Introduction

Management Information System

(JBS513)

Tapas Kumar Sen

Lecture 1
19 November, 2009

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 Definition of MIS
 An information system can be defined as a group of
interrelated components that collect, process, store and
distribute information to support decision making,
controlling and executing activities in an organisation.

 Management Information System (MIS) can be

categorised as type of information systems that support
management activities.

 Management Information Systems (MIS) is the term given

to the discipline focused on the integration of computer
systems with the aims and objectives on an organisation.

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 MIS - Objectives
 To enable the organisation to meet the strategic business
challenge: how can the organisation use information
technology and systems to be more competitive and
effective?
 To help the organisation to understand and leverage
globalisation challenges: how can the organisation
understand and leverage challenges arising out of
globalisation
 To provide and store secured, reliable and consistent
information in a cost-effective manner
 To eliminate manual and labour intensive data processing
thus reducing costs and vastly improving efficiency and
speed

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 MIS – Objectives (contd.)
 Generate reports that allow analysis and decision making

 Answer questions such as what, when, where and how at

managerial level

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 Scope

Organisation Information Systems Hardware

Business Strategy
Databases
Roles Software

Procedures

Network

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 Scope (contd.)

ESS Strategic Level Systems

MIS Management Level Systems

DSS

KWS Knowledge Level Systems

Office
Systems

Operational Level Systems

TPS

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 Examples of types of systems

ESS – Long range product planning, Long range personnel

planning etc.
MIS – Sales management, Inventory control, Annual budgeting
etc.
DSS – Sales region analysis, Production scheduling, cost
analysis etc.
KWS – Engineering workstation, Graphics workstation etc.
Office Systems – Office suite, Email, Imaging
TPS – Payroll, Accounts payables, Accounts Receivables,
Order tracking, Order processing, Materials movement control
etc.

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 Concept of MIS

Judgement/Intuition / Skill / Experience / External Environment

Processing Logic

Computers
Data Decision
intelligence Tools Choice
Human Beings
Data

Database
Decision Making
Information
Data

MIS
Decision Implementation

Performance

Monitoring/Feedback

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 The Changing Contemporary Business
Environment
Globalisation
 Management and control in a global market place
 Competition in world market
 Global work groups
 Global delivery systems

Transformation of Industrial Economic

 Knowledge and information-based economics
 New products and services
 Knowledge: a central productive and strategic asset
 Time based competition
 Shorter product life
 Turbulent environment

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 The Changing Contemporary Business
Environment (contd.)
Transformation of the Enterprise
 Flattening
 Decentralisation
 Flexibility
 Location independence
 Low transaction and collaboration costs
 Empowerment
 Collaborative work and team work

Emergence of the Digital Firm

 Digitally enabled relationship with customers, suppliers and employees
 Core business processes accomplished via digital networks
 Digital management of key corporate assets
 Rapid sensing and responding to environmental changes

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 The Changing Contemporary Business
Environment (contd.)

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND SYSTEMS ENABLE BUSINESS TO

ADAPT TO, COPE WITH AND COMPETE IN TODAY’S CHALLENGING
ENVIRONMENT.

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 Information and Business Value Chain

Supply Chain Enterprise Customer Knowledge

Management Management Management Management

Profitability &
Strategic
Position

Data Transform- Dissemination

Collection & ation for
Storage business
systems
Coordinating Controlling Modelling &
Planning
Decision making

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 Characteristics of MIS

No single theory or concept constitutes MIS. It is a

multidisciplinary field.

Disciplines contributing to MIS:

 Computer Science
 Management Science
 Cognitive Science
 Accounting
 Sociology
 Management and behavioural theories
 Systems Theory

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 Characteristics of MIS (contd.)

Technical Approach:

 Comprises of fields such as Computer Science, Management Science

and Operations Research

 Emphasises on prescriptive solutions to organisational and business

challenges

 Ignores cultural and behavioural issues.

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 Characteristics of MIS (contd.)

Behavioural Approach:

 Driven by sociology, economics, behavioural studies

 Focuses on impact of technology and systems on people and

organisation

The truth is that no single approach can completely explain the field of
MIS.

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 Characteristics of MIS (contd.)

Socio-technical Approach:

 A fusion of the Technical and the Behavioural approaches

 Recognises contributions of all relevant disciplines

 Seeks a balance between technically ‘optimal’ solution and

organisational culture/goals.

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 Major Management Challenges to building and using MIS

 Implementing systems that are competitive and efficient

 Understanding the systems requirements of a global business

environment

 Creating an information architecture and technology infrastructure to

support organisational goals

 Determining the business value of MIS

 Designing systems that people can control, understand and use in a

socially and ethically responsible manner

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 Technical Design of MIS - Components

 Application Software

 Robust
 Maintainable
 Re-usable
 Performant
 Portable

 Infrastructure

 Server capacity (CPU, RAM, Disk Space)

 Network bandwidth
 Backup/recovery

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 Technical Design of MIS - Components

 User Interface
 User Friendly
 Access control
 Navigation

 Database
 Tables and Fields
 Keys and relationships
 Locking, referential integrity
 Performance (access path, indexing)

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 Steps involved in setting up MIS

 Ensure MIS is in synch with organisational culture and goals

 Ensure stakeholder holder participation in planning, requirements

gathering, development, testing and deployment

 Ensure MIS can be supported and enhanced cost effectively

 Ensure compatibility with the information architecture of the

organisation

 Ensure quality, reliability, usability, availability and maintainability of

MIS

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 Steps involved in setting up MIS (contd.)

 Implement proper access control for data security, confidentiality and

integrity

 Provide up-to-date and complete technical and user documentation

 Train end users, technical staff and documenters

 Provide Help facility

 Organise handover from the development team to the maintenance

team

 Obtain feedback

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 Problems involved in installing and operating MIS

 Wrong underlying requirements will harm the organisation

in terms of high costs, reduced quality, loss of business,
problems with regulatory bodies

 Design and implementation of new business processes

should go hand in hand with implementation of MIS – ‘Do
not build on Yesterday’s processes’.

 Performance, scalability, availability, usability can be

critical issues

 Insufficient involvement of all the stakeholders may lead to

rejection of the system

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 Problems involved in installing and operating MIS
(contd.)
 Improper user training and documentation may also lead
to early termination of the system

 Inadequately tested systems will generate a lot of ‘bugs’

resulting in high maintenance costs and user
dissatisfaction

 Improperly architected systems will make future

enhancements very difficult

 Lack of portability to new versions of software and

hardware will kill the system

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 MIS Personnel

 Coders

 Designers

 Hardware Engineers

 Modellers

 Database Administrators

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 MIS Personnel (contd.)

 System Administrators

 Trainers and Documenters

 End users

 Business Managers/SMEs

 Chief Information Officer

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 Problems with MIS

 Poor quality data can only create erroneous information

with adverse impact on the organisation

 Automation may lead to job losses

 Unavailability hardware or malfunctioning software may

halt the entire MIS and damage business

 Heavy users of information systems may suffer from

repetitive stress and other health problems.

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 Benefits of MIS

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