Category: management Information System

MIS – Basic Information Concepts ”; Previous Next Information can be defined as meaningfully interpreted data. If we give you a number 1-212-290-4700, it does not make any sense on its own. It is just a raw data. However if we say Tel: +1-212-290-4700, it starts making sense. It becomes a telephone number. If I gather some more data and record it meaningfully like − Address: 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA Tel: +1-212-290-4700 Fax: +1-212-736-1300 It becomes a very useful information – the address of New York office of Human Rights Watch, a non-profit, non-governmental human rights organization. So, from a system analyst”s point of view, information is a sequence of symbols that can be construed to a useful message. An Information System is a system that gathers data and disseminates information with the sole purpose of providing information to its users. The main object of an information system is to provide information to its users. Information systems vary according to the type of users who use the system. A Management Information System is an information system that evaluates, analyzes, and processes an organization”s data to produce meaningful and useful information based on which the management can take right decisions to ensure future growth of the organization. Information Definition According to Wikipedia − “Information can be recorded as signs, or transmitted as signals. Information is any kind of event that affects the state of a dynamic system that can interpret the information. Conceptually, information is the message (utterance or expression) being conveyed. Therefore, in a general sense, information is “Knowledge communicated or received, concerning a particular fact or circumstance”. Information cannot be predicted and resolves uncertainty.” Information Vs Data Data can be described as unprocessed facts and figures. Plain collected data as raw facts cannot help in decision-making. However, data is the raw material that is organized, structured, and interpreted to create useful information systems. Data is defined as ”groups of non-random symbols in the form of text, images, voice representing quantities, action and objects”. Information is interpreted data; created from organized, structured, and processed data in a particular context. According to Davis and Olson − “Information is a data that has been processed into a form that is meaningful to recipient and is of real or perceived value in the current or the prospective action or decision of recipient.” Information, Knowledge and Business Intelligence Professor Ray R. Larson of the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley, provides an Information Hierarchy, which is − Data − The raw material of information. Information − Data organized and presented by someone. Knowledge − Information read, heard, or seen, and understood. Wisdom − Distilled and integrated knowledge and understanding. Scott Andrews” explains Information Continuum as follows − Data − A Fact or a piece of information, or a series thereof. Information − Knowledge discerned from data. Business Intelligence − Information Management pertaining to an organization”s policy or decision-making, particularly when tied to strategic or operational objectives. Information/Data Collection Techniques The most popular data collection techniques include − Surveys − A questionnaires is prepared to collect the data from the field. Secondary data sources or archival data: Data is collected through old records, magazines, company website etc. Objective measures or tests − An experimental test is conducted on the subject and the data is collected. Interviews − Data is collected by the system analyst by following a rigid procedure and collecting the answers to a set of pre-conceived questions through personal interviews. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

MIS – Enterprise Resource Planning ”; Previous Next ERP is an integrated, real-time, cross-functional enterprise application, an enterprise-wide transaction framework that supports all the internal business processes of a company. It supports all core business processes such as sales order processing, inventory management and control, production and distribution planning, and finance. Why of ERP? ERP is very helpful in the follwoing areas − Business integration and automated data update Linkage between all core business processes and easy flow of integration Flexibility in business operations and more agility to the company Better analysis and planning capabilities Critical decision-making Competitive advantage Use of latest technologies Features of ERP The following diagram illustrates the features of ERP − Scope of ERP Finance − Financial accounting, Managerial accounting, treasury management, asset management, budget control, costing, and enterprise control. Logistics − Production planning, material management, plant maintenance, project management, events management, etc. Human resource − Personnel management, training and development, etc. Supply Chain − Inventory control, purchase and order control, supplier scheduling, planning, etc. Work flow − Integrate the entire organization with the flexible assignment of tasks and responsibility to locations, position, jobs, etc. Advantages of ERP Reduction of lead time Reduction of cycle time Better customer satisfaction Increased flexibility, quality, and efficiency Improved information accuracy and decision making capability Onetime shipment Improved resource utilization Improve supplier performance Reduced quality costs Quick decision-making Forecasting and optimization Better transparency Disadvantage of ERP Expense and time in implementation Difficulty in integration with other system Risk of implementation failure Difficulty in implementation change Risk in using one vendor Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

