MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

A management information system (MIS) is a system or

process that provides information needed to manage organizations effectively .
Management information systems are regarded to be a subset of the overall internal
controls procedures in a business, which cover the application of people,
documents, technologies, and procedures used by management accountants to
solve business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide
strategy.

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, Expert systems, and Executive information
systems.

Definitions of Management Information System

A system designed by an organization to collect and report

information on a program, and which allows managers to plan, monitor, and
evaluate the operations and the performance of the whole program.

An MIS can be defined as a combination of people, computers and

procedures for collecting and organizing information to facilitate decision making.

In any organization a reasonable amount of time and effort is

devoted to data collection, documenting, processing and communication. Every
individual looks for information that is relevant to their duties. Thus, information is
people oriented and varies with the nature of people's work in the organization.
Types of Management Information System

There are four types of management information systems:

1. Transact ion processing systems:

These systems process a large volume of routine, recurring

transactions.

Example: a bank's system for recording deposits and payments.

2. Operations information systems:

These systems gather comprehensive data, organize it and summarize it

in a form that is useful for managers.
Example: an inventory management system.

3. Decision support systems:

These systems help mangers with the necessary information to make

intelligent decisions. They have three fundamental components: Database of
relevant information, Decision making models and a User friendly
interface.

4. Expert systems:

Are meant to mimic humans in making decisions in a specific field.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF MIS

In the early days of business applications programming, there was little

interaction between programmers and other IT staff with the rest of the business
units. The business people didn’t understand IT and IT folks didn’t understand the
business process.

Business people wanted programmers to come up with the ultimate

solution for their problems and programmers had hard time explaining to
management what is possible and what is not, technically, possible. This created a
gray area between management and IT.

The solution was to design a course of study where both IT and

Management courses are taught. The idea was to turn-out future managers who
start their carriers in IT and move up the corporate ladder to take managerial
occupations. These managers will have backgrounds in both IT and business which
will help bridge the gap in communications between the two units.

Today, increasing numbers of companies are requiring their IT

managers to have business skills since IT is increasingly becoming an integral part
of the business process.

The History of Management Information Systems

Before the concept of management information systems was created, computer scientists
were just programmers creating applications for science and math calculations. As computer
usage evolved in fields of business and data management, software applications were needed to
process nonscientific data. A field of study would be needed to bridge the gap between computer
programmers and the business world to create information-based applications for business and
networks.
Mainframe Processing of Data

1. In 1939, Dr. John V. Atanasoff and his assistant Clifford Berry, constructed the first
electronic digital computer. Their machine, the Atanasoff-Berry-Computer (ABC)
provided the foundation for the advances in electronic digital computers. These
computers processed binary bits of information and performed mathematical
computations for science projects.

The invention of the first mainframe computer led to a career field established
as Computer Science. The category of Computer Science was given because
computer usage was strictly related to the science field and the processing of
scientific data. The ENIAC Computer.

2. In 1944, a leap in computer processing would take place with the ENIAC computer.
The ENIAC Computer is the prototype from which all modern computers evolved
from. The ENIAC comprised thirty separate units and weighed more than thirty tons
and consumed 200 kilowatts of electrical power. The ENIAC was still used for the
processing of scientific data in the field of ballistics and played a role in the
development of the atomic bomb.

On the horizon was the concept of applying computers in other areas of education,
business and everyday life. The concept of creating business applications would
emerge with IBM creating the 8-bit punch card system. The processing of punch
cards from a business perspective would become known throughout the industry as
"information science application".Creation of Business Applications for Industry.

3. In 1952, the evolving punch card system created by IBM would change the way
government, business and education would perceive the way that data was to be
processed. Punch cards allowed mainframes to read and extract data from computers
by reading hole punches. Programmers wrote programs on a mainframe for punch
card operations in which the punch card would be read into the program by a card
reader to update a database. The database could be a business application, a scientific
application or any application.

