MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS 8/E

Raymond McLeod, Jr. and George Schell

Chapter 16
Executive Information Systems

16-1
Copyright 2001 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
 The Executive Position

 Unique demands of the executive position

An executive is not just a

lower-level manager on a
higher level!

 Executives require unique information

processing
16-2
A Firm Without Environmental information and data
An EIS

Top-level
managers

Human
Marketing Manufacturing Financial resource
information information information information
system system system system

Environmental information and data 16-3

A Firm With Environmental Information and data
An EIS

Executive
information
system

Human
Marketing Manufacturing Financial resource
information information information information
system system system system

Environmental Information and data

16-4
 What Do Executives Do?
 Term executive is loosely applied
– No clear dividing line between executives and other
managers
 Executive manager on the upper level of the
organizational hierarchy who exerts a strong
influence on the firm
 Long term planning horizon

16-5
 Fayol's Management Functions
 Plan
 Organize
 Staff
 Direct
 Control

16-6
 Mintzberg's Managerial Roles

 Different levels of management perform same

roles but relative time spent on each differs
 High-level management focus
– Long-range, entrepreneurial improvements
– Responding to unanticipated situations

16-7
 Kotter's Agenda and Networks

 John P. Kotter, Harvard professor

 Executives follow a three step strategy
– Agenda -- objectives the firm is to achieve
– Networks -- cooperative relationships
» Hundreds or thousands
» Inside and outside the firm
– Environment -- norms and values so the network
members can achieve agendas

16-8
 How Do Executives Think?
 Daniel J. Isenberg, Harvard professor
 Studied more than one dozen executives over a
2-year period
 What they think about
1. How to get things done
2. A few overriding issues

16-9
 How Do Executives Think? (cont.)

 More concerned with process than solution

 Thought processes do not always follow the
step-by-step patterns of the systems approach
 Intuition is used at each step

16-10
 Unique Information Needs
 Mintzberg was first to conduct a formal study of
executive information needs
 Studied 5 executives in early 1970s
 Five basic activities
– desk work
– telephone calls
– unscheduled meetings
– scheduled meetings
– tours
16-11
 How Minzberg’s
CEOs Spent Time
Telephone
Calls
6%
Tours
3%

Scheduled Desk Work

Meetings 22%
59%

Unscheduled
Meetings
10%

Legend:
Interpersonal
Communication 16-12
 Unique Information Needs
 Jones & McLeod Study
 Studied 5 executives in early 1980s
 Questions
1) How much information reaches the executive ?
2) What was the information value ?
3) What are the information sources ?
4) What media are used to communicate the information ?
5) What use is made of the information ?

16-13
The Volume of Information Reaching the Executives
HIGH HIGH
60

50 HIGH
HIGH
AVG
AVG
Transactions

40
Number of

LOW AVG
30 LOW AVG
LOW HIGH
20
LOW
AVG
10
LOW
0
Retail Chain Bank Insurance Vice Vice
CEO CEO President President President of
of Tax Finance

16-14
 Jones & McLeod Study (cont.)

 How much information reaches the executive

– A transaction - a communication involving any
medium
– Daily volume
» Varies from executive to executive
» Varies from day to day

16-15
 The Value of Information Reaching Executives

30 Bank CEO
Percentage of transactions

25 Vice President
of tax
20
All five
15
executives
10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Value
16-16
 Sources of Information

 Some executives went down 7 levels to gather

information
 Sources were internal and external
 External sources provided the most volume but
also the lowest average value

16-17
 The Sources of Information Reaching the Executives
Upper levels
.05 Committees
5.2
Environment .02
7.5
.43 Internal support units
3.8 The
executive and individuals

1 level down .13

4.6
.20
5.2
2 levels down

.10
5.3
Legend:
3 levels down
Percentage of
.06 total
4.3
trans-
4 levels down actions Average
transaction
16-18 .02 value
4.4
 Media Used for Communication
 Written media accounts for 61% of the
transactions
– Computer reports
– Letters and memos
– Periodicals
 Oral media is preferred by executives
– Tours
– Business meals
– Telephone calls
16-19
 The Executive Does not Control:

 Letters
 Memos
 Telephone calls
 Unscheduled meetings

16-20
 The Media Pie
(in Percentages of Total Transactions)
Periodicals (.10)
Letters (.20) Unscheduled
Meetings (.06)

Scheduled Meetings (.05)

Tours (.03)

Memos (.19)
Telephone
Calls (.21)
Noncomputer Computer Business Meals
Reports (.09) Reports (.03) (.02)

Written Note:
Percentages do not add to 1.00
Oral due to rounding
16-21
 Ranking of Media by Value
Medium Mode Average Value
Scheduled meetings Oral 7.4
Unscheduled meetings Oral 6.2
Tours Oral 5.3
Social activity Oral 5.0
Memos Written 4.8
Computer reports Written 4.7
Noncomputer reports Written 4.7
Letters Written 4.2
Telephone calls Oral 3.7
Business meals Oral 3.6
Periodicals Written 3.1

16-22
 Information Use by Decisional Role

Disturbance Entrepreneur
handler (.32)
(.42)

Resource Unknown
allocator (.06)
(.17)

Negotiator
(.03) 16-23
 Jones & McLeod Study Findings

 Most executives’ information came from

environmental sources, but the internal
information was valued higher
 Most of the executives’ information came in
written form, but the oral information was valued
higher
 Executives receive very little information
directly from a computer