MIS – Classification of Information ”; Previous Next Information can be classified in a number of ways and in this chapter, you will learn two of the most important ways to classify information. Classification by Characteristic Based on Anthony”s classification of Management, information used in business for decision-making is generally categorized into three types − Strategic Information − Strategic information is concerned with long term policy decisions that defines the objectives of a business and checks how well these objectives are met. For example, acquiring a new plant, a new product, diversification of business etc, comes under strategic information. Tactical Information − Tactical information is concerned with the information needed for exercising control over business resources, like budgeting, quality control, service level, inventory level, productivity level etc. Operational Information − Operational information is concerned with plant/business level information and is used to ensure proper conduction of specific operational tasks as planned/intended. Various operator specific, machine specific and shift specific jobs for quality control checks comes under this category. Classification by Application In terms of applications, information can be categorized as − Planning Information − These are the information needed for establishing standard norms and specifications in an organization. This information is used in strategic, tactical, and operation planning of any activity. Examples of such information are time standards, design standards. Control Information − This information is needed for establishing control over all business activities through feedback mechanism. This information is used for controlling attainment, nature and utilization of important processes in a system. When such information reflects a deviation from the established standards, the system should induce a decision or an action leading to control. Knowledge Information − Knowledge is defined as “information about information”. Knowledge information is acquired through experience and learning, and collected from archival data and research studies. Organizational Information − Organizational information deals with an organization”s environment, culture in the light of its objectives. Karl Weick”s Organizational Information Theory emphasizes that an organization reduces its equivocality or uncertainty by collecting, managing and using these information prudently. This information is used by everybody in the organization; examples of such information are employee and payroll information. Functional/Operational Information − This is operation specific information. For example, daily schedules in a manufacturing plant that refers to the detailed assignment of jobs to machines or machines to operators. In a service oriented business, it would be the duty roster of various personnel. This information is mostly internal to the organization. Database Information − Database information construes large quantities of information that has multiple usage and application. Such information is stored, retrieved and managed to create databases. For example, material specification or supplier information is stored for multiple users. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

MIS – System Development Life Cycle ”; Previous Next Like any other product development, system development requires careful analysis and design before implementation. System development generally has the following phases − Planning and Requirement Analysis The project planning part involves the following steps − Reviewing various project requests Prioritizing the project requests Allocating the resources Identifying the project development team The techniques used in information system planning are − Critical Success Factor Business System Planning End/Mean Analysis The requirement analysis part involves understanding the goals, processes and the constraints of the system for which the information system is being designed. It is basically an iterative process involving systematic investigation of the processes and requirements. The analyst creates a blueprint of the entire system in minute details, using various diagramming techniques like − Data flow diagrams Context diagrams Requirement analysis has the following sub-processes − Conducting preliminary investigation Performing detailed analysis activities Studying current system Determining user requirements Recommending a solution Defining Requirements The requirement analysis stage generally completes by creation of a ”Feasibility Report”. This report contains − A preamble A goal statement A brief description of the present system Proposed alternatives in details The feasibility report and the proposed alternatives help in preparing the costs and benefits study. Based on the costs and benefits, and considering all problems that may be encountered due to human, organizational or technological bottlenecks, the best alternative is chosen by the end-users of the system. Designing System Architecture System design specifies how the system will accomplish this objective. System design consists of both logical design and physical design activity, which produces ”system specification” satisfying system requirements developed in the system analysis stage. In this stage, the following documents are prepared − Detailed specification Hardware/software plan Building or Developing the System The most creative and challenging phase of the system life cycle is system design, which refers to the technical specifications that will be applied in implementing the candidate system. It also includes the construction of programmers and program testing. It has the following stages − Acquiring hardware and software, if necessary Database design Developing system processes Coding and testing each module The final report prior to implementation phase includes