EXECUTION SYSTEMS
The information system
categories discussed so far (visit : http://www.management4all.org/2014/03/computer-based-information-systems.html)
are primarily oriented toward planning and control activities or toward general
office and communication activities. What about systems designed to directly
support people doing the value added work that customers care about, such as practicing
medicine, designing buildings, or selling investments? Some
people call these systems “functional area systems”. Because there is no
generally accepted term from information systems that support value added work,
we will call them execution systems. These systems have become much more
important in the last decade as advances in computer speed, memory capacity,
and portability made it increasingly possible to use computerized systems directly
while doing value added work. Such systems help plastic surgeons design operation
and show the likely results to their patients, help lawyers find precedents relevant
to lawsuits, and help maintenance engineers keep machines running.
Expert systems are a type of execution system that has received attention as
an offshoot of artificial intelligence research. An expert system supports the
intellectual work of professionals engaged in design, diagnosis, or evaluation
of complex situations requiring expert knowledge in a well-defined area. Expert
systems have been used to diagnose diseases, configure computers, analyze
chemicals, interpret geological data, and support many other problem solving
processes. This type of work requires expert knowledge of the process of
performing particular tasks. Although these tasks may have some repetitive
elements, many situations have unique characteristics that must be considered
based on expert knowledge. Intellectual work even in narrowly defined areas is
typically much less repetitive than transaction processing general office work.