MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

CIVIL ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT

LECTURER: MR. HILLARY BAKAMWESIGA

GROUP V

NAME REG NO SIGNATURE

Joy Kirinda 07/U/457
Morris Orwenyo 07/U/477
Hillary Mutungi 07/U/469
Noah Ndugga 07/U/13862/PSA
Graham Tumwesigye 07/U/480
Alson Madrar 07/U/998
Francis Obonyo 07/U/14249/PSA
Paul Ntungwa 07/U/475
Norbert Busobozi 07/U/7623/PS
George Nsanja 07/U/16324/PS
Ronald Jjombwe 07/U/8125/PS
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

1.0 Definitions

An information system (IS) is any combination of information technology and people's

activities using that technology to support operations, management, and decision-making.

Information system may also be used to refer to the interaction between people, algorithmic
processes, data and technology. In this sense, the term is used to refer not only to the
information and communication technology (ICT) an organization uses, but also to the way in
which people interact with this technology in support of business processes

Information Systems are coordination devices concerned with the strategic, managerial and
operational activities involved in the gathering, processing, storing, distributing and use of
information, and its associated technologies, in society and organizations.

An information system is a special type of work system. A work system is a system in which
humans and/or machines perform work using resources (including ICT) to produce specific
products and/or services for customers. An information system is a work system whose
activities are devoted to processing information.

A management information system (MIS) is a system or process that provides the

information necessary to manage an organization effectively. MIS and the information it
generates are generally considered essential components of prudent and reasonable
management decisions. (Comptroller’s handbook 1995)

The role of a management information system is to convert data from internal and external
sources into information that can be used to aid in making effective decisions for planning,
directing and controlling.

Management Information Systems are designed to help managers monitor and control
organisational performance, and plan for the future.

The five classical functions of a manager are:

(a.) Planning – the direction a company takes e.g. diversifying, where to operate.
(b.) Organizing - resources such as people, space, equipment and services.
(c.) Coordinating - the activities of various departments.
(d.) Decision-making - about the organisation, products or services made or sold, the
employees, use of I.T.
(e.) Controlling - monitoring and supervising the activities of others.

The role of a management information system (MIS) is to provide a manager with

sufficient information to make informed decisions to help him to carry out the above
functions. This information is communicated in an appropriate form to managers at different
levels, enabling them to make effective decisions for planning, directing and controlling
activities for which they are responsible.

2.0 Functional Aspects of a Management Information System

A Management information system is an intergrated collection of Functional information

systems each supporting a paticular functional area:
Discussed below are some of the Functional systems in Management Information system

1. Financial Management Information System:

This is referred to as a system that accumulates and analyses financial data in order to
make good financial Management decisions in running the business. The basic objective
of a Financial Information system is to meet the firm’s financial obligations as they come
due, using the minimal amount of financial resources consistent with an established
margin of safety. Out puts generated by the system include accounting reports, operatring
and capital budgets, working capital reports, cash flow forecast and various analysis
reports
2. Construction Management Information System:
This is designed specifically for use in the construction sector, it helps firms to build a
strategic tool which functions at every stage of construction process that is to say from
gathering and analysing information for projects to developing construction strategies
through a totally integrated information system. It enables firms to efficiently, respond
quickly to rapid technology changes, reduce time-to-market, adapt to shorter project
cycles and develop high quality custom designs. Therefore, it provides competitive
advantages through time based competition across projects.
3. Marketing MIS:
This refers to a system in which marketing information is formally gathered, stored,
analysed and distributed to managers in accord with their information needs on a regular
basis. It also relates to a set of procedures and practices employed in analyzing and
assessing marketing information, gathered continously from sources inside and outside of
a firm. It supports managerial activities in Product development, distibution, pricing
decisions and promotional effectiveness. For example Marketing Managers use
Marketing intelligence systems to shift information from the environment that they can
use in their decision making, this could be achieved through say Informal Searches where
a fairly limited and unstructured attempts are made to obtain information for a specific
purpose. A good example of this is when a marketing manager of a firm considering
entering the business of importing frozen fish from a neighbouring country may make
informal inquiries as to prices and demand levels of frozen and fresh fish.
4. Human Resources MIS:
This is concerned with all activities related to employees with in an organisation. This
system helps a Manager keep track of all his employees and information about them. It is
usually done in a datbase or, often, in a series of inter-related databases. The system may
include some of the following: employee name, department, jod title, grade, salary
 history, date of birth disabilities, benefits selected and more. Some systems track tra
applicants before they become employees.
The primary advantage of a Human Resource Information system is that it creates a
single point for data entry and for retrieval and analysis in a common format. When, for
example, the Human Resource department applies a premium change to benefits, that
information is instantly available to the Payroll department. This change is automatically
reflected in payroll deductions — without any transmitting, transferring, or exporting of
files.