procedural flowcharts, record layout, report layout and plan for implementing the candidate system. Information on personnel, money, hardware, facility and their estimated cost must also be available. At this point projected cost must be close to actual cost of implementation. Testing the System System testing requires a test plan that consists of several key activities and steps for programs, strings, system, and user acceptance testing. The system performance criteria deals with turnaround time,backup,file protection and the human factors. Testing process focuses on both − The internal logic of the system/software, ensuring that all statements have been tested; The external functions, by conducting tests to find errors and ensuring that the defined input will actually produce the required results. In some cases, a ”parallel run” of the new system is performed, where both the current and the proposed system are run in parallel for a specified time period and the current system is used to validate the proposed system. Deployment of the System At this stage, system is put into production to be used by the end users. Sometime, we put system into a Beta stage where users” feedback is received and based on the feedback, the system is corrected or improved before a final release or official release of the system. System Evaluation and Maintenance Maintenance is necessary to eliminate the errors in the working system during its working life and to tune the system to any variation in its working environment. Often small system deficiencies are found, as system is brought into operation and changes are made to remove them. System planner must always plan for resources availability to carry on these maintenance functions. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

MIS – Information Need & Objective ”; Previous Next Information processing beyond doubt is the dominant industry of the present century. Following factors states few common factors that reflect on the needs and objectives of the information processing − Increasing impact of information processing for organizational decision making. Dependency of services sector including banking, financial organization, health care, entertainment, tourism and travel, education and numerous others on information. Changing employment scene world over, shifting base from manual agricultural to machine-based manufacturing and other industry related jobs. Information revolution and the overall development scenario. Growth of IT industry and its strategic importance. Strong growth of information services fuelled by increasing competition and reduced product life cycle. Need for sustainable development and quality life. Improvement in communication and transportation brought in by use of information processing. Use of information processing in reduction of energy consumption, reduction in pollution and a better ecological balance in future. Use of information processing in land record managements, legal delivery system, educational institutions, natural resource planning, customer relation management and so on. In a nutshell − Information is needed to survive in the modern competitive world. Information is needed to create strong information systems and keep these systems up to date. Implications of Information in Business Information processing has transformed our society in numerous ways. From a business perspective, there has been a huge shift towards increasingly automated business processes and communication. Access to information and capability of information processing has helped in achieving greater efficiency in accounting and other business processes. A complete business information system, accomplishes the following functionalities − Collection and storage of data. Transform these data into business information useful for decision making. Provide controls to safeguard data. Automate and streamline reporting. The following list summarizes the five main uses of information by businesses and other organizations − Planning − At the planning stage, information is the most important ingredient in decision making. Information at planning stage includes that of business resources, assets, liabilities, plants and machineries, properties, suppliers, customers, competitors, market and market dynamics, fiscal policy changes of the Government, emerging technologies, etc. Recording − Business processing these days involves recording information about each transaction or event. This information collected, stored and updated regularly at the operational level. Controlling − A business need to set up an information filter, so that only filtered data is presented to the middle and top management. This ensures efficiency at the operational level and effectiveness at the tactical and strategic level. Measuring − A business measures its performance metrics by collecting and analyzing sales data, cost of manufacturing, and profit earned. Decision-making − MIS is primarily concerned with managerial decision-making, theory of organizational behavior, and underlying human behavior in organizational context. Decision-making information includes the socio-economic impact of competition, globalization, democratization, and the effects of all these factors on an organizational structure. In short, this multi-dimensional information evolves from the following logical foundations − Operations research and management science Theory of organizational behavior Computer science − Data and file structure Data theory design and implementation Computer networking Expert systems and artificial intelligence Information theory Following factors arising as an outcome of information processing help speed up of business events and achieves greater efficiency − Directly and immediate linkage to the system Faster communication of an order Electronic transfer of funds for faster payment Electronically solicited pricing (helps in