1. Introduction
A management information system (MIS)
can be defined as a system that::
- Provie information to support managerial function like planning, organizing, directing, and contolling.
- Includes files, hardware, software and operation research models of processing, storing, retieving and transmitting information to the users.
-
· Collect information in a systematic and routine manner which is in accordance with a well defined set of rules.
A management information system (MIS) is a
part of overall business internal controls including people, documents,
technologies, and procedures by management accountants to solving business
problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide strategy.
Management information systems are different from regular information systems
as they are used to analyze other information systems and applied in
operational activities of the organization.
An effective MIS has the following
objectives:
- Facilitate the decision – making process by furnishing information in the proper time frame. This helps the decision – maker to select the best course of action.
- Provide requisite information at each level of management to carry out their functions.
- Help in highlighting the critical factors to the closely monitored for successful functioning of the organization.
- Support decision-making in both structured and unstructured problem environments.
- Provide a system of people, computers, procedures, interactive query facilities, documents for collecting, sorting, retrieving and transmitting information to the users.
2. Role Of Management Information System
The role of the MIS in an organization
can be compared to the role of heart in the body. The information is the blood
and MIS is the heart. In the body the heart plays the role of supplying pure
blood to all the elements of the body including the brain. The heart work
faster and supplies more blood when needed. It regulates and controls the
incoming impure blood, processed it and sends it to the destination in the
quantity needed. It fulfills the needs of blood supply to human body in normal
course and also in crisis.
The MIS plays exactly the same role in
the organization. The system ensures that an appropriate data is collected from
the various sources, processed and send further to all the needy destinations.
The system is expected to fulfill the information needs of an individual, a
group of individuals, the management functionaries: the managers and top
management.
Here are some of the important roles of
the MIS:
·
The MIS satisfies the diverse needs
through variety of systems such as query system, analysis system, modeling
system and decision support system.
·
The MIS helps in strategic planning,
management control, operational control and transaction processing. The MIS
helps in the clerical personal in the transaction processing and answers the
queries on the data pertaining to the transaction, the status of a particular
record and reference on a variety of documents.
·
The MIS helps the junior management
personnel by providing the operational data for planning, scheduling and
control , and helps them further in decision-making at the operation level to
correct an out of control situation.
·
The MIS helps the middle management in
short term planning, target setting and controlling the business functions. It
is supported by the use of the management tools of planning and control.
·
The MIS helps the top level management
in goal setting, strategic planning and evolving the business plans and their
implementation.
·
The MIS plays the role of information
generation, communication, problem identification and helps in the process of
decision-making. The MIS, therefore, plays a vital role in the management,
administration and operation of an organization.
3. Importance Of Management Information
System
It goes without saying that all managerial
functions are performed through decision-making; for taking rational decision,
timely and reliable information is essential and is procured through a logical
and well structured method of information collecting, processing and
disseminating to decision makers. Such a method in the field of management is
widely known as MIS. In today’s world of ever increasing complexities of
business as well as business organization, in order to service and grow , must
have a properly planned, analyzed, designed and maintained MIS so that it
provides timely, reliable and useful information to enable the management to
take speedy and rational decisions.
MIS has assumed all the more important
role in today’s environment because a manager has to take decisions under two
main challenges:
·
First, because of the liberalization
and globalization, in which organizations are required to compete not locally
but globally, a manager has to take quick decisions, otherwise his business
will be taken away by his competitors. This has further enhanced the necessity
for such a system.
·
Second, in this information age wherein
information is doubling up every two or three years, a manager has to process a
large voluminous data; failing which he may end up taking a strong decision
that may prove to be very costly to the company.
In such a situation managers must be
equipped with some tools or a system, which can assist them in their
challenging role of decision-making. It is because of the above cited reasons,
that today MIS is considered to be of permanent importance, sometimes regarded
as the name centre of an organization. Such system assist decision makers in
organizations by providing information at various stages of decision making and
thus greatly help the organizations to achieve their predetermined goals and
objectives. On the other hand, the MIS which is not adequately planned for
analyzed, designed, implemented or is poorly maintained may provide developed
inaccurate, irrelevant or obsolete information which may prove fatal for the
organization. In other words, organizations today just cannot survive and grow
without properly planned, designed, implemented and maintained MIS. It has been
well understood that MIS enables even small organizations to more than offset
the economies of scale enjoyed by their bigger competitors and thus helps in
providing a competitive edge over other organizations.
Refference :
