TOWARD A GENERALIZED ARCHITECTURE FOR INTELLIGENT REACTIVE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 19, 1992 217 TOWARD A GENERALIZED ARCHITECTURE FOR INTELLIGENT REACTIVE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Diane M. Miller, University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Coast ABSTRACT Work in progress is described, making the case for computer-based reactive management systems to support decision-making when there is a drastic, rapid change in the environment, which renders existing plans unworkable. The hypothesis is that a creative combination of information systems tools, including sane uses of artificial intelligence, can provide an integrated system to give such support. The system will perform five tasks: structuring the problem, monitoring/interpreting the environment, updating the model, gathering organizing internal data, and facilitating the man-machine interface. EXISTING SYSTEM TYPES An accepted taxonomy for describing the functions of information systems uses three basic categories: transaction processing systems (TPS), which are used to update existing databases; management information systems (MIS), which report the status quo to management; and decision support systems (DSS), which employ modeling tools and comparison techniques to assist managers in making decisions (Keen and Scott Morton, 1978). The focus for these systems is almost entirely upon recording, reporting, and planning. They have the expectation of a predictable environment, but sometimes events are so far removed from what might be expected that planning breaks down, and consequently, existing computer systems fail to provide support. Promising attempts to deal with crisis situations have used expert systems (ES) to provide guidance. Expert systems constitute a type of artificial intelligence. They model the human problem-solving capability of an individual who is accomplished in a given domain of expertise (Gallagher, 1988). Like more traditional systems, though, expert systems still primarily serve the planning context. Additional uses of artificial intelligence are needed to build reactive systems. SYSTEM TYPES BY MANAGERIAL NEED To see the information system implications of a breakdown in the ability to plan, it is helpful to relate system types to managerial needs. Sutherland (1984) considers four types of managerial activity: 1. Operational management seeks to optimize efficiency in routine activities. 2. Tactical management is concerned with maintaining equilibrium and ensuring proper distributions within resource constraints. 3. Strategic management formulates contingency plans and strives for competitive positioning. 4. Directive management defines organizational mission and goals, and makes long-range plans. Figure 1 gives examples of applications picturing the relationship between system type and managerial need. Systems supporting each of these management needs are subject to failure in out-of-the-ordinary circumstances. Operational systems are subject to overload if demands on the system exceed the transaction-handling capability. Tactical systems may be rendered useless by having one of the independent variables take on a value that is outside the range of the system. Strategic systems fail because it is not possible to be prepared for every situation. Directive systems fail when events are unforeseen. In each case, rapid response is required, and the supporting information system must have the ability to assist reevaluation in the light of unexpected factors. The kind of management decisions required in such circumstances are reactive, characterized by the need to respond rapidly to previously unencountered and unforeseen events. NEW APPROACHES Some new methods have been used successfully in isolated applications to speed awareness, especially the biologically based artificial intelligence methods that mimic the processes found in nature. These methods include genetic algorithms (GAs), neural nets, and simulated annealing. GAs are based upon the laws of natural selection. Neural nets are connectionist models, deliberately patterned after the organizational structure of the human brain. Simulated annealing utilizes the concepts of condensed matter physics. Generally speaking, all may be used to identify near-optimal solutions, and all can learn by incorporating new results into the existing definition of the environment. What is lacking is to incorporate these new methods into systems providing standard functions. The system architecture is expected to comprise five modules: data gathering, monitoring/recognition,/ update, status reporting/early warning, causal analysis, and recommendation. The system will be tested by a simulated business environment. The work will have the potential to advance inquiry in a neglected but necessary area of information systems: support for decision-makers faced with the need to respond rapidly when the environment suddenly and drastically changes. REFERENCES Gallagher, J. p. (1988) Knowledge systems for business: Integrating expert systems and MIS. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Keen, P. G. W., & Scott Morton, M. S. (1978) Decision support systems: An organizational perspective, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Sutherland, J. W. (1984) The case for reactive management systems: Elements of a real-time decision technology. