************************************************************
DSS News
D. J. Power, Editor
July 21, 2002 -- Vol. 3, No. 15
A Bi-Weekly Publication of DSSResources.COM
************************************************************
Check the Anderson Clayton case by Eric Vollmer
************************************************************
Featured:
* DSS Wisdom
* Ask Dan! - How does a document management system differ
from a document-driven DSS?
* Report from IFIP Working Group 8.3 on DSS
* What's New at DSSResources.COM
* DSS News Releases
************************************************************
Get information about Dan Power's new book, Decision Support
Systems: Concepts and Resources for Managers, at
http://www.dssresources.com/dssbookstore/power02.html .
************************************************************
DSS News is sent to more than 850 subscribers from 50
countries. Please forward this newsletter to people interested
in Decision Support Systems or suggest they subscribe.
************************************************************
DSS Wisdom
Vannevar Bush (1945) in an article titled "As We May Think" wrote
"Consider a future device for individual use, which is a sort of
mechanized private file and library. It needs a name, and to coin
one at random, "memex" will do. A memex is a device in which an
individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which
is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and
flexibility. It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory. ......
Presumably man's spirit should be elevated if he can better review his
shady past and analyze more completely and objectively his present
problems. He has built a civilization so complex that he needs to
mechanize his record more fully if he is to push his experiment to its
logical conclusion and not merely become bogged down part way there by
overtaxing his limited memory. His excursion may be more enjoyable if he
can reacquire the privilege of forgetting the manifold things he does
not need to have immediately at hand, with some assurance that he can
find them again if they prove important."
from Bush, V. "As We May Think", The Atlantic Monthly, July 1945,
Vol. 176, No. 1; pp. 101-108,
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/flashbks/computer/bushf.htm.
************************************************************
Check the article by Giannopoulou and Lawrence
************************************************************
Ask Dan!
by Daniel J. Power
How does a document management system differ from a document-driven DSS?
Vanevar Bush's 1945 vision of a memex that stores everything one has
seen and read for fast retrieval is the goal for document management
systems. Such systems may be personal, group or organization-wide
document and knowledge bases. In my framework paper (Power, 2001),
Document-driven DSS are defined as integrating "a variety of storage and
processing technologies to provide complete document retrieval and
analysis." A number of terms and acronyms are used in this area. Text
management, document management (DMS) and electronic document management
system (EDMS) are virtually synonymous terms. Text-oriented DSS and
Document-driven DSS are also interchangeable terms.
Swanson and Culnan (1978) in a classic paper argued "An information
system may be said to be a document-based system when it is based
primarily upon a store or collection of documents, rather than a store
or collection of structured data" (p. 32).
Two pioneers in the DSS field, Clyde Holsapple and Andrew Whinston
(1996), noted the importance of text management and text-oriented DSS.
They wrote "In the 1970s and especially in the 1980s, text management
emerged as an important, widely used computerized means for representing
and processing pieces of text. (p. 179)"
Holsapple and Whinston (1996) provide the following example to
illustrate how text-oriented or Document-driven DSS can help decision
makers. "Imagine that you are a product manager, concerned with ensuring
the success of a technically complex product. A number of the many
decisions you face involve deciding about what features the product
should have. Such decisions depend on many pieces of knowledge. ...
During the course of each week, you get an assortment of product ideas
that deserve to be checked out when you get the time -- if only you
could remember all of them. With a text-oriented DSS, you keep
electronic notes about the ideas as they arise, which consists of typing
in the text ... (p. 180-181)"
With a document-driven DSS, managers may want to read and review the
"official" minutes of a meeting or may want to examine the version
history of the company's policy on email privacy ... a manager may also
want to examine all documents stored about email privacy in the document
management system ... or she may want to know who authored documents on
email privacy in the system. Another manager may want to determine how
often the policy on email privacy has been accessed. Also, another
manager may want to examine what policies are rarely accessed and which
ones are frequently accessed. A document-driven DSS should support all
of these queries.
