Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Decision-making capability'

Big data is the proliferation of data from various sources because everything is connected, and this contributes to a rich data trail of customer behaviours and needs, machinery or processes. Leaders are increasingly exploring how to create and extract value from big data by enhancing their organisation’s decision-making capability. Big data is considered to be a valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable, and non-substitutable (VRIN) resource for the organisation and a source of competitive advantage, as described in the resource-based view of the firm. Big data being a VRIN resource is not sufficient in itself to result in higher quality decisions that consequently provide a competitive advantage. Leaders play a vital role in the orchestration of several resources to enable their dynamic capabilities and enhance the organisation’s big data decision-making capability. This research posits that leadership style influences big data decision-making capability and that there is not a single optimal style; leaders rather have to dynamically shift between optimal blends of leadership styles as determined by the context and the specific follower. These optimal blends of leadership styles are made up by a combination of transformational, transactional, and pragmatic leadership styles supplemented with leadership self-identities and contextual leadership. A conceptual model to guide the leaders in which blend of styles to focus on to enhance their big data decision-making capability has been developed during this research. Leaders need to paint an unconstrained picture of a future in which big data driven decisions are used and unite the team to become data-driven. In order to sustain the benefit from big data after the vision has been set, the leader needs to support by utilising execution, relational, and intellectual stimulation skills. This will be supported by aligning leadership style and behaviour to the context and incorporating the community. Consequently, leaders should not aspire to a single leadership style, like transformational leadership, or discourage transactional leadership, but rather acknowledge that a blend of leadership styles is required to enhance big data decision-making capability. Leaders should not be stuck in the world of business intelligence, and machine data, and miss all the benefits that big data could add to their business. Leaders need to start dreaming big where data-driven decisions are concerned and have the courage to take the first step or increase their pace of big data adoption.
Mini Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2020.
pt2021
Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
MBA
Unrestricted

Leaders have a duty to make decisions that advance the course of their organisations. Cognitive limitations emanating from human bounded rationality, as well as complex external environments, place a limit on a leader’s ability to make quality decisions. This problem becomes pronounced when leaders have to make strategic decisions; which are often irreversible and commit scarce organisational resources. There is, therefore creates a pressing need for organisations to develop capabilities that can aid leaders and their organisation discern their complex environment and improve decision making. This research was an inquiry into the development of dynamic capabilities that would aid sense-making, and decision making. The focal point for this inquiry was the role of Data science in enabling the creation of sense-making capabilities. The study deployed an inductive qualitative methodology suitable for exploring the link between data science-enabled dynamic capabilities, and strategic decision making, as an emerging area of work. Part of this exploration involved reviewing existing literature from both business and academic sources. Data collection from participants ensured the infusion of domain knowledge into this study as augmented by academic literature in order to improve the reliability of the findings.
Mini Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2020.
pt2021
Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
MBA
Unrestricted

The use of architectures for the design, development, and documentation of system-of-systems engineering has become a common practice in recent years. At the same time, acquisition guidance has been recently reformed to move from the bottom-up approach of the Requirements Generation System (RGS) to the top-down approach mandated by the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS), which requires the use of DoDAF to support acquisition. Defense agencies have had difficulty adjusting to these new policies, and are struggling to determine how to meet new acquisition requirements. This research has developed the Architecture-based Technology Evaluation and Capability Tradeoff (ARCHITECT) Methodology to respond to these challenges and address concerns raised about the defense acquisition process. The methodology integrates existing tools and techniques for systems engineering and system of systems engineering with several new modeling and simulation tools and techniques developed as part of this research to fill gaps noted in prior CBAs. Additional criteria for the methodology were developed by leveraging lessons learned from similar fields, including management science and cognitive psychology. A suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) mission is used to demonstrate the application of ARCHITECT and to show the plausibility of the approach. Overall, it is shown that the ARCHITECT methodology results in an improvement over current CBAs in the criteria developed here.

