Decision Support and Business Intelligence Systems, 9e (Turban)

Chapter 3 Decision Support Systems Concepts, Methodologies, and Technologies:

An Overview

1) Decision makers at the Avantas Company selected Planners Lab for data analysis because
Planners Lab offered an easy-to-use alternative to Excel to create "what-if" scenarios.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 71

2) A key component of DSS is the ability to visualize the results. For example, it is important for
executives to visualize the results of modifying assumptions.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 74

3) Business intelligence (BI) is typically built to support the solution of a certain problem or to
evaluate an opportunity.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 78

4) All DSSs have common components that enable them to provide the same capabilities and
support to users.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 77

5) Business analytics (BA) implies the use of models and data to improve an organization's
performance or competitive posture
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 78

6) Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) that are developed around communities that
practice collaborative work are a type of document-driven DSS.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 80

7) The most common end-user tool for DSS development is Microsoft Access, which includes
statistical packages, a linear programming package, and financial and management science
models.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 80

8) A DSS can be custom-made by assembling the system from a variety of tools including
databases, Web servers and clients, and analytical engines, often from several vendors.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 84

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9) A DSS database can include multimedia objects, e.g., pictures, maps, and sounds.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 91

10) XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is becoming more important in DSS due to the growth
of mobile commerce applications, on handheld devices, e.g., PDAs and cell phones.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 91

11) To create or load a DSS database or a data warehouse, it is often necessary to capture data
from several sources, which is a simple (trivial) process.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 92

12) An effective database and its management can support many managerial activities; however,
the real power of a DSS occurs when data are integrated with its models.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 92

13) A key issue in data management is that of data quality. Poor quality data, which leads to poor
quality information leads directly to waste.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 93

14) Data integration issues generally become critical when implementing an enterprise
information system like a supply management system.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 94

15) Planned models are used mainly by middle management to assist in allocating and
controlling the organization's resources.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 97

16) 3Because DSS deal with semistructured or unstructured problems, it is often necessary to
customize models, using programming tools and languages.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 98

17) Database directory is a catalog of all the models and other software in the model base.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 99

18) User interface of a DSS includes not only the hardware and software but also factors that
deal with ease of use, accessibility, and human-machine interactions.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 100
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19) A difficult user interface is one of the major reasons why managers do not use computers and
quantitative analyses as much as they could, given the availability of these technologies.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 100

20) If the main user of a DSS is replaced by another, less knowledgeable user (in terms of the
decision-making problem and environment), the DSS will generally be less effective.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 107

21) A DSS is an approach for supporting decision making. It uses an interactive, flexible,
adaptable computer-based information system (CBIS) developed to support the solution to a
specific, ________ management problem.
A) easy
B) problematic
C) nonstructured
D) hard
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 75

22) ________ implies the use of models and data to improve an organization's performance or
competitive posture.
A) Business applications
B) Business analytics
C) Business intelligence
D) Business rules
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 78

23) ________ systems have models embedded in them, but they are still not well understood in
practice.
A) Web analytics
B) Data mining and OLAP
C) XML
D) Data dictionary
Answer: B
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 78

24) By definition, a DSS must include ________.

A) business intelligence
B) an expert system
C) an animation system
D) a user interface
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 86

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25) Which of the following subsystem can support any of the other subsystems or act as an
independent component? It also provides intelligence to augment the decision maker's own?
A) Knowledge-base management subsystem
B) Intelligence-base subsystem
C) User interface subsystem
D) Expertise-base subsystem
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 86

26) A(n) ________ is a collection of interrelated data, organized to meet the needs and structure
of an organization that can be used by more than one person for more than one application.
A) business intelligence
B) expert system
C) database
D) data repository
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 90

27) The operation of capturing data from several sources and loading it to a data warehouse is
called:
A) extraction.
B) loading.
C) mining.
D) storing.
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 92

28) A database is created, accessed, and updated by a(n) ________.

A) expert system
B) animation system
C) knowledge system
D) database management system
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 92

29) Data directory is a catalog of all the data in the database. It contains ________, and its main
function is to answer questions about the availability of data items, their source, and their exact
meaning.
A) data foundations
B) data definitions
C) data names
D) data sources
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 93

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30) The ________ is especially appropriate for supporting the intelligence phase of the decision-
making process by helping to scan data and identify problem areas or opportunities.
A) intelligence facility
B) query facility
C) data directory
D) knowledge facility
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 93

31) A(n) ________ contains routine and special statistical, financial, forecasting, management
science, and other quantitative models that provide the analysis capabilities in a DSS.
A) model base
B) application base
C) analytical base
D) query base
Answer: A
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 96

32) Which of the following is used mainly by middle management to assist in allocating and
controlling the organization's resources?
A) Tactical model
B) Planned model
C) Managerial model
D) Middle-management model
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 97

