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CONCEPT
The MIS is an idea which is associated with man, machine, marketing and methods for collecting information’s from the internal and external source and processing this information for the purpose of facilitating the process of decision-making of the business.
MIS is not new, only the computerization is new , before computers MIS techniques existed to supply managers with the information that would permit them to plan and control business operations. The computer has added on more dimensions such as speed, accuracy and increased volume of data that permit the consideration of more alternatives in decision-making process.
Management information system is an integrated set of component or entities that interact to achieve a particular function, objective or goal. Therefore it is a computer based system that provides information for decisions making on planning, organizing and controlling the operation of the sub-system of the firm and provides a synergistic organization in the process.
The component of an information system includes: a hardware which is used for input/output process and storage of data, software used to process data and also to instruct the hand- ware component, data bases which is the location in the system where all the organization data will be automated and procedures which is a set of documents that explain the structure of that management information system.
There are various driving factors of management information system for example:- Technological revolutions in all sectors make modern managers to need to have access to large amount of selective information for the complex tasks and decisions.
The lifespan of most product has continued getting shorter and shorter and therefore the challenge to the manager is to design product that will take a longer shelf life and in order to do this, the manager must be able to keep abreast of the factors that influences the organization product and services thus, management information system come in handy in supporting the process.
There are huge amount of information available to today’s manager and this had therefore meant that managers are increasingly relying on management information system to access the exploding information. Management information services helps manager to access relevant, accurate, up-to-date information which is the more sure way of making accurate decisions. It also helps in automation and incorporation of research and management science techniques into the overall management information system for example probability theory.
The management information services are capable of taking advantage of the computational ability of the company like processing, storage capacity among others.
Based on this relevancy, management information system should be installed and upgraded in various organizations since today’s managers need them to access information for managerial decision making and also management functions.
The scope and purpose of MIS is better understood if each part of them is defined individually, thus
- MANAGEMENT : Management has been define in process or activities that describe what managers do in the operation for their organization plan, organize, initiate and control operations. They plan by setting strategies and goals and selecting the best course of action to achieve the goals. They organize the necessary tasks for the operational plan, set these tasks up into homogenous groups and assign authority
The system concept of MIS is, therefore one of optimizing the output of the organization by connecting the operating subsystems through the medium of information exchange.
The Management information system (MIS) is a concept of the last two decade or two. It has been understood and described in a number of ways. It is also known as the Information System, the Information and Decision System, the computer based Decision System.
Information is the life blood of an organization, particularly in the case of system approach management. The MIS or Information system can be define as the knowledge communicated by others or obtained from investigation or study. It is a system providing needed information to each manager at the right time in the right form and relevant one which aids understanding and stimulates the action.
MIS is an organized method of providing past, present and projection information relating to internal operations and externals intelligence. It supports the planning, control and operational functions of an organization by furnishing uniform information in proper time frame to help the process of decision-making.
Management Information System is generally defined as an integrated user-machine system for providing information to support operations, management and decision-making functions in an organization. The system utilizes computer hardware and software, manual procedure, models for analysis. Information is viewed as a resource much like land, labor and capital. It must be
obtained processed, stored, manipulated and analyzed, distributed etc. An organization with a well-defined information system will generally have a competitive advantage over organization with poor MIS and no MIS.
The MIS has more than one definition, some of which are given below:
- The MIS is defined as a system which provides information support for decision-making in the organization.
- The MIS is defined as an integrated system of man and machine for providing the information to support the operations, the management and the decision-making function in the organization.
- The MIS is defined as a system based on the database of the organization evolved for the purpose of providing information to the people in the organization.
- The MIS is defined as a computer-based information system.
Though there are a number of definitions all of them converge on a single point, i.e. the MIS is a system that support the decision- making function of the organization. The difference lies in defining the elements of MIS. However, in today’s world, the MIS is a computerized business processing system generating information for the people in the organization to meet the
the crisis. The management process is executed through a variety of decisions taken at each step of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating and controlling. If the management is able to spell out the decision required to be taken, then the MIS is designed suitably.
The actual MIS process relates to:
- (^) Collection
- Organization
- Distribution
- Storage of wide information
- Managerial control and analysis of data
Hence MIS focuses on:
- Organization-wide information
- Decision-making process iii. Managerial control and analysis
- (^) Computer-based system
CONCLUSION: Management Information Systems is sets of inter-related procedures using information system infrastructure in a business enterprise to generate and disseminate the desired information. Such systems are designed to support decision-making by the people associated with the enterprise in the process of attainment of its objectives.
The MIS gets data and other resources of IT infrastructure as inputs from the environment and process them to satisfy the information needs of different entities associated with the business enterprise. There are subsystems of control over the use of IT resources and feedback system offers useful clues for increasing the benefits of information system to business. The MIS are subsystem of business system and by themselves serve the function of feedback and control in business system.
ROLE OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM
The role of the MIS in an organization can be compared to the role of heart in the body. The information is the blood and MIS is the heart. In the body the heart plays the role of supplying pure blood to all the elements of the body including the brain. The heart work faster and supplies more blood when needed. It regulates and controls the incoming impure blood, processed it and sends it to the destination in the quantity needed. It fulfills the needs of blood supply to human body in normal course and also in crisis.
The MIS plays exactly the same role in the organization. The system ensures that an appropriate data is collected from the various sources, processed and send further to all the needy destinations. The system is expected to fulfill the information needs of an individual, a group of individuals, the management functionaries: the managers and top management.
Here are some of the important roles of the MIS:
IMPACT OF THE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
SYSTEM
MIS plays a very important role in the organization; it creates an impact on the organization’s functions, performance and productivity.
