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Spring 2011

Bachelor of Business Administration-BBA Semester II BB0007 Management Information Systems 2 Credits (Book ID: B0048) Assignment Set- 1 (30 Marks)
Note: Each question carries 10 Marks. Answer all the questions. Q.1 Explain the impact of MIS on HRIS with a neat diagram [10 Marks] Answer: Human resource information system (HRIS) is a system that supports planning, control, coordination, administration and management of human resources of organisations. HRIS also includes a large number of subsystems that address the information needs of various human resource functions. They provide managers with information, policies, and procedures concerning recruiting, layoffs, employee evaluation, promotion, termination, transfer, salary equity monitoring, job descriptions and responsibilities, training etc. Since HRIS also facilitate vital information on matters such as payroll, central and state taxes, health benefits, child care, grievance procedures, and other personal information that affects the employees personal and professional lives, it is imperative that these systems be highly responsive to employee needs. The HRIS is derived from the strategic business plan, the strategic human resources plan, and the strategic information plan as shown below

Impact of MIS Since MIS plays a very important role in the organisation, it creates an impact on the organisations functions, performance and productivity. The impact of MIS on the functions is in its management. With a good MIS support, the management of marketing, finance, production and personnel becomes more sufficient. The tracking and monitoring of the functional targets become easy. The functional managers are informed about the progress, achievements and shortfalls in the activity & targets. The manager is kept alert by providing certain information indicating the probable trends in the various aspects of business. This helps in forecasting and long term perspective planning. The managers attention is brought to a situation which is exceptional in nature, inducing him to take action or a decision in the matter. A disciplined information reporting system creates a structured database and a knowledge base for all the people in the organisation. The information is available in such a form that it can be used straight away or by blending and analysis, saving the manager, some valuable time. MIS creates another impact in the organisation, which relates to the understanding of the business itself. MIS begins with the definition of a data entity and its attributes. It uses a dictionary of data, entity and attributes respectively, designed for information generation in the organisation. Since all information systems use the dictionary, there is common understanding of terms and terminology in the organisation bringing clarity in communication and also a similar understanding of an event in the organisation. MIS calls for systemization of the business operations for an effective system design. This leads to streamlining of the operations, which complicate the system design. It improves the administration of the business by bringing a discipline in its operations, as everybody is required to follow and use systems and procedures. This process brings a high degree of professionalism in the business objectives. Since the goals and objectives of MIS are the products of business goals and objectives, it helps indirectly to pull the entire organisation in one direction towards the corporate goals and objectives by providing the relevant information to the people in the organisation.

A well designed system with a focus on the manager makes an impact on the managerial efficiency. The fund of information motivates an enlightened manager to use a variety of the tools of management. It helps him to resort to exercises such as experimentation and modeling. The use of computers enables him to use the tools and techniques, which are impossible to use manually. The ready made packages make this task simpler. The impact is on the managerial ability to perform. It improves the decision making ability considerably.

Q.2 a. Explain the basic steps of the control process with a neat diagram [5 Marks] b. Consider an example of your own business and explain the characteristics of MIS with respect to your example. [5 Marks] Answer: a. Planning, organizing, directing and controlling are the various steps in the management process. All steps prior to a control are necessary but are not necessarily self assuring the results unless it is followed by a strong control mechanism. Management experts have viewed these steps as management control system. A definition of control is the process through which managers assure that actual activities conform to the planned activities, leading to the achievement of the stated common goals. The control process measures a progress towards those goals, and enables the manager to detect the deviations from the original plan in time to take corrective actions before it is too late. The basic steps of the control process are shown in figure below:

The management is a systematic effort to set the performance standards in line with the performance objectives, to design the information feedback systems, to compare the actual performance with these predetermined standards, to identify the deviations from the standards, to measure its significance and to take corrective actions in case of significant deviations. This systematic effort is undertaken through the management control system. A reliable and effective control system has the following features:

(a) Early warning mechanism: This is a mechanism of predicting the possibility of achieving the goals and standards before it is too late and allowing the manager to take corrective actions. (b) Performance standard: The performance standard must be measurable and acceptable to all the organisations. The system should have meaningful standards relating to the work areas, responsibility, managerial functions and so on. (c) Strategic controls: In every business, there are strategic areas of control known as the critical success factors. The system should recognise them and have controls instituted on them. (d) Feedback: The control system would be effective, if it continuously monitors the performance and sends the information to the control center for action. It should not only highlight the progress but also the deviations. (e) Accurately and timely: The feedback should be accurate in terms of results and should be communicated on time for corrective action. (f) Realistic: The system should be realistic so that the cost of control is far less than the benefits. The standards are realistic and are believed as achievable. Sufficient incentive and rewards are to be provided to motivate the people. (g) Information flow: The system should have the information flow aligned with the organisation structure and the decision makers should ensure that the right people get the right information for action and decision making. (h) Exception principle: The system should selectively approve some significant deviations from the performance standards on the principle of management by exception. b. Characteristics of MIS in my business: (a) Management oriented: The system is designed from the top to work downwards. It does not mean that the system is designed to provide information directly to the top management. Other levels of management are also provided with relevant information. For example, in the marketing information system, the activities such as sales order processing, shipment of goods to customers and billing for the goods are basically operational control activities. This information can also be tracked by a salesman, to know the sales territory, size of order, geography and product line, provided the system has been designed accordingly. However, if the system is designed keeping in mind the top management, then data on external competition, market and pricing can be created to know the market share of the company's product and to serve as a basis of a new product or market place introduction. (b) Management directed: Because of management orientation of MIS, it is necessary For complete answer visit www.studenthelp.tk

