Introduction

Before one can explain management information systems, the terms systems, information,
and management must briefly be defined.
A system is a combination or arrangement of parts to form an integrated whole
according to some common principles or rules. A system is a plan or method
of doing something.
A system is an assembly of elements arranged in a local order to achieve certain
objectives. The organization is also a system of people where people are selected on the
basis of number, quality and ability and are placed in hierarchical order plan and execute
the business activities to achieve certain goals and objectives.
 
Information is what is used in the act of informing or the state of being informed.
Information includes knowledge acquired by some means.
It is processed data which in turn is collection of raw facts, observations and figures.

 Management is usually defined as planning, organizing, directing, staffing and
controlling the business operation.
Management is the process of allocating an organization's inputs, including human
and economic resources, by planning, organizing, directing, and controlling for the
purpose of producing goods or services desired by customers so that organizational
objectives are accomplished.
If management has knowledge of the planning, organizing, directing and controlling of
the business, its decisions can be made on the basis of facts and decisions are more
accurate and timely as a result.

Definition of MIS
 Management information systems are those systems that allow managers to make
decisions for the successful operation of businesses.
MIS refers broadly to a computer-
based system that provides managers with the tools for organizing, evaluating and
efficiently running their departments.

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In order to provide past, present and prediction information, an MIS can include software
that helps in decision making, data resources such as databases, the hardware resources of
a system, decision support systems, people management and project management
applications, and any computerized processes that enable the department to
run efficiently.

Components of MIS
The three components of MIS are:
1. Concept of Management
2. Information
3. Information system
A. Concept of Management
Management Information Systems are distinct from regular information systems in that
they are used to analyze other information systems applied in operational activities in the
organization. Academically, the term is commonly used to refer to the group of
information management methods tied to the automation or support
of human decision making, e.g. Decision Support Systems, Expert systems, and
Executive information systems.

B. Information
 As businesses have evolved, the need for both fast access to quality intelligence and
independence at the business unit level have made it imperative and challenging to
manage information assets more effectively, efficiently and wisely. Developing and
implementing a complete strategy for how information about suppliers, customers,
competitors and global markets is obtained, validated, stored, managed, accessed,
analyzed and distributed is now central to organizational survival and profitability. To
make the most of opportunities, organizations must maximize the business value
of information and leverage investments made in all data management technologies. The
rewards will go beyond survival to quickness, compliance, innovation, and in the end,
competitive advantage.

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C. Information System:
The information system is a system of group of interrelated components working together
towards a common goal by accepting inputs and producing outputs in an organized
transformation process. In this system there are three basic components or functions i.e.
input, processing and output.
Input: It involves capturing and assembling elements that enter the system to be processe
d. For example raw material, energy, data and human efforts must be secured and
organized for further processing.
Processing: It involves transformation processes that convert input into output.
Output: It involves transferring elements that have been produced by transformation
process to their ultimate destination.

Role of Information in Organizations

The information can be used for various purposes,

-strategic planning
-delivering increased productivity
-reducing service cycles
-reducing product development cycles
-reducing marketing life cycles
-increasing the understanding of customers' needs
-facilitating business and process re-engineering.

MIS can also be used across the organization as an information utility to

-support policy making

-meet regulatory and legislative requirements
-support research and development
-support consistent and rapid decision making
-enable effective and efficient utilization of resources
-provide evidence of business transactions

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-identify and manage risks
-evaluate and document quality, performance and achievements.

Role of MIS
A management information system is a system that has important tools to support,
analyze, deliver and add reliability to any organization.
It ensures that appropriate data is collected from various sources, processed and sent to
needy destinations. Also this helps to solve businesses problems.
At its basic level, MIS monitors day-to-day activities and distributes information on those
activities to middle management to support and enhance tactical decision-making.
For example, MIS not only gives middle managers the information they need to make
informed decisions on how to best organize resources to achieve their division's
goals, but also reports on whether those goals are being met. At the most senior levels of
management, MIS provides the information necessary to make informed strategic
decisions. Upper management uses MIS output to evaluate performance, manage
resources, comply with regulatory requirements, and manage risk — including assessing
the effectiveness of existing risk management controls.

Impact of MIS
MIS provides several advantages to the organization:
•Ability to link and enable employees: Electronic communication increases the overall
amount of communication within a firm. The most important aspect is that people from
the various units of a corporation can interact with each other and
thus horizontal communication is promoted. All the obvious advantages of quicker
information availability is the outcome of this function of IT but it must also be
remembered that too much electronic communication leads to increased alienation of
employees due to increased impersonality.
• Increases boundary spanning: An individual can access any information in any part of
the organization with the aid of the appropriate technology. This eliminates the need for
the repetition of information and thus promotes non-redundancy. If information provided
is adequate, one can deal with factors like business risk and uncertainties effectively.

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• Ability to store and retrieve information
at any instance: Information can be stored, retrieved and communicated far more easily
and effectively. The information support improves
the lack of knowledge, enriches experience and improves analytical ability leading to
better business judgment. It helps managers to act decisively.
• Helps in forecasting and long term planning: A disciplined IS creates a structured
database and knowledge base for all people in the organization. The information
available in such a form that it can be used either straight away or using blending and
analysis thereby saving manager’s valuable time.

Disadvantage of MIS:
•However, IT can often lead to information overload, meaning that managers have to
sift through an insurmountable amount of stored data and thus hindering timely decision-
making. 
Information overload is not an IT problem but more of a documentation problem. Further
more, management tends to adapt to IT problems once it gets used to the idea of the new
technologies.
Inaccurate reporting can lead to flawed decision-making and planning. MIS typically
extracts data from many different financial and transaction systems running on various
computer platforms, which can often lead to inaccurate and inconsistent reports unless
appropriate control procedures are in place.
Even if the information is accurate, the predefined reports generated by MIS may not
always anticipate the information needs of individual managers at all times; or the correct
information is not available when needed, or is simply hard to access. Because of these
deficiencies in MIS, managers are increasingly turning to interactive decision support
systems to obtain the information they need for planning and control.

Socio-technical View of Information Systems

Sociotechnical systems (STS) is an approach that recognizes the interaction

between people and technology in work places.

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The term also refers to the interaction between society's complex infrastructures and
human behavior.

Sociotechnical systems pertain to theory regarding the social aspects

of people and society and technical aspects of organizational structure and processes.
Here, technical does not necessarily imply material technology. The focus is on
procedures and related knowledge.

"Technical" is a term used to refer to structure and a broader sense of technicalities.

Sociotechnical refers to the interrelatedness of social and technical aspects of an
organization or the society as a whole.