There are many tools that can be utilized in order to help
management in decision making. One important tool, that is easy to
produce and consume is a graph. Part of this is because visualized
data is processed faster than written or tabular data (Romney, et al.
2020). There are a multitude of graphs that serve different purposes.
The five main purposes for visualization are: comparison, correlation,
distribution, trend evaluation, and part to whole. Utilizing any of
these graphs for their intended purpose can get significant
information to the appropriate people in simple and easy to
comprehend ways. For instance, if a supermarket chain was
attempting to decide what items were selling the best, they could
select the items and create a bar chart for the sales of those items and
see how the sells are to decide if certain products should be removed
from the shelves. Or, payroll could provide a scatter plot showing the
different pay grades, based on years of service. This could help see if
there are any outliers in the company. However, poorly designed
graphs can cause managers to make biased or erroneous decisions
(Romney, et al. 2020). It is important for these graphs to present
information that is necessary and accurate in order for management
to make the most informed decisions.
Romney, M. B., Steinbart, P. J., Summers, S. L., & Wood, D. A. (2020).
Accounting Information Systems (15th ed.). Pearson Education (US).
https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9780135573082