16-24
Sources of Decisional Information
Disturbance
Environment handler
.43 .42

Lower Entrepreneur
levels .32
.38

Internal
support units & Resource
individuals .13 allocator
.17

Upper
Negotiator
levels
.03
.05

Committees Unknown
.02 .06

16-25
 Unique Information Needs

 Study conducted by John Rockart and Michael

Treacy, both of MIT
 Studied 16 companies in early 1980s
 Found many computer users
 Found some executives interested in detail
 Coined the term “executive information
system”

16-26
 EIS Features
 A central purpose
 A common core of data
 Two principal methods of use
– Retrieve reports
– Conduct analyses
 A support organization
– EIS coach
– EIS chauffeur

From Rockart and Treacy

16-27
 Karakteristik dari EIS

 Top level management

 DEsigned to the individual
 Ties CEO to all levels
 Very expensive to keep up
 Extensive supports staff
 Putting Computer Use in
Perspective
Two key points:

1. Computer use is personal

2. Computer produces only a portion of the
executive's information

16-29
 Suggestions to Improve EISs

1. Take an inventory
2. Stimulate high-value sources
3. Take advantage of opportunities
4. Tailor the system to the executive
5. Take advantage of technology

16-30
 An EIS Model
Information
requests

Executive Personal
database computer
Information
displays
Executive workstation
To other To other
executive executive
workstation workstation
Corporate
database

Electronic
Make
mailboxes corporate
Current news,
Software
information explanations
library available
Corporate mainframe

External
data and
information
16-31
An EIS Model
Executive workstation Information
requests
Executive
Information
database
displays

To other To other
executive executive
workstation workstation
Corporate
database Make Current news,
corporate explanations
Electronic
information
mailboxes
available
Software Corporate mainframe
library
External
data and
16-32
information
 Dialogue Between
Executive and EIS

 Typically by a series of menus, keyboarding is

minimized
 Drill down to specific information needed from
the overview level

16-33
 An Information Display That Includes a Computer-
Generated Narrative Explanation
MEDIAL INTERNATIONAL GROUP MIG

500
Actual / Product Profitability Analysis
400 Planned
x 300
1 Magazines in Europe have been
0 200 performing poorly. While sales are up,
0 production costs have soared. This is
100 due to the labor disputes in the pulp
and paper industry. Starting next
0 month, costs should be back in line with
N P U P earlier projections.

Actual
Actual Planned
Planned Variance
Variance %Variance
%Variance
Newspapers
Newspapers 1,421,709
1,421,709 1,559,184
1,559,184 (137,475)
(137,475) (8.82)
(8.82)
Magazines
Magazines 490,855
490,855 518,687
518,687 (27,832)
(27,832) (5.37)
(5.37)
Periodicals
Periodicals 1,912,564
1,912,564 2,077,872
2,077,872 (165,308)
(165,308) (7.96)
(7.96)
16-34
 Incorporation of
Management Concepts
 Critical success factors
 Management by exception
 Mental model
– Information compression

16-35
 SALES - $ IN MILLIONS
SALES SOURCE
GLORIA YANDERS
AS OF NOVEMBER 1994 BILL BLASS

HISTORY BUDGET CURRENT

2000 ACTUAL
1500
1000
500
FORECAST
0
90 91 92 93 94 J F M A M J J A S O N D 95 96 97 98 99

YEAR TO DATE OVER/ UNDER MB YEAR-END FORECAST CURRENT FORECAST

PROGRAM ACTUAL THIS MO LAST MO Y-L O/U MB YR CURRENT O/ U PRIOR
HERC $861.4 $30.7 $59.1 $949.8 $28.6 95 $2102.6 $ 8.0
C-5B 621.9 0.3 4.5 699.0 1.2 96 2400.0 105.0
OTHER 398.7 12.9 10.1 458.8 13.6 97 3130.0 98.0
TOTAL $1,882.0 $43.9 $44.4 $2107.6 $43.4 98 3390.0 58.0
99 2110.0 281.0

COMMENTS FAVORABLE VARIANCE PRIMARILY DUE TO TWO ADDITIONAL HERCULES

SALES
16-36
 EIS Implementation Decisions
Three Key Questions:

1. Do we need an EIS?
2. Is there application-development software
available?
3. Should we purchase prewritten EIS
software?

16-37
 Advantages of Prewritten Software

1. Fast
2. Doesn't strain information services
3. Tailored to executives

16-38
EIS Critical Success Factors Rockart
and DeLong
1. Committed/informed executive sponsor
2. Operating sponsor
3. Appropriate information services staff
4. Appropriate information technology (IT)
5. Data management
6. Link to business objectives
7. Manage organizational resistance
8. Manage the spread and evolution

16-39
 Prerequisite Activities for the EIS
Information
needs
Information
technology standards Analysis of
Organization

Corporate
data model
Information
Systems Plan
Purchasing and
Performance
Systems

EIS 16-40
 Future EIS Trends
 Use will become commonplace
 Decreasing software prices
 Will influence MIS/DSS
 The computer will always play a support role

16-41
 Summary
 Executives have unique information needs
– Need for EIS
– Specific uses of EIS
 EIS development
– Personal productivity software
– Prewritten
– Custom
 EIS success factors

16-42