Management policies and the diffusion of data warehouse: a case study using system dynamics-based decision support system

This paper studies the impact of management policies on the diffusion of data warehouse (DW) in a large commercial bank in Thailand. A system dynamics (SD)-based decision support system (DSS) is developed and analysed for this purpose. System dynamics was used as the modelling tool because of its rigorous approach in capturing interrelationships among variables and in handling dynamic aspects of the system behaviour. A qualitative model is first formulated to understand the present state of the DW diffusion. The quantitative model is then formulated to simulate seven management policies. Findings unearth two dominant policies of 'increase level of training' and 'decrease training delay' that will speed up the diffusion significantly. None of the policies, however, achieve the bank's target diffusion level within a specified time period. Sensitivity analyses reveal various combinations of the dominant policies that the management can adopt. The analyses act as an eye-opener for the bank executives as they understand what can be feasibly achieved given a number of constraints. With easy interfaces and supportive tools, bank executives can use the DSS to test various scenarios, which will enhance their learning process and improve their decision making. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.