Management Information Systems (MIS)

Related Terms: Automation A management information system (MIS) is a computerized database of financial information organized and programmed in such a way that it produces regular reports on operations for e ery le el of management in a company! It is usually also possible to obtain special reports from the system easily! The main purpose of the MIS is to gi e managers feedbac" about their own performance# top management can monitor the company as a whole! Information displayed by the MIS typically shows $actual$ data o er against $planned$ results and results from a year before# thus it measures progress against goals! The MIS recei es data from company units and functions! Some of the data are collected automatically from computer%lin"ed chec"%out counters# others are "eyed in at periodic inter als! Routine reports are preprogrammed and run at inter als or on demand while others are obtained using built%in &uery languages# display functions built into the system are used by managers to chec" on status at des"%side computers connected to the MIS by networ"s! Many sophisticated systems also monitor and display the performance of the company's stoc"! .

mplementation of an Information Management System Implementation of an information management system can be a traumatic e(perience! At a minimum) changes in procedures will impact the ways in which plans are made) programs are de eloped) and performance is e aluated within the organization! *ew patterns of communications will emerge) and new%%presumably better%%information will be a ailable to assist in carrying out decision%ma"ing and administrati e responsibilities! +fforts to impro e the IMS may also unco er the need for organizational changes which may be e en more unsettling than the procedural changes necessary to implement the system! The introduction of a IMS may represent substantial change in the established way of doing business) which can be iewed with considerable alarm (and generate significant resistance) by those within the organization!

,ommitment of Top Management Anthony and -erzlinger ha e suggested that $the dri ing force behind a new system must come from top management) ! ! ! it is unli"ely that a ma.ority of operating managers will oluntarily embrace a new system in ad ance of its installation) let alone be enthusiastic ad ocates of it!$ /01 The support of top management means more than mere ac&uiescence to the system as a $necessary e il!$ Responsible managers in the organization must be willing to de ote sufficient time and effort to fully understand the general concepts and ob.ecti es of the management information system! They must e(plain to principal subordinates how these procedures will help them and the organization as a whole! If problems arise during the design and implementation of these procedures) top management must listen to opposing iewpoints and then ma"e decisions to resol e such problems and remo e any impediments! The organization's leadership may also ha e to $do battle$ with outside interest groups) which might otherwise see" to pre ent the adoption of such systems! It often is tempting to fall bac" on the old saw: $2e ha e no choice but to implement these procedures to meet e(ternally imposed re&uirements!$ In so doing) howe er) the basis has been laid for less%than% enthusiastic support (and perhaps organized resistance) from within the organization! Top management must set the e(ample in terms of the system design effort by the willingness to ta"e time away from other pressing problems to clearly articulate goals and ob.ecti es and to discuss management information needs and e(pectations! Top management's participation in these efforts will help to con ince personnel at the arious operating le els to de ote the necessary and appropriate time and effort to the tas"! +ducation Through 3articipation Ad ocates of IMS $should understand that the installation of a new system is a political process! It in ol es pressure) persuasion) and compromise in proper proportions as in the case with any important political action!$ /41 5perating managers will be more li"ely to support the system if they are con inced that) on balance) it will benefit them in carrying out their assigned responsibilities! The new system should pro ide operating managers with better information about the acti ities and performance of those staff members for whom they are responsible! 2ith this information) the operating managers should ha e a better basis for direct and controlling the efforts of subordinates! 5n the other hand) uncertainty about the manager's performance is also li"ely to be reduced) and

