why MIS? is it Approriate in IT?

Management Information System (MIS)

Actually MIS is the term given on a discipline that focuses on the integration of computer system with aims and objectives on a organization. This term was being elaborated by Dr. Daniel F. Duran in his article entitled "INTRODUCTION TO MIS". His statement goes like this:

What is "Management Information Systems (MIS)"?
• Field Began in Early 80s
• MIS bridges the gap between end-users and technical staffs (e.g. programmers)
• Consider the three key words (management, information, & systems) that have
significant implications:
Management:
o Managing resources that include people, machinery (technology and computers),
money, and time, etc.
You have to consider three managerial factors together in MIS: effectiveness, efficiency and
profitability.
o Effectiveness – how well a firm is pursuing a goal or objective of its business; for
instance, providing quality product/service can be a business goal that is usually
stated in a firm's mission statement; Management by objective (MBO), etc.
o Efficiency – best use of resources, a synonym is productivity = output divided by
input. Productivity is measured in general by a ratio of OUTPUT to INPUT.
Here, output indicates revenue, market share, etc., while input indicates labor, raw
materials, administrative costs, operations costs, and IT related costs.
o Profitability - The empirical studies in the IS literature have reported that on the
contrary to the management's belief, there exists no significant difference in the
profitability between before and after the new IS implementation. In other words,
the new IS does not make significant profitability increase whatsoever. In
general, the bottom line in any business is the profitability. If it does not enhance
the profitability, then what is a point to go through all the trouble to
develop/implement a new IS? Using IT is not the perfect solution for every
business situation. Whenever a new IT or information systems (IS) are
implemented, additional costs incur. They can be costs related to hardware,
software, training, maintenance, etc. Therefore, the cost-benefit analysis should
be conducted prior to a new systems implementation.
Information
o Relates to the computer; refers to knowledge.
o Data are a source for the information. If the data are processed in a meaningful
way, they become "information." Here, IT can contribute. Information can be
extracted easily through IT (e.g. computer) if data are properly processed.
Therefore, the second word in M.I.S. indicates IT or computer.
o Of course, information can be obtained by a primitive way such as manual
sorting, etc. by a clerk. Using IT definitely outperform any other means in
history, in terms of processing data.
Systems
o If a nice system is made, it is self running which leads to reducing the people
necessary to the business process.
o Systems Theory, Systems approach
o Systematically doing business
o Systems comes from systems theory that stresses the importance of systems
approach to problem-solving and a structured way to control and adjust
automatically. Computer programmers and software engineers/developers
realized it was only way to reduce a possibility of encountering errors later in the
systems development process.
o When you construct a new/better system for the current business
operations/decision-making process, you don't want to make a computer program
based on the current business way. Instead, you develop a new model after
serious analysis of the current system, so later can save resource in terms of time
and money by avoiding a possible mistake/error. Therefore, business process
reengineering (BPR) is unthinkable without a sound understanding of systems
theory/concepts.
• MIS is a field of science that studies on (1) how better we can manage technologies (2)
how better we can design information systems, in order to enhance a firm's effectiveness,
efficiency and profitability.
• MIS is a new subject in the last ten to fifteen years. The idea is still being researched
since the concept is being evolved. A teacher's bias has a large impact on this type of
subject.

Reference: http://ask.reference.com/related/Introduction+to+MIS?qsrc=2892&l=dir&o=10601

The thing that being elaborated by Dr. Daniel is actually the part or the role of MIS in the industry, particularly on the Information System (IS). He said that, it simply composed of three major elements, which are management, information and systems which coincides on what you have tackled on my co - classmates last meeting, the class that I've missed. So the definition of MIS nis for good, and well explained by the said doctor.

Now, lets go back to the main question which is "Does it approriate on the subject course outline?"...

Absolutely yes! The whole thing about MIS struct the main thought in IT course! Not only for it's terms and use, but the function as well. At the top, one line states that we IT professionals someday, serve as the bridge between end - users and technical staffs, therefore, MIS really is one of the key on how our work or role will be play in the industry. We may have differ in some disciplines, like major subjects and applications but one thing is for sure, MIS do it's part of helping us in communication using systems as well as managing the consumer concerns. For me, as a student as of now, MIS really helps us in many ways, one reason is that, it opens more opportunities on exploring more ideas outside the mind and inside the modern technology of internet. Second is that through this disciplines, it bring us more awareness on how business works technically using information system in open world of cyber areas. And finally, this subject and description of Management Information System allows us to think more deeper and spends most of our time dealing with information concerns. But, like in other disciplines, MIS also have advantages and disadvantages. One define this term in some manner, it goes like this:

A Management Information System (MIS) converts data from internal and external sources into information. This information is communicated in an appropriate form to managers at different levels in a business to enable them to make effective decisions for:

• planning,
• directing,
• forecasting,
• coordinating,
• controlling

activities for which they are responsible.

A MIS uses a database system relying on data from one or more databases. The data is usually held in the computer as a result of normal data processing activities.

The information provided by the MIS should be:

• reliable,
• consistent,
• appropriate to the level of management,
• accurate,
• timely,
• precise - provided at a suitable level of detail,
• clearly understandable,
• regular.

It is likely to fall into the following categories:

• financial information,
• operational information,
• marketing information.

The information provided can fall into three main types:

1. strategic,
2. tactical,
3. operational.

STRATEGIC INFORMATION

Used by:

• senior managers, eg. directors and chief executives in a business,
• head teacher and governors in a school or college,
• directors of a charity,
• hospital administrators.

Used to:

• allow long-term planning,
• provide an over-view of the operation of the whole organisation, so that an assessment can be made of how well objectives have been met,
• compare costs and profits with forecasts.

Information at this level can be varied in both content and timing; external data sources will be important.

TACTICAL INFORMATION

Used by:

• middle managers, department heads,
• regional managers,
• functional managers.

Used to:

• monitor performance,
• make forecasts,
• controlling the business.

Information usually prepared on a routine basis, weekly or monthly

OPERATIONAL INFORMATION

Used by:

• operational managers,
• supervisors,
• branch managers.

Used for:

• organising staffing rotas,
• monitor sales,
• assessing when and what to re-order.

Information is usually very detailed and provided regularly and often, eg. daily.

ADVANTAGES OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Use of MIS leads to;

1. improvements in price/performance ratios,
2. a more relevant service for customers,
3. a better quality service for customers,
4. bigger profits for MIS users,
5. more accurate sales data,
6. better marketing information,
7. better trend-information on profits.

DISADVANTAGES OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

MIS can suffer from these problems;

1. lack of terminals for staff to use,
2. insufficient storage for the volume of data,
3. lack of operational support,
4. training issues,
5. maintenance issues,
6. bottlenecks in interfacing between the data and the user,
7. staff ignorance of the capabilities of the MIS,
8. inadequate security,
9. inadequate expansion capability.

Reference : http://www.flaxcottage.freeserve.co.uk/~ict/mis/mis_intro.htm

Finally, whatever it is, MIS really is on the right path concerning to us IT students.