Dan OLeary
University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business, Faculty Member
- Computer Science, Human Computer Interaction, Information Systems, Operations Research, Decision Making, Expert Systems, and 8 moreRule-Based Systems, Greedy Inference Engines, Knowledge-Based Systems, Social Media, Cloud Computing, Social Network Analysis (SNA), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and Performance Managementedit
Research Interests:
Barbera [1988] surveyed 148 local New York CPA firms to determine, among other things the extent of their knowledge, use and interest in expert systems and artificial intelligence. After three mailings to the sample CPA firms only 28 out... more
Barbera [1988] surveyed 148 local New York CPA firms to determine, among other things the extent of their knowledge, use and interest in expert systems and artificial intelligence. After three mailings to the sample CPA firms only 28 out of 148 (19%) firms responded to the survey. This suggests at best limited interest in the expert systems and artificial intelligence.
Research Interests: Accounting and Audit
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Models of consensus are used in the validation process to develop a basis for system performance. This paper develops two analytic models of consensus that can be useful in the validation process. The first model employs the binomial... more
Models of consensus are used in the validation process to develop a basis for system performance. This paper develops two analytic models of consensus that can be useful in the validation process. The first model employs the binomial model to study the probability that the consensus judgment is correct or incorrect. This problem is critical for the validation of expert systems, since the model leads us to conclude that in some cases consensus judgment is not appropriate. That basic model is extended to account for both different levels of expertise and unequal prior odds. The second model is a Bayesian model of the use of consensus judgment and the validation process. There are two applications of the Bayesian model The first application ofthe Bayesian model finds that, in some cases, consensus judgment is not appropriate and to generate a hypothesis as to the conditions for the use of the consensus judgment. The second application compares an expert systems performance to the consensus judgment. It can be used to assist in deriving stopping criteria for the: validation process.
Research Interests:
One of the critical financial planning issues for governmental and not for profit organizations is how to maximize their grant revenues. An important part of that process is maximizing the reimbursement of their indirect costs from... more
One of the critical financial planning issues for governmental and not for profit organizations is how to maximize their grant revenues. An important part of that process is maximizing the reimbursement of their indirect costs from federal and state government sources
Research Interests:
Most of the models developed for the cash management problem have focused upon the optimization of a single objective. This approach is unnecessarily limiting. These models ignore multiple objectives of business and additional concerns... more
Most of the models developed for the cash management problem have focused upon the optimization of a single objective. This approach is unnecessarily limiting. These models ignore multiple objectives of business and additional concerns such as organizational values and environmental constraints. These additional concerns can greatly influence the actual decision process. This paper presents a goal programming formulation for a cash management problem in which multiple goals are considered during the solution process. Priorities are given to each goal so that a hierarchical goal structure is included in this optimization.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Validating an expert system can be done by comparing decisions that an expert would make to those of the system. Unfortunately, that approach can be very costly and may be infeasible because there may be only a limited amount of an... more
Validating an expert system can be done by comparing decisions that an expert would make to those of the system. Unfortunately, that approach can be very costly and may be infeasible because there may be only a limited amount of
an expert's time available to devote to validation. Accordingly, there is a need to develop other methods of validation that take advantage of the limited time of an expert. An alternative approach is to examine the knowledge base and characteristics
of it to determine those parts that do not behave in a manner similar to the rest of the knowledge base or as expected. The limited resources of the validation process could then be concentrated on, e.g., validating those weights that stand
apart from the other weights. In a rule-based expert system this means examining the rules and the weights on the rules for any exceptions. This article focuses on using statistical methodologies to determine those individual weights and those sets of weights that do not behave as would be expected. Outlier analysis, determining underlying probability distributions for the weights, statistical significance, bootstrap
resampling, and other computer-intensive statistical methods are used in the analysis. A case study is used to demonstrate the methods developed throughout this article.
an expert's time available to devote to validation. Accordingly, there is a need to develop other methods of validation that take advantage of the limited time of an expert. An alternative approach is to examine the knowledge base and characteristics
of it to determine those parts that do not behave in a manner similar to the rest of the knowledge base or as expected. The limited resources of the validation process could then be concentrated on, e.g., validating those weights that stand
apart from the other weights. In a rule-based expert system this means examining the rules and the weights on the rules for any exceptions. This article focuses on using statistical methodologies to determine those individual weights and those sets of weights that do not behave as would be expected. Outlier analysis, determining underlying probability distributions for the weights, statistical significance, bootstrap
resampling, and other computer-intensive statistical methods are used in the analysis. A case study is used to demonstrate the methods developed throughout this article.