depending on personal interpretations of how such information will be recei ed by $higher ups)$ an operating manager may resist the system! The preparation of manuals of procedures and other e(planatory materials is a necessary part of the educational process! These materials are not the most important part of the process) howe er! Management at all le els within the organization must be con inced that the new system) in fact) is going to be used and that it will help them do a better .ob! The best way to $pass the word$ is to ha e managers teach managers%%that is) top management should discuss the new system with subordinates) who then carry the message to their subordinates) and so on! Since the teachers must themsel es become more fully indoctrinated) this process aids in the education of all those in ol ed! The president of a ma.or northeastern uni ersity) for e(ample) initiated a new information management system by installing computer terminals in the offices of all the ice presidents) substituting electronic mail messages for the more traditional written memoranda! The ice presidents &uic"ly adapted to this system (as a matter of sur i al) and began communicating with academic deans and other administrators through the same process! 5nce a system goes into operations) e en on a trial basis) the use of the management information that it generates is the best educational de ice a ailable! It may not be feasible to install an information management system across the whole organization all at one time! Initial efforts may be concentrated on those segments of the organization where the results of such impro ement will be most isible! 6emonstrated success in one area often can lead to more general acceptance of the system throughout the organization! It is difficult to be specific about an appropriate period re&uired to successfully design and implement an information management system! In a large) comple( organization) two to three years may elapse from the time the decision is made to initiate systems de elopment and the date that the system is fully implemented! The time a ailable is ne er &uite enough! There always will be worthwhile refinements that could be made! -owe er) if enough time were allowed for all the fine% tuning efforts) the system might ne er go into operation! A 7inal ,a eat It is important not to o ersell the potential of the new system! Aaron 2ilda s"y offers a number of $rules$ that are applicable to the implementation of any new information system! /81 The rule of s"epticism suggests that organizational officials should e(ercise a good deal of s"epticism when presented with the initial concept of an impro ed information system! The rule of delay cautions officials to gi e the system ade&uate time to de elop and to be prepared to face

periodic setbac"s in its implementation! As 2ilda s"y obser es: $if it wor"s at all) it won't wor" soon!$ The rule of anticipated anguish is essentially a restatement of Murphy's 9aw%%$most of the things that can go wrong) will!$ 2ilda s"y suggests that management must be prepared to in est personnel) time) and money to o ercome brea"downs in the system as they occur! And the rule of discounting suggests that anticipated benefits to be deri ed from the new information system should significantly outweigh the estimated costs of mounting the system! Much of the cost must be incurred before the benefits are achie ed! Therefore) the tendency is to inflate future benefits%%to o ersell the system%%to compensate for the increased commitment of present resources! + en with the best information management system) data must still be analyzed and interpreted by managers! And based on this information) .udgment must be e(ercised in decision ma"ing! Allowance must be made for the inade&uacies or una ailability of data! Although the system can pro ide certain decision parameters) it cannot ma"e decisions! Managers must continue to e(ercise .udgment regarding the e(ceptions that pro e the rules! Such ca eats must be emphasized during the educational processes! 5therwise) managers are aware of such limitations will regard the whole effort as the wor" of impractical theorists! Around the turn of the century) ,ler" Ma(well) an +nglish physicist) suggested a ery cle er way to o ercome the second law of thermo%dynamics! Ma(well en isioned a small) but ery intelligent creature%%a demon%%who could see molecules and could ser e as a $gate"eeper$ between two containers of gas at e&ual temperature and pressure! :y carefully opening and closing the gate) the demon could permit faster%mo ing molecules to pass into one container) while slower molecules remained in the other! 5 er time) one container would get hotter and the other cooler! The a ailable energy in the system) as measured by the temperature differential between the two containers) would be increased without adding any new energy to the system (other than Ma(well's smart demon)! Thus) the second law of thermodynamics would be circum ented! Ma(well's demon) of course) is an allegory for anything that contributes organization to a disorganized or chaotic situation! In this conte(t) the term $demon$ refers to a positi e genius) designed to address a host of problems within an organization! The ob.ecti e is to reduce management costs as a percentage of total organizational costs and to satisfy the $increasingly oracious appetite for decision%influencing management information! ! ! !$ /;1 5n the other hand) Ma(well's demon can become a resource%demanding de il%% an organizational blac" hole that can absorb considerable energy with little

apparent payoff! The careful design and implementation of a management information system can contribute significantly toward the demon%genius%%or at least can help a oid the demon%de il!

