Computerized Decision Making

Computerized Decision Making

Week 6 Assignment

Kevin Dennison
ID: 0165853
MG 630: Organizational Behaviour and Leadership in the 21st Century
Michael A. Altamirano
18/10/2014

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Abstract

The case study evaluates computer assisted decision support in the context of contemporary
research on decisional thinking, outlines the potential that computers have for overcoming
known limitations in this thinking and the problems that occur when some aspects of thinking
are overlooked. With the advent of technology, computers can now make many wellinformed decisions that managers or office workers may deem unnecessary for a human to
make. These decisions may include crunching profit numbers to determine future layoffs or
gauging whether certain global offices should remain open or not. If you are evaluating
whether computerized decision making is right for your organization, there are advantages
and disadvantages to implementing the technology into your corporate strategy.

COMPUTERIZED DECISION MAKING

Computerized Decision Making

Decision Making is a vital activity; it determines the actions that people take and the
appropriateness of these actions is important for both individuals and organisations. While
human brains can contain a high level of information to use in making a decision, a
computer's "brain" can contain even more data and information, depending on the storage
space it is connected to. With a higher capacity for more data, especially data that a human
brain might not retain, such as complex equations, more information can be incorporated into
the "brain" or algorithm of the computer in its decision making, leading to better results.
Computers can process information much faster than a human brain. One advantage
to computers making decisions is that you will have decisions made faster and more
accurately than a human brain, which may get hung up with different factors involving the
decision, leading to slower overall results. Also, unlike people who can become tired or
suffer from a lack of concentration and deliver inaccurate decisions, a well-tuned computer is
always alert and can process reams of information without growing bored or tired, leading to
more precise results.
Case Incident 1 Computerised Decision Making
Q-1 what are the specific advantages of using computerized decision making? How can
computer be better decision makers than humans?
Advantages of computer decision making are Faster and efficient in processing of
information, Automatic generation of accounting documents like invoices, cheques and
statement of account. With the larger reductions in the cost of hardware and software and
availability of user-friendly accounting software package, it is relatively cheaper like
maintaining a manual accounting system. More timely information can be produced. No more
manual processing of the data- all automatically been posted to the various ledgers/accounts
and Many types of useful reports can be generated for management to make decisions.

COMPUTERIZED DECISION MAKING

Limitations in memory are the crucial aspect of human cognition that impinges on
decision making. People were severely limited in terms of the amount of information they
could process at any particular moment in time. Given that limited capacity processing is
seen as a primary constraint some have argued that computers should be used to support
decision making, since they can provide the extra computational power needed to retain all
the information about every available alternative and to undertake the complex calculations
that underpin the rational model. , computers can acquire and hold more information about a
particular decision domain than. In addition, computers recall precisely what they store in
terms of both the data themselves and their format so are not subject to the human memory.
Q-2 what are the weakness of using computer as decision tools? Are computer likely to
have any specific problem in making decision that people wouldnt have?
The cost of computer and associated equipments is falling steadily. Still this
equipments are and continue to be much more costly as compared to manual processing
equipments. Also technological complexity of this equipment makes it more difficult to
learn and maintain these equipments as compared to equipments of manual information
processing. Use of computers require additional infrastructure, such as power supply and
software back up. This increases the chances of problems due to failure of infrastructure. For
example, a computer will not work where there is no electric power supply. Even a laptop
with a battery will work without power supply only for a limited period. Failures of computer
system can be more serious and difficult to correct. For example, one scratch on a hard disk
can make the complete data on the disk inaccessible. In comparison, manual system faults
have comparatively limited impact. One page torn from a cabinet full of documents has no
impact on other documents. A computer generally reduces the errors of processing. However
if there is an error in input data, it can result in major blunders in the processing which the

COMPUTERIZED DECISION MAKING

computer system is unable to detect. In manual systems the chances of such blunders passing
undetected and corrected is much less.
Q-3 Do you think computer decision making system can effectively take ethical issue
into account? What is the role of human decision makers in creating Ethical choice?
Ethical decision-making is a very important part of the business environment because
often a situation may come along. Computer ethics deals with the issues that relate to the
moral implications of the way decisions are being made in regarding to the computer domain.
It also refers to the morality of the computer professionals, and their usage to computers
Human decision makers in creating Ethical decision making deals with preferences,
utilities, costs, benefits, goals, and objectives. One must take all of these into account in order
to define the problem and determined the desired end result. Basically, it is "the process of
identifying a problem, generating alternatives, and choosing among them so that the
alternatives selected maximized the most important ethical values while also achieving the
intended goal"
Q-4 Are there advantages to completely disconnecting from the wired world when
possible? What can you do to try to retain your ability to focus and process information
deeply?
In many ways, it is. Computers, smart phones and other digital devices perform
countless wonderful tasks for us, and have enormous potential to enrich our lives in the
decades to come. Without depth, everything we do suffers - from the smallest everyday task,
to the personal relationships that matter most to us, to how we think and work. In
technologically advanced societies around the world, workers now sit at their desks all day
shuttling computer. This endless cycle of distractions is making businesses, governments and
other organisations less, rather than more, efficient - defeating the purpose the technologies
were created for in the first place

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General Discussion
The full potential of computer-based decision support can only be realised if it is
developed and evaluated in the context of a broad understanding of how decision makers
think. While limits in information processing can be overcome by drawing on the
computational power of computers, there is also a need to recognise that: there are occasions
when simple rather than complex rules are appropriate; beliefs and values are constructed
during the process of deliberation making them highly sensitive to the interfaces supporting
this process; intuitive thinking provides important insights and should be used alongside the
outputs of formal computer modelling to evolve a requisite decision model; the support
mechanism should complement existing forms of decisional thinking, particularly if these are
known to be functional. Similarly limitations in memory can be very usefully overcome by
computer support, but these must be developed to ensure that they do not exacerbate other
thinking biases such as confirmation and inside thinking. This may be achieved through
training decision makers to think smarter, the use of decision analysts or through the
development of appropriate interfaces between computer and decision maker.

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References

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