1.

Introduction
A management information system (MIS) provides information that organizations need to manage themselves efficiently and effectively. Management information systems are typically computer systems used for managing five primary components: hardware, software, data (information for decision making), procedures (design, development and documentation), and people (individuals, groups, or organizations). Management information systems are distinct from other information systems, in that they are used to analyze and facilitate strategic and operational activities. (OBrien, 1999) BRAC, an international development organization based in Bangladesh, is the largest non-governmental development organization in the world, measured by the number of employees and the number of people it has helped. Established by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed in 1972 soon after the independence of Bangladesh, BRAC is present in all 64 districts of Bangladesh as well as in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Haiti and The Philippines as of 2012. (BRAC, 2013)BRAC has organized the isolated poor and learned to understand their needs by finding practical ways to increase their access to resources support their entrepreneurship and empower them to become agents of change. Women and girls have been the focus of BRACs anti poverty approach; BRAC recognizes both their vulnerabilities and thirst for change. (Wikipedia, 2013) It will be, therefore, appropriate to correlate theories management information system with BRAC to properly understand the practice in reality.

1.1 Origin of the Study

This report titled Application of Management Information Systems in BRAC has been prepared for Mr. Rezwanul Huque Khan, Course Instructor, Management Information Systems, as a partial requirement of the course.

1.2 Objective

1.2.1 Broad Objective The broad objective of the report is to link between theoretical knowledge and practice in reality of the Management Information Systems course.
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1.2.2 Specific Objective(s) To know and understand the level of MIS that the organization has applied To determine how the Human Resource Department of BRAC has applied enterprise wide system. To determine how the Finance Department of BRAC has applied enterprise wide system. To know the challenges they are facing while implementing and working with MIS

1.3 Scope
This study looks into the present Management Information Systems of BRAC. Then the scope of the work focuses on different enterprise wide systems working in both the Finance and Human Resource Department of BRAC. In doing so, the study includes different levels of MIS that are working at present. Furthermore, this study analyzes the challenges of implementing and working with MIS.

1.4 Limitation
Time is the greatest limitation of this research. Another limitation is the availability of information. This kind of information is sensitive to the company and so may not be obtainable with ease. BRAC is a mammoth organization working in many different sectors successfully. The study includes only two different departments of BRAC. We can get a better picture if we would include all the departments. Moreover a comprehensive knowledge would be depicted we would have been compare several similar organization.

1.5 Methodology
1.5.1 Research design We conducted a descriptive research to correlate Management Information Systems with current practices. the theories of

1.5.2 Data collection method We used both primary and secondary data to conduct the study.

1.6 Primary data

Primary data will be collected fromKey Informants Attend (KIA) who are knowledgeable or expert of Management Information Systems in Bangladesh.

1.7 Secondary data

Secondary data will be collected fromJournals Textbooks Articles Publications Websites

1.8 Instruments of data collection

Different types of data collection tools will be applied in this study considering types of the respondents and methods of the study. Major data collection tools that will be applied to conduct the study are as follows: Semi-Structured Interview Schedule (SSIS): A semi-structured interview schedules was used to collect data from operation level managers. Question Guideline for expert interview: A comprehensive question guideline was developed. This guideline facilitated the process of interviewing the experts and higher level managers.

