Management Information System

A Management Information System (MIS) is a system that provides information needed to manage organizations efficiently and effectively. Management Information Systems involve three primary resources:

It's important to recognize that while all three resources are key components when studying Management Information Systems, the most important resource is people. Management Information Systems are regarded as a subset of the overall internal controls procedures in a business, which cover the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures used by management accountants to solve business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide strategy. Management Information Systems are distinct from regular information systems in that they are used to analyze other information systems applied in 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.

Types of Management Information Systems

Types of Management Information System

There are many types of Management Information Systems in the market that provide a wide range of benefits for companies.

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Transaction processing systems (TPS) collect and record the routine transactions
of an organization. Examples of such systems are sales order entry, hotel reservations, payroll, employee record keeping, and shipping.

2.

Management Information Systems (MIS) produce fixed, regularly scheduled

reports based on data extracted and summarized from the firms underlying transaction processing systems (TPS) to middle and operational level managers to provide answers to structured and semi-structured decision problems.

3.

Decision-support systems (DSS) are computer program applications used by

middle management to compile information from a wide range of sources to solve problems and make decisions.

4.

Executive support systems (ESS) is a reporting tool that provides quick access to
summarized reports coming from all company levels and departments such as accounting, human resources and operations.

5.

Expert system (ES) is a knowledge about a specific area to act as an expert consultant

to the user. It is no the replacement of human being rather they help them in using their expertise more efficiently and effectively. When we join the concept of artificial intelligence with information system, the result is an Expert System.

6.

Office automation systems (OAS) are meant for improving the communication and

productivity of people in the enterprise. They attempt to automate office procedures and remove bottlenecks, lacuna in the secretarial work. These systems are helpful to all levels of management.

Information System

Information Processor

An information processor or information processing system, as its name suggests, is a system (be it electrical, mechanical or biological) which takes information (a sequence of enumerated states) in one form and processes (transforms) it into another form, e.g. to statistics, by an algorithmic process. An information processing system is made up of four basic parts, or sub-systems:
1. Input 2. Processor 3. Storage 4. Output

A system is a set of elements (often called 'components' instead) and relationships which are different from relationships of the set or its elements to other elements or sets. Fields that study the general properties of systems include systems theory, cybernetics, dynamical systems, thermodynamics and complex systems. They investigate the abstract properties of systems' matter and organization, looking for concepts and principles that are independent of domain, substance, type, or temporal scale. Most systems share common characteristics, including: i. Systems have structure, defined by components/elements and their composition; ii. Systems have behavior, which involves inputs, processing and outputs of material, energy, information, or data; iii. Systems have interconnectivity the various parts of a system have functional as well as structural relationships to each other. iv. Systems may have some functions or groups of functions

DIAGRAM OF A SYSTEM

Information Systems (IS) 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. 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, 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.

Definition
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

Some Other Definition Acc. To D.E. Avison

A combination of hardware, software, infrastructure and trained personnel organized to facilitate planning, control, coordination, and decision making in an organization .

Acc. To Operation Support system

1. Transaction processing system (TPS):
A TPS collects and stores information about transactions, and controls some aspects of transactions. A transaction is an event of interest to the organisation. e.g. a sale at a store.

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i. A TPS is a basic business system. It:

ii. TSP is often tied to other systems such as the inventory system which tracks stock

supplies and triggers reordering when stocks get low;

iii. TSP serves the most elementary day-to-day activities of an organization; iv. TSP supports the operational level of the business; v. TSP supplies data for higher-level management decisions (e.g. MIS, EIS); vi. TSP is often critical to survival of the organization; vii. TSP mostly for predefined, structured tasks; viii.TSP can have strategic consequences (eg airline reservation system); ix. TSP usually has high volumes of input and output; x. TSP provides data which is summarized into information by systems used by higher

levels of management;
xi. TSP need to be fault-tolerant.

xii. On-line transaction processing: A transaction processing mode in which transactions entered on-line are immediately processed by the CPU.

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Process-Control System
A process-control system monitors a manufacturing environment and electronically controls the process or manufacturing flow based on limits set by the user. In a representative process-control system, a measuring device (laser diode) is used to detect gas or liquid present in an industrial environment. The frequency signature of the specific gas or liquid is sent to the receiver where it is converted to a digital signal and then identified by the processor. This identification is used by the host controller and automation system for system tasks.

