MIS on Improving the Organizational Performance

By Harikrishnan Ramamoorthy SGBS 1st year Roll no S1104

Introduction: 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 datas. 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, hardwarestorage 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, resourceand 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

Developing MIS:-

MIS is not just about implementing a system but it is all about providing the right information to the recipient either it is derived from a system or otherwise. "The actions that are taken to create an information system that solves an organizational problem are called system development (Laudon & Laudon, 2010)". These include system analysis, system design, programming, testing, conversion, production and finally maintenance. These actions usually take place in that specified order but some may need to repeat or be accomplished concurrently. System analysis is accomplished on the problem the company is facing and is trying to solve with the information system. Whoever accomplishes this step will identify the problem areas and outlines a solution through achievable objectives. This analysis will include a feasibility study, which determines the solutions feasibility based on money, time and technology.

Essentially the feasibility study determines whether this solution is a good investment. This process also lays out what the information requirement will be for the new system. System design shows how the system will fulfill the requirements and objectives laid out in the system analysis phase. The designer will address all the managerial, organizational and technological components the system will address and need. It is important to note that user information requirements drive the building effort. The user of the system must be involved in the design process to ensure the system meets the users need and operations. Programming entails taking the design stage and translating that into software code. This is usually out sourced to another company to write the required software or companys buy existing software that meets the systems needs. The key is to make sure the software is user friendly and compatible with current systems. Testing can take on many different forms but is essential to the successful implementation of the new system. You can conduct unit testing, which tests each program in the system separately or system testing which tests the system as a whole. Either way there should also be acceptance testing, which provides a certification that the system is ready to use. Also, regardless of the test a comprehensive test plan should be developed that identifies what is to be tested and what the expected outcome should be. Conversion is the process of changing or converting the old system into the new. This can be done in four ways: Parallel strategy Both old and new systems are run together until the new one functions correctly (this is the safest approach since you do not lose the old system until the new one is bug free). Direct cutover The new system replaces the old at an appointed time. Pilot study Introducing the new system to a small portion of the operation to see how it fares. If good then the new system expands to the rest of the company. Phased approach New system is introduced in stages. Anyway you implement the conversion you must document the good and bad during the process to identify benchmarks and fix problems. Conversion also includes the training of all personnel that are required to use the system to perform their job. Production is when the new system is officially the system of record for the operation and maintenance is just that. Maintain the system as it performs the function it was intended to meet.

Study of MIS in Infosys:Abstract: Infosys International Inc. has a solid reputation as a business and information technology consulting company. Infosys International has been providing business and information technology consulting services to our clients for over 20 years. This document is a result of brief study about the information system used in the management of the industry.

I. Infosys
Infosys Technologies Limited (Infosys), incorporated on July 2, 1981, is a global technology services firm that defines, designs and delivers information technology (IT)-enabled business solutions to its clients. The Company provides end-to-end business solutions that leverage technology for its clients, including consulting, design, development, software re-engineering, maintenance, systems integration, package evaluation, and implementation and infrastructure management services. Whole of the organization can be described as: 1. Partners in building Information Infrastructure for the New Economy 2. Among highest market capitalization among IT services 3. companies on the NASDAQ 4. Forbes list of 20 for 2000 5. SEI-CMM level 5 and ISO-9001 6. Global presence 7. Over 8000 people strong, and growing
8. 220+ clients including 32 new clients in

Q1 FY 2001

II. The MIS Department The Information Systems Department is responsible for the coordination and strategic planning of information system technology for all departments under the Board of County Commissioners. This includes management of a multi-participant Geographic Information/Land Management System (GIS), coordination and support of the County's Project/Work Management software, the enterprise based Oracle Business suite and the establishment of progressive technical standards in an open system environment. The department is also responsible for the installation and maintenance of telecommunication systems and network facilities used by the county enterprise.

III.

MIS: The Infosys Perspective

1. All organizational learning is leveraged in delivering business advantage to the customer. As

with MIS the organization becomes easily approachable and transparent to customer. 2. Every related person must have the full backing of the organizations information behind

him/her Customer fronting

Planning and decision-making Internal customer service Nothing but an effective MIS can do this.

IV.

