An Integration Agent and Decision Support System: A Case Study of Training Needs Analysis Nurul Ibtisam binti Yaacob
Ahmad Sofian b. Shminan
Faculty of Information Science & Technology Kolej Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Selangor , Bandar Seri Putra, Selangor Darul Ehsan. Tel : 03-89254251 ext. 1311
Faculty of Cognitive Sciences and Human Development, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak. Tel : 082-581 537
[email protected]
[email protected]
Prime Minister’s mission in MP-9 will focus on three main strategies to generate first class human capital by enhancing the capabilities and knowledge mastery, through the strengthening of scientific capability, nurturing research and development as well as innovation capability, and also instilling a cultured society with strong values. To realize this vision, the government will increase all access to training on all levels.
ABSTRACT The success of an organisation depends largely on its employees. Every employee from the top management, executives to the ordinary staff contributes in their own way. The pivotal investment in human resource development is in its training. Training is a continous learning process for changing a person’s attitude, to improve knowledge and human skills in order to improve their work performance. Unfortunately, many organisations have invested a huge sum of money for implementing training programs but with little returns. One reason that leads to this is the difficulty in selecting the suitable candidate for a training program. In the end, the training is a loss to the organisation and provides no benefit to the participants. The need for higher technology to assist is clearly evident. Decision Support System is part of an information system that focuses on support and decision making management. For this research, the Intelligent Decision Support System Modelling for Training is the proposed research domain and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak is the research location. The research also applies agent technology in its development of the Decision Support System. The ability of the agent to react freely with the surroundings and taxonomy without user instructions will speed up decision making. To determine candidate selection criteria for training, this research will utilise available models by considering trainability factors. RAD methodology using Oracle 9i software is the foundation of implementation. The result from this research shows that this system can be introduced to improve the procedures available and to set the path for a more seamless, to have a better candidate selection and effective training program management.
The achievements and skills obtained by constant training is hoped to increase and produce a high quality batch of citizens especially in encouraging the country’s economic growth. The accent on continuous training is not only based on the economical growth but also on the efforts to generate a skilful workforce that is able to bear honourable values in performing their entrusted duties. 1.1 Problem Statement The government’s pay serious attention on the development of human capital to increase the workers worth in varying their skills. They can increase their productivity worth by undergoing training to provide them with all sorts of skills in various fields. Many organizations have invested a large sum of money to carry out various training programmes but at last it did not yield sufficiently [7]. Among the causes of problems identified are such as difficulties in selecting suitable trainees, types of appropriate courses or trainings, locations and venues and also the problem of selecting suitable trainers in a given discipline. This had hampered the achievement of set objectives which in turn prevented the overall goal from being reached. The importance in understanding the trainees and trainers has triggered developments in the research of training participants’ criterion assessment [13],[14],[17].
Keywords : Decision Support System, Intelligent Training Support System, Training Needs Analysis
Generally, training cost is indeed expensive, have mentioned in their research that training needs an abundance of financial allocation and that its operations are very challenging [3]. In the process of trainee selection, there is a need for balance between the organization’s turnover and the needs of individuals. And so, it is pertinent to determine or select the most appropriate trainee for a given training as not to waste any of the organization’s resources especially time and money. It is from this scenario which depicted that there is a need for a certain computerized training management execution mechanism that is more systematic and practical. With the current capability of information technology and networking in every governmental organization, there is no room for excuses to refuse the waves of change which will be the driving force in the administration
1. INTRODUCTION The government’s primary policy emphasizes training development to be given to employees in an effort to enhance the quality of work which consequently takes the workers to world-class standards and to a level of excellence which we can be proud of. Our country stresses on the provision for training specifically for the staffs to build and produce high quality product of service that is world renowned. Thus, in the Ninth Malaysia Plan (MP-9), the first phase of education and training is provided with the biggest allocation of 20.6 percent, in correspondence with the government’s determination to increase the quality of human capital in Malaysia. To achieve this, the
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upheaval. To elaborate further into this problem it is proposed that the DSS, a system capable of generating data to determine decisions, be used. It is the author’s opinion that there is a need for further research especially in this country on how DSS along with an integration agent can be used effectively in the field of Human Resource Development. Among some of the research that must be hastened is the use of DSS in aiding decision making to approve training applications and staff development. DSS is also a mean to fulfil the government’s wish to electronize the entire governmental service towards improving the quality of public services. Hence, surely a superb working environment as well as quality, comprehensive workforce will be generated.
this high-tech era of globalization. For that reason, the significance of ISTS in this research is truly meaningful in helping to further enhance training systems to a more efficient level.