This dissertation aims to address the importance of financial literacy within the capability approach framework in the context of microfinance institutions’ clients in Indonesia, by raising four main issues. The first touches on financial capability and specifically focuses on its conceptualisation, predictors, and relationship with quality of life. A participatory method was employed to understand whether financial literacy is viewed as an important element of financial capability. An index of financial capability was built to investigate factors predicting financial capability and the relationship between financial capability and quality of life. The results suggest that socio-demographic discrepancies in financial capability exist, and financial capability is relevant for the improvement of quality of life. The remaining three issues centre on the instrumental value of financial literacy. In the second part, it is proposed that financial literacy is a relevant conversion factor. Within the capability approach literature itself, there is a lack of empirical discussion on conversion factors. It can be concluded that financial literacy is associated positively with conversion rate efficiency. The third research topic examined is the role of financial literacy in household financial decision-making authority. Previous studies have used household decision-making authority as a reflection of agency, which is an important building block of the capability approach. This thesis focuses on financial decision making, which is often perceived as “difficult”, “boring”, and “full of uncertainties”. It is suggested that the relationship between financial literacy and household financial decision-making authority is complex and contingent upon various factors. The role of financial literacy in the relationship between financial decision-making authority and subjective well-being is the last topic investigated in this dissertation. While decision-making authority has been argued as a reflection of human agency and source of power within households, it can also be perceived as a burden. These two interpretations of authority lead to an unclear relationship between household financial decision-making authority and subjective well-being. While a negative relationship between household financial decision-making authority and subjective well-being can be found among those with low levels of financial literacy, a similar correlation is absent among those who score high in financial literacy. This suggests that skills are important for people to value agency.

The aim of this study is to explore the importance of community based social mobilisation strategies in advancing human rights, in particular, strategies that could be used advance exercise of the right to legal capacity for persons with psychosocial disabilities in the face of societal barriers in the African context. The results of the study are aimed at providing useful and practical considerations in addressing the gap that exist in human rights implementation, between the promises of the law and its impact in reality. To this end, secondary desk top data was collected from existing text on the CRPD, mental illness and social mobilisation strategies. The latter was based on an analysis of the mobilisation strategy employed by Tostan in West Africa to successfully challenge female genital mutilation/cutting. Primary data was obtained through focus groups held in Lusaka and at Nsadzu Mental Health Rehabilitation Centre in Chadiza, in rural Zambia. The significance of legal capacity in Zambia was established and three main categories of concern emerged as barriers to the exercise of legal capacity: a) lack of state and community based supports and social networks; b) inadequate training of health and justice system officials; and c) stigma of mental illness and stereotypes. The benefits of social mobilisation in addressing these barriers are manifold, as demonstrated through the Tostan model.
Mini Dissertation (MPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2017.
Centre for Human Rights
MPhil
Unrestricted