Process-Control System

Office automation system (OAS) :

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OAS provides individuals effective ways to process personal and organisational data, perform calculations, and create documents. e.g. word processing, spreadsheets, file managers, personal calendars, presentation packages They are used for increasing personal productivity and reducing "paper warfare". OAS software tools are often integrated (e.g. Word processor can import a graph from a spreadsheet) and designed for easy operation.

OAS Subspecies: Communication systems: helps people work together by sharing information in many different forms Teleconferencing (including audioconferencing, computer conferencing, videoconferencing), electronic mail, voice mail, fax Groupware system: helps teams work together by providing access to team data, structuring communication, and making it easier to schedule meetings. For sharing information, controlling work flows, communication/integration of work

Acc. to Management Support System

Management Information System (MIS)

Condenses and converts TPS data into information for monitoring performance and managing an organization. Transactions recorded in a TPS are analyzed and reported by an MIS. They have large quantities of input data and they produce summary reports as output. Used by middle managers. An example is an annual budgeting system.
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Decision support system (DSS)

Helps strategic management staff (often senior managers) make decisions by providing information, models, or analysis tools. For support of semistructured and unstructured decisions (structured decisions can be automated). Used for analytical work, rather than general office support. They are flexible, adaptable and quick. The user controls inputs and outputs. They support the decision process and often are sophisticated modelling tools so managers can make simulations and predictions. Their inputs are aggregate data, and they produce projections. An example job for a DSS would be a 5 year operating plan.

Expert Systems
Expert system a computer system or program that uses artificial intelligence techniques to solve problems that ordinarily require a knowledgeable human. The method used to construct such systems, knowledge engineering, extracts a set of rules and data from an expert or experts through extensive questioning. This material is then organized in a format suitable for representation in a computer and a set of tools for inquiry, manipulation, and response is applied. While such systems do not often replace the human experts, they can serve as useful adjuncts or assistants. Among some of the successful expert systems developed are INTERNIST, a medical diagnosis tool that contains nearly 100,000 relationships between symptoms and diseases, and PROSPECTOR, an aid to geologists in interpreting mineral data." Expert systems imitate human experts in many different fields of expertise. Such systems contain rules (such as decision tables) that help a human answer expert questions. This is a classic example of how deskilling can affect people: imagine you are an expert rock identifier and people from around the world treat you like a living national treasure because of your brilliant ability to identify rocks. One day, a system is built that contains all the rules you intuitively use to make your rock identification decisions. By answering a few simple questions presented by the expert system, a human can identify a rock just as well as you can. Expert systems are built with decision-making rules, and they can ask humans a series of questions to narrow down the correct answer. One early and influential expert system was MYCIN, a disease diagnosis system.
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Advantages of expert systems: 1. The computer can store far more information than a human. 2. The computer does not 'forget', make silly mistakes or get drunk when it is most needed. 3. Data can be kept up-to-date. 4. The expert system is always available 24 hours a day and will never 'retire'. 5. The system can be used at a distance over a network.

Computer Based Information System (CBIS)

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A CBIS is an organized integration of hardware and software technologies and human elements designed to produce timely, integrated, accurate and useful information for decision making purposes.

For any given application the following features must be present:-

Easy to use interactive (two way) interfaces

i. Touch screen ii. GUI iii. Menu Driven Interface iv. Colour Screen v. Buttons vi. Labels vii. Voice Activated viii.Tones, on phones

Use of advanced technologies i. ii. iii. iv. Phone (inc WAP) digital television Teleconferencing (audio, video and computer) Integration of voice, data and images through ISDNs (integrated services digital networks)
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v. Image transfer systems through facsimile

Fast processing i. Searching (Google gives you search times) ii. Looking up name in a database

Rapid responses i. To input ii. To requests

Elements
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Computer Based Information System: Computer Based Information System (CBIS) is an information system in which the computer plays a major role. Such a system consists of the following elements:
1. Hardware: The term hardware refers to machinery. This category includes the computer

itself, which is often referred to as the central processing unit (CPU), and all of its support equipments. Among the support equipments are input and output devices, storage devices and communications devices.
2. Software: The term software refers to computer programs and the manuals (if any) that

support them. Computer programs are machine-readable instructions that direct the circuitry within the hardware parts of the Computer Based Information System (CBIS) to function in ways that produce useful information from data. Programs are generally stored on some input / output medium-often a disk or tape.
3. Data: Data are facts that are used by program to produce useful information. Like

programs, data are generally stored in machine-readable from on disk or tape until the computer needs them.
4. Procedures: Procedures are the policies that govern the operation of a computer system.

