Explore how interactive terminals reshape management decision making and unlock faster, more flexible data power.
This book explains why batch processing alone often falls short for unstructured problems and how interactive visual display terminals can change the way decisions are made. It introduces the concept of Management Decision Systems (MDS) and shares real-world experiences from early experiments to show what works and what doesn’t when implementing such systems.
Across design, implementation, and evaluation, the text emphasizes practical strategies: incremental development around a decision maker, modular software to adapt to changing needs, and strong emphasis on evaluation to learn from each step. It also discusses software architecture, the role of graphical interfaces, and the importance of safeguarding data and ensuring hardware independence.
- Learn where interactive systems fit best: unstructured problems versus structured, routine decisions
- See how to model decision processes, compare empirical and normative views, and measure impact
- Discover design principles for flexible, modular software and reliable, user-friendly interfaces
- Read about actual experiments that guided improvements and informed best practices
Ideal for readers interested in management information systems, decision support, and the evolution of technology-enabled management tools.