Dans le contexte de l’industrie 4.0, les entreprises doivent développer et revitaliser leur système de production sur la base d’une numérisation croissante. Les petites et moyennes entreprises (PME) ont besoin d’être accompagnèes dans ce développement, en particulier dans le cadre de leurs relations collaboratives avec leurs partenaires. La mise en place d’infrastructures s’appuyant sur les systèmes d’information et les technologies en place devrait permettre de faciliter les interactions, l’échange et le partage des données et la prise de décision qui en découle. La collaboration dans les entreprises est un processus dynamique et en constante évolution qui est fortement créateur de valeur ajoutée. Des processus collaboratifs maitrisés ont un impact important sur les processus de prise de décision au sein des entreprises. L’une des problématiques majeures liée à la mise en place des processus collaboratifs concerne les différentes technologies utilisées par les PME ainsi que les différentes approches méthodologiques nécessaires pour déployer ces processus métiers et modifier les organisations en place. Du point de vue technique, les travaux de recherche portent principalement sur trois dimensions: l’échange de données, l’analyse des données et l’ingénierie sémantique. Dans le cadre de cette thèse, nous nous intéressons principalement à l’analyse et au traitement des données dans les processus décisionnels collaboratifs. En raison des hiérarchies conceptuelles complexes nous proposons un cadre méthodologique prescriptif collaboratif pour les entreprises en réseau (en anglais : Prescriptive Collaborative Framework for Enterprise Network). Ce cadre méthodologique s’appuie sur une analyse des données massives (Big Data), hétérogènes, structurées et non structurées issues des processus collaboratifs. Analyse qui a pour objectif d’enrichir une base de connaissances du schéma d’ontologie d’aide à la décision. En plus de souligner le rôle de big data et de la modélisation ontologique dans les processus de prise de décision, nous avons défini un ensemble de facilitateurs, «enablers», qui sont configurables et qui jouent le rôle de blocs de base du cadre méthodologique proposé. Ces enablers couvrent différents aspects des processus industriels collaboratifs tels que : la spécification des produits, l’approvisionnement en matières, l’assemblage et la manutention des produits, les capacités de production, la gestion des risques, le contrôle qualité, l’engagement des clients et le Customer Value Lifelong.iiiLe framework proposé est composé d’une base de connaissances, « Base de Connaissances de l’Enterprise Collaborative », qui a été construite sur la base d’une analyse des ressources de l’entreprise en utilisant une modélisation ontologique. Les enablers sont utilisés principalement pour alimenter cette base de connaissances, mais également pour proposer des mécanismes de récapitulation des données sous la forme d’une matrice asymétrique de factorisation (Asymmetric Matrix Factorization) qui se base sur l’analyse des sentiments. Les solutions proposées ont été testées et validées dans le cadre d’une collaboration industrielle impliquant deux partenaires issus du projet européen FP7 FITMAN. Le principal résultat du système proposé réside dans la création de profil de capacités de collaboration en utilisant des données structurées (du système de production) et semi-structurées (métadonnées issues du système de gestion des documents techniques). Pour analyser une opportunité, le modèle de base de connaissances pour la prise de décision proposé fournit une solution auto-adaptative pour l’entreprise collaborative
The enterprises by virtue of their progressive objectives hold a strategic impetus of revitalizing their chain of manufacturing in the array of emerging challenges of value added production. The value added production is coined by the cost effective improvement in product life cycle. Nevertheless, small and medium enterprises are not rich in resources to embrace this objective. However, they find the collaborative network to be the best course of strategic action. The enterprise collaboration has gain much popularity and strength with the inception of digital revolution. This concept has observed a dynamic and evolving phenomenon of value added chain. This phenomenon under the convergence of information technology has placed a remarkable impact on decision-making processes within enterprises. The enterprises are involved in establishing a common window of collaborative network where the principle enterprise decides the synthesis of the incoming opportunity. The decision making at early stage for ranking the potential partner plays a pivoted role in optimized collaborative network. We in this study have obtained the aforementioned objectives by analyzing a vast amount of data and knowledge base. We have shown how the decisionmaking capability can be improved by means of analytics of vast amount of data during enterprise collaboration. Apart from highlighting the stalwart role of big data and ontological modeling in decision-making processes, we have defined enablers namely "Capability Evaluator" (herein CE) which are configurable in their definition. The defined enablers have been show to cover the financial, process and enterprise level scope with diversified classification. They play the role of building blocks in the proposed framework coined by the essence of integrated data management and enterprise collaborative knowledge base. We have defined three ways of obtaining these enablers, descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analysis. These enablers cover the industrial manufacturing aspects such as: Delay, Costing, Resource, Risk, Quality Control, Product Specification (Functional, Technical, General), Process, Raw Material, Product assembly and handling, Production capacity, Customer Engagement and Customer Lifelong Value. The whole of the system has been validated by means of introducing a framework "Prescriptive Collaborative Framework for Enterprise Network"v(herein PCFEN). The framework is logically comprised of a knowledge base namely "Enterprise Collaboration Knowledge Base" (herein ECKB). This knowledge base has been adopted with the prescriptive analysis across enterprise resources using ontological modeling. The enablers are used to populate the flexible knowledge base by which the ECKB enables to provide decision making for the ranking of the projects. The decision making system is also enriched by means of summaries obtained from the free text. Here in this aspect, we introduces a summarization mechanism "Asymmetric Matrix Factorization" (AMF). This component was used to obtain the summaries of variable size and quality. The summaries were used to extract the key concepts by means of sentiment analysis to map the knowledge base. Moreover, we have also modeled the "Composition of Customer Commitment" which is used for the orchestration and synthesis of the project. The outcome of proposed system addressed the individual and collaborative enterprise capability within enterprise network using structured and semi-structured data. The proposed knowledge base decision making model provides a self-adaptive solution for enterprise collaborative services and provides a high level assistance in project ranking