Research Interests:
This paper uses Perrow's sociological framework as a basis for a comparative organisation analysis of the impact of expert systems on organisational issues. The study analyses the relative impact of expert systems on two different types... more
This paper uses Perrow's sociological framework as a basis for a comparative organisation analysis of the impact of expert systems on organisational issues. The study analyses the relative impact of expert systems on two different types of accounting work: auditing and tax. The results indicate an impact on factors that ultimately improve productivity.
The aggregate results indicate that expert systems are found to allow the user substantial control of search for solutions and discretion on whether to follow system recommendations,
increased access to top management, and a decrease in the need for supervision. The systems allow the user the ability to solve a broader range of problems, while allowing the
user the ability to perform more work. The comparison of auditing and tax expert systems indicates that audit systems seem to allow for greater control over search. Tax systems
seem to allow more work to be done without supervision, make more decisions immediately and allow the user to make a wider range of decisions.
The aggregate results indicate that expert systems are found to allow the user substantial control of search for solutions and discretion on whether to follow system recommendations,
increased access to top management, and a decrease in the need for supervision. The systems allow the user the ability to solve a broader range of problems, while allowing the
user the ability to perform more work. The comparison of auditing and tax expert systems indicates that audit systems seem to allow for greater control over search. Tax systems
seem to allow more work to be done without supervision, make more decisions immediately and allow the user to make a wider range of decisions.
Research Interests:
ERP system users have indicated a need for support for users responsible for generating financial entries. This paper presents a prototype case-based system designed to support use of an enterprise resource planning system’s financial... more
ERP system users have indicated a need for support for users responsible for generating
financial entries. This paper presents a prototype case-based system designed to support
use of an enterprise resource planning system’s financial entries. That system uses the
well-known REA database structure as the basis of capturing information about the cases.
This kind of a system could be linked to users through an ERP portal access.
financial entries. This paper presents a prototype case-based system designed to support
use of an enterprise resource planning system’s financial entries. That system uses the
well-known REA database structure as the basis of capturing information about the cases.
This kind of a system could be linked to users through an ERP portal access.
Research Interests:
Personalization of systems has been part of the renaissance of artificial intelligence in many domains. This paper investigates some emerging issues in the area of personalization as they impact systems from different perspectives.... more
Personalization of systems has been part of the renaissance of artificial intelligence in many domains. This paper investigates some emerging issues in the area of personalization as they impact systems from different perspectives. Particular attention is given to the relationship between explicitly and implicitly gathered information, information gathered from other personalization settings and with the generation of a personalization information ontology, based on an activity theory approach.
Abstract Rule-based expert systems often require their users assess the state of an event and then “report” to the system that state. the system then uses that report of the event as the basis of inference, that is, the hypothesis. the... more
Abstract Rule-based expert systems often require their users assess the state of an event and then “report” to the system that state. the system then uses that report of the event as the basis of inference, that is, the hypothesis. the problem is that the report is just that, a report. the report is not necessarily the same as the underlying event that occurred. the relationship between the report and the underlying event is referred to as the reliability of the report or the credibility of the report.
Abstract Cisco was among the first firms to implement a virtual close and continuous monitoring system. This case traces the development of that virtual close capability and monitoring system through technology changes, accounting process... more
Abstract Cisco was among the first firms to implement a virtual close and continuous monitoring system. This case traces the development of that virtual close capability and monitoring system through technology changes, accounting process changes, changes in accounting policies, implementation of standard accounting artifacts and reorganization of the accounting and finance functions, and examines some of the resulting pay-offs. The case also examines some of the limitations of the system.
Abstract: This paper surveys and extends the use of social media technologies as part of project development and management. In particular, this paper investigates how social media technologies, such as wikis, blogs, micro-blogs and... more
Abstract: This paper surveys and extends the use of social media technologies as part of project development and management. In particular, this paper investigates how social media technologies, such as wikis, blogs, micro-blogs and tagging, have been and can be used to facilitate project development and management, through communication and collaboration. However, we suggest going beyond simply communication and collaboration.
SUMMARY This paper investigates use of data warehouse and business intelligence capabilities to integrate with customers in the supply chain and improve insights into customer sales. By making internal data warehouse sales information... more
SUMMARY This paper investigates use of data warehouse and business intelligence capabilities to integrate with customers in the supply chain and improve insights into customer sales. By making internal data warehouse sales information available to customers, additional value to those customers is created, eliminating asymmetries of information in the supply chain.