Figure 1 diagramatic representation of functional systems

3.0 Levels of Information

When decisions have to be made, the time taken to make a decision depends very much on
the level at which it is made. There are three main levels:

I. Recording of data related

related to the support functions. This level gives the
following information;

Sales data and sales orders

Purchasing information

Accounts and payroll information

Information regarding the business plans, risk registers etc

Client information often linked to a Customer Relationship Management CRM
module

II. Performance Monitoring. Here the information obtained includes;

This would often include production information

Location and whereabouts of work in progress WIP

Productivity and product lifecycle information

III. Decision Making and Strategic Support;

Access to financial models to try “what if” scenarios.

Informing the company strategy by referring back to the overall mission and
business objectives.

It should be noted that the mode of delivery will vary from level to level.

4.0 Forms of information system

Two broad forms of information system are formal and informal flows

A formal flow of information is one in which a procedure is adopted, e.g. During road
construction in Uganda, projects under Uganda National Roads Authority have a
procedure followed. UNRA as a client can only acquire information from its
consultant who has obtained information from the contractor but not UNRA from
contractor. Formal flows can also come from people working on the same document
at several locations, or by use of e-mail, or by use of company intranets.

Informal information flows come from site meetings, reading magazines or
newspapers, or watching the news on TV.

4.1 As such the characteristics of information systems are;

Capturing information on the daily activities, failures, risks encountered and plans of the
organization so as direct the managers decisions.

Transmitting information. An information system should be able to convey information
without any loss in content throughout the organization.

Storing information. The transmitted information should be kept for reference when
needed.

Retrieving data. The stored information must be readily available for use to the managers
and their subordinates whenever it is needed.

Manipulating data. The system should convert the data from external and internal sources
into information that can be easily understood for application by managers.

And displaying data to the target users; the information system must display data in a
format that can be easily understood by the users to avoid misconceptions.

5.0 Desirable features of an MIS

(a.) Be flexible - allowing for different ways of analyzing data and evaluating information.
e.g. the system should be able support information on manufacturing activities as well
as sales and purchases either by use of software or locally developed programs on
excel sheets.
(b.) Be able to support a range of skills and knowledge. For instance having visual aids
like video tutorials for illiterate users and systematic description of specific design or
other activities for literate counterparts.
(c.) Provide interpersonal communication with other people in the organization. This can
be achieved by use of local intranet and desk phones within an organization.
(d.) Should not require extensive periods of concentration as manager’s switch between
different tasks. This is achieved by presenting fundamental information relating to a
particular task.

(e.) Make it easy to interrupt the work and return to it at a later time, achieved by having
continuity of activities e.g. a structural design may consist of components like roof
analysis, column, beams and slab analyses among others, all information pertaining
these components and their inter relationship should be available to enhance
continuity
(f.) Protect a manager, from information overload. It Should present the summary of the
necessary information so that managers don’t waste time sorting out for crucial issues
about a particular activity pending decision.