According to James Boyle in a BYTE article "A Blueprint for Managing
Documents" (1997), "The document repository, the soul of an EDMS,
stores, controls, and manages documents. Key repository functions
include library services (e.g., controlling access to individual
documents, document cataloging, check-in/check-out, and searching for
and retrieving documents). Another key function is version control,
including a history of all instances of a document as it changes
over time."
Multiple versions of a document often exist and in many situations one
needs to track versions of a document created by different authors in
different locations. A document management system should require and
then attach metadata to assist users in document identification,
retrieval, and analysis.
Two major vendors of document management systems are Documentum
(http://www.documentum.com) and Verity (http://www.verity.com). A visit
to their web sites will help clarify the purpose, capabilities and
limitations of current DMS.
In general, document management systems are document transaction
processing systems. A DMS provides a standardized, uniform and
systematic storage of documents and data about the documents, it allows
people to share documents and collaborate in editing a specific
document. A DMS usually provides keyword tagging, search capabilities
and document version control. Also, a DMS may provide both e-mail and
Web access to documents (cf., Sullivan, 2001).
A document management system processes, retrieves and stores the
documents that are then analyzed, categorized and selectively displayed
by a document-driven DSS to support decision making.
Please note: Two related questions are answered in the Ask Dan! columns
of May 20, 2001 and July 01, 2001.
References
Boyle, J., "A Blueprint for Managing Documents,"
BYTE, May 1997, http://www.byte.com/art/9705/sec7/art1.htm
Bush, V. "As We May Think", The Atlantic Monthly, July 1945, Vol. 176, No. 1; pp. 101-108,
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/flashbks/computer/bushf.htm.
Fedorowicz, J. "A Technology Infrastructure for Document-Based Decision
Support Systems", in Sprague, R. and H. J. Watson, Decision Support
Systems: Putting Theory into Practice (Third Edition), Prentice-Hall,
1993, pp. 125-136.
Holsapple, C.W. and A. B. Whinston. Decision Support Systems: A
Knowledge-based Approach, Minneapolis, MN: West Publishing Co., 1996.
Power, D. J. "What are the similarities and differences between
Data-Driven and Document-Driven DSS?", DSS News, Vol. 2, No. 11,
05/20/2001.
Power, D. J. "What is the difference between knowledge management and
decision support?", DSS News, Vol. 2, No. 14, 07/01/2001.
Power, D. J., "Supporting Decision-Makers: An Expanded Framework",
Informing Science eBook, June 2001.
Sullivan, Dan. Document Warehousing and Text Mining. New York: Wiley
Computer Publishing, 2001.
Swanson, E. B., and M. J. Culnan, "Document-Based Systems for
Management Planning and Control: A Classification, Survey, and
Assessment," MIS Quarterly, December 1978.
************************************************************
Report from IFIP Working Group 8.3 on Decision Support Systems
by Andrew M McCosh {A.McCosh@ed.ac.uk}
Chairman of WG 8.3, 2000-2004
Our most recent conference was in Cork, Ireland, early this month, and
was on the theme of Decision Support in the Internet Age. George Huber,
Tung Bui, and Robin Mansell provided excellent keynotes. Just over a
hundred came to Cork to read papers and to hear others. A good time was
had by all, where good might mean informative, productive, enjoyable, or
all three. The organisational team of Jean-Charles Pomerol, Patrick
Brezillon, Patrick Humphreys, and Frederic Adams did a great job.
We decided that our next meeting will be in the summer of 2004 in Prado,
near Florence, Italy. The exact theme is being worked on by the
programme committee, but it is likely to be a shorter and snappier
version of "Smart, integrated, on-the-spot Dss for coping with an
uncertain and complex world". Graeme Shanks of Melbourne, David Arnott
of Florence, Sven Carlsson of Jonkoping and George Widmeyer of Michigan
will be in the lead this time
We decided to set up a number of task groups, and the group would
welcome those who would like to contribute to the work and to enjoy the
benefits of creating new knowledge collectively. The groups are about
[1] case studies of decision making (good and bad), [2] knowledge
management, [3] ethical issues, [4] DSS aspects of mobile information
systems, and a co-operative task group jointly with the Euro working
group on OR-based DSS. If this is of interest, send an email and I will
forward you to the task group leader.