Companies that want to compete in the actual business environment need to be innovative. The shortening of product life cycles and the increasing competition force the companies to successfully come up with new ideas. In previous research some quantitative studies have been done on small companies using design management, notably in Italy and Spain. Sweden is both known for its small companies and its design. The purpose of the study is to explore design management in small Swedish companies.  This thesis aims to continue exploring the field of design management especially in small companies. We outline the following research questions: “How do small companies using design management generate their ideas?” and “How do small companies using design management select their ideas?”. To find an answer, we reviewed relevant literature concerning this topic and based on this we developed a theoretical frame including our own research platform.  Concerning our methodological approach, we choose the abductive approach since it enables us answering our research questions by extending our theoretical framework for this complex topic. Our research strategy is a qualitative study and our research design is a multiple case study using semi-structured interviews.  Our empirical findings consist of four interviews divided in two sets. The interviews were conducted in London, Gothenburg and Skellefteå. The first set of interviews addressed design management consultancies with the aim to have an overview of how small companies generate and select their ideas. The second set of interviews addressed small companies in Northern Sweden. Our findings are a synthesis of the broad view of the consultants and the case specific views of the small companies’ managers.  From these interviews, we have concluded that the design management knowledge in Swedish small companies varies and is rather rare. Nevertheless, small companies can follow design management principles without knowing the term design management (what we call silent design management). Also, the small companies we have interviewed do not use always their network to innovate but also sometimes innovate to maintain and develop their network, even ending sometimes with a joint venture with external partners. Relationships between external partners and small companies’ representatives are consequently a very important factor while finding and selecting ideas. We have analyzed design as a strategic tool and design management as a way to have a long-term strategy. We have deduced from our interviews that design management can be considered as a dynamic capability, acquired in our cases by a corporate culture or internal processes. The design process seems to be more iterative in small companies because they seem to guess more and less estimate their expected outcomes. However, a clear vision streamlines the design process, especially in small companies using design management.  We gladly recommend further research in this field, to check if the results of our research are generalizable or to look for new research gaps.

Thesis (MSc)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Rural development problems faced by the impoverished communities in the Transkei, South Africa, are numerous, and environmental degradation has already taken much of its toll. By working at a micro-catchment-level both the socio-economic and biophysical appreciation of the land resources were captured as encapsulated in the concept of resource management domains. Participatory decision-making allowed functional land use goals and evaluation criteria to be incorporated into computerised multi-criteria evaluation and multi-objective land use allocation models in order to reach an idealised or more sustainable land use situation. In the execution of the decision-making process seven procedural steps were followed, which are discussed in detail and applied in the case study. Synthesis of the results emphasised the envisaged rural planning potential of the methods used.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In terme van plattelandse ontwikkeling staar talle probleme die behoeftige gemeenskappe van Transkei, Suid-Afrika, in die gesig en omgewingsdegradering neem ongehinderd sy tol. Deur op ‘n mikro-opvangsgebied vlak te werk kon beide die sosio-ekonomiese en biofisiese waarde van die gebied se hulpbronne bepaal word en uitgebeeld word in hulpbron bestuursdomeine. Deur deelnemende besluitneming is funksionele grondgebruiksdoelwitte en evaluasie kriteria gebruik in gerekenariseerde meervoudige kriteria evaluering en veeldoelige grondgebruiksaanwysingsmodelle ten einde die ideale of ‘n meer volhoubare grondgebruik situasie te verkry. Vir die uitvoering van die besluitnemingsproses is van sewe opeenvolgende stappe gebruik gemaak en die uitvoering daarvan word in diepte bespreek in hierdie gevallestudie. Sintese van die resultate het die potensiaal van hierdie beoogde landelike beplanningsmetodes beklemtoon.

