Models and Requirements for Using Strategic Information Systems in Developing Nations

Strategic information systems (SIS) are a reality in the United States and other advanced nations. They are being developed and used in many organizations to provide them with a competitive advantage. We contend that such systems would have significant value for developing countries as well. This article extends the SIS concept to developing countries. Two models are presented: a model for strategic information systems for competitive advantage in developing countries, and a model for strategic information systems for economic development (SISED). The SISED model, while primarily targeted for developing nations, would also be applicable to advanced and developed nations. The article concludes with a discussion of desired preconditions for SIS development

Competitive Brokerage, Information Technology and Internal Resources

To thrive in the current embedded and electronic competitive environment, organizations must achieve advantageous positions within their networks of competition. We strengthen the understanding of the genesis of network structures by examining the IT-enabled capabilities and internal resource endowment that determine an advantageous position in competition networks, which we term as competitive brokerage. We propose that firms should consider their competitive brokerage position to elaborate a successful e-business strategy. We employ a two-stage Tobit regression on a longitudinal competition network that spans 13 industries and demonstrate that commercial, technical and intangible resources influence competitive brokerage. We find that IT-enabled information management capability strengthens the effects of intangible resources to attain a competitive brokerage position. Our study contributes towards the IT business value, resource base view and competitive dynamics literatures. Overall, our results demonstrate that IT plays a critical role in enabling firms to face multi-market competition in the embedded economy

Computer-Based Systems for Cooperative Work and Group Decision Making

Application of computer and communications technology to cooperative work and group decision making has grown out of three traditions: computer-based communications, computer:based information service provision, and computer-based decision support. This paper reviews the group decision support systems (GDSSs) that have been configured to meet the needs of groups at work, and evaluates the experience to date with such systems. Progress with GDSSs has proved to be slower than originally anticipated because of shortcomings with available technology, poor integration of the various components of the computing package, and incomplete understanding of the nature of group decision making. Nevertheless, the field shows considerable promise with respect to the creation of tools to aid in group decision making and the development of sophisticated means of studying the dynamics of decision making in groups. © 1988, ACM. All rights reserved

HELM, hierarchical environment for linear modeling

Several problems relating to linear programming modeling have been identified: (1) model formulation, validation and explanation are difficult and time consuming; (2) models must be frequently updated and debugged; (3) flexibility is needed to specify the model schema for a class of problems as a group; and (4) significant differences exist between the way human model designers view a linear programming problem and the way a problem must be specified for solution by a computer. The following methods are used to resolve these problems in HELM: (1) allowing a broad class of similar problems to be specified as a group by using a data-independent modeling language for the model schema; (2) reduction of cognitive complexity of the modeling process by separating model schema from data storage and data acquisition; (3) increasing the range of models that can be specified by delaying binding the specific variables, constraints, and coefficients to be used for a particular instance of the models until run time; and (4) providing a translation facility to convert the model from a form convenient for a model designer to a standard format for use by an optimization module. This thesis describes the modeling language of the HELM (Hierarchical Environment for Linear Modeling) system for conceptualizing, organizing, and specifying the model schema of large-scale linear programming problems. It shows how to transform the standard linear programming form into the HELM model structure. A formal detailed description of HELM syntax is provided and the HELM process of model integration is described. The use of the system is demonstrated with an example

Decision Support Systems: An Object-Oriented Conceptual Architecture

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