Q.3 a. Explain the conversion process of data with a diagram. [3 Marks] b. Explain the different components of IRM [4 Marks] c. Explain how you would make the best utilization of the 6 steps of processing a transaction in your company. [3 Marks] Spring 2011

Answer: a. The conversion process of data into decision is shown in the figure below. From the above figure, it is clear that information consists of data that has been retrieved, processed or otherwise used, for informative purposes. Information contains an element of surprise, reduces uncertainty and triggers off action. For planning, information requirements of decision makers can be classified into three types: (1) Environmental Information: Environmental information requirement can be further classified and described as follows: (a) Government policies: Information about Government policies or financial and tax affairs, political stability, etc. is required and may have a significant effect on future planning decisions. (b) Economic trends : It includes information about (i) economic indicators like employment, productivity, capital investment; (ii) prices and wage levels which affect all regardless of product or services; (iii) GNP level, trend and consumer disposable income. (c) Technological environment: The information on technological changes or advancements is necessary for forecasting such changes in the firm and their probable effects on the same. It is also desirable to assess the effect of technical changes on new products and processes. (d) Factors of production: These include information about the source, cost, location, availability, accessibility and productivity of the major factors of production such as (i) labour (ii) materials and spare parts (iii) capital. (2) Competitive Information: Competitive information requirement can be classified and described as follows: (a) Industry demand: This refers to the demand forecast of the industry for the product For complete answer visit www.studenthelp.tk (3) Internal Information: It is the by-product of the normal operations of a business. Generally, it is historical or static in nature; internal information is aimed at identification of the firm's strengths and weaknesses. It includes the following: (a) Sales forecast: Since all other internal plans of the firm are guided by the sales plan, it is considered as the dominant planning premise internal to the firm. (b) Financial plan: Information on financial or budget plan is important because it represents a quantitative and time bound commitment about the allocation of total resources like employees, plant, materials, overheads, administrative expenses of the firm. It provides information about a number of sub-plans of the firm and it acts as an important link between all activities of the firm.

(c) Supply factors: Information concerning availability and limitations of certain supply factors such as labour, capital, plant and equipment is important as these factors play a vital role in developing the financial and subsidiary plans for achieving firm's objectives. (d) Policies: Long-term basic policies on product range, marketing, finance and about personnel do not permit flexibility in developing alternative courses of action in the short run. b. Explain the different components of IRM : There are 3 general components of an IRM and are as shown below:

(a) Data Processing: In the traditional system environment, information resources are synonymous with data processing. In organisations where Information has a broader charter, data processing systems continues to play a significant role. Development of major applications, ongoing operations of production systems, operation of the corporate database and cost control over major system expenditures are part of data processing. (b) Telecommunications: Traditionally, data communications have been the responsibility of the data processing operations while the voice communications were assigned elsewhere. The advances in communications technology support corporate wide communications capabilities that integrate voice and data communications. Data communications are also integral component of both data processing and office automation applications. (c) Office automation: This component typically began as the word processing function under the responsibility of office administrators. Intelligent workstations integrate word processing with data processing and frequently involve access to the corporate database. Local area networks and wide area communications are key components for integrating office automation functions and providing access to data processing facilities. c. Explain how you would make the best utilization of the 6 steps of processing a transaction in your company. For complete answer visit www.studenthelp.tk

can be internal or external. When a department orders office supplies from the purchasing department, an internal transaction occurs. When a customer places an order for a product, an external transaction occurs. Transaction processing systems exist for various functional areas in an organisation such as finance, accounting, manufacturing etc. Data must be processed to become useful information. All information systems involve three primary activities. They receive the data as input, they process the data by performing calculations by combining data elements etc and they provide information as output. Thus an information system receives data, processes data and transforms this data into information. There are 6 steps in processing a transaction. (a) data entry (b) data validation (c) processing and revalidation (d) storage (e) output generation (f) query support (a) Data entry: Transaction data must be first entered into the system. A number of input devices exist for data entry and this includes the keyboard and the mouse. The documents generated at the source / point where the transaction occurs are called For complete answer visit www.studenthelp.tk

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