This study aims to determine the relationship between agency and freedom and it has developed a Tri-Modal Theory of Agency that explains an agent’s decisions with a focus on freedom. Here, based on Berlin’s (1958) ideas we have conceptualised positive and negative sides of freedom with a focus on agency. Meanwhile, agency is defined and measured in three following modes: (A) the conative mode is developed based on Sen’s (2007) capability approach, (B) the cognitive mode is conceptualised based on Weber’s (1993) rationality types and Bakhtin’s (1935) dialogism, and (C) the affective mode is developed based on Weiner’s (2010) attribution theory of emotion. A Tri-Modal Theory of Agency is tested and developed in five empirical studies that include 21 in-depth interviews, two surveys on career choice of 1063 employees and a university major selection of 4086 students in Iran, and finally the theory is applied to one case study that explains an entrepreneur’s agency-freedom relationship after a business failure. In summary, the Tri-Modal Theory of Agency establishes that freedom matters but having agency to give up freedom in pursuit of one’s values ought to be the primary aspiration. This study can be exploited in the field of social psychology, appraisal psychology and organisational behaviour to understand an agent’s decisions in a social context with a focus on her freedom.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toledo, 2007.
Typescript. "Submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for The Master of Arts in Political Science." "A thesis entitled"--at head of title. Bibliography: leaves 50-55.

Le capital social est un concept de plus en plus populaire en économie mais des ambiguïtés persistent quant à la manière de saisir l'aspect "social" de la vie humaine et d'interpréter le terme "capital". Par rapport aux précédents travaux, cette thèse fournit des outils analytiques nouveaux pour identifier et mesurer le capital social et étudier son rôle dans le bien-être individuel. Dans une perspective théorique, ces outils apportent un éclairage sur les raisons de ses différentes interprétations. Nous définissons d'abord le capital social comme l'ensemble des attentes et obligations que les individus accumulent lors des interactions et identifions trois dimensions le composant: l'homogénéité entre individus, la fréquence des contacts et la hiérarchisation des relations. Ces dimensions sont responsables de la fonction de coordination, attribuée au capital social, et du vaste éventail d'effets observés jusqu'à présent. Ce cadre est opérationnalisé à l’aide d’une mesure d’un index multidimensionnel au niveau individuel en Indonésie et un lien avec l'approche des capabilités est établi avec pour objectif de mieux identifier les canaux à travers lesquels le capital social impacte le bien être d’individus. Dans une perspective empirique, une étude des déterminants de l'empowerment des femmes est ensuite proposée avec, comme principale variable explicative, le capital social. Cette thèse démontre que le capital social est, tout d’abord, un concept fondamental dans la compréhension de la capacité à agir et dans le bien-être d’individus et que, de plus, celui-ci peut générer des effets négatifs sur l'empowerment des femmes, simultanément à ses effets positifs et prépondérants
In the last decades, the concept of social capital has gained increasing popularity in economics. Yet substantial ambiguity exists about how to assess the "social" aspect of human life and what meaning to attribute to the term "capital". To shed a new light on the concept, I develop a new conceptual framework and I make it operational for analysis and policy in the context of development by investigating issues of gender empowerment. From a theoretical perspective, this conceptual framework defines social capital as the amount of expectations and obligations that individuals accumulate when they interact and identifies its constituting dimensions: homogeneity among individuals, frequency of contacts and hierarchization of relationships. These dimensions are responsible for the function of coordination, attributed to social capital, as well for the wide range of outcomes observed in the literature. This framework is then operationalized through an index of social capital at the individual level in Indonesia. A connection with the capability approach to welfare economics is established to better understand those channels through which social capital affects individual well-being. At the empirical level, an investigation of the determinants of women empowerment in the household is consequently proposed, with social capital as the main explanatory variable. This work shows that the concept of social capital is fundamental to explore individuals' agency and well-being and that it has both positive and negative effects on women empowerment

