Decision Support Systems and Competitive Advantage Assignment

Decision Support Systems and Competitive Advantage - Assignment Example These systems do not make decisions by themselves, but through the presentation of information in a manner that enables decision-making possible and informed (Power, 2002). Â  Their application majorly in most organizations is to help create competitive advantage. This refers to an organization’s resources, capabilities or skills that significantly enhance its success within the market it operates and against rivalry situations it encounters. Such results from carrying out activities better than competitors thus creating value and superior performance to consumers and clients alike (Parsaei, Kolli & Hanley, 1996). A decision support system can only create a competitive advantage for an organization when certain criteria are met. These involve: using it and making it become an important and significant strength of the particular organization once it is implemented; being unique and proprietary to the organization and taking of the advantage provided by its sustainability until the adequate payback is received, which normally takes at least three years. These criteria have to be carefully considered to derive the benefits of the decision support s ystems throughout (Power & Business Expert Press, 2009). Â  Managers have increasingly integrated the use of decision support systems in their organizations through the use of sophisticated data-driven systems to obtain information that was initially present in ordinary files and those on computer storage systems (Green, Stankosky & Vandergriff, 2010).

Describe the main phases of the business cycle and discuss recent Essay

Describe the main phases of the business cycle and discuss recent economic growth patterns in Australia - Essay Example At the end, there is a depiction of the movement of the leading index and coincident index, which are two composite indices of prime economic indicators. These indices are particularly designed to predict business cycle and growth rate cycle patterns. The basic features of business cycles in Australia over the past few decades and the compatibility of the recent economic growth with the prevailing business cycle phase are analyzed on the basis of these indicators and the NBER methodology. The analysis of business cycles in Australia shows strong incidence of asymmetry as compared to the growth rate cycles. The study of business cycles is crucial for exploring the economic activities and its trends of a given nation or territory. In Economics, â€Å"business cycle† is the up and down movements of the economy which occurs at irregular intervals. The major indicators of business cycles or tools of measuring the business cycles include the important macroeconomic variables and essentially, fluctuations in GDP. A business cycle is an irregular, unpredictable, or non-repetitive phenomenon. A business cycle is recognized as a succession of four phases. The first phase is Contraction, which implies a slowdown in the pace of economic activity. Next comes, Trough, which is the lower point of turn of a business cycle. This is a point from where the phase of downturn or contraction moves towards expansion or upturn. The third phase is that of Expansion, a speedup in the pace of economic activity; and finally comes peak, the upper turning of a business cycle. The research on the cyclical in stability, contraction and expansion of economic activities or outputs is an important aspect of study in economics. Particularly, this area of research got emphasis since the seminal works of Burns and Mitchell (1946) at National Bureau of Economic