MIS Drivers in Infosys

1. Better quality because of better information support and better decision making. 2. Better Revenue Productivity (reuse, cycle time reduction, virtual teamwork). Every person retains knowledge of inventory and the products. 3. Reduced Risk (diversify into new technologies, domains, geographical areas, services,

resource interchangeability). Information about market trends, competitor activities is readily available. 4. Greater Market Awareness 5. Higher Revenue Growth. All of the above factors will combine to increase revenue.

V. The MIS Vision

By implementing MIS the Infosys wants to be an organization   where every action is fully enabled by the power of information;    which truly believes in leveraging knowledge for innovation; 
 

where every employee is empowered by the information of every other employee;  which is a globally respected information leader. 

VI.

MIS: Challenges in Infosys

y Promote a sharing culture. As through MIS information of each person will be available to y

every other person. Build and sustain momentum. After the huge efforts of implementing MIS the organization must gain increased revenues.  Deploy IT infrastructure. To implement MIS the whole system has to be made online.  Ensure quality of content. The information provided by the system must be relevant and up to date. 

y y

VII.Evolution

of MIS at Infosys

MIS is supposed to start at 1992 at Infosys, when it became a body of knowledge by increase in popularity. After that the progress just went on and on. 1992: Body of Knowledge 1993: 1994:
1995: Technical bulletin, online learning 1996: Companywide Intranet (Sparsh) 1997: Marketing system, process assets, 1998: Project leaders toolkit

1999: People Knowledge Map, organization wide KM initiative 2000: Integrated Kshop portal Various steps being taken by MIS management of Infosys:
1. Seminars and best practice sessions 2. Marketing systems 3. Process Assets & Capability Baselines 4. Body of Knowledge 5. On-line learning mechanisms 6. Odyssey 7. Project Leaders tool-kit 8. Sparsh: the company-wide intranet 9. Personal pages Technical Bulletin Board 10. People-Knowledge Map

VIII Information Content Types

To implement MIS information is classified as following by the MIS management of Infosys:

Internal Information Assets Industry specific Information Assets Body of Knowledge Project Snapshot Documents Internal White Papers & Reports Reusable Artifacts Discussion Groups, Chat Sessions Internal FAQs etc. External Information Assets Glossary of business and Technical Terms Technology Summaries Online Journals & books External White Papers and Reports Technology and Business News External FAQs etc.
After collecting all such information it has to be managed and must be placed where it fits. For this Infosys designed a content management process whose block diagram is shown below:

Figure 1: Content management in Infosys

IX.

MIS Deployment Architecture

The Process Architecture 1. Processes to facilitate information sharing and reuse process redesign 2. Process to ensure content quality and currency reviewers and gurus
3. Process for MIS effectiveness measures Personal interviews

surveys
4. Process for MIS benefits measurement

To implement such processes the management designed the following technological deployment architecture:

Figure 2: Technological deployment architecture of implementing MIS in Infosys

X. An Example KMS at Infosys

Knowledge management is important to software engineering because organizations need more than just human capital to successfully distribute and use their employees' knowledge. Knowledge might be inexpensive, but effectively using and managing is not.

Infosys Technologies KM vision is to be an organization where every action is fully enabled by the power of knowledge; which truly believes in leveraging knowledge for innovation; where every employee is empowered by the knowledge of every other employee; which is a globally respected knowledge leader.

For this Infosys designed a Knowledge Shop Portal whose one snapshot is given below:

Figure 3: Knowledge Shop Portal of Infosys.

XI.

Conclusion

When information systems are designed to provide information needed for effective decision making by managers, they are called management information systems. MIS is a formal system for providing management with accurate and timely information necessary for decision making.

The system provides information on the past, present and project future and on relevant events inside and outside the organization. It may be defined as a planned and integrated system for gathering relevant data, converting it in to right information and supplying the same to the concerned executives. The main purpose of MIS is to provide the right information to the right people at the right time.

XII. References
[4]http://urbanindia.nic.in/publicinfo/swm/ [1]http://www.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/doi/ 10.1109/MS.2002.1003455 [2]http://www.ikmagazine.com/xq/asp/sid.0/artic leid.4F5126859FEE439481EAF965189D36EF/e Title.Learn_once_use_anywhere/qx/display.htm [3]http://misasia.com/opinion__and__blogs/colu mnists/infosys-too-conservative [5] Anand K., A study on MIS process and application in banking sector and BPO companies, South Asia University Mysore, 2001. [6] Waman S. Jawadekar, Management th Information System- Text and Cases, 4 ed., 2010.