Management information system

A management information system (MIS) focuses on the management of information systems to provide efficiency and effectiveness of strategic decision making. The concept may include systems termed transaction processing system, decision support system, expert system, or executive information system. The term is often used in the academic study of businesses and has connections with other areas, such as information systems, information technology, informatics, e-commerce and computer science; as a result, the term is used interchangeably with some of these areas.

Management information systems (plural) as an academic discipline studies people, technology, organizations, and the relationships among them.[1] This definition relates specifically to "MIS" as a course of study in business schools. Many business schools (or colleges of business administration within universities) have an MIS department, alongside departments of accounting, finance, management, marketing, and may award degrees (at undergraduate, master, and doctoral levels) in Management Information Systems.

MIS professionals help organizations to maximize the benefit from investments in personnel, equipment, and business processes.

Management

There are different areas of concentration with different duties and responsibilities in information system managers starting from the Chief information officer (CIOs), Chief technology officer (CTOs), IT directors and IT security managers. Chief information officers (CIOs) are responsible for the overall technology stately of their organizations. Basically, they are more of the decision makers and action takers when it comes down to determining the technology or information goals of an organization and making sure the necessary planning to implement those goals is being met.

Chief technology officers (CTOs) are responsible for evaluating how new technology can help their organization. They usually recommend technological solutions to support the policies issued by the CIO.[2]

IT directors including MIS directors are in charge of both their organization's Information technology departments and the supervision of thereof. They are also in charge of implementing the policies chosen by the other top branches (CIOs, CTOs). It is their role to ensure the availability of data and network services by coordinating IT activities.

IT Security Managers oversee the network and security data as the title implies. They develop programs to offer information and awareness to their employees about security threats. This team is very important because they must keep up-to-date on IT security measures in order to be successful within their organization. Any security violations need to be investigated and supervised by this specific team.

History

Kenneth and Aldrich Estel identify six eras of Management Information System evolution corresponding to the five phases in the development of computing technology:[3]

  1. mainframe and minicomputer computing,
  2. personal computers,
  3. client/server networks,
  4. enterprise computing, and
  5. cloud computing.


The first era (mainframe and minicomputer) was ruled by IBM and their mainframe computers; these computers would often take up whole rooms and require teams to run them—IBM supplied the hardware and the software. As technology advanced, these computers were able to handle greater capacities and therefore reduce their cost. Smaller, more affordable minicomputers allowed larger businesses to run their own computing centers in-house / on-site / on-premises.

The second era (personal computer) began in 1965 as microprocessors started to compete with mainframes and minicomputers and accelerated the process of decentralizing computing power from large data centers to smaller offices. In the late 1970s, minicomputer technology gave way to personal computers and relatively low-cost computers were becoming mass market commodities, allowing businesses to provide their employees access to computing power that ten years before would have cost tens of thousands of dollars. This proliferation of computers created a ready market for interconnecting networks and the popularization of the Internet. (NOTE that the first microprocessor — a four-bit device intended for a programmable calculator — was introduced in 1971 and microprocessor-based systems were not readily available for several years. The MITS Altair 8800 was the first commonly-known microprocessor-based system, followed closely by the Apple I and II. It is arguable that the microprocessor-based system did not make significant inroads into minicomputer use until 1979, when VisiCalc prompted record sales of the Apple II on which it ran. The IBM PC introduced in 1981 was more broadly palatable to business, but its limitations gated its ability to challenge minicomputer systems until perhaps the late 1980s to early 1990s.)

As technological complexity increased and costs decreased, the need to share information within an enterprise also grew—giving rise to the third era (client/server), in which computers on a common network access shared information on a server. This lets thousands and even millions of people access data simultaneously. The fourth era (enterprise) enabled by high speed networks, tied all aspects of the business enterprise together offering rich information access encompassing the complete management structure. Every computer is utilized.

The fifth era (cloud computing) is the latest and employs networking technology to deliver applications as well as data storage independent of the configuration, location or nature of the hardware. This, along with high speed cellphone and Wi-Fi networks, has led to new levels of mobility in which managers may access the MIS remotely with laptops, tablet computers and smartphones.

Types and terminology

The terms management information system (MIS), information system, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and information technology management (IT) are often confused. Information systems and MIS are broader categories that include ERP. Information technology management concerns the operation and company of information technology resources independent of their purpose.

Advantages

The following are some of the benefits that can be attained using MISs.[6]

Enterprise applications

Development

"The actions that are taken to create an information system that solves an organizational problem are called system development".[10] These include system analysis, system design, computer programming/implementation, testing, conversion, production and finally maintenance.

Conversion is the process of changing or converting the old system into the new. This can be done in two basic ways, though newer methods (prototyping, Extreme Programming, JAD, etc.) are replacing these traditional conversion methods in many cases:

See also

References

  1. ↑ "What is Management Information Systems?". Mays Business School. Archived from the original on May 9, 2015.
  2. ↑ "What Computer and Information Systems Managers Do". US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  3. ↑ Laudon, Kenneth C.; Laudon, Jane P. (2009). Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm (11 ed.). Prentice Hall/CourseSmart. p. 164.
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ Bidgoli, Hossein, (2004). The Internet Encyclopedia, Volume 1, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 707.
  6. ↑ Pant, S., Hsu, C., (1995), Strategic Information Systems Planning: A Review, Information Resources Management Association International Conference, May 21–24, Atlanta.
  7. ↑ Taylor, Victoria. "Supply Chain Management: The Next Big Thing?". Sept. 12, 2011. Business Week. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  8. ↑ Lynn, Samara. "What is CRM?". PC Mag. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  9. ↑ Joshi, Girdhar (2013). Management Information Systems. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 328. ISBN 9780198080992.
  10. ↑ Laudon, K.,&Laudon, J. (2010). Management information systems: Managing the digital firm. (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

External links

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