Procedures are to people what software is to hardware is a common analogy that is used to illustrate the role of procedures in a CBIS.
5. People: Every Computer Based Information System (CBIS) needs people if it is to be

useful. Often the most over-looked element of the CBIS is the people: probably the components that most influence the success or failure of information system.

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Information Systems Development

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Infor

mation technology departments in larger organizations tend to strongly influence information technology development, use, and application in the organizations, which may be a business or corporation. A series of methodologies and processes can be used in order to develop and use an information system. Many developers have turned and used a more engineering approach such as the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) which is a systematic procedure of developing an information system through stages that occur in sequence. An Information system can be developed in house (within the organization) or outsourced. This can be accomplished by outsourcing certain components or the entire system. A specific case is the geographical distribution of the development team (Off shoring, Global Information System). A computer based information system, following a definition of Langefors, is: i. a technologically implemented medium for recording, storing, and disseminating linguistic expressions, ii. as well as for drawing conclusions from such expressions. which can be formulated as a generalized information systems design mathematical program. Geographic Information Systems Land Information systems and Disaster Information Systems are also some of the emerging information systems but they can be broadly considered as Spatial Information Systems. System development is done in stages which include: 1. Problem recognition and specification 2. Information gathering 3. Requirements specification for the new system 4. System design 5. System construction 6. System implementation 7. Review and maintenance

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Discipline Of Information Systems

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Seve

ral IS scholars have debated the nature and foundations of Information Systems which has its roots in other reference disciplines such as 1. Computer Science 2. Engineering 3. Mathematics 4. Management Science Cybernetics and others.

Computer Science
Computer science or computing science (abbreviated CS) is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems. Computer scientists invent algorithmic processes that create, describe, and transform information and formulate suitable abstractions to design and model complex systems

Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of people.

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Mathematics Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity. The research required to solve mathematical problems can take years or even centuries of sustained inquiry. However, mathematical proofs are less formal and painstaking than proofs in mathematical logic. Since the pioneering work of Giuseppe Peano, David Hilbert, and others on axiomatic systems in the late 19th century, it has become customary to view mathematical research as establishing truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions. When those mathematical structures are good models of real phenomena, then mathematical reasoning often provides insight or predictions.

Operations research
Operations research (also referred to as decision science, or management science) is an interdisciplinary mathematical science that focuses on the effective use of technology by organizations. In contrast, many other science & engineering disciplines focus on technology giving secondary considerations to its use.

Cybernetics
Cybernetics is a broad field of study, but the essential goal of cybernetics is to understand and define the functions and processes of systems that have goals and that participate in circular, causal chains that move from action to sensing to comparison with desired goal, and again to action. Studies in cybernetics provide a means for examining the design and function of any system, including social systems such as business management and organizational learning, including for the purpose of making them more efficient and effective

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Information systems Opportunities and Challenges

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Challenges
1. Workforce downsizing 2. Information overload 3. Employee mistrust 4. Difficult to built 5. Security breaches

Opportunities
1. Enhanced global competitiveness 2. Capture market opportunities 3. Support corporate strategy 4. Enhance worker productivity 5. Improve quality of goods and services

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Conclusion
The four systems described here illustrate the qualities required to make a system deserving of the appellation information system. We have shown that while the hallmarks of traditional systems, data, processing, output and feedback may not be obvious in some non-traditional systems, using a wider terminology allows systems with apparently quite different qualities to be included under a broader definition of IS. Adopting the terms signal and transformation, taken from the general systems and semiotics literature, and adding the concept of action, we have proposed a common terminology that legitimises the label information system not just for traditional systems but also for the routine manual systems described. This approach makes a novel contribution to the IS literature and will assist IS researchers in classifying a wide variety of systems as within or outside the information systems category.

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Bibliography

1. http:/www.google.com 2. http:/www.wikipedia.com

3. From MIS book

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