STRUCTURE OF MIS
MIS– Stands for Management Information System. As the name implies, MIS is a system
that generates and provides Information to Management, for the purpose of managing and
improving the business processes. It is a component based system that provides data and
required information to management for supporting and enabling them in their decision
making process.
Figure: Structure and Components of Management Information Systems
Investing in MIS is a real advantage for the management in all forms, as heavy the
investment is, so strong and heavy will be the Components, Process and Success rate of
MIS as well as the Firm, so don’t feel shy in shelling out money for MIS, investing
money is not at all waste, further it will reduce the waiting time, storage process, retrieval
process, information Passing and so on.
To accomplish its task, any Management Information System needs the following
components:
Hardware: Connects with the core processes and captures and stores all required
relevant data, Hardware mainly consists of Computer System, Internet Connectivity,
Intranet Connectivity, bulk storage Capacity, and so on. The hardware required for a
management information system can vary widely depending on the size and data
processing requirements of an organization. A small business, for example, may
only need a single machine to store information, such as employee data, projects,
and invoices. A large business may require several systems that allow employees
to share data securely across multiple locations. Data stored in an MIS is often
backed up in multiple locations for redundancy.
Software: Processes the data, converts them into usable information and reports.
Of course, hardware must have the appropriate software installed to assist in a
management information system. Some common functions of MIS software
include employee record keeping, invoicing, inventory management, project
planning, customer relationship management, and business analysis. Some
software programs are designed for specific tasks, such as maintaining financial
records or backing up data. Other programs are designed to be comprehensive
solutions that perform multiple MIS functions in a single software package.
Examples of MIS software include Microsoft Dynamics, Fleetmatics WORK,
Clarity Professional MIS, MIS programs designed specifically for different
types of firms, Most MIS software programs are available as desktop
applications, though many solutions now include web-based interfaces and
mobile apps as well.
Data: Is required by the management to generate reports and analyze the
processes. It is the readily available raw information which cannot be given less
importance. It is very important for the firms, only when raw data are available, then
only we can process it and we can arrive at some possible information and results.
People: Employers and employees are placed at different levels of authorization.
In order to view and modify records or information to represent sensible and
interpretable information. Access of database is given according to the position
achieved by the individual in the firm. Top level Management will have all the
permissions and access in the system, they can view, add, delete, modify or do
anything in the database as per their whims and fancies, whereas the next level of
Management will not be given full access as the top level management has. The lower
level management will have access only to view and add data.
Do you know that MIS is a vast and complex field in organizations and plays a very
important role in today’s world? There are multiple faces and uses of a Management
Information System.
Decision support System: Assesses various alternatives, based on
quantitative and qualitative parameters defined and set in the system. DSS
assists users in choosing the right alternative and making the most beneficial
decisions.
Human Resource Information System: Collects and stores data
about employees of an organization. HRIS generates reports related to
employee salary, annual performance appraisal, Organization structure etc.
Customer Relationship Management: Collects sales and customer
information. CRM generates reports like Sales trend, Market Basket Analysis
(Analysis on products that are sold together) etc., which feeds the DSS to take
business decisions.
There are other forms of Management Information Systems like SCM (Supply
Chain Management), MRP (Material Requirement Planning), ERP (Enterprise
Resource Planning) etc. There are many more uses and forms of Management
Information Systems.
There are readily available products that can be installed, customized and used
AS IS, like SAP, Oracle, and Salesforce etc. These products are more generic and
cater to most of the industry requirements. Users can easily buy and start using
them from the developers. Since they have a wide range of functionalities and
cater to almost all common business requirements, these tools are a bit costlier
and not preferred and used by most organizations.
On the other hand, for very customized and rare business requirements,
organizations that do not want to spend huge money on buying readily available
Management Information Systems, go for developing software that caters and
can be customized to their requirements.
Now that we have a general idea of what a Management Information System is
and how it is used for businesses. Let us explore some of the functionalities of any
Management Information System.
MIS Functionality & Benefits
A Management Information System collects and stores data from various
sources including hardware;
Processes data as per the programmed instructions
Generates reports required as per management’s requirement
Provide access to selective information to different levels of authority
The below are the benefits of using a Management Information System for your
business:
Having a robust Management Information System that can produce any
reports required by management, reduces time spent on producing and
validating reports. A huge amount of effort is spent on analyzing the data and
representing reports in a useful manner. This saved time can be spent in
useful manner such as, identifying the root cause and improvement
opportunities for the business.
In complex businesses visualizing and performing some calculations can be
complex, prone to oversight errors and time consuming. Using a Management
Information System makes any complex transaction easier and generates
accurate reports.
With a Management Information System the number and type of reports
that can be generated are numerous compared to manual reports. Thus slicing
and dicing of any process becomes easy and management is able to identify
useful information and use it as a competitive advantage.
Having a Management Information System makes the job of processing
huge business data easier and simpler. It simplifies the task of operations and
other processes and helps them concentrate in their core business operations.
It assists management in assessing the performance of organization
towards its goals, assess the performance of departments, and standardize the
method of capturing and reporting metrics across the organization.
It helps an organization in decision support, compare alternatives and
choose the best options.
