Isa 404 P. 124

Eddie Kramer

ISA 404

Rajkumar

10/16/2012

Exercises p.124

2.

a. A vigilant information system (VIS) includes both sensing and responding capabilities. (To be vigilant means to be “alertly watchful”). Sensing comes through real-time dashboards with automated alerting. It detects changes and helps with visibility from the distributions centers all the way to top management. Responding refers to the decision makes making decisions at each different level and performing action.

b. The main difference between a VIS and BPM is that a VIS begins the process, whereas a BPM a user initiates the process by querying an application in order to access a database. A database within a BPM is more likely to be passive, where a VIS database is active and the data is constantly reanalyzed. Both are similar in that they access database and retrieve data to be able to turn it into knowledge, just in different ways.

c. The OODA decision cycle presented with VIS give companies a tremendous advantage over competitors if used correctly. When the four activities, Observe, Orient, Decide and Act, are completed fast, it will give companies a direct advantage over their competitors. In VIS, observe is completed when it captures the KPI’s in real time and integrates information from various sources. Orienting uses dashboards to display the data. It will send alerts to managers who then can break down the data and report trends. Next, the deciding activity allows analytics to discuss future implications and use statistics. The last step, acting, is when they inform managers/people in charge of the recommended actions to take regarding the data.

On the other hand, the closed loop process (DMAIC) used by BPM systems is similar yet different. Define, measure, analyze, improve and control are the five main activities. Disadvantages include cost and complexity. It is more generalized approach whereas OODA includes more specific actions.

d. The types of dashboards in the...