Management Information System

o
A management information system (MIS) provides information needed to
manage organizations efficiently and effectively. Management information
systems involve three primary resources: people, technology, and
information. Management information systems are distinct from other
information systems in that they are used to analyze operational activities in
the organization. Academically, the term is commonly used to refer to the
group of information management methods tied to the automation or support
of human decision making, e.g. decision support systems, expert systems,
and executive information systems.
o

Information systems are the software and hardware systems that support
data-intensive applications. The journal Information Systems publishes
articles concerning the design and implementation of languages, data
models, process models, algorithms, software and hardware for information
systems.

Initially in businesses and other organizations, internal reporting was

produced manually and only periodically, as a by-product of the accounting
system and with some additional statistic(s), and gave limited and delayed
information on management performance. Data was organized manually
according to the requirements and necessity of the organization. As
computational technology developed, information began to be distinguished
from data and systems were developed to produce and organize abstractions,
summaries, relationships and generalizations based on the data. Early
business computers were used for simple operations such as tracking sales or
payroll data, with little detail or structure. Over time, these computer
applications became more complex, hardware storage capacities grew, and
technologies improved for connecting previously isolated applications. As
more and more data was stored and linked, managers sought greater detail
as well as greater abstraction with the aim of creating entire management
reports from the raw, stored data. The term "MIS" arose to describe such
applications providing managers with information about sales, inventories,
and other data that would help in managing the enterprise. Today, the term is
used broadly in a number of contexts and includes (but is not limited to):
decision support systems, resource and people management applications,
enterprise resource planning (ERP), enterprise performance management
(EPM), supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management
(CRM), project management and database retrieval applications. The
successful MIS supports a business's long range plans, providing reports
based upon performance analysis in areas critical to those plans, with
feedback loops that allow for titivation of every aspect of the enterprise,
including recruitment and training regimens. MIS not only indicate how things
are going, but why and where performance is failing to meet the plan. These

reports include near-real-time performance of cost centers and projects with

detail sufficient for individual accountability

The following are some of the benefits that can be attained for different types of
management information systems.[5]
The company is able to highlight their strength and weaknesses due to the
presence of revenue reports, employee performance records etc. The
identification of these aspects can help the company to improve their
business processes and operations.
Giving an overall picture of the company and acting as a communication and
planning tool.
The availability of the customer data and feedback can help the company to
align their business processes according to the needs of the customers. The
effective management of customer data can help the company to perform
direct marketing and promotion activities.
Information is considered to be an important asset for any company in the
modern competitive world. The consumer buying trends and behaviors can
be predicted by the analysis of sales and revenue reports from each
operating region of the company.
Information Systems
Information systems are implemented within an organization for the purpose
of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of that organization. Capabilities
of the information system and characteristics of the organization, its work
systems, its people, and its development and implementation methodologies
together determine the extent to which that purpose is achieved.
is an academic/professional discipline bridging the business field and the
well-defined computer science field that is evolving toward a new scientific
area of study.[4][5][6][7] An information systems discipline therefore is supported
by the theoretical foundations of information and computations such that
learned scholars have unique opportunities to explore the academics of
various business models as well as related algorithmic processes within a
computer science discipline. Typically, information systems or the more
common legacy information systems include people, procedures, data,
software, and hardware (by degree) that are used to gather and analyze
digital information. Specifically computer-based information systems are
complementary networks of hardware/software that people and organizations
use to collect, filter, and process, create, & distribute data (computing).
Computer Information System(s) (CIS) is often a track within the computer
science field studying computers and algorithmic processes, including their
principles, their software & hardware designs, their applications, and their
impact on society. Overall, an IS discipline emphasizes functionality over
design.

Elements
Processing the Data
The database stores the subjects of the business (master files) and its activities
(transaction files). The application programs provide the data entry, updating, query
and report processing.
Organized information in the form of operating systems, utilities, programs, and
applications that enable computers to work.
Software
Software consists of carefully-organized instructions and code written by
programmers in any of various special computer languages. Software is divided
commonly into two main categories: (1) System software: controls the basic (and
invisible to the user) functions of a computer and comes usually preinstalled with
the machine. See also BIOS and Operating System. (2) Application software:
handles multitudes of common and specialized tasks a user wants to perform, such
as accounting, communicating, data processing, word processing.
Hardware
Computing: Physical equipment that makes up a computer system, such as circuit
boards, keyboard and mouse, monitor, printer, power supply, storage devices.
Contrasts with software.

Personnel
Employees of an organization. Human resources division of an organization.

Planning
1.A basic management function involving formulation of one or more detailed plans
to achieve optimum balance of needs or demands with the available resources. The
planning process (1) identifies the goals or objectives to be achieved, (2) formulates
strategies to achieve them, (3) arranges or creates the means required, and (4)
implements, directs, and monitors all steps in their proper sequence.
2. The control of development by a local authority, through regulation and licensing
for land use changes and building.

Decision Making
The thought process of selecting a logical choice from the available options.
When trying to make a good decision, a person must weight the positives and
negatives of each option, and consider all the alternatives. For effective decision
making, a person must be able to forecast the outcome of each option as well, and
based on all these items, determine which option is the best for that particular
situation.

Organization
A social unit of people, systematically structured and managed to meet a need or to
pursue collective goals on a continuing basis. All organizations have a management
structure that determines relationships between functions and positions, and
subdivides and delegates roles, responsibilities, and authority to carry out defined
tasks. Organizations are open systems in that they affect and are affected by the
environment beyond their boundaries.
**System is a set of interacting or interdependent components forming an
integrated whole

**Transaction processing systems (TPS) automate the handling of data about

business activities or transactions, which can be thought of as simple, discrete
events in the life of an organization.
Data about each transaction are captured, transactions are verified and accepted or
rejected and validated transactions are stored for later aggregation. Reports may be
produced immediately to provide standard summarizations of transactions and
transactions may be moved from process to process in order to handle all aspects of
the business activity.
The analysis and design of TPS means focusing on the firms current procedures for
processing transactions, whether those procedures are manual or automated. The
focus on current procedures implies a careful tracking of data capture, flow,
processing and output. The goal of TPS development is to improve transaction
processing by speeding it up, using fewer people, improving efficiency and

accuracy, integrating it with other organizational information systems or providing

information not previously available.

Dalida, Rachel Anne E.

BSIS-3A