2. Literature Review
The concept of MIS gives high regard to the individual and his ability to use information. An MIS gives information through data analysis. While analyzing the data, it relies on many academic disciplines. These include the theories, principles and concepts from the Management Science, Psychology and Human Behavior, making the MIS more effective and useful. These academic disciplines are used in designing the MIS, evolving the decision support tools for modeling and decision making. (Lucey, 2005) The foundation of MIS is the principles of management and if its practices. MIS uses the concept of management Information System can be evolved for a specific objective if it is evolved after systematic planning and design. It calls for an analysis of a business, management views and policies, organization culture and the culture and the management style. The information should be generated in this setting and must be useful in managing the business. This is possible only when it in conceptualized as system with an appropriate design. The MIS, therefore, relies heavily on the systems theory offers solutions to handle the complex situations of the input and output flows. It uses theories of communication which helps to evolve a system design capable of handling data inputs, process, and outputs with the least possible noise or distortion in transmitting the information form a source to a destination. It uses the principles of system Design, Viz., an ability of continuous adjustment or correction in the system in line with the environmental change in which the MIS operates. Such a design help to keep the MIS tuned with the business managements needs of the organization. The concept, therefore, is a blend of principle, theories and practices of the Management, Information and System giving rise to single product known as Management Information System (MIS). The Physical view of the MIS can be seen as assembly of several subsystems based on the databases in the organization. These subsystems range from data collection, transaction processing and validating, processing, analyzing and storing the information in databases. The subsystem could be at a functional level or a corporate level. The information is evolved through them for a functional or a department management and it provides the information for the management of business at the corporate level. The MIS is a product of a multi- disciplinary approach to the business management. It is a product which needs to be kept under a constant review and modification to meet the corporate needs of the information. It is prescribed product design for the organization. The MIS differs since the people in two organizations involved in the same business. The MIS is for the people in the organization. The MIS model may be the same but it differs greatly in the contents.
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The MIS, therefore, is a dynamic concept subject to change, time and again, with a change in the business management process. It continuously interacts with the internal and the external environment of the business and provides a corrective mechanism in the system so that the change needs of information are with effectively. The MIS, therefore, is a dynamic design, the primary objectively. The MIS, therefore, is a dynamic design the primary objective of which is to the information the information for decision making and it is developed considering the organizational fabric, giving due regard to the people in the organizational the management functions and the managerial and the managerial control. The MIS model of the organization changes over a time as the business passes through several phases of developmental growth cycle. It supports the management of the business in each phase by giving the information which is crucial in that phase. Everything has critical success factors in each phase of growth cycle and the MIS model gives more information on the critical success factors for decision making.

3. Background of The Organization

3.1 An Overview of BRAC

BRAC, based in Bangladesh, is the largest non-governmental development organization in the world, measured by the number of employees and the number of people it has helped. BRAC employs over 100,000 people, roughly 70 percent of who are women, reaching more than 126 million people. The majority of BRAC staffs (over 90000) is in Bangladesh, with its headquarter being in Dhaka, the national capital. Established by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed in 1972 soon after the independence of Bangladesh, BRAC is present in all 64 districts of Bangladesh as well as in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Haiti and The Philippines as of 2012.

The organization is 70-80% self-funded through a number of commercial enterprises that include a dairy and food project and a chain of retail handicraft stores called Aarong. BRAC maintains offices in 14 countries throughout the world, including BRAC USA and BRAC UK. BRAC have won numerous international awards for turning problems into successful solutions.

BRAC has organized the isolated poor and learned to understand their needs by finding practical ways to increase their access to resources support their entrepreneurship and empower them to become agents of change.

BRAC has many organizational divisions. As this study mainly focuses on the state of MIS implementation in two divisions of BRAC, the HR Division and the Finance & Accounts Division, an extensive overview of only these two divisions are provided in the later sections of this part of the report. Research and Evaluation Division, Internal Audit Division, Microfinance, Enterprise are some of the other organizational divisions in BRAC.

3.1.1 History
Known formerly as the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee and then as the Banglade sh Rural Advancement Committee (currently, BRAC does not represent an acronym), BRAC was initiated in 1972 by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed at Sulla in the district of Sylhet as a small-scale relief and rehabilitation project to help returning war refugees after the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. In nine months, 14 thousand homes were rebuilt as part of the relief effort and several hundred boats were built for the fishermen. Medical centers were opened and other essential services were ensured. At the end of 1972, when the first phase of relief work was over, BRAC turned towards long-term development needs and re-organized itself to focus on the empowerment of the poor and landless, particularly women and children.

