Introduction to Management information systems

It is well known fact that organizations grow in level and also in their complexity of functioning. Tremendous amount of information is generated ever year, most of it goes into the archives without any reference to it the future. Also information which is needed by the organization for different applications is not possible to be made available at the right time at the right level. MIS is considered as one such method of generating information which is used by management of organization for decision making , control of activities, operations etc.

Learning Objective
After going through this unit, student will be able to understand i) the basics of MIS. ii) the role and significance of MIS in business, types and its classification iii) the impact of MIS on business iv) the phases of development in MIS v) managers view of the information system and vi) the hardware support needed

Brief about MIS origin

During the period of preindustrial revolution most of the data processing was done manually. It was after the industrial revolution that the computers slowly started replacing manual labour. The modern digital computer was basically designed to handle scientific calculations. During the period 1940 to 1960 computers were commercially used for census and payroll work. This involved large amount of data and its processing. Since then the commercial application exceeded the scientific applications for which the computer were mainly intended for. MIS is an Information system which helps in providing the management of an organization with information which is used by management for decision making.
Management Information System Unit 1 Why MIS

Impact of MIS MIS has a major impact on the functions of any organization. The organization derives benefits from the systems in the following form: a) speedy access to information,

b) interpretation of data, c) quick decisions, d) speedy actions, e) increased productivity and thereby increase in the profit f) reduced transaction cost The usage of Electronic media for data storage and processing the data is an integral part of MIS. The texts and images in electronic forms are effective in communicating ideas from source to destination. It is technology driven in the sense it revolves around wireless electronic gadgets, internet, money cards credits cards , debit cards, id cards, atm cards etc. MIS is very significant in modern day education system where we come across usage of LCDs, Smart boards, internet etc in class rooms. In the tourism MIS has led to radical changes in booking system, tourist information system, hotel facilities, accommodation facilities, transportation modes available, images of the facilities that could be provided etc.

Impact of MIS in different areas Transformation stage manual systems to automated systems The manual system which was prevalent in the organizations before industrial revolution was slowly transformed into digital form by means of computer and related electronic instruments. A transformation had to necessarily go through the following stagesa) appraisal of the procedures b) types of documents c) storage systems d) formulations and coding e) verification and validation f) review g) documentation