Information technology in support of individual decision‐making
Authors: Wood, J. R. G.; Wood‐Harper, A. T.
Journal: Information Systems Journal (1993)
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2575.1993.tb00117.x
<jats:p><jats:bold>Abstract. </jats:bold> The use of computers in organizations has often been justified by reference to the ‘improved decision‐making’ which will result from the use of new technology. Rarely, if ever, is any precise measurement given as to how such improvements will be judged. Phrases such as ‘better information leads to better decisions’ and ‘what managers require is more information’ dominate the literature on management information systems (MIS). Alistair Preston argues that this alignment with top management allowed MIS to legitimize and elevate itself as both a serious practice and an academic discipline.</jats:p><jats:p>The two dominant themes in the relationship between information technology (IT) and managerial decision‐making have been the use of Herbert Simon's work on decision‐making and Anthony's pyramidal structure of types of application system, the latter model leading to a powerful categorization of types of computer‐based information systems (i.e. transaction processing, management information systems, decision support systems, executive information systems). The models of decision‐making employed at each level of this hierarchy are those charact…