determining the best price) MIS Need for Information Systems Managers make decisions. Decision-making generally takes a four-fold path − Understanding the need for decision or the opportunity, Preparing alternative course of actions, Evaluating all alternative course of actions, Deciding the right path for implementation. MIS is an information system that provides information in the form of standardized reports and displays for the managers. MIS is a broad class of information systems designed to provide information needed for effective decision making. Data and information created from an accounting information system and the reports generated thereon are used to provide accurate, timely and relevant information needed for effective decision making by managers. Management information systems provide information to support management decision making, with the following goals − Pre-specified and preplanned reporting to managers. Interactive and ad-hoc support for decision making. Critical information for top management. MIS is of vital importance to any organization, because − It emphasizes on the management decision making, not only processing of data generated by business operations. It emphasizes on the systems framework that should be used for organizing information systems applications. 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MIS – Quality of Information ”; Previous Next Information is a vital resource for the success of any organization. Future of an organization lies in using and disseminating information wisely. Good quality information placed in right context in right time tells us about opportunities and problems well in advance. Good quality information − Quality is a value that would vary according to the users and uses of the information. According to Wang and Strong, following are the dimensions or elements of Information Quality − Intrinsic − Accuracy, Objectivity, Believability, Reputation Contextual − Relevancy, Value-Added, Timeliness, Completeness, Amount of information Representational − Interpretability, Format, Coherence, Compatibility Accessibility − Accessibility, Access security Various authors propose various lists of metrics for assessing the quality of information. Let us generate a list of the most essential characteristic features for information quality − Reliability − It should be verifiable and dependable. Timely − It must be current and it must reach the users well in time, so that important decisions can be made in time. Relevant − It should be current and valid information and it should reduce uncertainties. Accurate − It should be free of errors and mistakes, true, and not deceptive. Sufficient − It should be adequate in quantity, so that decisions can be made on its basis. Unambiguous − It should be expressed in clear terms. In other words, in should be comprehensive. Complete − It should meet all the needs in the current context. Unbiased − It should be impartial, free from any bias. In other words, it should have integrity. Explicit − It should not need any further explanation. Comparable − It should be of uniform collection, analysis, content, and format. Reproducible − It could be used by documented methods on the same data set to achieve a consistent result. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

MIS – Quick Guide ”; Previous Next Basic Information Concepts Information can be defined as meaningfully interpreted data. If we give you a number 1-212-290-4700, it does not make any sense on its own. It is just a raw data. However if we say Tel: +1-212-290-4700, it starts making sense. It becomes a telephone number. If I gather some more data and record it meaningfully like − Address: 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA Tel: +1-212-290-4700 Fax: +1-212-736-1300 It becomes a very useful information – the address of New York office of Human Rights Watch, a non-profit, non-governmental human rights organization. So, from a system analyst”s point of view, information is a sequence of symbols that can be construed to a useful message. An Information System is a system that gathers data and disseminates information with the sole purpose of providing information to its users. The main object of an information system is to provide information to its users. Information systems vary according to the type of users who use the system. A Management Information System is an information system that evaluates, analyzes, and processes an organization”s data to produce meaningful and useful information based on which the management can take right decisions to ensure future growth of the organization. Information Definition According to Wikipedia − “Information can be recorded as signs, or transmitted as signals. Information is any kind of event that affects the state of a dynamic system that can interpret the information. Conceptually, information is the message (utterance or expression) being conveyed. Therefore, in a general sense, information is “Knowledge communicated or received, concerning a particular fact or circumstance”. Information cannot be predicted and resolves uncertainty.” Information Vs Data Data can be described as unprocessed facts and figures. Plain collected data as raw facts cannot help in decision-making. However, data is the raw material that is organized, structured, and interpreted to create useful information systems. Data is defined as ”groups of non-random symbols in the form of text, images, voice representing quantities, action and objects”. Information is interpreted data; created from organized, structured, and processed data in a particular context. According to Davis and Olson − “Information is a data that has been processed into a form that is meaningful to recipient and is of real or perceived value in the current or the prospective action or decision of recipient.” Information, Knowledge and Business Intelligence Professor Ray