INTRODUCTION TO MIS

Management Information System plays a very important role in an organization. There is

hardly a business magazine that does not contain article about information system.
MIS can be defined as
A system which collects, processes, stores and distributes information to help in
decision making for managerial functions.
(Planning, staffing, directing, controlling, organizing and budgeting)
It may also be defined as Integrated user/ Machine system for providing information to
support the decision making process.
MIS is a computer based system, which presents both external and internal information of
business.
This system utilizes computer hardware and software, manual procedure for analysis,
planning, control and decision making.
These system do not take decisions but they assist in providing a necessary information as
an input to the decision making process.
MIS should provide information which is consistent, accurate, timely, economically flexible
and relevant.
MIS can be computerized or manual. MIS provides information in report format on regular
basis to assist managers with decision which occur frequently and can be anticipated.
MANAGEMENT
Management has been defined in a variety of ways, but for our purpose it compromises the
processes or activities that describes what managers do in the operation of their
organization; plan, organize, initiative and control operations.
INFORMATION
Data must be distinguished from information. Data are facts and figures that are not
currently being used in decision process.

Information consist of data that have been retrived, processed or otherwise used for
informative or inference purposes, arguments, or as a basis for forecasting or decision
making.
SYSTEMS
A system can be described simply as a set of elements joined together for a common
objective. The system concept of mis is therefore one of the optimizing the output of the
organization by connecting the operating sub-system through the medium of information
exchange
PYRAMIDICAL STRUCTURE OF MIS
I)
II)
III)
IV)

Lower level:-The bottom layer consists of information required for transaction

processing and inquiry processing.
Operational level:- This layer has the information which is required for day to
day performance of activities and their control.
Middle level:- This layer has the information which is useful for tactical planning
and decision making to implement the policy of top management.
Top level:- This layer has information which is useful for strategies and policy
planning.

CHARACTERISTICS OF MIS
The mis plays a vital role in management, administrations and operations of an organization
as it helps in information generation, communication, problem identification in the process of
decision making.
The main features of mis are:I)
II)
III)

Management oriented:- The development of mis starts after deciding the

management needs and keeping in view overall objective of management.
Management directed:- A good mis removes the lack of knowledge, enriches
experience and improves analytical abilities leading to better business judgement.
Integrated system:- MIS binds together database of business system and through
information interchange, integrates the organization. It also provides adequate
development resources and removes the human and organizational barriers to
progress.

IV)
V)
VI)
VII)

VIII)

IX)
X)
XI)

XII)

Avoid redundancy:- Since mis is a integrated system, it avoids unnecessary

inconsistency and redundancy in data gathering and storage.
Common data flow:-MIS provides common data flows, which try to utilize minimum
data processing efforts and minimize the number of output document.
Heavy planning element:- Designing and implementation of mis require detailed
and meticulous planning of activities like acquisition and utilization of resources.
Common database:- MIS acts as a master that holds the functional sub-system
together. It achieves this aim by allowing access to different master files of data to
several functional sub-systems.
Flexibility:- MIS design should be flexible so as to provide alternate ways of
processing data and system should be easy to operate so that not much of
computers skills are required.
Computerization:- MIS can be computerized because of its nature. This provide
speed, accuracy and consistency in creating and access of files.
Relevance:- MIS should deal only with operation and control of relevant information.
Support to top management:- MIS cannot be effective unless they receive the full
support of top management. For this, top management should be educated about
cost and benefits of mis.
Periodic evaluation:- The last feature of mis is that the system should be evaluated
at periodic intervals to ensure that mis is achieving the objective of which this has
been installed.

COMPONENTS OF MIS
Management information system refers to the data, equipment and computers program that
are used to develop information for managerial use. The MIS consists of following
components which are as followsI)

II)

III)

People:- People is only living component of mis which operates and controls the
other components of mis. They enter, analyze and diagnose data, so that useful
information is produced and provided to top executives for decision making.
Data process:- Data process uses different procedures, so that data can be
properly analyzed and effective information is generated. Procedures explain
people how to operate the computer hardware, what program to run, what data to
use and what to do with the results.
Data communication:- There are different ways for communication of data. It
may be informed orally or in the form of written report. Written forms are more

IV)

V)

VI)

appropriate than oral ones as it is permanent and systematic way of organizing

information.
Information:- Data are facts and figures that are not currently being used in
decision process. Data is process by applying different procedures to obtain
information. It may be recorded into computer, storage media or manual files and
is retrived whenever required.
System planning:- We have achieved a very high degree of automation and
combination sub-system in scientific, mechanical and factory manufacturing
operation. The system concept of mis is therefore of optimizing the output of the
organization by connecting the operation sub-system, through the medium of
information exchange.
Hardware and Software:- The hardware generally consists of computer
equipments, on the other hand software consists of programs or instructions
given to the computer such as pay roll processing, invoices etc.