3. Management Information Systems (MIS)
Management information system (MIS)
• An MIS provides managers with information and support for
effective decision making, and provides feedback on daily
operations
• Output, or reports, are usually generated through
accumulation of transaction processing data
• Each MIS is an integrated collection of subsystems, which are
typically organized along functional lines within an
organization
• A combination of computers and people that is used to
provide information to aid in making decisions and managing
a firm.
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
4. Managers and Information
Generally, managers at different levels of an
organizational hierarchy:
Make different types of decisions
Control different types of processes
Therefore, they have different information needs
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
6. The Traditional Organizational Pyramid
Many organizations follow pyramid model
CEO at top
Small group of senior managers, one level down
Larger number of middle managers, reporting to senior managers
Many more lower-level managers who report to middle managers
Clerical and Shop Floor Workers
Bottom of organizational pyramid
Operational Management
In charge of small groups of front-line workers
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
7. The Traditional Organizational Pyramid
Tactical Management
Also called middle managers
Make decisions for subordinates, affecting the near
and somewhat more distant future
Strategic Management
Decisions affect entire or large parts of the
organization; “what to do” decisions
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
8. Characteristics of Information
at Different Managerial Levels
Different management levels have different information
needs
Information needed by different managerial and
operational levels varies in the time span covered, level of
detail, source, and other characteristics over a broad
spectrum
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
9. Characteristics of Information
at Different Managerial Levels
Data Range
Amount of data from which information is extracted
Time Span
How long a period the data covers
Level of Detail
Degree to which information is specific
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
10. Characteristics of Information
at Different Managerial Levels
Source: Internal versus External
Internal data: collected within the organization
External data: collected from outside sources
• Media, newsletters, government agencies, Internet
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
11. The Nature of Managerial Work
Planning
Planning at different levels
• Long-term mission and vision
• Strategic goals
• Tactical objectives
Most important planning activities
• Scheduling
• Budgeting
• Resource allocation
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
12. The Nature of Managerial Work
An example of a
mission statement,
strategic goals, and
tactical objectives for
an in-line skate
manufacturer
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
13. The Nature of Managerial Work
The main ingredients of planning
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
14. The Nature of Managerial Work
Controlling
Managers control activities by comparing plans to
results.
Figure 9.5 Examples of processes used to control projects
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
15. The Nature of Managerial Work
Decision Making
Both planning and control call for decision making
The higher the level of management:
• The less routine the manager’s activities
• The more open the options
• The more decision-making involved
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
17. Employees
Corporate
Databases Corporate
databases
of intranet
of
external
internal
data
data Decision
support
systems
Transaction Databases Management Executive
Business processing of information Application support
transactions systems valid systems databases systems
transactions
Drill-down reports Expert
Exception reports systems
Demand reports
Operational Key-indicator reports
databases
Input and Scheduled
error list reports
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
18. Outputs of a
Management Information System
Scheduled reports
• Produced periodically, or on a schedule (daily, weekly,
monthly)
Key-indicator report
• Summarizes the previous day’s critical activities
• Typically available at the beginning of each day
Demand report
• Gives certain information at a manager’s request
Exception report
• Automatically produced when a situation is unusual or
requires management action
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
19. Scheduled Report Example
Daily Sales Detail Report
Prepared: 08/10/xx
Order Customer Sales Ship
# ID Rep ID Date Quantity Item # Amount
P12453 C89321 CAR 08/12/96 144 P1234 $3,214
P12453 C89321 CAR 08/12/96 288 P3214 $5,660
P12453 C03214 GWA 08/13/96 12 P4902 $1,224
P12455 C52313 SAK 08/12/96 24 P4012 $2,448
P12456 C34123 JMW 08J/13/96 144 P3214 $720
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
20. Key Indicator Report Example
Daily Sales Key Indicator Report
This Last Last
Month Month Year
Total Orders Month to Date $1,808 $1,694 $1,014
Forecasted Sales for the Month $2,406 $2,224 $2,608
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
21. Demand Report Example
Daily Sales by Sales Rep Summary Report
Prepared: 08/10/xx
Sales Rep ID Amount
CAR $42,345
GWA $38,950
SAK $22,100
JWN $12,350
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
22. Exception Report Example
Daily Sales Exception Report – ORDERS OVER $10,000
Prepared: 08/10/xx
Order Customer Sales Ship
# ID Rep ID Date Quantity Item # Amount
P12453 C89321 CAR 08/12/96 144 P1234 $13,214
P12453 C89321 CAR 08/12/96 288 P3214 $15,660
P12453 C03214 GWA 08/13/96 12 P4902 $11,224
… … … … … … …
… … … … … … …
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
23. Outputs of a Management
Information System
Earnings by Quarter (Millions)
Actual Forecast Variance
2ND Qtr 1999 $12.6 $11.8 6.8%
Drill Down Reports
Provide detailed data 1st Qtr 1999 $10.8 $10.7 0.9%
about a situation.