2. RESEARCH DOMAIN Previous studies which has been used as references in this research is divided into two main disciplines, DSS and Agent, and Training as a case study in the field of HRM. This literature review will present brief descriptions of all three disciplines. However, the main point of attention in this writing is not to explain every type of two main disciplines. A detailed description on this concept can be obtained by referring to the references provided.
1.2 Scope of Research i. The Training Needs Analysis which incorporates abroad scope, thus execution of ISTS will only involve Individual Analysis . ii.
UNIMAS was chosen as the implementation case of this research.
iii.
The development of ISTS will involve the development of agents for the purpose of information collection and results generation.
iv.
For the development of system prototype, information preparation is focussed on the trainee selection process which involves employees from the administration and professional categories only.
2.1 DSS and Agent In a study stated that a series of research on DSS was already initiated since twenty years ago and it had a strong foundation for further study and development which was pioneered by [1],[2]. DSS provides a support for semi-structured and nonstructured decisions, which in turn represents a field of diversity consisting of research in Information System Management, Artificial Intelligence, Organizational research and so forth. Among the early definition of DSS is a system that supports and aids people to make decision at the level of management in semi-structured circumstances. The purpose of DSS is to develop the ability and capability of individuals in decision making but not to replace their human considerations [3]. The development in the field of software and hardware technology has helped the growth of research and development of DSS especially in terms of the computer’s capability to reach a conclusion just as humans can. Furthermore, DSS technology has stepped into the realm of artificial intelligence which increases its potentials. A system with intelligent qualities is a system that includes methods and techniques which are able to perform intelligent feats. Research on developing DSS with intelligent features or Intelligent Decision Support System (IDSS) was conducted by many researchers [4],[5].The development of IDSS was done by combining intelligent elements such as expert system, knowledge-based system, ambiguous logic and intelligent agent in proposing response suggestions interactively to the users.
1.3 Significance of Research Mainly, the proposition of this system will help towards tidying up training management process by means of a computerized approach parallel with the government’s aspiration to improve quality of service. An agent-integrated DSS is an alternative to realize this goal. The proposed ISTS with the ability of a model base and data analysis will be able to aid in decision making in trainee selection. It is hope that this ISTS will be implemented especially in UNIMAS as a training management support system. Also by its implementation, it will be able to identify a complete set of information on individuals in determining training criteria set. DSS is also supported by a trainability analysis model adapted to the trainee selection process whereby it forms the framework of DSS using agent technology as a simplifying method for the purpose of information gathering and results generation.
The paradigm shift from DSS to IDSS in fact began when there was lacking research in the development of DSS that is able to facilitate higher level cognitive tasks. These tasks involve human brain activities such as logic reasoning, learning and generating ideas that requires human assessment input [6]. The researcher also added that researches on DSS capability issues in performing high-level cognitive tasks have much been addressed which involved the field of artificial intelligence. Furthermore, intelligent features were also described by [3], saying that the intelligence capability is measured when it includes previous understanding of experiences, quick responses to new situations and applied knowledge of surroundings.
The proposed ISTS is not only important to simplify training management but also to help relieve problems like the delay of trainee selection process. The ability of ISTS can be made a significant indicator for the upper management to plan future investments for the sake of human resource’s assets as so not to waste time and money. With it, the government’s investment on training will yield profitable returns as hoped.