By 1974, BRAC had started providing micro credit and had started analyzing the usefulness of credit inputs in the lives of the poor. Until the mid 1970s, BRAC concentrated on community development through village development programs that included agriculture, fisheries, cooperatives, rural crafts, adult literacy, health and family planning, vocational training for women and construction of community centers. A Research and Evaluation Division (RED) was set up by BRAC in 1975 to analyze and evaluate its activities and provide direction for the organization to evolve. In 1977, BRAC shifted from community development towards a more targeted approach by organizing village groups called Village Organizations (VO). This approach targeted the poorest of the poor the landless, small farmers, artisans, and vulnerable women. Those who own less than half an acre of land and survive by selling manual labor were regarded as BRACs target group. That same year BRAC set up a commercial printing press to help finance its activities. The handicraft retail chain called Aarong, was established the following year.

In 1979, BRAC entered the health field by establishing a nation-wide Oral Therapy Extension Program (OTEP), a campaign to combat diarrhea, the leading cause of the high child mortality rate in Bangladesh. Over a ten-year period 1,200 BRAC workers went door-to-door to teach 12 million mothers the preparation of home-made oral saline. Bangladesh today has one of the highest rates of usage of oral rehydration , and BRACs campaign cut down child and infant mortality from 285 per thousand to 75 per thousand. This initial success in scaling up propelled rapid expansion of other BRAC programs such as Non Formal Primary Education which BRAC started in 1985 a model that has been replicated in about a dozen countries.
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In 1986 BRAC started its Rural Development Programme that incorporated four major activities institution building including functional education and training, credit operation, income and employment generation and support service programs. In 1991 the Womens Health Developme nt program commenced. The following year BRAC established a Centre for Development Management (CDM) in Rajendrapur. Its Social Development, Human Rights and Legal Services program was launched in 1996 with the aim to empower women with legal rights and assist them in becoming involved with community and ward level organizations. In 1998, BRACs Dairy and Food project was commissioned. BRAC launched an Information Technology Institute the following year. In 2001, BRAC established a university called BRAC University with the aim to create future leaders and the BRAC Bank was started to cater primarily to small and medium enterprises.

In 2002 BRAC launched a program called Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction Targeting the Ultra Poor (CFPR-TUP) designed specifically for those that BRAC defines as the ultra poor - the extreme poor who cannot access conventional microfinance. The same year BRAC also went into Afghanistan with relief and rehabilitation programs. It was the first organization in Bangladesh to establish, in 2004, the office of an Ombudsperson.

3.1.2 Vision
A world free from all forms of exploitation and discrimination where everyone has the opportunity to realize their potential.

3.1.3 Mission
BRACs mission is to empower people and communities in situations of poverty, illiteracy, disease and social injustice. Its interventions aim to achieve large scale, positive changes through economic and social programs that enable men and women to realize their potential.

3.1.4 Values

Innovation - BRAC has been an innovator in the creation of opportunities for the poor to lift themselves out of poverty. It value creativity in programme design and strive to display global leadership in groundbreaking development initiatives. Integrity - BRAC values transparency and accountability in all our professional work, with clear policies and procedures, while displaying the utmost level of honesty in our financial dealings. We hold these to be the most essential elements of our work ethic. Inclusiveness - BRAC committed to engaging, supporting and recognising the value of all members of society, regardless of race, religion, gender, nationality, ethnicity, age, physical or mental ability, socioeconomic status and geography. Effectiveness - BRAC's values efficiency and excellence in all its work, constantly challenging itself to perform better, to meet and exceed programme targets, and to improve and deepen the impact of its interventions.

3.1.5 Objectives

BRAC believes that poverty is a system and its underlying causes are manifold and interlinked. Some of these linkages are obvious, for example, a days wage forgone because of illness or resources lost to a natural disaster. Others play a more indirect role in perpetuating poverty, such as lack of awareness about laws and rights can lead not only to outright exploitation, but also encourage a lack of accountability on the part of the state to cater to its most vulnerable citizens.