4th Qtr 1998 $14.3 $14.5 -1.4%
3rd Qtr 1998 $12.8 $13.3 -3.0%
Etc. See Figure 9.2
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
24. Characteristics of a Management
Information System
Provides reports with fixed and standard
formats
Hard-copy and soft-copy reports
Uses internal data stored in the computer
system
End users can develop custom reports
Requires formal requests from users
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
25. Management Information Systems
for Competitive Advantage
Provides support to managers as they work
to achieve corporate goals
Enables managers to compare results to
established company goals and identify
problem areas and opportunities for
improvement
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
26. MIS and Web Technology
Data may be made available from
management information systems on a
company’s intranet
Employees can use browsers and their PC
to gain access to the data
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
27. Functional Aspects
MIS is an integrated collection of
functional information systems, each
supporting particular functional areas.
Schematic
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
28. Internet
Internet An Organization’s
MIS
Financial
MIS
Business
transactions
Drill down reports
Accounting
Transaction Databases MIS Exception reports
processing of
Demand reports
systems valid
transactions Key-indicator reports
Marketing
MIS Scheduled reports
Business
transactions Databases Human
of
Resources Etc.
external
data MIS
Extranet
Extranet
Etc.
Figure 9.3
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
29. Financial MIS
Provides financial information to all
financial managers within an organization.
Schematic
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
30. Databases of Financial
Databases of
internal data external data DSS
Business
transactions
Transaction Databases
processing of valid
Financial
systems transactions MIS Financial
for each applications
TPS databases
Business
transactions
Financial statements
Financial
Operational Uses and management ES
Internet or databases of funds
Internet or
Extranet
Extranet Financial statistics
for control
Business Customers,
transactions Suppliers
Figure 9.3
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
31. Inputs to the Financial
Information System
Strategic plan or corporate policies
Contains major financial objectives and often projects
financial needs.
Transaction processing system (TPS)
Important financial information collected from almost
every TPS - payroll, inventory control, order
processing, accounts payable, accounts receivable,
general ledger.
External sources
Annual reports and financial statements of competitors
and general news items.
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
32. Financial MIS Subsystems and
Outputs
Financial subsystems
Profit/loss and cost systems
Auditing
Internal auditing
External auditing
Uses and management of funds
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
34. Decision Support Systems
Decision support systems (DSS)
Offer potential to assist in solving both semi-
structured and unstructured problems
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
35. Decision Making as a Component of
Problem Solving
Intelligence
Decision
making Design
Problem
Choice solving
Implementation
Monitoring
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
36. Solution Types
Optimization model
Finding the best solution
Satisficing model
Finding a good -- but not necessarily the best
-- solution to a problem
Heuristics
Commonly accepted guidelines or procedures
that usually find a good solution
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
37. Problem Solving Factors
Multiple decision objectives
Increased alternatives
Increased competition
The need for creativity
Social and political actions
International aspects
Technology
Time compression
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
38. Characteristics of a DSS (1)
Handles large amounts of data from
different sources
Provides report and presentation flexibility
Offers both textual and graphical
orientation
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
39. Characteristics of a DSS (2)
Supports drill down analysis
Performs complex, sophisticated analysis
and comparisons using advanced software
packages
Supports optimization, satisficing, and
heuristic approaches
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
40. Characteristics of a DSS (3)
Performs different types of analyses
“What-if” analysis
• Makes hypothetical changes to problem and
observes impact on the results
Simulation
• Duplicates features of a real system
Goal-seeking analysis
• Determines problem data required for a given result
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
41. Goal Seeking Example
You know the desired result
You want to know the required input(s)
Example:
Microsoft Excel’s “Goal Seek” and “Solver”
functions
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
42. Excel
demo
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
43. Capabilities of a DSS (1)
Supports
Problem solving phases
Different decision frequencies
Merge with How many
another widgets
company? should I order?
low high
Frequency
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
44. Capabilities of a DSS (2)
Highly structured problems
Straightforward problems, requiring known
facts and relationships.
