What are examples of decision support systems in global enterprises?
Dan Power
Editor, DSSResources.COM
This Ask Dan! continues the discussion of decision support in global
enterprises (see DSS News of January 29, 2006 and March 12, 2006). As
noted previously, you can discuss this topic and other leading-edge
DSS issues at ICDSS2007 (ICDSS2007.org) and please consider
submitting a relevant paper for the conference book to
info@icdss2007.org by May 10, 2006.
A global enterprise has significant operations in multiple nation
states and often in countries on different
continents that need to be coordinated and cooperatively managed. A
global enterprise can not function without sophisticated
telecommnications and information technology, BUT the amount and
sophistication of decision support varies widely. As these
enterprises grow and prosper they are however likely to innovate and
rapidly adopt sophisticated DSS technologies that emerge. The
examples in this column will therefore focus on leading edge,
publicly disclosed examples of DSS in global enterprises. All of the
examples are documented in case studies or press releases at
DSSResources.com or at vendor Web sites. These examples are the "tip
of the ice berg" and the focus is primarily on recent press releases.
Let's examine some examples in the context of the expanded DSS
framework: Communications-driven DSS, Data-driven DSS,
Document-driven DSS, Knowledge-driven DSS and Model-driven DSS. Also,
it should be noted that managers in global enterpises like Procter &
Gamble use software for decision support special studies (cf.,
Palisade Staff, 2001).
Communications-driven DSS
Groupware, chat, Videoconferencing, and web-based bulletin boards
are increasingly common in global enterprises. In a 2002 case study,
eRoom Staff documented how more than 100 Naval Medicine CIOs and
their staffs access eRoom through industry-standard Web browsers. The
U. S. Navy Bureau of Medicine manages 77 hospitals and regional
service providers in locations inside the U.S. as well as
overseas-based military installations, combat field hospitals and
Navy ships at sea.
Recently, WebEx launched WebEx WebOffice in India to support
distributed project management and outsourced development
coordination for overseas partners and clients (03/07/2006). In 2001,
Procter & Gamble chose Polycom for worldWide video communications
support. Hewlett Packard (HP) has 13 Halo Collaboration Studios
installed at its facilities worldwide. Halo Collaboration Studio is a
high-end video conferencing facility built by HP in partnership with
DreamWorks Animation SKG (12/12/2005).
To use Halo, organizations purchase at least two Halo rooms set up
for six people each. "There are three plasma displays in each room
that enable participants to see those they are collaborating with in
life-size images. The rooms come equipped with studio-quality audio
and lighting and participants use a simple on-screen user interface
to begin collaborating". "Participants can easily share documents and
data directly from their notebook PCs with individuals in other rooms
using a collaboration screen mounted above the plasma displays."
Data-driven DSS
In a recent case study at DSSResources.com, SAS staff explain how
Briggs & Stratton uses SAS BI to consolidate information and deliver
it globally to manufacturing offices, particularly in North America,
China and Europe. The case describes a global data-driven, executive
management system with scorecards. More than 50 people in the company
are hands-on information producers. For the past few years in the oil
business within Shell International, a Category Management Business
Solution (CMBS) has been used in seven countries, including Germany,
UK and Netherlands. Data is gathered from more than 2,500 sites with
100 head office users.
At Maytag International, in a somewhat dated example, DI-Diver was
used to track sales and analyze profitability for refrigeration,
laundry, floor care, cooking and dishwasher product categories.
DI-Diver reports included sales dollars, unit totals, revenue, cost,
warranty, and gross margin information for 1,700 SKU's and 1,000
customers. The data was updated monthly and distributed to users over
a LAN. For remote users the updated information was distributed on a
CD.
Two July 2005 press releases described decision support applications
at Airbus and Hellmann Worldwide Logistics. Airbus expanded its use of
an Applix TM1 solution to approximately 100 controllers at 16
Engineering Competency Centers located in France, Germany, the UK,
and Spain. Hellmann is an air and sea freight shipping company that
serves customers from 341 cities in 134 countries. Hellmann selected
BusinessObjects XI to provide real-time access to customer related
information such as tracking and tracing statuses, invoicing,
inventory, and KPI management.
Buckman Labs standardized on Information Builders' software for
global information integration (01/30/2006). It uses WebFOCUS to
generate sales analysis reports. The company has annual sales of $429
million, produces 700 different products, and employs over 1,500 people
working in more than 90 countries. ABN AMRO selected Teradata Data
Warehouse to build a platform for business decision support in Asia (02/15/2006).