The impact of MIS on the functions is in its management with a good MIS supports the management of marketing, finance, production and personnel becomes more efficient. The tracking and monitoring of the functional targets becomes easy. The functional managers are informed about the progress, achievements and shortfalls in the activity and the targets.
The manager is kept alert by providing certain information indicating and probable trends in the various aspects of business. This helps in forecasting and long-term perspective planning. The manager’s attention is bought to a situation which is expected in nature, inducing him to take an action or a decision in the matter.
Disciplined information reporting system creates structure database and a knowledge base for all the people in the organization. The information is available in such a form that it can be used straight away by blending and analysis, saving the manager’s valuable time.
The MIS creates another impact in the organization which relates to the understanding of the business itself. The MIS begins with the definition of data, entity and its attributes. It uses a dictionary of data, entity and attributes, respectively, designed for information generation in the organization. Since all the information systems use the dictionary, there is common understanding of terms and terminology in the organization bringing clarity in the communication and a similar understanding of an event in the organization.
The MIS calls for a systematization of the business operations for an effective system design. This leads to streaming of the operations which complicates the system design. It improves the administration of the business by bringing a discipline in its operations as everybody is required to follow and use systems and procedures. This process brings a high degree of professionalism in the business operations.
The goals and objectives of the MIS are the products of business goals and objectives. It helps indirectly to pull the entire organization in one direction towards the corporate goals and objectives by providing the relevant information to the organization.
A well designed system with a focus on the manager makes an impact on the managerial efficiency. The fund of information motivates an enlightened manager to use a variety of tools of the management. It helps him to resort to such exercises as experimentation and modeling.
MIS has assumed all the more important role in today’s environment because a manager has to take decisions under two main challenges:
First, because of the liberalization and globalization, in which organizations are required to compete not locally but globally, a manager has to take quick decisions, otherwise his business will be taken away by his competitors. This has further enhanced the necessity for such a system.
Second, in this information age wherein information is doubling up every two or three years, a manager has to process a large voluminous data; failing which he may end up taking a strong decision that may prove to be very costly to the company.
In such a situation managers must be equipped with some tools or a system, which can assist them in their challenging role of decision-making. It is because of the above cited reasons, that today MIS is considered to be of permanent importance, sometimes regarded as the name centre of an organization. Such system assist decision makers in organizations by providing information at various stages of decision making and thus greatly help the organizations to achieve their predetermined goals and objectives.
On the other hand, the MIS which is not adequately planned for analyzed, designed, implemented or is poorly maintained may provide developed inaccurate, irrelevant or obsolete information which may prove fatal for the organization.
In other words, organizations today just cannot survive and grow without properly planned, designed, implemented and maintained MIS. It has been well understood that MIS enables even small organizations to more than offset the economies of scale enjoyed by their bigger competitors and thus helps in providing a competitive edge over other organizations.
The following are the most important reasons to have a good management information system:
- To control the creation and growth of records
Despite decades of using various non-paper storage media, the amount of paper in our offices continues to escalate. An effective records information system addresses both creation control (limits the generation of records or copies not required to operate the business) and records retention (a system for destroying useless records or retiring inactive records), thus stabilizing the growth of records in all formats.
- To reduce operating costs
Recordkeeping requires administrative dollars for filing equipment, space in offices, and staffing to maintain an organized filing system (or to search for lost records when there is no organized system).
It costs considerably less per linear foot of records to store inactive records in a Data Records Center versus in the office. [Multiply that by 30% to 50% of the records in an office that doesn't have a records management program in place], and there is an opportunity to effect some cost savings in space and
In terms of recordkeeping requirements, China is a heavily regulated country. These laws can create major compliance problems for businesses and government agencies since they can be difficult to locate, interpret and apply. The only way an organization can be reasonably sure that it is in full compliance with laws and regulations is by operating a good management information system which takes responsibility for regulatory compliance, while working closely with the local authorities. Failure to comply with laws and regulations could result in severe fines, penalties or other legal consequences.
- To minimize litigation risks
Business organizations implement management information systems and programs in order to reduce the risks associated with litigation and potential penalties. This can be equally true in Government agencies. For example, a consistently applied records management program can reduce the liabilities associated with document disposal by providing for their systematic, routine disposal in the normal course of business.
- To safeguard vital information
Every organization, public or private, needs a comprehensive program for protecting its vital records and information from catastrophe or disaster, because every organization is vulnerable to loss. Operated as part of a good management information system, vital records programs preserve the integrity and confidentiality of the most important records and safeguard the vital information assets according to a "Plan" to protect the records. This is especially the case for financial information whereby ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems are being deployed in large companies.
- To support better management decision making
In today's business environment, the manager that has the relevant data first often wins, either by making the decision ahead of the competition, or by making a better, more informed decision. A good management information system can help ensure that managers and executives have the information they need when they need it.
By implementing an enterprise-wide file organization, including indexing and retrieval capability, managers can obtain and assemble pertinent information quickly for current decisions and future business planning purposes. Likewise, implementing a good ERP system to take account of all the business’ processes both financial and operational will give an organization more advantages than one who was operating a manual based system.
- To preserve the corporate memory
An organization's files, records and financial data contain its institutional memory, an irreplaceable asset that is often overlooked. Every business day, you create the records, which could become background data for future management decisions and planning.
- To foster professionalism in running the business
A business office with files, documents and financial data askew, stacked on top of file cabinets and in boxes everywhere, creates a poor working environment. The perceptions of customers and the public, and "image" and "morale" of the staff, though hard to quantify in cost-benefit terms, may be among the best reasons to establish a good management information system.