Business applications were difficult for computer scientists because many didn't have
 a background in business. The programmers usually had to call in business people
and write down notes of how business managers and executives wanted the computer
to process information. The computer programmer usually wrote the program without
understanding of business concepts at all.

4. In the late 1950s and 1960s, computers would start to integrate into other areas of
society. Accounting, retail sales, transportation and media services would benefit
from the advent and use of computers.

There was still a language barrier between programmers and business people who
wanted certain applications developed for their business or operation. That would
begin to change in 1970.
Creation of the Management Information Systems Field (1970)

5. With the advent of computer programs for business applications, it became apparent
that the communication gap that existed between computer programmers and business
people had to be solved. Business people wanted programmers to come up with the
ultimate solution for their problems and programmers had a hard time explaining to
management what was possible and what was not, technically, possible.

The solution was to design a course of study which merged information technology,
business and computer programming. This field was called, Management Information
Systems (MIS). The idea was to create a workforce who could bridge the
communication and technical gaps between management and computer programmers.

The first courses were taught in as business courses in select colleges in America. The
courses started off as electives in the area of business. As the 1970s closed, colleges
and business schools would create full four-year programs designed for studies in the
field of information systems.
Management Information System Networks

6. From 1980 to the present, there has been an explosion of technology in the field of
information systems. The integration of the personal computer (PC) into the
workplace and homes has made information readily available to all people. The
creation of wide area networks, the Internet and distributed processing have changed
 the way people obtain information.

The concept of Management Information Systems has expanded to include data

mining (databases of archived information), data retrieval sciences (critical business
data stored on microchips) and technology used in everyday devices such as cell
phones, wireless devices that require the passage of important data as well as
integrated software for common functions.

7.
The world is living in the Age of Information. Computers have assisted countries into
transforming themselves from the industrial revolution into the information age by
merging concepts through various management information system applications.

01 2600B.C. Chinese invent the abacus

02 1621 Slide rule (used into the 1970’s)
03 1679 Leibniz – binary math
04 1822 Babbage’s Difference Engine
05 1890 U.S. Census bureau uses electric tabulating system by
Hollerith (8 yrs to 2 yrs)
06 1896 Hollerith forms Tabulating Machine Company, later
becomes
07 1904 vacuum tubes
08 1943-45 U.S. Army builds ENIAC
09 1943 British build Colossus for code breaking
10 1945 John Von Neumann lays out theoretical architecture for
computers as we know them.
11 1947 Shockley invents the transistor
12 1954 Texas Instruments could produce silicon transistors
commercially. IBM had 1st mass produced computer.
13 1958 TI makes 1st integrated circuit
14 1969 Intel designs early microchip
15 1975 Popular Electronics magazine featured the Altair 8800, the
first PC
16 1976 The Steve’s (Wozniak and Jobs) introduce the Apple .Radio
Shack, Commodore, others.
17 1981 IBM PC 16K RAM, 5.25 in floppy
18 1982 Compaq first IBM compatible
19 1984 The Macintosh
20 1985 80386 32bit CPU
21 1993 Pentium introduced.. faster and faster, cheaper and cheaper,
smaller and smaller, more connected and more connected,
more mainstream and more mainstream.
FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

Some of the functions can be listed as below,

1. Data processing

It includes the collection, transmission, storage, processing and output of data.

It simplifies the statistics and reduces to the lowest cost by supplying an unified format.

2. Function of prediction

It predicts the future situation by applying modern mathematics, statistics or

simulation.

3. Function of plan

It arranges reasonably the plans of each functional department in accordance

with the restrictions afforded by enterprises and provides the appropriate planning reports
according to different management.

4. Function of control

It monitors and inspects the operation of plans and comprises with the
differences between operation and plan in accordance with the data afforded by every
functional department, and be assistant to managers to control timely each method by
analyzing the reasons why the differences comes into being.

5. Function of assistance

It derives instantly the best answers of related problems by applying to various of

mathematics' mode and analyzing a plentiful data stored in computers in the hope of using
rationally human resource, financial resource, material resource and information resource for
relative abundant economic benefits.