Mestrado em Marketing
A Competitive Intelligence está a tornar-se numa prática mundial e numa importante ferramenta estratégica de suporte à decisão, conferindo às organizações maior ênfase analítica e orientação para a acção. Mais do que recolher ou arquivar o máximo de informação, muitas vezes só passível de análise posterior, as organizações necessitam saber o que fazer com ela, devendo reconhecer valor apenas à informação tratada e concentrar-se na colocação de boas perguntas e na definição das suas necessidades, deixando para segundo plano a existência ou não da informação. Este estudo investiga a aplicabilidade dos conceitos de Competitive Intelligence, ao nível das organizações portuguesas, avaliando a sua influência no processo de tomada de decisão, gestão estratégica e táctica, tentando responder à questão: “Quais os antecedentes que promovem uma resposta célere a acções competitivas da concorrência?”, Utiliza-se uma metodologia de pesquisa quantitativa, assente em técnicas multivariadas, resultante dum questionário on-line e numa amostra não probabilística, abarcando funções de topo das 1.000 maiores empresas nacionais por volume de facturação. Concluiu-se a existência de uma relação positiva entre a variável “Estrutura, consciência e processos” com a capacidade de resposta a acções competitivas da concorrência. Não se revelando, essa mesma relação positiva, com as restantes duas variáveis do modelo, nomeadamente: “Pressão de Mercado” e “Cultura e Atitude”. Concluiu-se também que a Competitive Intelligence não é estranha às organizações portuguesas, apresenta-se estruturada e em sintonia com a maioria das práticas internacionais, apesar das empresas nacionais referirem a sua capacidade de resposta como reactiva e não utilizam nenhum método para avaliar a eficácia da sua intelligence.
Competitive Intelligence is becoming a world organizational practice and an important strategic and supporting tool for the decision making process. It also confers a strong analytical emphasis with a consequent action oriented focus. Rather than collecting or storing information, often only used to further analysis, organizations need to know what to do with it. They must recognize value, only in treated information and concentrate on putting good questions and in defining their needs, leaving the existence or inexistence of information for second plan. This study investigates the applicability of Competitive Intelligence in Portuguese organizations, assessing its influence in decision-making process, strategic and tactical management, trying to answer the question: "which antecedents promote a rapid response to competitive actions? A quantitative research methodology was used, supported by multivariate techniques, based on an online survey with a nonprobability sampling embodying top management functions of the 1.000 major Portuguese companies by turnover. It was determined the existence of a positive relationship between the variable “Structure, awareness and process” and the “Capacity to respond” to competitive actions. The study does not show this positive relationship with the other two variables of the model: "Market pressure" and "Culture and Attitude." It was also determined that Competitive Intelligence is not unfamiliar to the Portuguese organizations, is structured and in line with most international practices, despite they consider their ability to respond as reactive and don’t use any evaluated method to assess the effectiveness of their intelligence.

