Wsma Unit-1 Part-1
Wsma Unit-1 Part-1
Wsma Unit-1 Part-1
UNIT - I
An Overview of Business Intelligence, Analytics, and Decision Support: Analytics to Manage a
Vaccine Supply Chain Effectively and Safely, Changing Business Environments and Computerized
Decision Support, Information Systems Support for Decision Making, The Concept of Decision
Support Systems (DSS), Business Analytics Overview, Brief Introduction to Big Data Analytics.
2. Temperature Maintenance: Vaccines in the cold chain are typically kept between 35 to 46
degrees Fahrenheit (2-8 degrees Celsius) to maintain their potency and effectiveness.
3. Importance of Cold Chain Integrity: Proper storage and handling are crucial for vaccines;
any deviation from the required temperature range can compromise their effectiveness or cause
adverse effects.
5. CDC Study: A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that a
significant number of healthcare providers in the United States had experienced cold chain
violations.
6. Magpie Sensing: Magpie Sensing, a project under Ebers Smith and Douglas Associated LLC,
offers cold chain monitoring and analysis technologies for the healthcare industry.
7. Wireless Monitoring: Magpie Sensing provides wireless temperature and humidity monitors
that offer real-time, location-aware tracking of cold chain products during shipment.
8. Analytics Algorithms: Magpie Sensing uses analytics algorithms to process data from
monitoring devices, improving the efficiency of cold chain processes and predicting storage
problems.
11. Predictive Analytics: Predictive analytics determine thermostat settings, detect temperature
violations, and identify potential human errors like open doors or incomplete seals.
13. Safety and Compliance: Magpie Sensing's analytics ensure product safety throughout the
supply chain, aiding compliance with state and federal safety regulations.
14. Reduced Costs: By eliminating the need for additional manufacturing and ensuring product
safety, Magpie Sensing's analytics help reduce costs and improve patient care.
15. Data Gathering and Reporting: Automatic data gathering and reporting about products in
the cold chain facilitate compliance with safety regulations.
- The cold chain is crucial not only for vaccines but also for various temperature-sensitive
healthcare products like blood products, biologics, and certain medications.
Temperature Maintenance:
- The specified temperature range for vaccines is meticulously chosen to ensure their stability
and effectiveness while minimizing the risk of spoilage.
- Deviations from this range can result in the loss of vaccines, financial losses, and potential
public health risks.
- Loss of vaccine potency due to temperature deviations can lead to ineffective immunization
programs, outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, and wasted resources.
- Maintaining cold chain integrity is essential for maintaining public trust in healthcare systems.
Real-Time Monitoring:
- Data gathered during monitoring can be crucial for accountability and traceability.
- The CDC study highlights the need for improved cold chain management practices and the
potential risks associated with inadequate temperature control.
- Such findings underscore the importance of solutions like Magpie Sensing's analytics.
Magpie Sensing:
- Magpie Sensing's technology offers a practical solution to the challenges faced in maintaining
cold chain integrity.
- The company's monitoring devices are designed to be easy to deploy and provide actionable
insights.
Wireless Monitoring:
- Wireless monitoring allows for real-time tracking and remote management of temperature-
sensitive shipments.
- The location-aware feature helps pinpoint issues in the supply chain quickly.
Analytics Algorithms:
- Analytics algorithms are essential for processing large volumes of data from monitoring
devices and converting it into meaningful information.
- These algorithms can continuously learn and adapt to improve their predictive capabilities.
Analytical Techniques:
- Prescriptive analytics offer actionable recommendations for optimizing the cold chain.
Reduced Costs:
- By preventing temperature excursions and spoilage, Magpie Sensing's solution reduces the
need for costly replacement of vaccines.
- Automatic data gathering and reporting not only improve safety but also streamline compliance
with regulatory requirements.
- Reporting analytics involve graphical analysis to provide an overview of the current situation.
2. Application of Analytics:
- Analytics can be applied at different stages to gain insights and make informed decisions.
- The vignette suggests that innovative applications of analytics can lead to the creation of new
business ventures.
In essence, this vignette highlights the progressive use of analytics, from reporting to prediction
and prescription, and the potential for innovative applications of analytics to drive new business
opportunities.
QUESTIONS
1. What does the descriptive analytics used by Magpie Sensing reveal?
2. What kind of assistance does the predictive analytics utilized by Magpie Sensing provide?
5. What are some other scenarios where real-time monitoring applications might be necessary?
- Business pressures stem from the complex modern business environment, and responses are
actions taken by organizations to address these pressures. Computerized support aids in
monitoring the environment and enhancing response actions.
