Information Technology
Introduction to MIS
Lesson No. 1
Before one can explain management information systems, the terms systems, information,
and management must briefly be defined.
A system
It is a combination or arrangement of parts to form an integrated whole according to
some common principles or rules. A system is a plan or method of doing something.
A system is an assembly of elements arranged in a local order to achieve certain
objectives. The organization is also a system of people where people are selected on the
basis of number, quality and ability and are placed in hierarchical order plan and execute
the business activities to achieve certain goals and objectives. A system is a scientific
method of inquiry, that is, observation, the formulation of an idea, the testing of that idea,
and the application of the results. The scientific method of problem solving is systems
analysis in its broadest sense. Data are facts and figures. However, data have no value
until they are compiled into a system and can provide information for decision making.
Information
It is what is used in the act of informing or the state of being informed. Information
includes knowledge acquired by some means. It is a processed data which in turn is
collection of raw facts, observations and figures.
Management
It is usually defined as planning, organizing, directing, staffing and controlling the
business operation. This definition, which evolved from the work of Henri Fayol in the
early 1900s, defines what a manager does, but it is probably more appropriate to define
what management is rather than what management does.
Management is the process of allocating an organization's inputs, including human and
economic resources, by planning, organizing, directing, and controlling for the purpose of
producing goods or services desired by customers so that organizational objectives are
accomplished. If management has knowledge of the planning, organizing, directing, and
controlling of the business, its decisions can be made on the basis of facts and decisions
are more accurate and timely as a result.
Definition of MIS
Management information systems are those systems that allow managers to make
decisions for the successful operation of businesses. MIS refers broadly to a computerbased system that provides managers with the tools for organizing, evaluating and
efficiently running their departments. In order to provide past, present and prediction
information, an MIS can include software that helps in decision making, data resources
such as databases, the hardware resources of a system, decision support systems, people
management and project management applications and any computerized processes that
enable the department to run efficiently.
Rewards will go beyond survival to quickness, compliance, innovation, and in the end,
competitive advantage.
Common ideas of information system
Information System:
The next component of MIS is information system which is most loosely used in
management literature. The information system is a system of group of interrelated
components working together towards a common goal by accepting inputs and producing
outputs in an organized transformation process. In this system there are three basic
components or functions are involved. i.e.: Input, Processing and Output.
Input
It involves capturing and assembling elements that enter the system to be processed. In
general what ever the data after collection to enter into the computing system for further
processing is called input. For example: Raw Material, energy, data and human efforts
must be secured and organized for further processing.
Processing:
After successful of input and involves transformation processes that convert into output.
Example: Manufacturing process, human breathing process and mathematical
calculations etc.,
Output:
After successful processing and it involves transferring elements that have been produced
by transformation process to their ultimate destination. Example: Finished products,
human services and management information.
Role of MIS
A management information system is a system that has important tools to support,
analyze, deliver and add reliability to any organization. It ensures that appropriate data is
collected from various sources, processed and sent to needy destinations. Also this helps
to solve businesses problems. The term MIS is often used to submit to a group
of information management methods tied to the support of human decision making, e.g.
Decision Support Systems, Expert systems, and Executive information systems. MIS
stands for management information system. MIS is a mainframe or minicomputer- based
system that provides predefined periodic reports on an organization's performance in
formats tailored to the informational needs of different management levels: strategic,
tactical, and operational. At its basic level, MIS monitors day-to-day activities and
distributes information on those activities to middle management to support and enhance
tactical decision-making. For example, MIS not only gives middle managers the
information they need to make informed decisions on how to best organize resources to
achieve their division's goals, but also reports on whether those goals are being met. At
the most senior levels of management, MIS provides the information necessary to make
informed strategic decisions. Upper management uses MIS output to
evaluate performance, manage resources, comply with regulatory requirements, and
manage risk — including assessing the effectiveness of existing risk management
controls.
MIS provides several advantages to the organization:
Ability to link and enable employees
Electronic communication increases the overall amount of communication within a firm.
The most important aspect is that people from the various units of a corporation can
interat with eah other and
thus horizontal communication is promoted. All the obvious advantages of quicker
information availability is the outcome of this function of IT but it must also be
remembered that too much electronic communication leads to increased alienation of
employees due to increased impersonality.
Increases boundary spanning
An individual can access any information in any part of the organization with the aid of
the appropriate technology. This eliminates the need for the repetition of information and
thus promotes non-redundancy. If information provided is adequate, one can deal with
factors like business risk and uncertainties effectively.
Ability to store and retrieve information at any instance:
It means that the organization does not have to rely solely on the fallibility of human
error, which is subject to error and erosion. Information can be stored, retrieved and
communicated far more easily and effectively. The information support improves
the lack of knowledge, enriches experience and improves analytical ability leading to
better business judgment. It helps managers to act decisively.
Helps in forecasting and long term planning:
A disciplined IS creates a structured database and knowledge base for all people in the
organization. The information available in such a form that it can be used either straight
away or using blending and analysis thereby saving manager’s valuable time.
Disadvantage of MIS:
However, IT can often lead to information overload, meaning that managers have to
strain through an insurmountable amount of stored data and thus hindering timely
decision-making. This problem is not as serious as first thought, though.
Information
overload is not an IT problem but more of a documentation problem. Furthermore,
management tends to adapt to IT problems once it gets used to the idea of the new
technologies. Inaccurate reporting can lead to flawed decision-making and planning. MIS
typically extracts data from many different financial and transaction systems running on
various computer platforms, which can often lead to inaccurate and inconsistent reports
unless appropriate control procedures are in place. Even if the information is accurate, the
predefined reports generated by MIS may not always anticipate the information needs of
individual managers at all times; or the correct information is not available when needed,
or is simply hard to access. Because of these deficiencies in MIS, managers are
increasingly turning to interactive decision support systems to obtain the information they
need for planning and control.
S Sivaloganathan 24/11/13 ICASL