Assim como outros investimentos em tecnologia da informação, os sistemas de Business Intelligence (BI) também têm sido questionados em relação aos benefícios e retornos obtidos depois de sua implantação. Isso porque o produto de BI é inteligência, ou, em outras palavras, algum tipo de informação processada, e o valor da informação é difícil de avaliar. A presente pesquisa pretende contribuir ao estudo desse problema de pesquisa, abordando o tema da avaliação dos sistemas de BI por meio do modelo de sucesso de sistemas de informação proposto por DeLone e McLean. Além das dimensões tradicionais inter-relacionadas do modelo: capacidade de BI, qualidade da informação, satisfação dos usuários e nível de uso, foi incluída a variável a abordagem de decisão, pois um dos principais objetivos dos sistemas de BI é processar dados advindos de diferentes fontes, para produzir informação que sirva como suporte para a tomada de decisão. Uma vez que a capacidade de BI e a qualidade da informação são constructos multidimensionais, uma das contribuições desta pesquisa foi realizar um levantamento na literatura sobre as dimensões que operacionalizam esse constructo e avaliá-las empiricamente. A capacidade de BI foi definida em termos de acessibilidade, capacidades analíticas, flexibilidade e integração, e qualidade da informação em termos de atualidade, completude, oportunidade e precisão. O problema de pesquisa foi abordado por meio da metodologia de survey, em que os respondentes foram convidados a participar da pesquisa via e-mail e o questionário foi disponibilizado em forma eletrônica através da ferramenta SurveyMonkey. No total, foram obtidas 483 repostas, das quais 246 foram válidas. Já que o modelo conceitual proposto inclui múltiplas relações de interdependência, a técnica estatística selecionada para analisar os dados foi a modelagem de equações estruturais. O software utilizado foi o SmartPLS que testa o modelo estrutural por meio do método de mínimos quadrados ordinários. Foi possível comprovar empiricamente todas as relações de causalidade propostas entre as dimensões de sucesso dos sistemas de BI, a exceção da relação de moderação da variável abordagem de decisão na relação de causalidade entre satisfação e nível de uso. Um teste subsequente permitiu observar que essa variável poderia ser preditora do nível de uso. Segundo os resultados, é possível afirmar que o sucesso de BI pode ser definido em termos da capacidade de BI, qualidade da informação, satisfação dos usuários e nível de uso. A operacionalização realizada dos constructos multidimensionais \"capacidade de BI\" e \"qualidade da informação\" poderia dar luzes sobre quais características devem ser priorizadas na implantação e/ou desenvolvimento dos sistemas de BI nas empresas.
As well as other investments in Information Technology (IT), Business Intelligence (BI) systems have also been questioned in relation to the benefits and returns obtained after its implementation. These questions arise because the BI product is intelligence, or, in other words, some kind of processed information and the value of information is difficult to assess. This research aims to contribute to this by addressing the issue of evaluation of BI systems through the information systems success model proposed by DeLone and McLean, beyond the traditional dimensions that are interrelated: BI capabilities, quality of information, user satisfaction, and level of use. The decision approach was included as a variable since a key objective of BI systems is to process data coming from different sources to produce information that serves as a basis for the decision-making process. Once the BI capability and information quality are multidimensional constructs, one of the contributions of this study was to review the literature available about the dimensions that operationalize this construct and evaluate them empirically. BI capability was defined in terms of accessibility, analytical capabilities, flexibility and integration, and the information quality in terms of opportunity, completeness, timeliness and accuracy. The research problem was addressed by the survey methodology: the respondents were invited to participate in the survey via email and the questionnaire was made available in electronic form through the SurveyMonckey tool. A number of 246 responses were usable out of the 483 total responses that were obtained. Since the proposed conceptual model includes multiple interdependencies, the statistical technique selected to analyze the data was the structural equation modeling. The software used was the SmartPLS, which tests the structural model using the ordinary least squares method. It was possible to prove empirically all the causal relationships proposed between success dimensions of BI systems, except for the moderation effect of making-decision approach variable on the relationship between satisfaction and usage level. A subsequent test allowed us to observe that this variable could be a predictor of the level of use. According to these results, we can say that the success of BI can be defined in terms of BI capability, the quality of information, user satisfaction and the level of use. The operationalization of the variables BI capability and information quality as a multidimensional construct could enlighten the decision about which features should be prioritized in implementing the development of BI systems in companies.

Quality Capability Self-diagnosis is a convenient and economical way to assess the performance of an operating quality system, as well as a basis for initiating necessary corrective actions essential to quality improvement and preparation for certification. This paper describes the research leading to the development of a cost-effective and systematic methodology for performing quality capability self-diagnosis. ISO 9000 series standards and the methods used to implement multicriteria system evaluation are employed to provide a sound basis for the development of this quality capability self-diagnosis scheme (QCSDS). The QCSDS has been developed to assist manufacturers in the conduct of quality assurance audits using internal personnel. The methodological structure of QCSDS is presented in two major parts: a regular model and a refined model. The regular model includes: (1) development of quality system auditing criteria, (2) selection of a suitable checklist developed from ISO 9000 series requirements, (3) development of importance weights for applicable criteria, (4) performance measurement, (5) quality system rating, (6) analysis of quality auditing results, and (7) suggestions for improvement. The refined model is developed to strengthen capability of the model and its reliability for confirming the effectiveness of an operating quality system using quality cost analysis, utility theory and regression analysis. A decision support system (QCSDDSS) based on the Quattro Pro spreadsheet is incorporated to facilitate the application of QCSDS. The QCSDDSS development is based on the regular model using ISO 9002 to provide both tabular and graphical displays for performance demonstration and improvement analysis.
Graduation date: 1994