In order for the poor to come out of poverty, one must have the tools to fight it across all fronts. BRAC have, therefore, developed support services in the areas of human rights and social empowerment, education and health, economic empowerment and enterprise development, livelihood training, environmental sustainability and disaster preparedness.

Gender equality, respect for the environment and inclusivity are themes crosscutting all of BRAC activities. To ensure that BRAC employees are always learning and that their work is always relevant, BRAC have put in place training, research and monitoring systems across all their activities and financial checks and balances in the form of audits. As a knowledge centre, BRAC have opened their doors to the wider public in an effort to develop national capacity in Bangladesh through BRAC University.

3.1.6 Operations
The majority of BRACs work is in Bangladesh. Their low cost, innovative solutions to the daily problems facing poor families have been scaled up to reach every village in Bangladesh.

BRAC operate social enterprises that are strategically connected to its development programs, and form crucial value chain linkages which increase the productivity of its members assets and labor, and reduce risks of their enterprises. These enterprises, ranging from agriculture to handicrafts, also help to make people increasingly self-reliant.

BRAC provides more than just microfinance. BRAC use the microfinance groups as a social platform to deliver scaled-up services in health, education, business development and livelihood support. These are all critical components needed to ensure that poor people can break the cycle of poverty.

3.1.7 Scaling up in Asia and Africa

BRAC has substantial operations in a growing number of Asian and African countries. BRAC works in countries where it can achieve a major impact on reducing poverty and improving livelihoods. Since 2002, BRAC have been using its experience to energies and accelerate poverty alleviation efforts in other countries. BRAC deliver microfinance, health, education, agriculture and livestock services based on our integrated approach in Bangladesh. BRAC programs can be scaled up quickly to a national level and are low cost, effective and adaptable.
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3.2 BRAC Human Resource Division

From the early stages of its evolution, the Human Resource Division (HRD) has been working with a goal to maximize job satisfaction, enhance transparency and ensure procedural justice for all employees. As one of the worlds largest Development Organizations, BRAC has a wide variety of multifaceted development programs. A large number of qualified, potential and committed staff is required to attain the organizations goal and to operate these programs effectively. HRD has to provide extensive effort to ensure that the staff are appraised properly and are also provided with due services and entitlements in time. HRD tries to ensure an environment where the staff are nurtured and considered as absolute resources. To this end, HRD is committed to guarantee the assignment of right people in the right place at the right time, to flourish human potentials and provide a decent work environment. The HRD at BRAC Head Office comprises of about 70 employees with a Director being the head of the division and is divided into several operational units.

3.2.1 Goals
HRD is a strategic partner of BRAC, working with to achieve the following goals: Ensure procedural justice. Intensify transparency along with equality. Facilitate such an organizational environment where individuals potentials & competencies are flourished and innovation. Organizational changes as well as quality are promoted.

HRD is working persistently to achieve total quality by ensuring a trustworthy, dynamic and esteemed working environment.

3.2.2 Objectives

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Excel BRACs culture and values to ena ble an environment of rightbased human organization. Facilitate finest level of staff development. Develop a competent workforce to institute gender justice and diversity - where staff is encouraged for best possible contribution, irrespective of class, religion, ethnicity, cast, ability, age and sex. Develop Performance Appraisal system to recognize good work as well as enhance quality and accountability. Keep the Management updated by preserving and disseminating updated staff's information. Regularize and increase easy access to HR related information and services of all staffs. Policy formulation/revision, implementation and monitoring.

3.2.3 Operational Units

3.2.3.1 Policy, Compliance and Development (PCD)

Policy and Capacity Development section works towards the development of Human Resources Policies & Procedures (HRPP) and its proper implementation. Staff development, create awareness about rights, entitlements and responsibilities of staff, publication, communication and presentation of HRD activities within and outside the organization are also part of responsibility.