ABSTRACT This paper investigates a single period model for the analysis of the impact of the quality of the validation effort. The single period model uses a Bayesian approach to find that validation is a critical point process. That... more
ABSTRACT This paper investigates a single period model for the analysis of the impact of the quality of the validation effort. The single period model uses a Bayesian approach to find that validation is a critical point process. That model is then extended to allow for the uncertainty of the validation process to determine the quality of the underlying model. Some monotonicity results are developed for the model and investigated in light of the process being a critical point process.
Abstract: We analyze the impact of changes in technology, processes, and organization on financial measures including days in inventory, days in accounts receivable, and days in accounts payable, through a case study that focuses on four... more
Abstract: We analyze the impact of changes in technology, processes, and organization on financial measures including days in inventory, days in accounts receivable, and days in accounts payable, through a case study that focuses on four firms in the personal computer (PC) industry (Compaq, Dell, Gateway, and Micron).
Abstract This paper examines knowledge acquisition and representation of 'if–then'rules and the linkage between the two. It provides an empirical analysis of the relationship between using different knowledge representations that are... more
Abstract This paper examines knowledge acquisition and representation of 'if–then'rules and the linkage between the two. It provides an empirical analysis of the relationship between using different knowledge representations that are logically equivalent. A priori, logically equivalent forms would be expected to result in gathering the same knowledge. However, this paper does not substantiate that conclusion.
ERP system users have indicated a need for support for users responsible for generatingfinancial entries. This paper presents a prototype case-based system designed to supportuse of an enterprise resource planning system's financial... more
ERP system users have indicated a need for support for users responsible for generatingfinancial entries. This paper presents a prototype case-based system designed to supportuse of an enterprise resource planning system's financial entries. That system uses thewell-known REA database structure as the basis of capturing information about the cases. This kind of a system could be linked to users through an ERP portal access. 1.
Abstract Depending on the nature of the specific blackboard system, the specific order in which knowledge sources are chosen can have a major impact on the quality of initial solutions developed. A priori ordering of the knowledge sources... more
Abstract Depending on the nature of the specific blackboard system, the specific order in which knowledge sources are chosen can have a major impact on the quality of initial solutions developed. A priori ordering of the knowledge sources is discussed, with the objective of achieving better initial solutions.
Developers of artificial intelligence-based systems have made frequent use of likelihood ratios. Those ratios have been used to represent the uncertainty associated with events and hypotheses on rules in expert systems and they have been... more
Developers of artificial intelligence-based systems have made frequent use of likelihood ratios. Those ratios have been used to represent the uncertainty associated with events and hypotheses on rules in expert systems and they have been used to establish rankings of resulting diagnoses in other systems.
CopyrlgM and reprint permissions Abstracting is permitted with credit Io the source Libraries are permitted to photocopy beyond the limits of US copyright law for the private use of patrons (1) those post-1977articles that carry acode at... more
CopyrlgM and reprint permissions Abstracting is permitted with credit Io the source Libraries are permitted to photocopy beyond the limits of US copyright law for the private use of patrons (1) those post-1977articles that carry acode at the bottom of the first page, provided Ihe per-copy lee indicated in the code is paid through the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers. MA 01923, and (2) pre-1978 articles without fee.
ABSTRACT: This paper investigates the current number of ISI citations, and change in the number of those citations over the last two years, for four leading accounting information systems (AIS) journals. The results are surprising. A... more
ABSTRACT: This paper investigates the current number of ISI citations, and change in the number of those citations over the last two years, for four leading accounting information systems (AIS) journals. The results are surprising. A priori, it generally would have been expected that the Journal of Information Systems would have had the most citations in total and over the last two years, since it is by far the oldest, and it is the flagship journal of the American Accounting Association's (AAA) Information Systems Section.
Abstract. Research in psychology has found that subjects regularly exhibit a conjunction fallacy in probability judgment. Additional research has led to the finding of other fallacies in probability judgment, including disjunction and... more
Abstract. Research in psychology has found that subjects regularly exhibit a conjunction fallacy in probability judgment. Additional research has led to the finding of other fallacies in probability judgment, including disjunction and conditional fallacies. Such analyses of judgments are critical because of the substantial amount of probability judgment done in business and organizational settings. However, previous research has been conducted in the environment of a single decision maker.
Abstract Taxonomies play an increasingly important role in knowledge management of business best practices, providing a basis by which to index, find and communicate knowledge. However, knowledge continues to evolve over time. As a... more
Abstract Taxonomies play an increasingly important role in knowledge management of business best practices, providing a basis by which to index, find and communicate knowledge. However, knowledge continues to evolve over time. As a result, taxonomies must also continue to evolve as organizations innovate and change.