R. Larson of the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley, provides an Information Hierarchy, which is − Data − The raw material of information. Information − Data organized and presented by someone. Knowledge − Information read, heard, or seen, and understood. Wisdom − Distilled and integrated knowledge and understanding. Scott Andrews” explains Information Continuum as follows − Data − A Fact or a piece of information, or a series thereof. Information − Knowledge discerned from data. Business Intelligence − Information Management pertaining to an organization”s policy or decision-making, particularly when tied to strategic or operational objectives. Information/Data Collection Techniques The most popular data collection techniques include − Surveys − A questionnaires is prepared to collect the data from the field. Secondary data sources or archival data: Data is collected through old records, magazines, company website etc. Objective measures or tests − An experimental test is conducted on the subject and the data is collected. Interviews − Data is collected by the system analyst by following a rigid procedure and collecting the answers to a set of pre-conceived questions through personal interviews. MIS – Classification of Information Information can be classified in a number of ways and in this chapter, you will learn two of the most important ways to classify information. Classification by Characteristic Based on Anthony”s classification of Management, information used in business for decision-making is generally categorized into three types − Strategic Information − Strategic information is concerned with long term policy decisions that defines the objectives of a business and checks how well these objectives are met. For example, acquiring a new plant, a new product, diversification of business etc, comes under strategic information. Tactical Information − Tactical information is concerned with the information needed for exercising control over business resources, like budgeting, quality control, service level, inventory level, productivity level etc. Operational Information − Operational information is concerned with plant/business level information and is used to ensure proper conduction of specific operational tasks as planned/intended. Various operator specific, machine specific and shift specific jobs for quality control checks comes under this category. Classification by Application In terms of applications, information can be categorized as − Planning Information − These are the information needed for establishing standard norms and specifications in an organization. This information is used in strategic, tactical, and operation planning of any activity. Examples of such information are time standards, design standards. Control Information − This information is needed for establishing control over all business activities through feedback mechanism. This information is used for controlling attainment, nature and utilization of important processes in a system. When such information reflects a deviation from the established standards, the system should induce a decision or an action leading to control. Knowledge Information − Knowledge is defined as “information about information”. Knowledge information is acquired through experience and learning, and collected from archival data and research studies. Organizational Information − Organizational information deals with an organization”s environment, culture in the light of its objectives. Karl Weick”s Organizational Information Theory emphasizes that an organization reduces its equivocality or uncertainty by collecting, managing and using these information prudently. This information is used by everybody in the organization; examples of such information are employee and payroll information. Functional/Operational Information − This is operation specific information. For example, daily schedules in a manufacturing plant that refers to the detailed assignment of jobs to machines or machines to operators. In a service oriented business, it would be the duty roster of various personnel. This information is mostly internal to the organization. Database

MIS – Enterprise Application Integration ”; Previous Next An organization may use various information systems − Supply Chain Management − For managing suppliers, inventory and shipping, etc. Human Resource Management − For managing personnel, training and recruiting talents; Employee Health Care − For managing medical records and insurance details of employees; Customer Relationship Management − For managing current and potential customers; Business Intelligence Applications − For finding the patterns from existing data from business operations. All these systems work as individual islands of automation. Most often these systems are standalone and do not communicate with each other due to incompatibility issues such as − Operating systems they are residing on; Database system used in the system; Legacy systems not supported anymore. EAI is an integration framework, a middleware, made of a collection of technologies and services that allows smooth integration of all such systems and applications throughout the enterprise and enables data sharing and more automation of business processes. Characteristics of EAI EAI is defined as “the unrestricted sharing of data and business processes among any connected applications and data sources in the enterprise.” EAI, when used effectively allows integration without any major changes to current infrastructure. Extends middleware capabilities to cope with application integration. Uses application logic layers of different middleware systems as building blocks. Keeps track of information related to the operations of the enterprise e.g. Inventory, sales ledger and execute the core processes that create and manipulate this information. Need for Enterprise-wise Integration Unrestricted