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, SMC-14 (1), 55-73 Table of Contents Volume 19, 1992 The Pedagogical Utility of a Management Simulation Game in a Business Policy Course Modeling Economic Environments in Business Simulations: Some Comparisons and Recommendations Experiential Learning and TQM Principles: Teaching Behavioral Science in a Business School The Use of Poster Presentations as a Final Project in the Business Policy Course The Device Business: A Management Simulation for Strategy Formulation The Advantages of Experiential learning in the Auditing curriculum A Framework for the Identification of Moderated and Mediated Performance consequences of Pedagogical Alternatives Simulating Qualitative Research Relating to Values and Lifestyle Segmentation A New Market Demand Model for Business Simulators Interactive Optimization Using the Method of Relative Improvement Preferences: Methodology and Empirical Evaluation The Service Trainer Simulation Benefits of Internet Computer Networks for ABSEL Members How Should We Measure Experiential Learning? An Assessment of Simulation Usage in Management Accounting Courses The Influence of Myers-Briggs Type and Group Dynamics on Simulation Performance Effective Leadership Behavior in the Desert Storm Arena: An Application of the Vroom-Yetton-Jago Model Installing and Consolidating Work-Team Values: The Effects of a Multicultural Outdoors Experiential Program Key Determinants and Decision performance in a Business Simulations and Experiential Learning environment Multi-Cultural Experiential Learning: A Computer Simulation in Indonesia Attitudes Toward and Emotions Related to Women as Managers: A Replication and Beyond Scenario Approach to Simulating Consumer Expenditures: A Cross-Cultural Analysis Insights into Ethical Decision making Activities and Organizational Performance: A Management Simulation Analysis of College Students and Managers Evaluating a Business Simulation Program for Joint Venture Negotiation and Management Teaching Business Interviewing Strategies with an Experiential Approach Cooperative Learning Across the Business Curriculum Modeling Total Quality Elements into a Strategy-Oriented Simulation Teaching Business Decision making using a Simulator Extending the Educational Utility of a Simulated Competition within the Confines of an Established Undergraduate Marketing Curriculum Expert Systems Versus Traditional Methods for Teaching Accounting Issues Confidence Extremes Diminish Quality Performance in a Total Enterprise Simulation Can Ethics Be Taught? A Simulation Tests a Traditional Ethics Pedagogy Through The Looking Glass, Inc.: Organizational Climate Research as Experiential Pedagogy The use of Cluster Analysis for Business Game Performance Analysis Power and Ethnicity: An Experiential Learning Exercise (How to Sensitize Students to Diversity) Directed Development of Critical and Creative Thinking Skills for Case Analysis Implementing Total Quality Management in a Computerized Business Simulation Product Quality in Business Simulations Use of Simulation for Ethics Education in Management Satisfying the University's Customers through Total Quality Management Instruction: A Case Study Personality Characteristics and Group Performance in Total Enterprise Simulations Concepts of Interval Estimation and Quality Control Charts via Computer Simulated Sampling An Examination of the Effect of Team Cohesion, Player Attitude, and Performance Expectations on Simulation Performance Results The Effectiveness of Inventory Management and Production Scheduling Training in a Total Quality Management Environment Peer Group Indicators of the External Validity of Business Games: A five-year Longitudinal Study Political Strategies and Personal Actions Does Practice make Perfect? Observations on Simulation Trial The Use of A Non-Business Computer Simulation to Teach Marketing Management BankPro Commercial Bank Simulation The Production Game Pursuing Excellence: Work Strengths, Assets and relevant Values (An Exercise) Test of a Short Outward Bound Experience for College Students What is it that we want Student To Learn? Using Two TQM Philosophies when Playing Blackjack The Lagged Effects of Decision Variables on Financial Performance Measures Used in Two business Simulations The Development of an Experiential Exercise for Career Planning and Effective Job search Performance Measuring Quality in Management of Business Pedagogy Exploring Quality and Productivity Improvement: Using and Experiential Process Toward a Generalized Architecture for Intelligent Reactive Management Systems The Quality Game TQX: Using Expert Systems to Improve Training in Total Quality Management A Simulation of the Effect of the Medicaid Payment Lag on the Financial Position of Community Pharmacies The Use of a Board of Directors to Evaluate and Validate Decisions in a Competitive Graduate Management Simulation Course The Impact of Academic Dishonesty on Business Simulations and Experiential Learning Activities Picture Project: An Experience of Icebreaking and/or Decision-Making An Effective Role-playing Exercise for Teaching Requisite TQM Supervisory Attitudes/Behavior Computerized Management Simulations and Some Correlates of Students' Satisfaction The Timing and Stability of Reactions to Market Structure in a Single Player Simulation Environment A Graphics Application Extension for a Simulated Decision Support System Environment Aspects of a Group Project Utilizing Actual Business data and a Computerized Accounting System The Role of Universities' Extended Learning Department in Assisting Organizations Implement Total Quality Management A three-dimensional Learning Experience to Develop Total Quality Management Skills Estimating Quality Costs by Computer Simulation Applications and Examples of Quality Control Software Assessing Business Pedagogy A Demonstration of an Experiential Process for Exploring Quality and Productivity Improvement Processes An Action-Ethics Dilemma: A Demonstration Org Sim Jr.: A 2-3 Hour Version of the 2-Day Blanchard/Murrell Organization Simulation Building Buildings: An Experiential Exercise in Organizational Structure, Communication, Leadership and Group Dynamics Expert Systems for Organization Design: A Demonstration A Demonstration of Product Quality in a Business Simulation: Version 2 of CEO Two Revolutions, Total Quality Leadership, and the Baldy: The Story of Milliken Total Quality after the Award - The Xerox Story Building a Competitive Advantage through Customer Satisfaction and Reengineering Human Resource Planning: Managing the Only Renewable Resource for a Competitive Advantage Using Simulations to Teach International Issues: An analysis of the Multinational Management Game's Learning Environment Quality Function Deployment: A Tutorial Care and Nurturing of Teams Making a Good Thing Better: Adding TQM to Participative management Empowering Organizations to Redesign and Transform Themselves - Eastman Chemical Using Simulations in Field Management Development of an International Life Insurance Company Reinforcing the TQ Environment via Simulation Transforming a Business College into a Total Quality College