Abstract The purpose of this paper is to present a case about SYSCO's “Best Business Practices.” The analysis focuses on both the system and the impact of the system, particularly, the measurable effects and the overall organizational... more
Abstract The purpose of this paper is to present a case about SYSCO's “Best Business Practices.” The analysis focuses on both the system and the impact of the system, particularly, the measurable effects and the overall organizational impact. Perhaps the most interesting issue is how a system for best business practices is used to manage a highly decentralized firm, and push the individual corporate entities to better performance, without requiring specific processes or best practices.
Abstract: In protest of the bill “Protect Intellectual Property Act,” before the United States Senate, a number of Internet companies participated in a 24 hour Internet blackout. This paper summarizes some of the events and approaches... more
Abstract: In protest of the bill “Protect Intellectual Property Act,” before the United States Senate, a number of Internet companies participated in a 24 hour Internet blackout. This paper summarizes some of the events and approaches used as part of that computer-based political action that ultimately led to postponing the bill. A range of social media, including Twitter and Facebook were used by both supporters and the opposition. This paper specifically investigates use of Twitter and Facebook by Senators.
ABSTRACT Management does not directly observe cost variance processes from the production system; instead, management depends on a report from the cost variance information system as to whether a process is in control or out of control.... more
ABSTRACT Management does not directly observe cost variance processes from the production system; instead, management depends on a report from the cost variance information system as to whether a process is in control or out of control. Unfortunately, cost variance information systems are not always perfectly reliable. Accordingly, this paper extends the cost variance analysis model to include reliability of the cost variance information system.
The purpose of this paper is to use mathematical programming, including linear programming, dynamic programming, integer programming and goal programming to verify rule-based knowledge. We investigate both domain independent verification,... more
The purpose of this paper is to use mathematical programming, including linear programming, dynamic programming, integer programming and goal programming to verify rule-based knowledge. We investigate both domain independent verification, exploiting the general structure of rules, and domain dependent verification, exploiting structure in the domain. Mathematical programming software is readily available and is very efficient.
Abstract Bankruptcy prediction information systems provide a noisy signal. Thus, these information systems are not perfectly reliable. This paper investigates a means for including the reliability of the signal into a basic bankruptcy... more
Abstract Bankruptcy prediction information systems provide a noisy signal. Thus, these information systems are not perfectly reliable. This paper investigates a means for including the reliability of the signal into a basic bankruptcy prediction model. Then the implications of integrating reliability into the model are explored. The results indicate that the model is highly sensitive to reliability.
Decision support systems (DSSs) need to evolve over time for many reasons, including changing user needs, technologies, and problem understanding. This chapter investigates what constitutes DSS evolution, taking the view that DSS... more
Decision support systems (DSSs) need to evolve over time for many reasons, including changing user needs, technologies, and problem understanding. This chapter investigates what constitutes DSS evolution, taking the view that DSS evolution means that changes occur in all aspects of those systems, including hardware, databases, user interface, applications, and knowledge.
Abstract Research in psychology has found that subjects regularly exhibit a conjunction fallacy in probability judgments. Additional research has led to the finding of other fallacies in probability judgment, including disjunction and... more
Abstract Research in psychology has found that subjects regularly exhibit a conjunction fallacy in probability judgments. Additional research has led to the finding of other fallacies in probability judgment, including disjunction and conditional fallacies. Such analyses of judgments are critical because of the substantial amount of probability judgment done in accounting, business and organizational settings. However, most previous research has been conducted in the environment of a single decision maker.
Abstract While “top-down” and “bottom-up” have traditionally been useful terms for characterizing the systems development process, that process is changing. Today, organizations are increasingly developing multiple-agent systems, which... more
Abstract While “top-down” and “bottom-up” have traditionally been useful terms for characterizing the systems development process, that process is changing. Today, organizations are increasingly developing multiple-agent systems, which require a development process that goes well beyond top-down and bottom-up. They now need choices between “inside-out” and “outside-in” modes of development.
Event studies are based on the theoretical framework of efficient capital markets and the notion that security prices include all information available to the market. As a result, announcements made by firms provide to market participants... more
Event studies are based on the theoretical framework of efficient capital markets and the notion that security prices include all information available to the market. As a result, announcements made by firms provide to market participants information that can be impounded into the market price. This paper investigates the use of event studies in information systems and accounting information systems research using a three-pronged approach.