Management Information Systems

Today the need for an updated information has become inevitable to arrive at an effective decision in all walks of life. Whether it is industry, Commerce, Defense, Banking, Education, economics or politics, Information needed everywhere. A significant part of an executives working and personal time is spent on recording, Searching, absorbing and communicating information. Information is live as it is required to be updated all the time and is renewable. It is substitutable and transportable and can be made to travel. The all round exponential growth of information makes it necessary that information is collected, Stored and retrieved in various fields so that it could be usefully exploited as and when needed.

For example: In setting up a new industry, information regarding the choice of technology (Methods), Skill (Manpower),money and material becomes an important requirement for its growth and smooth Functioning.

In a competitive market , before deciding about the price of an item, the producer needs the information about pricing policy of the Competitors, Specially of competitive products, Sales techniques, etc.
In defense, Considerable amount of money is spent in gathering information (Intelligence)from all possible sources.

 Information is considered as the sixth resource, the other five being Men , Machines,

Material ,
Money and methods.

Introduction
A combination of computers and people that is used to provide information to aid in making decisions and managing a firm.

Components: Hardware, software, procedures and collections of data.

people,

Goal: To enable managers to make better decisions by providing quality information.

Meaning and Definition

The Management Information System (MIS) is a concept of the last decade or two. Computer has added more dimensions such as accuracy, Speed etc. MIS can also defined as the combination of human and computer based resources that result in the collection ,storage, retrival, communication and use of data for effective management of operations and for business planning.

Meaning and Definition

MIS is something more than just a computer system. Before the evaluation of computers, MIS techniques existed to supply users with information that would permit them to arrive at an effective decision. The computer has added new dimensions such as speed , accuracy and processing of massive data, that permit the consideration of more alternative in a decision

Meaning and Definition

MIS
MANAGEMENT
INFORMATION SYSTEM

Management :

According the Kimball-management may be broadly defined as the art of applying the economic principles that underlie the control of men and materials in the enterprise under consideration."

Meaning and Definition

According to Koontz, "Management is the art of getting things done through and with people in formally organized groups." According to Theo haimann, "Management is the function of getting things done through people and directing the efforts of individuals towards a common objective." According to Sisks, "Management is the process of working of with and other to effectively achieve organizational objectives by efficiently using limited resources in changing environment

Management may be defined as the art of getting things done through and with the people informally organized groups. A manager gets the things done by performing different functions in a SYSTEMATIC way and these are: Planning Organizing Staffing Direction Co-ordination

Control

1.Planning:- It is a need for committing and allocating the organisations limited resources for achieving its objectives in the best possible manner and for anticipating future opportunities and problems.
2.Organising:- It refers to the formal grouping of people and activities of facilitate achievement of the firms objectives. It is needed for assigning responsibilities, jobs, and hierarchy among personnel.

3.controlling:- Controlling is the means of checking the progress of plans and correcting any deviations that may occur along the way. A control is meaningful only when there are defined responsibilities for activities and results. Control may be used to measure physical quantities monetary results etc. 4.Directing:- It is the process of activating the plans, structure and group efforts in the desired direction. It is needed for implementation of plans by providing desired leadership, motivation and proper communication.

 Information: One of the Most valuable resource required by the management in order to run the organization . Information is the data that is processed and presented in the form that assists in decision making.

Data

Processing

Information

Concept of data & Information is a relative one. Information for one may be data for Another. e.g. Withdrawal slip in a bank is a information for data entry operator but data for the bank manager.

System
A System may be defined as a set of elements which are joined together to achieve a common objective. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The set of elements for a system are: Input process Output Feedback/ Control Environment
Process

Input

Output

Feedback /Control

Characteristics of MIS
The Basic characteristics of an effective Management Information System are as follows

1. Management-oriented: The basic objective of MIS is to provide information support to the management in the organization for decision making. So an effective MIS should start its journey from appraisal of management needs, mission and goal of the business organization. It may be individual or collective goals of an organization. The MIS is such that it serves all the levels of management in an organization i.e. top, middle and lower level.

2.Management directed: When MIS is management-oriented, it should be directed by the management because it is the management who tells their needs and requirements more effectively than anybody else. Manager should guide the MIS professionals not only at the stage of planning but also on development, review and implementation stages so that effective system should be the end product of the whole exercise in making an effective MIS.

3. Integrated: It means a comprehensive or complete view of all the sub systems in the organization of a company. Development of information must be integrated so that all the operational and functional information sub systems should be worked together as a single entity. This integration is necessary because it leads to retrieval of more meaningful and useful information

4.Common data flows:

The integration of different sub systems will lead to a common data flow which will further help in avoiding delicacy and redundancy in data collection, storage and processing.
For example, the customer orders are the basis for many activities in an organization viz. billing, sales for cashing, etc.

(Contd.)

Data is collected by a system analyst from its original source only one time. Then he utilizes the data with minimum number of processing procedures and uses the information for production output documents and reports in small numbers and eliminates the undesirable data. This will lead to elimination of duplication that simplify the operations and produce an efficient information system.

5.Heavy planning-element: The preparation of MIS is not a one or two day exercise. It usually takes 3 to 5 years and sometimes a much longer period. So the system expert has to keep 2 things in mind one is that he has to keep future objectives as well as the firms information well in advance and also he has to keep in mind that his MIS will not be obsolete before it gets into action.

6.Sub System concept: When a problem is seen in 2 sub parts, then the better solution to the problem is possible. Although MIS is viewed as a single entity but for its effective use, it should be broken down in small parts or subsystems so that more attention and insight is paid to each sub system. Priorities will be set and phase of implementation will be made easy. While making or breaking down the whole MIS into subsystems, it should be kept in mind that the subsystems should be easily manageable

7.Common database: This is the basic feature of MIS to achieve the objective of using MIS in business organizations. It avoids duplication of files and storage which leads to reduction in costs. Common database means a Super file or Master file which consolidates and integrates data records formerly stored in many separate data files. The organization of the database allows it to be accessed by each subsystem and thus, eliminates the necessity of duplication in data storage, updating, deletion and protection.

8)Computerized : MIS can be used without a computer. But the use of computers increases the effectiveness and the efficiency of the system. The queries can be handled more quickly and efficiently with the computerized MIS. The other benefits are accuracy, storage capacity and timely information.

9)User friendly/Flexibility : An MIS should be flexible i.e. there should be room for further modification because the MIS takes much time in preparation and our environment is dynamic in nature.MIS should be such that it should be used independently by the end user so that they do not depend on the experts

10)Information as a resource: Information is the major ingredient of any MIS. So, an MIS should be treated as a resource and managed properly.

Nature and Scope of MIS:

The discipline of MIS is interdisciplinary. It involves different domains like

Accounting ( Reporting) Management ( Action) Computers ( Database Orientation)

 Organizations( End user) Mathematics & Operations Research ( Academic Discipline) Behavioral Sciences etc.

Accounting

Mathematics & Operations Research

Management Information Systems

Behavioral Sciences

Management

Top Management( Strategic Planning) Middle Management( Management control) Operating Management ( Operational control)

Strategic Planning
Top Management Policies Plans Budgets Objectives

Middle Management

Management control
Revenue Costs Profits Schedules Measurements

Operating Management

Operational control
Goods Services Performance

Importance of Information Systems

Necessary for Decision Making For Taking Rational, Timely & Accurate Decisions For Taking decisions in Complex Decision situations Globalization & Liberalization have added various dimensions that necessitate use of Information Systems IS is regarded as the fifth important resource besides- Money, Material, Men & Machine.

In short Todays business organizations cant survive and grow without properly planned, designed, implemented and maintained Information System.