3.2.3.1.1Objectives of PCD Organizational Development Staff Development

3.2.3.2 HR Field Operations Management (HRFOM)

Earlier, all HR related work used to be carried out from Head Office. At that time it was very hard to provide HR services to every staff in the right time because the staffs are scattered in different field offices. That is why BRAC decided to decentralize its HR Division. In April 2005, BRAC has brought some changes in the functions of HR management such as decentralization,
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setting up an HRFOM section and established 11 HR Field Offices. In order to render better quality services to the staffs, HRD gradually extended HR Field Offices; the total number of field office is now 41 (working under 09 zones & 04 clusters).

3.2.3.2.1Objectives of HRFOM

To provide faster HR services at field level To create awareness about HR policy to all field staff and encourage to comply with Policy

3.2.3.3 Performance Management Unit (PMU)

BRAC HRD has a Performance Management Unit which constantly works to provide a complete scenario of staff performance to the top management. It works to expedite the progression of the organization. PMU institutes a performance assessment system for staff appraisal, which motivates the staff and his/her supervisors for improving their competencies.

3.2.3.3.1 Objectives of PMU

The Performance Management Unit ensures continuous improvement of the system, building capacity of supervisors who appraise performance of staff, revising formats based on practical requirements of PMS, facilitating assessment processes, implementing decisions regarding awards, appreciation and giving transparent feedback on performance.

3.2.3.4 Recruitment & Selection Unit (RSU)

Recruitment & Selection recruits on the basis of staff demand given by different programs/divisions.
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3.2.3.4.1 Objectives of RSU

This section works with the aim of hiring and placing right person in the right place at the right time.

3.3 BRAC Finance and Accounts Division

BRAC Finance & Accounts Department performs a key role within the organization in improving operational efficiency, enhancing management decision-making capabilities, and promoting transparency and accountability. Under this department, financial data from all transactions carried out at different cost centers in the organization are collected and stored. Data useful for decision making is processed into information.

The Department is also responsible for preparing budgets for development programmes, managing costs, financing investments, as well as analyzing cash flow, profitability, effective management and transparency of financial data and reporting of BRAC's development projects, enterprises, investments, donor grants, properties, employee gratuity, salary, tax, loans etc.

From the very beginning, the Chief of Finance & Accounts Department report directly to the Executive Director. The internal auditors check 100 per cent of the vouchers within 72 hours of any financial transaction. The internal auditors seal the vouchers and supporting documents and the external auditors review them on test basis. The internal auditors submit their findings directly to the Board Finance & Audit Committee and give copy to the senior management.

The Finance and Accounts Department prepares BRAC's financial statements in accordance with international reporting standards. BRAC strives for excellence and transparency in financial reporting. BRAC has received numerous national and international awards recognizing its accomplishments for the preparation, disclosure and maintenance of a commendable financial reporting platform.

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The Budget Section within the Finance & Accounts Department prepares budget for all projects and also analyses the budget variance. For all procurements, the concerned department place requisition to the Budget Section for clearance. The Budget Section approves the requisition on the basis of approved budget. After budget clearance, the requisition is sent to the Procurement Department for taking necessary steps for procurement. The Finance & Accounts Department maintains separate Chart of Accounts for different projects. The expenditures of different projects are booked according to the Chart of Accounts. All the expenditures are consolidated on monthly basis and monthly report is provided to the respective Project Directors and Senior Management. Budget variance, if any, are also provide in this report. The programme achievement and financial statements are provided to the donors on quarterly basis. The Finance & Accounts Department prepares yearly financial statements for all the stakeholders.

All financial transactions of the field offices are handled by the Bran ch Accounts Officers. The Branch Accounts Officers are reportable to the Upazila Accounts Manager who is reportable to the Regional Accounts Manager. The Regional Accounts Managers themselves report to the Finance and Accounts Department at the Head Office. This line management is fully separated from the programme management who are implementing the projects. The entire activities of Finance and Accounts Department are supervised by the Group Chief Financial Officer.