Role of Database Management in Managing the Data in Business Resource

housands of companies depend on the accurate recording) updating and trac"ing of their data on a minute%to%minute basis! +mployees use this data to complete accounting reports) calculate sales estimates and in oice customers! The wor"ers access this data through a computerized database! A pro en method to manage the relationships between the arious database elements is the use of a relational database management system!
Sponsored Link

Keen I !d "ech Database"een!io< The customizeable bac"end for your impressions) clic"s) = con ersions!

Data !ccess
Modern relational database management system programs use a programming language "nown as structured &uery language to access) update and delete data within its tables! These programs) including Microsoft's S>9 Ser er and the open%source MyS>9 systems) allow outside programs to access its data ia S>9 &ueries! 7or instance) a web site can display product data) including photos) prices and descriptions) when the web ser er software connects to the data contained in the relational database management system!

Data Relationships
5ne of the most important aspects of an relational database management system program is how it allows different data tables to relate to each other! 2hen a database contains a table with employee data on its sales staff and another with data on its product sales) the relational database management system can manage the relationship between the two tables! This relationship can help management determine which salesperson has the highest sales totals and which product that salesperson is selling the most! Related Reading# ,ommon 3roblems in Management Information Systems

Data $pdates
A fully%functional relational database management system allows users to enter new information) update current records and delete outdated data! As an e(ample) when a salesperson sells 0)??? units) that person will enter the transaction information into the relational database management system! The data can include the salesperson's name) the customer information) the product sold and the &uantity sold! The relational database management system enters a new record in the customer table) updates the salesperson's record and subtracts 0)??? units from the in entory record!

Data Searches
The relational database management system also ensures that a company can build and maintain its data o er the system's lifetime! The arious tables in the relational database management system allow users to search through the system using any a ailable criteria! ,ustomers can search a product table by name) brand) price) color or any other feature! The system stores data in a predictable) se&uential format) enabling users to loo" up pre ious records with relati e ease!

Role of Data !dministration in Managing the Data in Business Resource

Database Administration
Definition % &hat does Database Administration mean' Database administration refers to the whole set of activities performed by a database administrator to ensure that a database is always available as needed. Other closely related tasks and roles are database security, database monitoring and troubleshooting, and planning for future growth. Database administration is an important function in any organization that is dependent on one or more databases. "echopedia e(plains Database Administration The database administrator (DB ! is usually a dedicated role in the "T department for large organizations. #owever, many smaller companies that cannot afford a full$time DB usually outsource or contract the role to a specialized vendor, or merge the role with another in the "%T department so that both are performed by one person. The primary role of database administration is to ensure ma&imum up time for the database so that it is always available when needed. This will typically involve proactive periodic monitoring and troubleshooting. This in turn entails some technical skills on the part of the DB . "n addition to in$depth knowledge of the database in 'uestion, the DB will also need knowledge and perhaps training in the platform (database engine and operating system! on which the database runs. DB is typically also responsible for other secondary, but still critically important, tasks and roles. (ome of these include)

Database (ecurity) *nsuring that only authorized users have access to the database and fortifying it against any e&ternal, unauthorized access.

Database Tuning) Tweaking any of several parameters to optimize performance, such as server memory allocation, file fragmentation and disk usage. Backup and +ecovery) "t is a DB ,s role to ensure that the database has ade'uate backup and recovery procedures in place to recover from any accidental or deliberate loss of data. -roducing +eports from .ueries) DB s are fre'uently called upon to generate reports by writing 'ueries, which are then run against the database.

"t is clear from all the above that the database administration function re'uires technical training and years of e&perience. (ome companies that offer commercial database products, such as Oracle DB and /icrosoft,s (.0 (erver, also offer certifications for their specific products. These industry certifications, such as Oracle %ertified -rofessional (O%-! and /icrosoft %ertified Database dministrator (/%DB !, go a long way toward assuring organizations that a DB is indeed thoroughly trained on the product in 'uestion. Because most relational database products today use the (.0 language, knowledge of (.0 commands and synta& is also a valuable asset for today,s DB s.

Role of Data )lanning in managing the Data in Business Resource