Knowledge-based model validation support for end-user computing environments

Abstract

Encouraging individuals to use corporate data and build computer-based decision models locally, while simultaneously ensuring that the modelling activity is consistent with corporate policies and guidelines poses a challenge to many organizations. Although it is desirable to encourage user autonomy in decision making, it is equally imperative to assure appropriate quality of the decisions made. In this paper interdependencies within the organizational decision making activity are used to identify some generic categories of support required to maintain consistency and quality in end-user model construction. Five distinct cases of model building activity in an end-user computing environment are described and support for ensuring consistency in user constructed models for two of these cases is discussed. An object-oriented knowledge-based system that provides such support has been developed; the architecture of this system is described. System implementation and interaction is illustrated with the aid of a financial budgeting application. © 1995.