Knowledge-Based Support for Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Judgments in Resource Allocation Decisions.

Author List: Agarwal, Ritu; Tanniru, Mohan R.; Dacruz, Marcos;
Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992, Volume 9, Issue 1, Page 165-184.
The allocation of scarce resources to competing information systems project opportunities is a key activity performed by the MIS planning group. Performing this task typically involves consideration of both quantitative as well as qualitative aspects of projects. Research in human information processing and cognitive psychology suggests that decision makers are often subject to biases that tend to assign greater salience to quantitative as opposed to qualitative and intangible factors. To help overcome such biases and to provide flexible decision support to the project selection committee, a knowledge-based system has been developed. Knowledge captured in the system was extracted from industry practitioners responsible for the project selection decision. The system architecture represents an integration of database, modeling, and expert system capabilities. It supports both intelligence and design phases of project selection and can assess the impact of a selected portfolio on an organization's cash flow. The operation of the system is illustrated through an extended example.
Keywords: information systems projects; knowledge-based support; multi-criteria decision making; project selection; qualitative factors.
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#57 0.193 decision support systems making design models group makers integrated article delivery representation portfolio include selection effective claims decisions rationale various
#289 0.174 qualitative methods quantitative approaches approach selection analysis criteria used mixed methodological aspects recent selecting combining known conclusions included article appropriateness
#129 0.119 expert systems knowledge knowledge-based human intelligent experts paper problem acquisition base used expertise intelligence domain inductive rules machine artificial task
#16 0.092 infrastructure information flexibility new paper technology building infrastructures flexible development human creating provide despite challenge possible resources specific advances developing
#135 0.085 project projects development management isd results process team developed managers teams software stakeholders successful complex develop contingencies problems greater planning
#183 0.080 explanations explanation bias use kbs biases facilities cognitive making judgment decisions likely decision important prior judgments feedback types difficult lead
#231 0.076 information management data processing systems corporate article communications organization control distributed department capacity departments major user hardware cost applications expansion
#214 0.059 resource resources allocation chargeback manager effectiveness problem firms case gap allocating diverse dependence just bridge cooperative criticality acquisition duplication extent