ABN AMRO is an international bank with more than 3,000 branches in more
than 60 countries and territories. The data warehouse will support business
development of ABN AMRO consumer businesses in Asia. Regional headquarters
in Hong Kong will be able to view the region's total business as well as
the performance of each individual country's business, and each country
will have a view of its own data. The focus is on DSS for customer
relationship management,customer revenue analysis, and monitoring credit
risk metrics. On March 21, 2006 Cognos announced Fresh Del Monte purchased
the Cognos Performance Management solution. Fresh Del Monte is a leading global
producer and distributor of fruit and vegetable products in Europe,
Africa and the Middle East.
Document-driven DSS
In a release dated March 10, 2006, "Dr. Scheller Cosmetics speeds
time-to-market with Captaris Workflow", Captaris Workflow software
was used to automate the approvals process for Dr. Scheller research
and marketing materials. Dow Corning automated workflow capabilities
and created templates using the Documentum ECM platform to ensure the
consistency of all Web content while enabling business units to manage
the content. DuPont Engineering has a document-driven system with more
than 2,100 users worldwide. The system contains more than one million
CAD drawings and other project documentation (cf., http://documentum.com).
Knowledge-driven DSS
Moody's Risk Management Services uses a knowledge-driven
system to support the needs of commercial lending institutions. Over
one third of the top 100 commercial banks in the US and Canada along
with some of the largest industrial and financial companies in the
world use FAST (Financial Analysis Support Techniques) software for
credit analysis. Also, Hewlett Packard deployed a Web-based system to
provide "quick, accurate hardware sizing, network configuration, and
usage recommendations for SAP Business Information Warehouse
implementations" (cf., http://exsys.com/case.html).
Model-driven DSS
Standard Bank, one of the largest banks in South Africa, has
operations in 17 countries. It was one of the early adopters of
credit scoring and customer-level decisioning from Experian-Scorex
(08/30/2005). ILOG announced on February 14, 2006 that Taiping Life,
a leading Chinese insurer, chose ILOG JRules for its underwriting
system so that it could expand its underwriting in Asia. I'm sure
that there are many other model-driven scheduling, simulation and
optimization DSS examples in global enterprises similar to those
found in more local or country-centered enterprises.
So what can one conclude from the above examples? First, global
enterprises differ in their decision support needs, but they also
have many needs that are similar to those of all large, complex
organizations. Second, technology adoption varies widely in global
enterprises. Third, the possibilities for DSS seem much greater than
what is evidenced by current applications.
As always, your comments and suggestions are welcomed.
Cited Press Releases
07/12/2005 - Airbus expands use of Applix TM1 solution.
07/12/2005 - Hellmann Worldwide Logistics optimizes performance with
BusinessObjects XI.
08/30/2005 - Experian-Scorex enables enterprise-wide decisioning for
Standard Bank of South Africa.
12/12/2005 - HP unveils Halo Collaboration Studios: Life-like
communication leaps across geographic boundaries.
01/30/2006 - Buckman Labs standardizes on Information Builders'
software for global information integration.
02/14/2006 - Leading Chinese insurer Taiping Life chooses ILOG JRules
for its underwriting system.
02/15/2006 - ABN AMRO selects Teradata Data Warehouse to build a
robust foundation for business development in Asia.
03/07/2006 - WebEx launches WebEx WebOffice in India: An on-demand
collaboration solution for distributed project management and
outsourced development.
03/10/2006 - Dr. Scheller Cosmetics speeds time-to-market with
Captaris Workflow.
03/21/2006 - Fresh Del Monte moves to Cognos Performance Management
solution.
References
Business Objects Staff, "Shell Delivers the New Face of Fuel
Retailing with Business Objects", Business Objects, Inc., 2000,
posted at DSSResources.COM September 2,2001.
eRoom Staff, "Naval Medicine CIOs use collaboration and
knowledge-sharing decision support application",
eRoom, Inc., 2002, posted at DSSResources.COM August 2, 2002.
Lyons, T., "Maytag International Refines Data Distribution with
DI-Diver", Dimensional Insight, Inc.,
February 2001, posted at DSSResources.COM February 28, 2001.
Palisade Staff, "Procter & Gamble Uses @RISK and PrecisionTree
World-Wide", Palisade Corp., Spring 2001, posted at DSSResources.COM
May 22, 2001.
Power, D.J., "What is involved in providing decision support for
global enterprises?", DSS News, Vol. 7, No. 3, January 29, 2006.
Power, D.J., "What are the obstacles associated with building
DSS for global enterprises?", DSS News, Vol. 7, No. 6, March 12,
2006.
SAS Staff, "Briggs & Stratton harnesses operational data", posted at
DSSResources.COM December 2, 2005.
Last update: 2006-10-22 16:26
Author: Daniel Power
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