Objectives & Characteristics of MIS
Objectives
of MIS
The goals of an MIS are to implement the
organizational structure and dynamics of the enterprise for the purpose of
managing the organization in a better way and capturing the potential of the
information system for competitive advantage.
Following are the basic objectives of an
MIS −
1. Capturing Data − Capturing contextual data, or
operational information that will contribute in decision making from various
internal and external sources of organization.
2. Processing Data − The captured data is processed
into information needed for planning, organizing, coordinating, directing and
controlling functionalities at strategic, tactical and operational level.
Processing data means −
o making calculations with the data
o sorting data
o classifying data and
o summarizing data
3. Information Storage − Information or processed data
need to be stored for future use.
4. Information Retrieval − The system should be able to
retrieve this information from the storage as and when required by various
users.
5. Information Propagation − Information or the finished
product of the MIS should be circulated to its users periodically using the
organizational network.
Characteristics of MIS
Following are the characteristics of an
MIS −
·
It
should be based on a long-term planning.
·
It
should provide a holistic view of the dynamics and the structure of the
organization.
·
It
should work as a complete and comprehensive system covering all interconnecting
sub-systems within the organization.
·
It
should be planned in a top-down way, as the decision makers or the management
should actively take part and provide clear direction at the development stage
of the MIS.
·
It
should be based on need of strategic, operational and tactical information of
managers of an organization.
·
It
should also take care of exceptional situations by reporting such situations.
·
It
should be able to make forecasts and estimates, and generate advanced
information, thus providing a competitive advantage. Decision makers can take
actions on the basis of such predictions.
·
It
should create linkage between all sub-systems within the organization, so that
the decision makers can take the right decision based on an integrated view.
·
It
should allow easy flow of information through various sub-systems, thus
avoiding redundancy and duplicity of data. It should simplify the operations
with as much practicability as possible.
·
Although
the MIS is an integrated, complete system, it should be made in such a flexible
way that it could be easily split into smaller sub-systems as and when
required.
·
A
central database is the backbone of a well-built MIS.
·
It should
be able to process data accurately and with high speed, using various
techniques like operations research, simulation, heuristics, etc.
·
It
should be able to collect, organize, manipulate, and update large amount of raw
data of both related and unrelated nature, coming from various internal and
external sources at different periods of time.
·
It
should provide real time information on ongoing events without any delay.
·
It
should support various output formats and follow latest rules and regulations
in practice.
·
It
should provide organized and relevant information for all levels of management:
strategic, operational, and tactical.
·
It
should aim at extreme flexibility in data storage and retrieval.
Characteristic
Features of MIS.
These
characteristics are explained as below:
(1) Comprehensive. MIS includes a complex system involving
interrelated and interdependent sub-systems that involve transaction processing
systems as well as information processing systems that are designed for
decision-making and control at different levels in the organisation. All this
tends to make MIS comprehensive in nature. Along with this other formal and
informal systems relevant in the organisation are included in MIS.
(2) Integrated. MIS
integrates various sub-systems so that meaningful information is made available
where and when needed. For this purpose, the data is processed through various
sub-systems. Therefore, it can be rightly said that MIS is rationally
integrated in nature.
(3) Relevant Information. MIS works towards making available only the
relevant information so that the managers are not unnecessarily over-burdened
with the jargon of numbers. This would hinder their efficiency.
(4) Transformation. MIS involves processing of data in such a way so
as to make it meaningful for the managers. Numbers simply do not speak anything
of themselves. The data is necessarily transformed to make it a meaningful
information to the managers.
(5) Co-ordinated. MIS
involves co-ordination of various sub-systems to ensure that various activities
like collection of data, processing of data, intelligence and decision support
system are operated in a planned way so that the information is used most
efficiently and effectively.
(6) Conforms with the Style and Qualities of the
Manager. MIS is organisation specific and to be
more precise manager-specific. It is so designed that the information that is
made available to the
manager most
conducive to the style and characteristics of the manager. For instance,
information provided to technical personnel is designed in a different way than
to non-technical personnel. Similarly, information to middle level managers
shall be designed differently as compared to the information made available to
the top-level managers.
(7) Selective Sharing. MIS emphasises on the selective sharing of data i.e.;
it decides which user shall have access to which kind of data.
(8) Inbuilt Feedback Mechanism. MIS should be so designed that it should provide
feedback about its own efficiency and effectiveness. For instance, it can use
cost/benefit analysis or systemic failures to assess itself.
Conclusion. On the basis of the above, it can be concluded
that the subject MIS came into existence mainly to act as a support to
managerial decision-making and control so that the business can use the resources
more efficiently and effectively. MIS involves Management of Information in a
system that can process the data to convert it into relevant information. With
the advent of computers, MIS has come to be used further effectively because
processing of large amounts of data has become possible within no time. The
various definitions of MIS reveal that it is comprehensive, integrative and
co-ordinated effort that makes available relevant information at the right
time. Moreover, the information provided is in conformation with the
characteristics of the manager who uses the information. It thus also becomes
person-specific.
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