33) When voice input with accompanying ________ software is used, verbal instructions with
accompanied actions and outputs can be invoked.
A) language recognition
B) accent recognition
C) voice recognition
D) speech recognition
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 102

34) Most data mining applications include intelligent systems, such as artificial neural networks
(ANN) and rule induction methods for expert systems (ES), to search for potentially profitable
________ in data.
A) samples
B) patterns
C) sections
D) trends
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 106

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35) ________ control and coordinate the use of software to support group work.
A) Expert tool users
B) Facilitators
C) Analyst
D) Managers
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 107

36) The choice of hardware can be made ________ the design of the MSS software, but it is
often determined by what is already available in the organization.
A) before
B) during
C) after
D) all of the above
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 107

37) The de facto DSS hardware standard is a(n) ________ through which the DBMS provides
data.
A) Web server
B) data center
C) mainframe
D) local area network
Answer: A
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 108

38) Optimization, simulation, statistics systems, and ES currently run in ________. These
developments simplify access to data, models, and knowledge, and simplify their integration.
A) ASPs
B) user interfaces
C) Java
D) .NET
Answer: C
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 108

39) ________ is a robust DSS modeling language.

A) Ruby on Rails
B) Planners Lab
C) Sybase
D) OLAP
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 108

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40) All of the following are characteristics of Planners Lab except:
A) Planners Lab makes it possible for the decision makers to play with assumptions to reflect
alternative views of the future.
B) It lets decision makers describe their plans in their own words and with their own
assumptions.
C) It facilitates a conversation with the decision maker in the process of describing business
assumptions.
D) All assumptions are described in English equations only.
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 110

41) ________ describes the business analytics method of forecasting problems and opportunities
rather than simply reporting them as they occur.
Answer: Predicative analytics
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 78

42) ________ are generally utilized to analyze decision-making situations and make a DSS
different from most MIS.
Answer: models
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 79

43) A database-oriented DSS features strong ________ capabilities.

Answer: report generation and query
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 80

44) ________ deal with specific problems that are usually neither anticipated nor recurring.
Answer: Ad hoc DSS
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 82

45) ________ is the physical data repository organized to provide enterprise wide, cleaned data
in a standardized format.
Answer: Data Warehouse
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 86

46) A(n) ________ subsystem includes a database that contains relevant data for the situation
and is managed by software called the database management system.
Answer: Data management
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 86

47) Users of DSS communicate with and command the DSS through the ________ subsystem.
Answer: user interface
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 86

48) In building and using DSS, it is often necessary to access, manipulate, and query data. The
________ performs these tasks.
Answer: query facility
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 93
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49) Selection and ________ are two important functions of a DSS query system.
Answer: manipulation
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 93

50) As the size of the data to be stored and accessed increases, processing times and storage
space also grow, sometimes dramatically. Large databases present major ________ problems.
Answer: scalability
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 95

51) One key issue that DBMS must handle is data security. Data can be ________ so that even in
the case of unauthorized access, the viewed data is scrambled and unintelligible.
Answer: encrypted
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 95

52) ________ models are used to support the day-to-day working activities of the organization.
Typical decisions involve e-commerce transaction acceptance, approval of personal loans by a
bank, production scheduling, inventory control, maintenance planning and scheduling, and
quality control.
Answer: Operational
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 97

53) ________ are Web-based business analytics tools to assist in decision making.
Answer: Web analytics
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 97

54) Operational models mainly support first-line managers' decision making with a daily to
________ time horizon.
Answer: monthly
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 97

55) The models in the model base can also be classified by functional areas or by ________.
Answer: discipline
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 97

56) ________ are preprogrammed software elements that can be used to build computerized
models. One example is the random-number generator that can be employed in the construction
of a simulation model.
Answer: Model building blocks
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 97

57) Advanced DSS are equipped with a component called a(n) ________ subsystem. This
component can supply the required expertise for solving some aspects of the problem and
provide knowledge that can enhance the operation of other DSS components.
Answer: knowledge-based management
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 105

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58) An ________ allows the manager to benefit from the decision support system without
actually having to use the keyboard.
Answer: intermediary
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 107

59) Distributed DSS runs on various types of networks, including the Internet, intranets, and
extranets. Access may be provided for mobile devices, e.g., notebook PCs and mobile
telephones. This ________ has become critical for deploying decision-making capability in the
field, especially for salespersons and technicians.
Answer: portability
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 108

60) Planners Lab is a DSS ________ language.

Answer: modeling
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 108

61) Identify the key characteristics and capabilities of a DSS.