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4. Implementation Systems in BRAC

of

Management

Information

From its foundation in 1979, BRAC has rapidly expanded to a huge organization branching in 14 countries around the world employing around 100000 people who serves over 126 million helpless people. So, in 1999 when BRAC established the BRAC Information Technology Institute, they soon started developing a computer based solution to better record and regulate their financial activities and ensure an efficient and responsive workforce. And ever since the establishment of BRAC University, the Computer Science department has always helped maintain a stable and efficient implementation of MIS for BRAC. This chapter contains a description of how MIS is implemented in different processes of BRAC.

4.1 The Recruitment Process

BRAC uses an extensive Management Information System in the Human Resources Management department. From the beginning of a persons employment in BRAC, all his/her information are constantly fed to a central database management server which has several modules each providing an assortment of information to each of the departments. The extensible use is done by the Human Resources Management department. Other departments mainly rely on the processed data obtained from the Human Resources Management department. When an applicant is selected, his application information is fed manually by an operator to a database on the local BRAC office on the very day of the recruitment. The data is then synchronized with the central server located in Dhaka through encrypted Compact Disks which can only be read by the software located on the central server. The compact disks are transported from local offices all around the globe by mail or couriers at regular intervals of generally a month. The central server sorts all the relevant data about the recruit and sends meaningful information to each of the modules located at different departments. These data includes every detail about the recruit starting from his background, crime records, salary structure and taxation data, assigned deployment and job description etc. Once this data about each of the employee is sorted meaningfully for each of the departments, it becomes easier for the managers to decide about their course of action.
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After the data is assorted, they are sent back to the regional Human Resources offices, again through encrypted CDs. This CD contains all the relevant data regarding the employee which includes his/her deployment position, a dedicated pin code for the employee. This pin code will be used as an identified throughout the span of his employment in BRAC. The regional HR department then manually prepares a financial data regarding the employee and sends it to the accounts department of the regional office. An appointment letter is then generated for the prospective employee, marking an end to the recruitment process. The process is shown below in the following flow chart.

Recruitment Information From Paper

Background Information from local contacts

Data Entry in Regional HR office (With Internet Connectivity)

Central Server Records Data Generates PIN code

Data Sent to Regional Office

Accounts office prepares financial data for employee and allocates salary

Appointment Letter generated and sent to prospective employee

Figure 1: Flow Chart showing the Recruitment Process The transferring of data through couriers and mail is slower than the currently existing technologies like internet and email. Any recruitment process within Dhaka is synchronized online in real-time. But as BRAC operates mostly in remote locations, it is difficult to obtain and make use of internet for such purposes. Still, it is planned to unify all the office under a secure network, which is believed to make the process faster and more efficient.
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4.2 Deployment and Salary of an Employee

After deployment, all the activities of an employee is recorded and synchronized to the main server. The human resources department sorts out all the information and prepares and evaluation which relates to the salary of the employee. It is forwarded online to the Finance and Accounting department (or through encrypted CDs to the regional offices, in case of employees deployed in remote regions). This data includes any adjustments to the salary like deductions due to loans, taxation, any disciplinary action, bonuses, etc. The accounting department receives the data and allocates the salary for the employee.

Employee Information Present in Central Server Adjustments: Loan, Allowance, Bonus, Welfare fund Attendance and Performance Evaluation

Adjusted Salary Information Prepared Regional Accounting Office

Allocation of Money Figure 2: Salary Payment Process In recent times, BRAC implemented the use of Global Positioning System technology to have a real-time position update of any employee working at rural areas. Each of the employees is handed with a GPS device which relays the position information of the employee to a satellite. The central server of BRAC is synchronized with the GPS satellites, and the employee information data hence also contain the time he/she spent at the place of his

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deployment. Although in a test phase, this project is quite successful ensuring the employees safety and a proper performance evaluation.

