Decision Support Systems Engineering

Information systems engineering professionals perform the invaluable function of aiding knowledge workers in a variety of judgment and choice activities. Those who use decision support systems are involved in an important number of day-to-day activities-from the design of aircraft flight control systems to management systems that enable better financial decisions. Decision support designers and users should function together to insure the development of appropriate information systems. Decision Support Systems Engineering describes how to establish a decision support system that unites the concerns of both system designers and users. Beginning with an outline of the generic components of a decision support system, readers are given a technologically rigorous, yet clear, tour of its assembly line basics. Data-base management systems, model-base management systems, and dialog generation and management systems are clearly described, with emphasis on how these make a decision support system feasible and practical. Using the framework of a total life cycle systems management process, the book describes approaches for developing appropriate integrated information systems architectures-approaches that take into account user needs and the translation of user needs into system requirements. Hardware and software allocations of these requirements and the subsequent development of suitable hardware and software architectures are methodically detailed. Also considered in-depth is the subject of cognitive systems engineering, which recognizes and seeks to ameliorate inherent potential flaws in human information processing. Presented here are ways in which decision support systems can be used to avoid cognitive information-processing biases and errors. By placing decision support systems engineering firmly in the everyday work context, the book describes how computing, communication, and decision support technologies result in the creation of systems useful for the formulation, analysis, and interpretation of issues critical to groups and organizations. Complete with problems and case-study suggestions at the end of each chapter, Decision Support Systems Engineering demonstrates for students in systems engineering, information systems, computer science, and management how vital is the interface between designer and user when creating decision support systems flexible enough for the challenges of the real world.Sage, Andrew P. is the author of 'Decision Support Systems Engineering' with ISBN 9780471530008 and ISBN 047153000X.