Management Information
Systems
Last Update 2013.09.09
1.1.0
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013
www.chipps.com
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What is MIS
• What is a MIS
• The Texas A&M Mays Business School
defines it this way on their web site
– MIS - Management Information Systems is
the study of people, technology, organizations
and the relationships among them
– MIS professionals help firms realize maximum
benefit from investment in personnel,
equipment, and business processes
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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What is MIS
– Businesses use information systems at all
levels of operation to collect, process and
store data
– Management aggregates and disseminates
this data in the form of information needed to
carry out the daily operations of business
– Everyone who works in business, from
someone who pays the bills to the person
who makes employment decisions, uses
information systems
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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What is MIS
– A car dealership could use a computer
database to keep track of which products sell
best
– A retail store might use a computer-based
information system to sell products over the
Internet
– In fact, most businesses concentrate on the
alignment of MIS with business goals to
achieve competitive advantage over other
businesses
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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What is MIS
– MIS professionals create information systems
for data management
– In addition, they manage various information
systems to meet the needs of managers, staff,
and customers
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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What is MIS
– By working collaboratively with various
members of their work group, as well as with
their customers and clients, MIS professionals
are able to play a key role in areas such as
information security, integration, and
exchange
• You will see these same things in the
textbook we will use for this course as well
as the rest of the material
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Theme of the Textbook
• Toward this end the authors of the
textbook we are using state that their
approach to the study of MIS is as follows
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Theme of the Textbook
– Perhaps the single most important theme in
the book, reflected in case studies and
exercises, is that managers need to consider
the broader organization and management
dimensions of information systems to
understand current problems as well as to
derive substantial above-average returns from
their information technology investments
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Theme of the Textbook
– As you will see throughout the text, firms that
can address these related dimensions of the
IT investment are, on average, richly
rewarded
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Approach of the Textbook
• The textbook views MIS as consisting of
four main actors
– The technologist such as suppliers of
hardware and software
– Business firms making investments and
seeking to obtain value from the technology
– Managers and employees seeking to achieve
business value
– The legal, social, and cultural contexts
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Approach of the Textbook
• This constitutes a sociotechnical approach
to the study of MIS
• Where the social aspects are just as
important as the technology
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Aspects of MIS
• There are three aspects of MIS that must
be addressed when considering how to
integrate the information systems that are
used to implement a management
information system into a business or
government entity
– Organizations
– Management
– Technology
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Organizations
• Organizations have a structure that is
composed of different levels and
specialties
• Their structures reveal a clear-cut division
of labor
• Authority and responsibility in a business
firm are organized as a hierarchy, or a
pyramid structure
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Organizations
• The upper levels of the hierarchy consist
of managerial, professional, and technical
employees, whereas the lower levels
consist of operational personnel
• Senior management makes long-range
strategic decisions about products and
services as well as ensures the financial
performance of the firm
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Organizations
• Middle management carries out the
programs and plans of senior
management and operational
management is responsible for monitoring
the daily activities of the business
• Knowledge workers, such as engineers
and scientists, design products thereby
creating new knowledge for the firm
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Organizations
• Whereas data workers, such as
secretaries or clerks, assist with
scheduling and communications at all
levels of the firm
• Production or service workers actually
produce the product and deliver the
service
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Management
• Management’s job is to make sense out of
the situations faced by organizations,
make decisions, and formulate action
plans to solve organizational problems
• Managers are supposed to
– Perceive business challenges in the
environment
– Set the organizational strategy for responding
to those challenges
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Management
– Allocate the human and financial resources to
coordinate the work and achieve success
• Throughout, they must exercise
responsible leadership
• The business information systems
described in this book reflect the hopes,
dreams, and realities of real-world
managers
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Technology
• Information technology is just a tool for
managers to use
• Examples of information technology
include
– Computer hardware
– Computer software
– Network infrastructure
– The web
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Trends in MIS
• In the view of the authors there are three
areas driving change in MIS
• These are
– Mobile devices
– Software as a Service
– Cloud Computing
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Trends in MIS
• This table from Laudon and Laudon details
these trends
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Trends in MIS
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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The Digital Firm
• A digital firm can be defined along several
dimensions
• A digital firm is one in which nearly all of
the organization’s significant business
relationships with customers, suppliers,
and employees are digitally enabled and
mediated
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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The Digital Firm
• Core business processes are
accomplished through digital networks
spanning the entire organization or linking
multiple organizations
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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The Digital Firm
• Business processes refer to the set of
logically related tasks and behaviors that
organizations develop over time to
produce specific business results and the
unique manner in which these activities
are organized and coordinated
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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The Digital Firm
• Developing a new product, generating and
fulfilling an order, creating a marketing
plan, and hiring an employee are
examples of business processes, and the
ways organizations accomplish their
business processes can be a source of
competitive strength
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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The Digital Firm
• Key corporate assets such as intellectual
property, core competencies, and financial
and human assets are managed through
digital means
• In a digital firm, any piece of information
required to support key business decisions
is available at any time and anywhere in
the firm
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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The Digital Firm
• Time shifting refers to business being
conducted continuously, 24/7, rather than
in narrow work day time bands of 9 A.M. to
5 P.M
• Space shifting means that work takes
place in a global workshop, as well as
within national boundaries
• Work is accomplished physically wherever
in the world it is best accomplished
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Use of Information Systems
• Specifically, business firms invest heavily
in information systems to achieve six
strategic business objectives
– Operational excellence
– New product development
– Customer and supplier contact
– Improved decision making
– Competitive advantage
– Mere survival
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Operational Excellence
• Businesses continuously seek to improve
the efficiency of their operations in order to
achieve higher profitability
• Information systems are some of the most
important tools managers us to achieve
higher levels of efficiency and productivity
in business operations, especially when
coupled with changes in business
practices and management behavior
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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New Product Development
• An example of a new product development
that fundamentally changes the way
business is done is the move from
physical song delivery to electronic
transfers
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Contact
• Contact refers to understanding and
keeping in touch with customers
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Decision Making
• Decision making requires accurate and
current information on which to base these
decisions
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Competitive Advantage
• Doing things better than your competitors,
charging less for superior products, and
responding to customers and suppliers in
real time all add up to higher sales and
higher profits that your competitors cannot
match this providing a firm with a
competitive advantage
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Survival
• Business firms also invest in information
systems and technologies because they
are necessities of doing business
• For example, if Bank of America had not
introduced mobile check deposit I would
have changed banks
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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Sources
• Most of this is copied from
– Management Information Systems
– 12th Edition
– Ken Laudon and Jane Laudon
Copyright Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 2013 www.chipps.com
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