Founded on previous studies. It was found that the need for an ISTS combined with artificial intelligence techniques in the world of human resource management has claimed it’s placed. The enhancement in this study is more focussed on three aspects
The development of ISTS can also be fully benefited from in a system of training management alongside with the development of information technology which has increasing importance in
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of human resource management, which are employee recruitment, performance evaluation and training. The review above has also proven that there is a domination of research in the development of knowledge-based DSS compared to other artificial intelligence techniques. This seemingly supports the opinion expressed by [9] whom argued that the human resource management activities are mostly semi-structured and nonstructured which enable the use of a knowledge-based system in aiding decision making. Nonetheless, other variants of artificial intelligence techniques were also explored and applied as supportive management methods in the practices of HRM. The research conducted with the application of agent techniques for staff recruitment proved that it has the potential to be developed, even to the extent that it was felt as the most successful research conducted compared to five other studies, [3]. Sadly, overall results indicated that there is a lack of study on agent approach application in the execution of ISTS, which will be an initiative for this researcher to apply in the field of training.
amended to adapt to the current environment of study [2]. These elements have become significant point of references in the development of the model base for the proposed DSS, whereby information within the service records and performance evaluations are the two main components in determining trainee selection.
2.2 Training In reference from human resource management framework perspective, human resource management involves a broader functionality which include planning, recruitment, selection, training, compensation, evaluation, employee’s health and safety, and employer-employee relationship [1]. These main functions do not only serve to increase employees’ productivity but also to attain a competitive advantage through the enhancement of work satisfaction, commitment and a higher sense of ownership towards the organization. More importantly is that the purpose of human resource management is to make certain that the people recruited by the organization are used effectively and resourcefully, and that they are able to contribute towards achieving the organization’s goals [4].
Figure 1.1 TA Criteria Base Proposition Framework The elaborations in this chapter have also exposed the policies and implementation of the training system in UNIMAS. The apparent approach is in the form of candidate selection process. Aimed to further improve and enhance this selection process by means of the latest technology, study proposal to identify the training system model of UNIMAS must not be ignored. This is so that a simpler and precise candidate selection system model can be presented. Looking at this situation, the need for an agent-integrated DSS as a solution is indeed a powerful demand. The DSS ability on the management level is not limited to just helping the management to generate management decisions but it can also be improved through the integration of agent technology, which is reactive, autonomous and mobile. This in turn will indirectly increase the quality of service.
According to the study conducted, it was found that training is crucial in generating efficient and effective workers. Training programmes focus on the effort to enhance the knowledge, skills and capabilities of workers in an organization. In Malaysia, and also many other countries, it has become the country’s main agenda to place emphasis on ensuring the workforce is given enough training and development. There are various factors such as the economy, support from the authorities, technological advancement and employee’s commitment, which affect the functions of training in any organization. The cycle of the training process consists of four steps, which are the training requirements analysis (TRA), training programme design, programme implementation and evaluation. The training requirements analysis needs to be conducted as a whole, including the organizational, task and employee requirements. The results of such analysis will help the management to design a training programme that is effective and valuable.
3. PROPOSED SOLUTION Design can be defined as a process which uses multiple techniques and principles to define devices, processes or system that represents the real [16]. The system’s design was built with the purpose to simplify interpretation process of system requirements as a representation which can simplify code programming activities. Meanwhile, [11] expressed that the purpose of design is to produce a model or entity presentation of the thing to be developed. This prototype system is developed based on a client server computer approach.
Besides that, in the study on training needs analysis (TNA), it was found that individual analysis is the most relevant aspect to become the foundation of model base for the development of proposed DSS. Furthermore, it was found that the performance evaluations and service records are closely tied to be beneficial in the execution of such analysis. The formation of this model was based on a Trainability Analysis (TA) model, which was
The proposal basics of ISTS design was based on the concepts introduced by a few other preceding researchers of this field
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will be created to extract selected data within the separated database entities.
[12],[15],[16] and [18]. The concepts introduced by these researchers have been elaborated in the reasearch domain review. And so, the proposed design of ISTS consists of three main components, which are the database, model base and user interface. Seeing that ISTS is leaning more towards helping decision making to determine trainee candidates, the model base components will also have the criteria and conditions required that allows the trainee selection process to take place.