Semi-structured or unstructured problems
Complex problems wherein relationships
among data are not always clear, the data may
be in a variety of formats, and are often
difficult to manipulate or obtain
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
45. Decision Making Levels
Strategic Strategic-level managers
involved with long-term
decisions
Tactical
Operational-level
managers involved with
Operational daily decisions
High Low
Decision Frequency
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
46. Integration of
TPS, MIS, and DSS
In many organizations they are integrated
through a common database
Separation of DSS transactions in the
database from TPS and MIS transactions
may be important for performance reasons
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
47. Web-Based
Decision Support Systems
Web-based decision support systems
Decision support system software provides
business intelligence through web browser
clients that access databases either through the
Internet or a corporate intranet
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
48. Components of a DSS
Model management software (MMS)
Coordinates the use of models in the DSS
Model base
Provides decision makers with access to a
variety of models
Dialogue manager
Allows decision makers to easily access and
manipulate the DSS
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
49. Database Model base
DBMS MMS
Access to the
internet, networks, External database External
and other computer access databases
systems
Dialogue manager
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
50. Model Base
Model Base
Provides decision makers with
access to a variety of models and
assists them in decision making
Models
Financial models
Statistical analysis models
Graphical models
Project management models
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
51. Advantages and Disadvantages
of Modeling
Advantages
• Less expensive than custom approaches or real systems.
• Faster to construct than real systems
• Less risky than real systems
• Provides learning experience (trial and error)
• Future projections are possible
• Can test assumptions
Disadvantages
• Assumptions about reality may be incorrect
• Accuracy of predications often unreliable
• Requires abstract thinking
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
52. Group Decision Support System
Group Decision Support System (GDSS)
Contains most of the elements of DSS plus
software to provide effective support in group
decision-making settings
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
53. Databases
Model base GDSS processor GDSS software
Access to the internet
and corporate intranet,
Dialogue External database External
networks, and other manager access databases
computer system
Users
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
54. Characteristics of a GDSS (1)
Special design
Ease of use
Flexibility
Decision-making support
Delphi approach (decision makers are geographically
dispersed)
Brainstorming
Group consensus
Nominal group technique
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
55. Characteristics of a GDSS (2)
Anonymous input
Reduction of negative group behaviour
Parallel communication
Automated record keeping
Cost, control, complexity factors
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
56. Components of a GDSS and
GDSS Software
Database
Model base
Dialogue manager
Communication capability
Special software (also called GroupWare)
E.g., Lotus Notes
people located around the world work on the same
project, documents, and files, efficiently and at the
same time
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
57. GDSS Alternatives
high
Local area Wide area
Decision frequency
decision network decision network
Decision
Teleconferencing
room
low
close distant
Location of group members
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
58. Decision Room
Decision Room
For decision makers located in the same geographic
area or building
Use of computing devices, special software,
networking capabilities, display equipment, and a
session leader
Collect, coordinate, and feed back organized
information to help a group make a decision
Combines face-to-face verbal interaction with
technology-aided formalization
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
60. Wide Area Decision Network
Characteristics
Location of group members is distant
Decision frequency is high
Virtual workgroups
• Groups of workers located around the world
working on common problems via a GDSS
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
61. Executive Support System
Characteristics Board of directors
A specialized DSS that
includes all the hardware, President
software, data, procedures,
and people used to assist
Function area
senior-level executives vice presidents
within the organization
Function area
managers
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
62. Characteristics of ESSs
Tailored to individual executives
Easy to use
Drill down capabilities
Support the need for external data
Help with situations with high degree of
uncertainty
Futures orientation (predictions, forecasting)
Linked with value-added business processes
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations
63. Capabilities of an ESS
Support for
defining overall vision
strategic planning
strategic organizing and staffing
strategic control
crisis management
ITEC 1010 Information and Organizations