Individuals have the tendency to believe that they have complete information when making decisions. In many contexts this propensity allows for swift, efficient, and generally effective decision making. However, individuals cannot always see a representative picture of the world in which they operate. This paper examines judgment in censored environments where a constraint, the censorship point, systematically distorts the sample observed by a decision maker. Random instances beyond the censorship point are observed at the censorship point, while instances below the censorship point are observed at their true value. Many important managerial decisions occur in censored environments, such as inventory, risk-taking, and employee evaluation decisions. This empirical work demonstrates a censorship bias - individuals tend to rely too heavily on the observed censored sample, biasing their beliefs about the underlying population. Further, the censorship bias is exacerbated for higher rates of censorship, higher variance in the population, and higher variability in the censorship points. Evidence from four studies demonstrates how the censorship bias can cause managers to underestimate demand for their goods, over-estimate risk in their environments, and underappreciate the capabilities of their employees, which can lead to undesirable outcomes for organizations.

Dissertation

碩士
銘傳大學
傳播管理研究所碩士班
95
The main purpose of this paper is to provide an algorithm for ADSL industry to determine the key capabilities under fuzzy environment. The fundamental concepts we have adopted include the fuzzy Delphi method, balanced scorecard, analytic hierarchy process, fuzzy set theory and multi-criteria decision-making method. With the literature review and the investigations of Taiwan ADSL industry, we use the importance analysis to get the key factors. After condensing some criteria, we construct the hierarchical structure of determining key capabilities for ADSL industry. The fuzzy Delphi method is integrated with the eigenvector method to form a set of pooled weights of the extracted criteria. The concepts of triangular fuzzy number and linguistic variables are used to assess the preference ratings of linguistic variables, ‘importance’ and ‘appropriateness’. Through the hierarchy integration, we obtain the final scores of capabilities. Then we use a revised Chen’s ranking method to rank the final scores and get the key capabilities.A case. in Taiwan ADSL industry is applied and we find the key capabilities are advisement and marketing, customer service, distribution management,and basic construction.

碩士
銘傳大學
傳播管理研究所碩士在職專班
95
The main purpose of this paper is to provide a key capabilities evaluation method for the media agency under fuzzy environment. With the literature review and the investigations of the advertisement experts in Taiwan, we establish the hierarchical structure for evaluating the key capabilities. The fundamental concepts we have adopted include the balanced scorecard, the eigenvector method, fuzzy Delphi, and fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making method. The concepts of triangular fuzzy number and linguistic variables are used to assess the preference ratings of linguistic variables, ‘importance’ and ‘appropriateness’. Through the hierarchy integration, we obtain the final scores of alternatives. Then we use a Chen’s ranking method to rank the final scores for choosing the optimal alternative. This study introduces four criteria and eighteen sub-criteria for evaluating the key capabilities of the media agency. Through applying criteria to the analysis of a media agency firm within PUBLICIS group in Taiwan, we learn that media planning is the key capabilities of this firm.

碩士
國立臺灣藝術大學
圖文傳播藝術學系
107
Utilizing the Observe-Orient-Decide-Act loop, Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), and Attitude Theory as basis, this research aims to explore the impact of data visualization charts for executives in the printing industry on their decision making process. The research first used public financial record of four printing companies listed at over-the-counter market to create visualized charts, then selected printing executives in the Northern Taiwan region as test subjects. After the subjects examined the data visualization charts, the study then explored whether the subjects attitude and perceived behavioral control afterwards will have any impact on its behavioral intention, and the subsequent action plan. The study utilized questionnaire survey based on qualitative research, using SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 24.0 for data analysis to conduct descriptive statistics analysis, MANOVA, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling, hoping to understand the relationship between perception, attitude, perceived behavioral control, behavioral intention, and action plan generated by data visualization charts, and the decision making of printing industry executives. The study has found out that utilizing data visualization charts can improve the decision making capabilities of printing industry executives, with executives attitude the key factor in its impact. The higher the positive recognition executive holds towards data visualization chart, the more it enhances the persons behavioral intention and subsequent action plan. The study then provides suggestions based on analyzing the result, to provide future references for enterprises regarding decision making.