3.1.1 Data Extraction Agent Extraction is a program that functions to move data from various sources [16]. The moved data are the data needed by the DSS only and it will be rearranged into a form which the DSS engine can read. The form, state and format of the data sources will me the measurement in determining the process of extraction. Data extraction process can be done by using many different techniques, whether by modification of programmes, specific programme development or by using artificial intelligence techniques.
Apart from these components, there is one more vital component which is the decision generation engine. This particular component is the backbone and heart of all three components mentioned above, and it functions to control the overall processes and gives out commands to the data and criteria base, and also forms the interfaces as so the DSS can operate smoothly and achieve its goals. This component will use other components; candidate database, criteria base and model base to generate decisions, and then sending this decision to the interface component. So, a diagram of the proposed design of ISTS is shown in Figure 3.1.
For the purpose of data extraction, the approach implemented was an agent-based technique. A successful research on the usage of agent as a method in data collection process in a distributed DBMS environment was conducted by [4].One ability of this agent is the ability to learn from its current surroundings. Therefore, the development of agent will require an integration and interaction between the developed model bases within the ISTS. The use of agent as a technique to perform extraction processes and data transformations in a DBMS environment is very significantly reliable and useful [4]. The basic framework presented has combined the design method for agent development and this study will use the approach [4],[15].
The design of this ISTS will involve the integration of agent technology into its execution whereby the agents are developed for the purpose of data extraction and decision generation. The foundation of the DSS and agent design framework is based on the study conducted by [15].
3.1.2 Decision Generation Agent The DSS engine is similar to a human heart, it plays a crucial role in pushing and allowing a DSS to function and achieve the set goals. The transactional medium between the users and the system will be interpreted by the capability of the developed DSS engine. The development of this ISTS decision generation engine will involve developing two categories of decision generation agents, which are the task execution agent and performance score agent. Task execution agent is developed to perform the candidate matching process with the criteria base. While the performance score agent functions to alter the performance score to the format of criteria base range of score. Figure 4.9 shows the architecture of decision generation agent of ISTS. The process of designing the DSS decision generation agent included thorough coding and will only be done once a detailed design is finished. Because a good system is simple and user friendly, the programming of agent must take in consideration the output and interface that are used by the users. The algorithm for the development of these two agents is shown in Table 4.4 and 4.5.
Figure 1.2 Design Proposition of ISTS 3.1 Agent Framework The involvement of a database in a DSS is crucial, and so the process of designing this module must be done thoroughly. Because the functionality of this system is to generate a list of trainee candidates, a specific database is designed to store the information of candidates which must then be parallel to the 3 main databases.
4. IMPLEMENTATION This section will pay attention to the implementation of the Intelligent Support Training System (ISTS) prototype based on the case study in UNIMAS. The development of this ISTS is still in its prototype stage and thus, only narrows down on a small scope of users. Even though, the application developed in this study is only in the prototype stage, the data used are real data. From the survey of research conducted, it was found that there were all sorts of software in the market today that is capable and had the features require in developing this intelligent DSS software.
Data obtained to develop this ISTS are real data which have been used and manipulated for the purpose of generating an output. To make it even more effective, the development of this DSS will include data extraction, where the data extraction agent
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However, the software used in the development of ISTS must be appropriate to the information technological environment of the case study . This is so because there is an importance weighted on the direction of development, such as licensing and existing expertise. The developing software, Oracle Developer 6 and database software, Oracle 9i Microsoft Windows NT version was chosen to develop the prototype.
For the performance evaluation parameter input, the score range is in accordance to the Performance Appraisal system score model based on SSM (Sistem Saraan Malaysia). Meanwhile, the service record parameter input is based on the user requirements. To make the process of data input easier for the users, a code to detect input error is created for every data input boxes. For instance, this input error detection code will pop up during the testing process of components.
