The Impact for Information Systems
of Strategic Decision Making
Mary Daly
Business Information Systems,
University College Cork
IFIP WG8.3 Workshop
April 2nd, 2009.
LSE
1
Supporting Decision Making

Context :

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Humphreys (1985) framework of representation
levels of managers’ thinking
Adam and Pomerol (2007) classification of
decision support

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Reporting, Scrutinising and Discovering
Adoption of decision support tools by top
management for decision support for
unstructured, complex and uncertain decision
making
2
Representations of Managerial Thinking at the
Different Cognitive Levels - Humphreys & Berkeley 1985

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Theoretical representation of the evolution of
managers thinking as they make decisions across 5
levels
Management understanding of Problem

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Degree of abstraction of the problem
Degree of formalisation of a solution/models
A cognitive level adapted way for thinking about &
structuring a problem (Levine& Pomerol 1995)
Progressive levels of abstraction must build on the
process of cognitive development by decision
makers
Concepts refined and structured as one passes from
a higher level to a lower one
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Representations of Managerial Thinking at the
Different Cognitive Levels - Humphreys & Berkeley 1985

Level 1,2,3
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Operational and tactical levels (Levine& Pomerol 1995)
Problem solving – for problems already well
formulated and defined
Level 4 & 5

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Strategic levels of reflection handled by
executives (Levine& Pomerol 1995)
Problem defining
Sets direction / sets agenda
Very often representations beyond language
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A Framework for Evaluating the Contribution of Decision
Support Tools
(Adam and Pomerol, 2007)
Decision Support Tools Portfolio
Beyond Decision Support
Level 1: cultural and psychological
representations
Discovering
Data Mining
…….
Level 2: Partial representations
of problems
Scrutinising
Level 3: specific questions are being
asked
Multidimensional
Data Cubes
OLAP tools
Static Reporting
Level 4: managers want well defined
tools for learning how to shape
answers
Level 5: managers fully understand
problems and solutions
5
Pilot Study

Question:

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At what levels do current decision support tools
help decision makers in organisations
Executive MBA class assignment


Coached on framework and theory
Presentation of current systems in use


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with reference to framework
with reference to classification of decision support
5 case studies selected
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Five Irish Organisations
Company A
Company B
Company C
Company D
Company E
Activity
Private
Healthcare
Provision
Energy Supply
Milk Products
Manufacture
Medical device
Manufacture
Hi-Tech
Manufacture
Turnover
€144 M
€1.1 B
€200 M
€4 B
€6 B
worldwide
worldwide
Profit
€3.9 M
€99 M
Not available Not available Not available
Employees
1,690
770
300
640 (Ire)
1,800 (Ire)
Ownership
Private
Independent
State body
Irish cooperative
Private US
multinational
Private US
multinational
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Five Irish Organisations
Summary
Company A
Company B
Company C
Company D
Company E
Level 5
X
X
Level 4
X
X
X
Level 3
X
X
X
Level 2
X
X
X
X
X
Level 1
X
X
X
X
X
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Conclusions from pilot study

Complete portfolio across 5 levels -Very Rare

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No DSS at level 5 (highest abstraction levels)
Very little (if any) DSS at level 4
Extensive use of DSS at levels 1,2 and 3
Different reasons for specific level achievement
Issues


Management recognition of the value vs effort
What would support Level 4 or 5 decisions
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Level 5 and 4

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Humphreys 2008
Decisions at each level constrains what can be
considered at lower levels
Cognitive operations in thinking about decision
problem – different at each level
Level 5 thinking is at best - streams of
consciousness
Level 4 is received wisdom from lower levels within
the context of the domaim/frame set as the outcome
of level 5
Intuition


Dane&Pratt 2007
Intuitions are affectively charged judgements
that arise through rapid, nonconscious and
holistic associations
Level 5 of Humphreys representation model
Case Issues \ Research issues

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Understanding of decision types within their
remit
Tendency to overstate organisations /own
position / systems /…
For research – unit of analysis
12
Thank You
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