6.0 Advantages of MIS

It facilitates planning: MIS improves the quality of plants by providing relevant information
for sound decision–making. Due to increase in the size and complexity of organizations,
managers have lost personal contact with the scene of operations. E. g managers in Eskom
Uganda are informed of the work done on site through daily mail for easy planning.

It Minimizes information overload: MIS changes the larger amount of data into summarized
form and there by avoids the confusion and time wastage which may arise when managers
are flooded with detailed facts. Since lots of information about the company is collected from
various sources, MIS has to identify main points contained in the information before
forwarding to the manager.
MIS Encourages Decentralization: Decentralization of authority is when there is a system for
monitoring operations at lower levels. MIS is successfully used for measuring performance
and making necessary change in the organizational plans and procedures. E. g At Makerere
University, through the lecturers ‘e-boardroom’, a given department or faculty is able to find
out what a other faculties are working on hence apply the same or better techniques to their
departments.

It brings Co-ordination: MIS facilities integration of specialized activities by keeping each

department aware of the problems and requirements of other departments. It connects all
decision centers in the organization. E.g in Eskom, the two engineering offices co-ordinate
through sending mail to respective persons

It makes control easier: MIS serves as a link between managerial planning and control. It
improves the ability of management to evaluate and improve performance. The use of
computers has increased the data processing and storage capabilities and reduced the cost.

MIS assembles, process, stores, Retrieves , evaluates and Disseminates the information .

Modern organizations have been leveraging management information systems (MIS) to

manage, order, organize and manipulate the gigabytes and masses of information generated
for various purposes. MIS helps businesses optimize business processes, address information
needs of employees and various stakeholders and take informed strategic decisions. However,
budget allocation and monitoring issues can affect the efficacy of MIS. It has its advantages
and disadvantages depending on organizational deployment and usage.

Although MIS has the many fore mentioned advantages, it is an expensive system especially
if it is computerized both in setting up and in operations and maintenance. For instance, an
information system set up in a water treatment plant with a maximum of three workers who
operate the plant on computer, in case of any mistake in the information fed into the system,
all the water ‘treated’, the chemicals used, power among other inputs will have gone to waste
hence making it expensive.

7.0 Failures in the Management Information System

Failures in the management information system are defined as (Kalle Lyytinen et al, 1987):
inability of the Information System to meet stakeholders’ expectations that are based on
professional and structural position of the system’s development process and associated
interests.

By stakeholders, it means number of people who have an immediate interest in the

information system, be the users or the developers.
An information system failure signifies a gap between the situation that is currently unfolding
and the desired one. Expectation failure is a superset of two other notions namely;
 I. Correspondence failure; this notion of failure is based on the premise held by the process
of stating the design objectives in advance. If consequently these are not met for any
reason, the information system is a failure. An example was during my industrial training,
the Client directed the Contractor to have the expenditures managed with a computer to
keep clear track of events, however the expenditures were noted and kept in note books
thus a correspondence failure in the information system.

II. Process failure; this relates to situations where the proposed information system cannot
be delivered within a set of given budget constraints. It’s the inability to achieve predicted
resource allocations to develop appropriate costing and budgeting schemes for systems
design. Under this notion, overspending in cost and time is seen as a failure because it
eventually limits the system benefits. Adding to the previous example, because of the
failure to avail a computer to manage information, it meant that information had to be
shared using mobile phones. This is a more expensive approach compared to e-mailing
thus limiting the benefits of having a more cost effective and more precise means of
communication

References

1. Comptroller of the Currency, Comptroller’s Handbook 1995: Management

Information System
2. http://books.google.co.ug/books?id
3. Read more: Advantages & Disadvantages Of Information Management Systems |
eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5494879_advantages-disadvantages-
information-management-systems.html
4. Management Information Systems comptroller’ Handbook 2005
5. Information and Organisation Technology, ITEC 1010, University YORK
6. Bob Travica, Management of Information Systems and Technology, MBA-Program
from the Asper Sshool of Business 6150