Decision making is a very complex phenomenon. Modern decision makers must deal with very complex problems which are constantly changing and often ill­ structured, making modeling and analysis difficult. In order to provide support for the decision makers, computer-based information systems are designed to collect, store, process, and transport information. Recent advances in computer technol­ ogy, data communications, database systems, office automation, and knowledge engineering have made possible the design of very sophisticated information sys­ tems. However, rapid technological advances also create many problems, not the least of which is the lack of integration among the various disciplines in infor­ mation system design. Without such integration, a costly computer-based infor­ mation system is at best partially useful and at worst totally useless. The aim of this book, therefore, is to examine the various issues involved in designing man­ agement information systems, decision support systems, and office information systems for increasing productivity and providing decision support. This book is the outcome of the Workshop on Management and Office Infor­ mation Systems, which was organized by the Knowledge Systems Institute and held at Chicago, Illinois, from June 28 to 30, 1982. Twenty-seven papers from the working papers presented at that workshop were selected for inclusion in the present volume, which is organized into five parts: (I) organization structures and management, (II) decision support systems, (III) database systems, (IV) office information systems, and (V) systems and applications.

I Organization Structures and Management.- 1. The Process of Designing Organization Structures and Their Information Substructures.- 2. Organizational Structures as the Primal Information System: An Interpretation.- 3. Analysis of Formal and Informal Information Needs in Decision Support Systems Design.- 4. Informational Needs of Organizations Under Crisis.- II Decision Support Systems.- 5. Languages for Decision Support Systems: An Overview.- 6. A Formal Approach to Decision Support.- 7. Decision Support in Enterprise Analysis.- 8. Planning and Control Systems for R&D Organizations.- 9. Decision Support Systems Information Needs Analysis through a Management Process Framework.- 10. The Organizational Dimensions of Management Information Systems Implementation: Case Studies in Singapore and Indonesia.- III Database Systems.- 11. Database Design for Decision Support Systems.- 12. Toward an Enterprise Information System Design Methodology.- 13. Language Design for Relational Model Management.- 14. Functional Augmentation of Relational Operations in Ares.- 15. Similarity Retrieval for Pictorial Databases.- IV Office Information Systems.- 16. Office Information System Design.- 17. Database Triggers and Alerters in an Automated Library Circulation System.- 18. Design and Implementation of a Library Automation System.- 19. An Experimental System for Office Procedure Automation.- 20. Petri Nets and their Application: An Introduction.- 21. Macros: An Office Application Generator.- V Systems and Applications.- 22. An Information System Approach to the Analysis of Job Design.- 23. Command Decomposition as a Decision-Making Problem.- 24. Matrix Operations Using Linpack: An Overview.- 25. The Corporate Provisioning Plan: A Systems Approach.- 26. A Grants Management System for CostAccounting: The Case of New York City.- 27. Reliability and Maintainability Management.