Futurists have long awaited the day when computers will be exempt managers and specialists of the need to make certain types of decisions. But the automated decision making was slow. Argues that the automated decision making is finally coming of age and a new generation of applications is significantly different from the previous decision support systems. Modern applications are easier to create and manage than previous systems. Instead of requiring people to identify problems and initiate analysis, companies typically embed decision-making capabilities in the normal flow of work. These systems then sense the operational data, apply codified knowledge and logic, and make decisions - all with a minimum of human intervention. They can help a business to generate solutions that are greater than those made by men, and they can help managers quickly move from understanding to action decision - to help companies reduce the cost of labor, use of scarce skills, improve quality, enforce policies, and also respond to the customers. As automation becomes more real solutions, organizations need to think about what people need to make decisions, and that can be computerized. "Hide
by Thomas H. Davenport, Jeanne G. Harris Source: MIT Sloan Management Review 9 pages. Publication Date: July 1, 2005. Prod. #: SMR182-PDF-ENG
Related Case Solutions & Analyses:
Where Have You Been: An Exercise to Assess Your Exposure to the Rest of the Worlds Peoples
Human Resources Management: Challenges for Graduate Education
Strategic Transformation as the Essential Last Step in the Process of Business Turnaround
Stanford Graduate School of Business
UTC Fuel Cells: Innovation Inside a Large Firm
Beginning with Children Foundation
Intevis: Brokering the Boundaryless Career
Incremental Process for Software Implementation
Long-Term Capital Management L.P. (C)
Regulatory Reform at OSHA (B)