The group officers are now Andrew M McCosh, Chairman. Patrick Humpreys
and Sven Carlsson, vice-chairmen, and Zita Paprika, secretary. I
invite you to take part in the activities of the working group if you
are interested. Thank you for your attention. I hope to see you in
Florence, and very best wishes for a good summer.
************************************************************
Check the DSS mini-track at AMCIS in Dallas. For
information visit http://hsb.baylor.edu/AMCIS2002/
************************************************************
What's New at DSSResources.COM
07/19/2002 Posted article by Giannopoulou, L., and G. Lawrence, "The
Scales of Justice and the Balance of Probabilities", DSSResources.COM,
07/19/2002, URL http://dssresources.com/papers/dssarticles.html.
07/12/2002 Posted case by Vollmer, E., "Anderson Clayton Corp. Delivers
Real-Time Business Intelligence to U.S. Cotton Growers", Anderson
Clayton Corp., May 2002, URL DSSResources.COM/cases/.
************************************************************
DSS News Releases - July 7, 2002 to July 21, 2002
Complete news releases can be found at DSSResources.COM.
07/19/2002 CALL FOR CHAPTERS: Business Intelligence in the Digital
Economy.
07/18/2002 Dash Optimization announces Xpress-MP 2003.
07/18/2002 City of Winnipeg uses Intergraph's GeoMedia Technology to
implement Water and Wastewater Geospatial Infrastructure Management
System.
07/16/2002 Motorola Instant Messaging Client passes first Wireless
Village interoperability testing event.
07/16/2002 Leading Turkish retailer Migros Turk successfully modernizes
its supply chain operation.
07/16/2002 Optiant named to Start Magazine's 'Hottest Companies of 2002'
list for Manufacturing Technology Leadership.
07/15/2002 MasterCard provides unique support to leading travel expense
management solutions.
07/12/2002 National Science Foundation awards $5 million grant to
Silicon Valley's American Institute of Mathematics.
07/11/2002 New version of IXOS-eCONserver for Lotus Notes offers
simplified administration and improved e-mail management, adds mobile
user ability.
07/10/2002 Oracle CEO Larry Ellison debuted new collaboration suite with
calendar, conferencing, email, file system, voicemail and workflow
support.
07/10/2002 Intergraph announces release of GeoMedia Transaction Manager
5.0.
07/10/2002 Statability and Databeacon offer ad-hoc reporting and
analysis capabilities to global hospitality industry.
07/09/2002 Crystal Decisions introduces Crystal Analysis Professional
8.5.
07/09/2002 ACNielsen expands Category Business Planner sales reach
through Crossmark Alliance.
07/08/2002 American Red Cross selects Comshare® corporate performance
management software to drive strategic initiatives.
07/08/2002 Compaq Japan to resell Sagent’s ETL software; offers rapid
data warehouse development and optimized performance.
07/08/2002 Leading data mining and analytic software companies work with
Business Objects to develop enterprise analytic applications.
07/08/2002 BEA delivers industry's first unified portal platform;
WebLogic Portal 7.0 features native support for Web services.
07/08/2002 SAS and ESRI team up to deliver spatial intelligence; form
technology, sales, and marketing alliance.
07/08/2002 Ace Hardware selects MicroStrategy Business Intelligence
Platform™.
************************************************************
You can read 786 DSS News releases in
the Subscriber Zone at DSSResources.COM.
************************************************************
DSS News is copyrighted (c) 2002 by D. J. Power. Please send your questions to
daniel.power@dssresources.com. You have previously subscribed to the DSS News
Mailing List.
|