Question

Give examples of structured, semistructured and unstructured decisions in business. Justify your examples by referring to properties of these types of decisions. Then, identify what information systems may be used to support different types of decisions.

Answer 1

Example of structured decision in business

Company A is a brokerage firm which deals in trade of financial securities between buyers and seller. It gives financial advise to its clients & for this the firm has to follow certain market trends, study the stocks , determine the market conditions etc . Such decisions are called as structured decisions.

Justification

Here the problem has recurring & repetitive nature so it is possible to identify certain common factor which will give the solution to the problem .Certain set of procedures are required to follow for the solution.

Example of unstructured decision in business

ABC corp is an FMCG comapny which wants to launch a new product. It seeks help from the experts, take thier opinion on new product design, price, color, market segement etc. Here the company banks on the opinion of the expertise. This type of decisions is called as unstructured.

Justification

Unstructred decisions are generally taken when problem requires human help.In the above example expert opinion is required for new product development as the experts are well versed with the market trends.

Example of semi-structured decision in business

One of the suppliers of XYZ corporations informed the company that he will not be able to supply the stock for 7 days because of fire that broke at his warehouse. The manager now decides to contact another suplier for avoiding upcoming shortage of the materials.

Justification

Semi-structred decisions falls between structured and unstructured decisions. The set of procedures that are followed in decision making does not provide complete solution. Human help is required in terms of intelligence .In the above example company has set the procedure to go for alternate supplier. It is now on the respective manager's judgement to whom he will contact for the supply.

Information systems to be used :

For structured decisions Management Information Systems(MIS)

For semi structured decisions Decision Support Systems (DSS) & Management Support Systems(MSS) , Executive Information Systems (EIS) can be used.

For unstructured Specialized Processing Systems can be used.