4.4 The Accounting Department

The accounting system is computerized in order to have accurate record keeping. Accountants in project offices as well as in Head Office maintain accounting entries into the system on a daily basis. The monthly accounts of all projects of all branch offices are sent to the Head Office through encrypted CDs or online. The data from these CDs are downloaded and consolidated in the BRAC Computer Centre (BCC) in Head Office. Based on this, the financial reports are prepared for all stakeholders. The standard reporting process is fairly automatic and all the financial data (in form of various financial statements) is updated by the central server to the output modules in regular intervals. But there is also an on-demand reporting module available, which can provide any customized assortment of data for the stakeholders.

4.5 E-attendance system and Security

The head office of BRAC located in Mohakhali has implemented an extensive security management system which is partially integrated to the Human Resources module of central server. Each employee is provided with an Identity Card which includes a specific radio frequency identification system. To enter the BRAC facilities one has to login through the RFID scanning terminals located outside of each gate of every department. The terminals relay the RFID real-time to the central server which decodes the RFID to match the pin code of the respective employee. The central server keeps record of the time of entrance and exit of each employee thus maintaining a precise attendance list for everyone. This whole system is developed by the BRAC ICT department and is named the E-attendance system. The E-Attendance system also acts as a security measure. Any visitor who enters the premise is photographed at the reception office. There, a camera automatically takes a picture of the visitor, while the receptionist inquires the visitor of necessary information. The information is then fed via an electronic form to the central server, which automatically generates a temporary pin number and an RFID against the photo and the information provided. The

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RFID is temporarily imprinted a visitors ID and then he/she can enter the BRAC premises. Around 50 closed circuit cameras gives video feed to the security server, which, by using advanced facial recognition algorithm and in conjunction with RFID terminals at each gates can map all the people present in the BRAC premises.

4.6 Employee training and E-learning

Strategic Planning section is maintaining the E -Learning system which is an Employee Development program based on Online Training & Evaluation. Employees can sit for online exams within the workplace and it is the duty of the MIS & Strategic Planning Manager to evaluate the electronic scripts and distribute the results after evaluation.

4.7 Web Reporting Tool and My BRAC

BRAC provides online services targeting both the management and the employees. Web reporting tool provides easy accessibility for the managers to the information of any employee of the organization at anytime from any place using the internet. The tool provides a proper assortment of inf ormation that a manager might need for performance evaluation and other purposes. My BRAC is a similar service targeting the employees. Here an employee can know about personal records that are stored in the servers which includes attendance, salary etc.

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5. Conclusion
After analysis, it is found that BRAC has no central MIS system that integrates and manages activities of all the departments. Instead of a central MIS system, it has several subsystems that act separately to manage, integrate and coordinates activities a particular department. Some departments have full blown MIS system and on the other hand some departments have only partial MIS system. Among different departments, HRD and Finance and Accounting Department use MIS system heavily. There are several factors that are preventing BRAC from getting a full blown central MIS system. These are follows: Many senior employees are not skilled to handle computer and MIS system and may prefer manual process Management is skeptical about the coordination and integration among different department through central Lack of IT expertise Cost of the system However, BRAC realized that to get competitive advantage they should have a central MIS system throughout the organization. In this regard, brac is planning to have a central MIS within year 2015. Currently they are facing above challenges to overcome.

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6. Recommendation
After careful consideration recommended: and observation, the following can be

Providing training and development programs for all employees Planning of having a central MIS infrastructure with reasonable time period Making the senior management fully understood that a central MIS perform very well and could integrate all activities very effectively Hiring of IT specialists Promoting a favorable environment for using MIS systems

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7. References
BRAC. (2013, April 30). BRAC about us . Retrieved http://www.brac.net/content/about-brac-bangladesh from BRAC:

Lucey, T. (2005). Management Information Systems. London: Thomson. OBrien, J. (1999). anagement Information Systems Managing Information Technology in the Internetworked Enterprise. Boston: McGraw-Hill. Wikipedia. (2013, April 30). BRAC (NGO). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRAC_(NGO)

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