Executive Information systems To Facilitate Strategic

Decision Making

Executive Information Systems

Commonly abbreviated as the EIS is a decision support systems that supports and facilitates the
strategic decision making requirements of the senior executives. This is provided by offering
easy access to both relevant and important internal and external data needed to accomplish the
crucial goals of an organisation. It is also regarded as a more specific form of decision support
systems.
Nature of executive information systems:
Executive information systems performs a very simple work of informing the higher level
executives on subjects that are in fact most relevant and

important to their organisational resposibility and

accountability in a rather summarised and convenient form.It usually features and lays
significance on graphical presentations and easy to use user interfaces.Executive information
systems has a proven capacity to provide a senior executive with the correct and appropriate
information at the appropriate time and in the appropriate format thereby facilitating and
permitting him to arrive at the most appropriate decisions invaluable for the development of the
organisation as a whole.

Components of Executive information systems:

The four main components of an Executive information systems are the hardware, software, user
interface and the telecommunication. The hardware should be selected with care to meet the
requirements of the executive.Selection of an effective and most appropriate software is also
very crucial in designing a viable executive information systems.The software components
should be highly capable of integrating the data into one systems and displaying it in reports and

graphs.The Executive information systems should also be effective in retrieving the factual data
for the decision makers whenever needed. This makes the user interface play a crucial role and
hence considered as an important aspect.It should also be more user friendly and simple.
While,telecommunications play a decisive role in transmitting the data from one place to another
for promoting a networked information systems.
Characterstics of executive information systems:
It summarises and obtains elaborate data to create graphical representations and displays
wherein, the data serves as a reliable source for future decision making. It is also capable of
integrating internal and external data in the most relevent and concise manner. It provides
opportunities for trend analysis and survey,exception reporting and drill down analysis and
examination of various data.The very specific feature of this systems is that it is capable of
displaying the relevant data in the form of graphs and reports.
Reasons for introducing executive information systems:
This executive information systems was created exclusively for the higher level executives.These
executives usually have a busy and tight schedule.Hence it is not possible for them to update
with the various technological developments and fully comprehend and follow the systems
prevalent in the organisation.They also faced some difficulty and problem in understanding the
nature of the existing systems.These reasons paved the way for developing an exclusive systems
meant for the senior executives.

Requirements of an executive information systems:

It should Assess, evaluate and monitor the performance which is essential to assist internal
decision making.It should also be capable of measuring customer satisfaction and employee
performance.It should be able to examine in depth the sales, profit or loss and all the relevant
finanacial data.Moreover it should be adept in providing alternative decisions for the executives.
Advantages of executive information systems:
All systemss possess advantages depending upon the use and the users of the systems. This
systems provides an opportunity for the executives to use his expertise and skill in this
technologically developed world.It permits timely and prompt delivery of the description of the
company in a rather condensed and summarised form.The information that is provided is easily
understood and conveyed and hence provides better scope for efficient and productive decisions.
It affords a chance for filtering and clarifying of the data that is relevant for the management.It
facilitates easy accessibility and integration of internal and external data and proper tracking of
information too.
Types of executive information systems:
There are two distinct types of executive information systems

namely, the data driven systemss and the model driven systemss.The data driven systemss
coordiante effectively the data bases and the data warehouses.They compile and gather
information from various sources and present then to the end user in an integrated form.Whereas
model driven systemss use tree like processes to present the relevant data and facts.
Conclusion:
Executive information systems are types of management information systemss promoted and
deviced to provide assistance and support to the information and crucial decision making
requirments of senior executives in an organisational setup. The entire success of an executive
information systems depends to a large extent on the use and users of a comapany.