Answer:
• Supports semistructured and unstructured problems
• Supports managers at all levels
• Supports individuals and groups
• Supports interdependent or sequential decisions
• Supports intelligence, design, choice, and implementation phases
• Supports variety of decision processes and styles
• Adaptable and flexible
• Interactive ease of use
• Designed for effectiveness, not efficiency
• Requires human control
• Designed for ease of development by end users
• Supports modeling and analysis
• Supports data access
• Operates in a standalone, integrated, or Web-based environment
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 77

62) List the capabilities of institutional DSS and ad hoc DSS.

Answer:
• Institutional DSS deal with decisions of a recurring nature. An institutionalized DSS can be
developed and refined as it evolves over a number of years because the DSS is used repeatedly to
solve identical or similar problems. It is important to remember that an institutional DSS may not
be used by everyone in an organization.
• Ad hoc DSS deal with specific problems that are usually neither anticipated nor recurring.
Ad hoc decisions often involve strategic planning issues and sometimes management control
problems.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 82

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63) List the five major components of a DSS.
Answer:
• Data management. Includes a database and its management system
• Model management. Includes models and their management system
• User interface dialog management. Includes input and output modes of human-computer
communication and their management
• Knowledge base. Includes artificial intelligence enhancements to the other components
• The user. He/she is the decision maker
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 88

64) List and describe the four components of the data management subsystem.
Answer:
• DSS Database. Contains all relevant data needed by the DSS to aid in decision making.
• DBMS. Controls how data is accessed and maintained. Typically, this consists of a relational
database.
• Data directory. Catalog of all of the data accessible by the DSS; this includes both internal
and external data.
• Query Facility. Consists of the programs, processes, and procedures that enable an end user
to be able to access, manipulate, and query relevant data from the database.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 89

65) Describe five of Larry English's Top Ten essential ingredients of data quality management.
Answer:
1. Understand that data quality is a business problem, not only a systems problem. Solve it as a
business process, not just a systems process. Poor data quality affects the entire business and its
operations. Some issues impacting poor quality occur as the result of business processes (such as
data entry).
2. Focus on information customers and suppliers, not just data. Quality improvement of the data
is the key.
3. Focus on all components of information and data, including their definition, content, and
presentation.
4. Implement data/information quality management processes, not just software to handle them.
5. Measure data accuracy in addition to validity.
6. Measure real costs, not just the percent, of poor quality data/information, also measure their
results.
7. Emphasize process improvement and preventative maintenance, not just data cleansing.
8. Improve processes (and hence data quality) at the source.
9. Provide quality training to managers and information producers. Educate them as to the
impacts of poor data quality and how to improve it.
10. Actively transform the culture to one that values data quality.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 94

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66) List the five elements of the model management subsystem.
Answer:
• Model base
• Model base management system
• Modeling language
• Model directory
• Model execution, integration, and command processor
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 96

67) Explain the differences in strategic, tactical, operational, and analytical models.
Answer:
• Strategic models support top management's strategic planning. For example, examination of
acquisitions, diversifications, and mergers.
• Tactical models support mainly middle management in resource allocation and in control.
For example, make or buy decisions or devising a major promotion plan.
• Operational models support middle managers and supervisors in very short term decisions.
For example, daily and weekly schedules.
• Analytical models are used to perform analysis on data. They include statistical models,
management science models, data mining algorithms, financial models, and more.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 97

68) List the four main functions of MBMS (model base management system) software
Answer:
• Model creation, using programming languages, DSS tools and/or subroutines, and
other building blocks
• Generation of new routines and reports
• Model updating and changing
• Model data manipulation
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 99

69) Explain the role, components, and importance of the user interface (dialog) subsystem.
Answer: The user interface covers all aspects of communication between a user and the DSS or
any MSS. It includes the hardware, software, and factors that deal with ease of use and
accessibility. The user interface is one of the most important components because it determines
the systems' power, flexibility, and ease-of-use. A difficult user interface is one of the major
reasons managers for system failures.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 100

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70) Discuss the advantages of developing a models for a DSS with Planners Lab instead of
traditional programming languages or spreadsheets?
Answer: Developing a model in a programming language such as Java requires programming
expertise. Most business users are able to use spreadsheets to build models, but using a
spreadsheet for
modeling a problem of any significant size presents problems with documentation and error
diagnosis. It is very difficult to determine or understand nested, complex relationships in
spreadsheets created by someone else. This makes it difficult to modify a model built by
someone else.
A related issue is the increased likelihood of errors creeping into the formulas. With all the
equations appearing in the form of cell references, it is challenging to figure out where an error
might be. Planners Lab makes it possible for the decision makers to adjust assumptions to reflect
alternative views of the future. Every Planners Lab model is an assemblage of assumptions about
the future. Assumptions may come from databases of historical performance, market research,
and the decision makers' minds, to name a few sources.
The resulting collection of equations is a Planners Lab model that tells a readable story for a
particular scenario. Planners Lab lets decision makers describe their plans in their own words
and with their own assumptions.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 110

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