnel Management, Organization Management, Payroll, ...
- Financials
Goal Setting and Decision Making
- Proactive attitude and approach
- Quantitative vs. qualitative approaches
- Deciding that a decision is needed
- Deciding what to decide
- Deciding who gets to decide
- Analysis, use of models
- Synthesis
- Evaluation of alternatives (qualitative vs. quantitative)
- Implementation
- Evaluation of results
- Personal goal setting, decision making
and time management
- Setting priorities
- Dependencies, critical paths
- Fault tree analysis
- Limiting risks
- Principle centered leadership
(See Steven R. Covey, "The Seven Habits of Highly
Effective People"
- Counter action to greed and
self-interest as motivators
- Principles
- Trustworthiness
- Trust
- Empowerment
- Alignment
- Covey's
Seven Habits
- Be proactive
- Begin with the end in mind
- Put first things first
- Think win-win
- Seek first to understand, then to
be understood
- Synergize
- Sharpen the saw
- Standards-based management
Decision Support Systems
Decision support systems are information systems which assist people
in making decisions. See Decision
Support Resources (DSSResources.com)
- Combines data, models and user interface
- Data warehouse and data mining
- Geographic information systems
Quality
In designing systems we need some way to evaluate the quality
both of operation of the system and of the product it produces.