- Business environment factors are divided into four major categories: markets, consumer
demands, technology, and societal factors.
3. Organizational Responses:
- Business environment factors generate pressures on organizations, which often intensify over
time.
5. Adaptive Measures:
- Utilizing social media and mobile platforms for e-commerce and communication.
- Rapid response to competitors' actions, such as pricing changes or new product launches.
- Many of the adaptive response actions require computerized decision support systems (DSS)
to facilitate decision-making processes effectively.
- DSS helps organizations analyze data, generate insights, and make informed decisions in real-
time.
- Computerized decision support aims to bridge the gap between an organization's current
performance and its desired performance, as defined in its mission, objectives, goals, and
strategic plans.
Questions:
1. Provide an outline and clarify the components of the Business Pressures-Responses-Support
Model. (1. List the components of and explain the Business Pressures-Responses-Support
Model.)
- Computers have evolved from basic functions like payroll to complex roles such as managing
automated factories and analyzing mergers and acquisitions.
- Key tools include data warehousing, data mining, dashboards, and web-based decision
support.
- These tools help managers access and analyze information for making important decisions.
- They enhance data management by efficiently storing, searching, and transmitting data,
including text, sound, graphics, and video.
- This capability enables quick access to needed information securely and cost-effectively.
- Computers are particularly useful in overcoming human cognitive limits in processing and
storing information.
- People often find it challenging to recall and use a vast amount of information accurately.
- Computerized systems help by quickly accessing and processing large volumes of stored
data.
5. Knowledge in Data:
- Knowledge management systems (KMS) harness this information, formal and informal, to
support decision-making.
- Wireless technology allows managers to access information, analyze it, and communicate
from any location.
- This capability has drastically changed expectations for both consumers and businesses.
- Computerized decision support has experienced significant growth since the late 1960s,
especially since the mid-1990s.
- Advancements in mobile technologies, social media platforms, and analytical tools have
further expanded the role of information systems in supporting decision-making.
- Businesses rely on these systems for managing operations efficiently and staying competitive
in a rapidly changing business environment.
- Computers have come a long way from their initial roles in handling basic tasks like payroll
and bookkeeping.
- They now play critical roles in complex managerial functions, including the design and
management of automated factories and the evaluation of mergers and acquisitions.
- Virtually all business executives recognize the importance of information technology and
heavily rely on it.
- Many of these activities are now conducted using web-based technologies, often accessed
through mobile devices.
- Key components include data warehousing, data mining, online analytical processing
(OLAP), dashboards, and web-based decision support.
- These tools help businesses analyze data, gain insights, and make informed decisions.
- These systems are crucial in assisting them with their primary responsibility: making
decisions.
- Several developments have significantly contributed to the growth of decision support and
analytics:
- Improved Data Management: Complex decisions often require data from various sources
and formats. Systems today can quickly search, store, and transmit this data securely and cost-
effectively.
- Big Data Management: Large data warehouses, along with Big Data technologies, have
made it possible to handle massive datasets from diverse sources, offering new insights into
organizational performance.
- Analytical Support: The availability of more data and advanced analysis technologies
allows for the evaluation of more alternatives, improved forecasting, quick risk analysis, and the
collection of expert opinions.
- Overcoming Cognitive Limits: Human cognitive limits can hinder effective decision-
making when dealing with vast and diverse information. Computerized systems help by
processing and accessing large amounts of information quickly.
The computers and information technology have transformed business operations, empowering
managers with advanced tools for data analysis and decision-making. The evolution from basic
tasks to complex problem-solving, combined with advancements in technology, has greatly
enhanced the capabilities of modern management.
QUESTIONS:
1. What are some of the key system-oriented trends that have fostered IS-supported decision
making to a new level?
2. List some capabilities of information systems that can facilitate managerial decision
making.
3. How can a computer help overcome the cognitive limits of humans?
- Developed in the early 1970s, this framework laid the foundation for computerized decision
support.
- Comprises a 3x3 matrix based on two dimensions: structuredness and types of control.
- Decisions can be categorized along a continuum, from highly structured (routine, well-
defined) to highly unstructured (fuzzy, complex) decisions.
4. Types of Control:
- Three broad categories encompass all managerial activities: strategic planning, management
control, and operational control.
- DSS enhances decision quality by offering alternative solutions and potential impacts.
- Helps managers gain a better understanding of problems and make improved decisions.
This framework laid the groundwork for computerized decision support systems and categorized
decisions based on their structuredness and control requirements. It highlighted the need for
customized solutions and the role of technology in assisting decision-makers.