2. Cont Intro to MIS

Lecture 1b – Cont’ – Introduction to MIS

Objectives of MIS

The goals of an MIS are to implement the organizational structure and dynamics of the enterprise for the purpose of managing the organization in a better way and capturing the potential of the information system for competitive advantage.

The following are the basic objectives of an MIS −

• Capturing Data − Capturing contextual data, or operational information that will contribute in decision making from various internal and external sources of organization.
• Processing Data − The captured data is processed into information needed for planning, organizing, coordinating, directing and controlling functionalities at strategic, tactical and operational level. Processing data means −
• making calculations with the data
• sorting data
• classifying data and
• summarizing data
• Information Storage − Information or processed data need to be stored for future use.
• Information access and Retrieval − The system should be able to retrieve this information from the storage as and when required by various users.
• Information Propagation/Sharing − Information or the finished product of the MIS should be circulated to its users periodically using the organizational network.

Characteristics of MIS

The following are the characteristics of an MIS −

• It should be based on a long-term planning of the organization.
• It should provide a holistic view of the dynamics and the structure of the organization.
• It should work as a complete and comprehensive system covering all interconnecting sub-systems within the organization.
• It should be planned in a top-down way approach, as the decision makers or the management should actively take part and provide clear direction at the development stage of the MIS.
• It should be based on need of strategic, operational and tactical information of managers of an organization.
• It should also take care of exceptional situations, interruptions, deviations by reporting such situations.
• It should be able to make forecasts and estimates, and generate advanced information; providing a competitive advantage. Decision makers can take actions on the basis of such predictions.
• It should create linkage between all sub-systems within the organization, so that the decision makers can take the right decision based on an integrated view.
• It should allow easy flow of information through various sub-systems, thus avoiding redundancy and duplicity of data. It should simplify the operations with as much practicability as possible.
• Although the MIS is an integrated, complete system, it should be made in such a flexible way that it could be easily split into smaller sub-systems as and when required.
• A central database is the backbone of a well-built MIS.

The roles of MIS in Business Organizations

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 works faster and supplies more blood when needed. It regulates and controls the incoming impure blood, processes 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. Therefore MIS provides a numbers of critical roles in organizations, which include:

1. MIS ensures that an appropriate data is collected from the various sources, processed, and sent 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 the top management.
2. MIS satisfies the diverse needs through a variety of systems such as Query Systems, Analysis systems, Modeling Systems and Decision Support Systems the MIS helps in Strategic Planning, Management Control, Operational Control and Transaction Processing.
3. MIS helps the clerical personnel in the transaction processing and answers their queries on the data pertaining to the transaction, the status of a particular record and references on a variety of documents.
4. The MIS helps the junior management personnel by providing the operational data for planning, scheduling and control, and helps them further in decision making at the operations level to correct an out of control situation.
5. MIS helps the middle management in short term planning, target setting and controlling the business functions. It is supported by the use of the management tools of planning and control.
6. MIS helps the top management in goal setting, strategic planning and evolving the business plans and their implementation.
7. MIS plays the role of information generation, communication, problem identification and helps in the process of decision making.

Conclusion

The MIS, therefore, plays a vital role in the management, administration and operations of an organization. Since the MIS plays a very important role in the organization, it creates an impact on the organization’s functions, performance and productivity. With a good support of MIS, the management of sales, Inventory, marketing, finances, production, customers, personnel, research and development become 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 probable trends in the various aspects of business.

In executing projects, MIS provides the necessary tools and data to plan, execute, monitor, control, and evaluate projects efficiently. It enhances decision-making, facilitates communication, and contributes to project success by ensuring that resources are allocated effectively and risks are managed proactively.

Lecture 2 – Cont’ – Introduction to MIS

Objectives of MIS

The goals of an MIS are to implement the organizational structure and dynamics of the enterprise for the purpose of managing the organization in a better way and capturing the potential of the information system for competitive advantage.

The following are the basic objectives of an MIS −

• Capturing Data − Capturing contextual data, or operational information that will contribute in decision making from various internal and external sources of organization.
• Processing Data − The captured data is processed into information needed for planning, organizing, coordinating, directing and controlling functionalities at strategic, tactical and operational level. Processing data means −
• making calculations with the data
• sorting data
• classifying data and
• summarizing data
• Information Storage − Information or processed data need to be stored for future use.
• Information access and Retrieval − The system should be able to retrieve this information from the storage as and when required by various users.
• Information Propagation − Information or the finished product of the MIS should be circulated to its users periodically using the organizational network.

Characteristics of MIS

The following are the characteristics of an MIS −

• It should be based on a long-term planning of the organization.
• It should provide a holistic view of the dynamics and the structure of the organization.
• It should work as a complete and comprehensive system covering all interconnecting sub-systems within the organization.
• It should be planned in a top-down way approach, as the decision makers or the management should actively take part and provide clear direction at the development stage of the MIS.
• It should be based on need of strategic, operational and tactical information of managers of an organization.
• It should also take care of exceptional situations, interruptions, deviations by reporting such situations.
• It should be able to make forecasts and estimates, and generate advanced information; providing a competitive advantage. Decision makers can take actions on the basis of such predictions.
• It should create linkage between all sub-systems within the organization, so that the decision makers can take the right decision based on an integrated view.
• It should allow easy flow of information through various sub-systems, thus avoiding redundancy and duplicity of data. It should simplify the operations with as much practicability as possible.
• Although the MIS is an integrated, complete system, it should be made in such a flexible way that it could be easily split into smaller sub-systems as and when required.
• A central database is the backbone of a well-built MIS.

Characteristics of Computerized MIS

Following are the characteristics of a well-designed computerized MIS −

• It should be able to process data accurately and with high speed, using various techniques like operations research, simulation, heuristics, etc.
• It should be able to collect, organize, manipulate, and update large amount of raw data of both related and unrelated nature, coming from various internal and external sources at different periods of time.
• It should provide real time information on ongoing events without any delay.
• It should support various output formats and follow latest rules and regulations in practice.
• It should provide organized and relevant information for all levels of management: strategic, operational, and tactical.
• It should aim at extreme flexibility in data storage and retrieval.

The roles of MIS in Business Organizations

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 works faster and supplies more blood when needed. It regulates and controls the incoming impure blood, processes 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. Therefore MIS provides a numbers of critical roles in organizations, which include:

1. MIS ensures that an appropriate data is collected from the various sources, processed, and sent 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 the top management.
2. MIS satisfies the diverse needs through a variety of systems such as Query Systems, Analysis systems, Modeling Systems and Decision Support Systems the MIS helps in Strategic Planning, Management Control, Operational Control and Transaction Processing.
3. MIS helps the clerical personnel in the transaction processing and answers their queries on the data pertaining to the transaction, the status of a particular record and references on a variety of documents.
4. The MIS helps the junior management personnel by providing the operational data for planning, scheduling and control, and helps them further in decision making at the operations level to correct an out of control situation.
5. MIS helps the middle management in short them planning, target setting and controlling the business functions. It is supported by the use of the management tools of planning and control.
6. MIS helps the top management in goal setting, strategic planning and evolving the business plans and their implementation.
7. MIS plays the role of information generation, communication, problem identification and helps in the process of decision making.

Nature and Scope of MIS

The following diagram shows the nature and scope of MIS −

The MIS, therefore, plays a vital role in the management, administration and operations of an organization. Since the MIS plays a very important role in the organization, it creates an impact on the organization’s functions, performance and productivity. With a good support of MIS, the management of sales, Inventory, marketing, finances, production, customers, personnel, research and development become 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 probable trends in the various aspects of business.