4.1 Agent Implementation Results 4.1.1 Data Extraction When record entry or update occurs in the application system’s service records, the detection agent in the service record database will automatically go to work, choosing the relevant data and interacting with the sender agent to move the data to the database. Change in data in the record service database will activate the agents to move it automatically into the ISTS database. The display prior the data shift and after the data extraction agent is implemented is shown in Figure 1.3.
After going through a few screens, the users will then reach the screen shown in Figure 1.4, this is the interface which will direct the development of ISTS prototype. Because the decision generation is performed by the decision generation agent, the users will only need to select a course code or department code to attain a report of the results.
5. DISCUSSION The summary of results analysis conducted during the testing phase of ISTS prototype indicates that the users agreed on its development because of its simple implementation method which helps Training unit management activities to run smoothly as well as making easy trainee selection. This support from the users is conceived as an encouraging instrument towards the system’s implementation in reality. Based on the literature review, the DSS is concluded as a computerized interactive, flexible information system and adjustable developed specially to support the management in finding a solution for their semi-structured and non-structured problems by emphasizing on the support and effectiveness of decision making. Pertaining to this, it is clear that the DSS is indeed capable to act as a mechanism of decision making appropriate in the domain of this research.
Figure 1.3 Data Extraction Results
Nevertheless, the development of software and hardware technology of today has much helped towards the development and research of this DSS especially with the presence of artificial intelligence technology as a combining element. Research on DSS with the element of artificial intelligence have been conducted by many researchers [3],[7]. The combination of artificial intelligent element with the DSS in generating quality decisions, consequently generating the solution input to the process of decision making. Realizing this matter, the researcher tries to take initiatives to explore the capability of agent technology as an element of artificial intelligence to be integrated into a DSS. Because the DSS itself is capable to solve semi-structured and non-structured problems, just as in this research, it calls for a discussion like this to evaluate the extent of integrating agent with DSS effectiveness compared to the ordinary DSS. The following discussions will include two main issues from the aspects of agent capability as a simplifying tool for data extraction process, and the execution of DSS’s decision generation engine.
4.1.2 Decision Generation
Figure 1.4 Data Results Every DSS being developed is incomplete without the criteria base. This criteria base is created as the condition for trainee selection. The condition inputs are based on the criteria set in the model base which uses trainability analysis. There are ten parameter inputs required in this module, which involves the input of service records and performance evaluation.
Based on the main issues discussed, it was found that the integration of agents with DSS gives advantages such as reducing user intervention and time compared to the implementation of STS. It can be concluded here that the exploration of agent’s capability for the purpose of data extraction and decision generation engine implementation is an effective approach which can bring about positive implications towards the effectiveness and efficiency of DSS implementation
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in the practices of human resource management in general. To further support discussion of this research, four comparison features which include selected domain, decision analysis, artificial intelligence technique and form of decision will be the point of referenc. The nature of this discussion has already been elaborated in depths in literature review. Because the research on DSS and agent in the field of training is rare, the following series of discussion is needed to dig out ISTS potentials compared to previous researches [3], [7], [18]. The first argument is from the aspect of decision analysis which shows three other referred studies that did not apply the agent technique. Next, this discussion is continued to other previous studies which used models its implementation. It was found that the research conducted [18] has used a model, differing from other research. The use of this model is rather different in the domain of training because the model used was a flight reservation model. In the meantime, in comparing the techniques used, it was found that a knowledge-based system technique was more popular compared to other techniques. While, the form of decision generated by the implementation of researches on DSS, does in fact show a focus for support on the training management processes. Therefore, we can conclude that the implementation of ISTS using a suitable model for the problem domain, and agent-integrated DSS will simplify the process of decision generation. 6. CONCLUSION Certainly the field of information technology does indeed play a significant role in an organization’s success. However, changes in the practices of human resource are an issue and challenge in executing the use of software for the purpose of Human Resource Management (HRM). This is because the managers of human resource have begun to place an emphasis on strategies, decision making and information usage to encourage quality decision making. In correspondence to these demands, the development of ISTS is seen as a new dimension which is also a contribution to the world of HRM research. 7.
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