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Information systems and uncertainty: a conspiracy of misplaced confidence
Author(s) -
Straub B.,
Angell IO
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
information systems journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.635
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1365-2575
pISSN - 1350-1917
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2575.1991.tb00027.x
Subject(s) - disappointment , context (archaeology) , perspective (graphical) , knowledge management , set (abstract data type) , field (mathematics) , information system , perception , point (geometry) , information technology , management information systems , management science , computer science , political science , epistemology , psychology , engineering , social psychology , philosophy , geometry , mathematics , artificial intelligence , paleontology , pure mathematics , law , biology , programming language , operating system
. Information technology is becoming an increasingly important factor in contemporary management. Information systems are being set up in business explicitly to accommodate the new opportunities of this technology, and these are having a lasting effect on managerial practice. The full implications of this technology‐driven development have not been appreciated by organizations, which in absorbing technological systems, are tolerating a great drain on their resources. The efficacy of computers is predicated on the acceptance of some very specific perspectives. A growing discontent and disappointment with their limited achievements is our reason for advocating a different point of view. We will discuss how a shift in perspective, particularly in respect to the perception of uncertainty, will affect thinking and practice in the field of management support systems. We will render our view of the application of computerized decision support systems (DSS), and especially, we will focus on the beliefs and assumptions that have shaped this technology thus far. To this end we will discuss the concept of uncertainty, by juxtaposing current thinking and practice with our understanding of the context of its application. Finally, we will place our understanding of uncertainty in a managerial context and explain the implications this would have for strategists.