sharing of data and business processes across an organization. Linkage between customers, suppliers and regulators. The linking of data, business processes and applications to automate business processes. Ensure consistent qualities of service (security, reliability etc.). Reduce the on-going cost of maintenance and reduce the cost of rolling out new systems. Challenges of EAI Hub and spoke architecture concentrates all of the processing into a single server/cluster. Often became hard to maintain and evolve efficiently. Hard to extend to integrate 3rd parties on other technology platforms. The canonical data model introduces an intermediary step. Added complexity and additional processing effort. EAI products typified. Heavy customization required to implement the solution. Lock-In − Often built using proprietary technology and required specialist skills. Lack of flexibility − Hard to extend or to integrate with other EAI products! Requires organization to be EAI ready. Types of EAI Data Level − Process, techniques and technology of moving data between data stores. Application Interface Level − Leveraging of interfaces exposed by custom or packaged applications. Method Level − Sharing of the business logic. User Interface Level − Packaging applications by using their user interface as a common point of integration. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

MIS – Useful Resources ”; Previous Next The following resources contain additional information on Management Information System. Please use them to get more in-depth knowledge on this topic. Useful Video Courses AWS CodePipeline Videocourse: The Beginners Edition 19 Lectures 47 mins Pedro Planas More Detail Apache Flink; Basic Video Course 18 Lectures 44 mins Pedro Planas More Detail Learn Apache Camel For DUMMIES 18 Lectures 44 mins Pedro Planas More Detail Econometrics: The Videocourse 18 Lectures 45 mins Pedro Planas More Detail Reactive.js: The Videocourse For DUMMIES 18 Lectures 44 mins Pedro Planas More Detail SaaS Videcourse: Learn It Easy 18 Lectures 44 mins Pedro Planas More Detail Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

MIS – Strategic Business Objectives ”; Previous Next Strategic planning for an organization involves long-term policy decisions, like location of a new plant, a new product, diversification etc. Strategic planning is mostly influenced by − Decision of diversification i.e., expansion or integration of business Market dynamics, demand and supply Technological changes Competitive forces Various other threats, challenges and opportunities Strategic planning sets targets for the workings and references for taking such long-term policy decisions and transforms the business objectives into functional and operational units. Strategic planning generally follows one of the four-way paths − Overall Company Strategy Growth orientation Product orientation Market orientation In this chapter, let us discuss the Strategic Business Objectives of MIS with regards to the following aspects of a business − Operational Excellence New Products, Services and Business Models Services and Business Models Customer and Supplier Intimacy Improved Decision-making Competitive Advantage, and Survival Operational Excellence This relates to achieving excellence in business in operations to achieve higher profitability. For example, a consumer goods manufacturer may decide upon using a wide distribution network to get maximum reach to the customers and exposure. A manufacturing company may pursue a strategy of aggressive marketing and mass production. New Products, Services, and Business Models This is part of growth strategy of an organization. A new product or a new service introduced, with a very fast growth potential provides a mean for steady growth business turnover. With the help of information technology, a company might even opt for an entirely new business model, which will allow it to establish, consolidate and maintain a leadership in the existing market as well as provide a competitive edge in the industry. For example, a company selling low priced detergent may opt for producing higher range detergents for washing machines, washing soaps, and bath soaps. It involves market strategies also that includes planning for distribution, advertisement, market research and other related aspects. Customer and Supplier Intimacy When a Business really knows their Customers and serves them well, ”the way they want to be served”, the Customers generally respond by returning and buying more from the firm. It raises revenues and profits. Likewise with Suppliers, the more a Business engages its Suppliers, the better the Suppliers can provide vital information. This will lower the cost and bring huge improvements in the supply-chain management. Improved Decision Making A very important pre-requisite of strategic planning is to provide the right information at the right time to the right person, for making an informed decision. Well planned Information Systems and technologies make it possible for the decision makers to use real-time data from the marketplace when making informed decisions. Competitive Advantage and Survival The following list illustrates some of the strategic planning that provides competitive advantage and survival − Planning for an overall growth for the company. Thorough market research to understand the market dynamics involving demand-supply. Various policies that will dominate the course and movement of business. Expansion and diversification to conquer new markets. Choosing a perfect product strategy that involves either expanding a family of products or an associated product. Strategies for choosing the market, distribution, pricing, advertising, packing, and other market-oriented strategies. Strategies driven by industry-level changes or Government regulations. Strategies for change management. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;