Key Process of Management Information System
Management Information System (MIS) is referred to as a computer based system that is mainly used by the managers which has the tools that can organize, evaluate and also has the capability to efficiently manage all departments within the very same organization. In order to get past, present and prediction information that management information system has been bundled with software that can help in decision making and also has databases (Hasan, Shamsuddin and Aziati 2013). It also has many applications which can help in getting better decision.
The following article consists of the use of Decision Support System and what are their uses and how they can be used in an organization.
- Environmental Scanning
- Strategy Formulation
- Strategy Implementation
- Strategy Evaluation
Decisions that are analyzed to the degree of structure involved are called as Structured Decisions. Structured decision can be also defined as where all three components of a decision like the data, process evaluation are determined. Structured decisions are made on a regular basis when it comes to business environments which are really important as this would help them to gather all the information in one place (Pettigrew 2014). The advantage of having structured decision system is that if there is any data missing, it will not go any further and it gives the entire process a higher degree of consistency. The only drawback of using structured decision is that if there is any inappropriate decision, then it could affect the company as a whole and not any individual (Scott et al. 2015).
In Semi-Structured decision, most of the decisions are considered to be true. These are often characterized as having with some agreement that include the process, data and also the type of evaluation that is to be used but compared to structured one, in this one some human level judgment is also taken into consideration (Guo et al. 2015).
The last one of all is the unstructured decision where it contains all the three components as usual like the data, process and evaluation but they do not follow some basic principles of nature. With the unstructured decision, each actor can make use of different data and process and reach a particular decision based on their data (Dartmouth 2017). Unstructured decisions are often made where all the elements in a business operation are not completely understood like customer expectations, competitor response and many more. This type of decision does not generally favour the company as a whole rather its main focus is on the individual who will be making the decision.
Difference between Structured, Semi-Structured and Unstructured Decision
A Decision Support System (DSS) is basically a computer based application which collects, organizes and also helps in analyzing the data that has been collected. This helps the business in making decisions which are beneficial for the management, operations and planning. DSS can help decision makers to compile different kinds of data from any sources like raw data, documents, personal information about the employees and also the business models. DSS helps any company to identify and also helps in solving problems by giving out optimum decisions (Guo et al. 2015). The main advantage of using DSS is that it represents any information graphically and also includes artificial intelligence and is mainly aimed for business executives or knowledge workers. DSS also gives flexibility and adaptability to accommodate the changes within the business and also affects the decision making (Kelley, Cranor, and Sadeh 2013).
Decision making process is the process in which choices are made based upon identifying any decision, gathering information and assessing any alternatives for that solution. There are various ways in which Decision Making Process is done.
- Identifying the decisionwhere a decision is to be made and clearly defining the nature of the decision.
- Gathering the relevant information is really needed as in this the decision makers need to gather all the information that is required to make the decisions.
- Identifying the alternatives as in here the decision makers need to find out all the possible solution to the problems that may occur when moving with the decision.
- Weighing the evidence is also important as decision makers needs to evaluate about the decisions that are considering.
- Choosing among the alternatives is the next step after weighing and they need to select the best optimal alternative for their solution.
- Taking action is the next thing that needs to be done after all evidences and decisions are chosen.
- Reviewing the decisions and consequences is done after all the decisions and alternatives are chosen and finally selecting the one which is optimal (Dartmouth 2017).
A computer based information system consists of different components like Hardware, Software, Data, Procedures and People.
There are various types of computer based information systems are present and all are designed to provide better decision making which can help the company to rise.
Transaction Processing System is a substitute for computer based processing which were used for manual processes. It consists of applications which help the company to store the records (O’Regan et al. 2015).
Management Information System is used for the managerial decision processing by giving its input. It helps to deal with well structured and supporting decision situations and from this typical information can be expected (Hasan, Shamsuddin and Aziati 2013).
Decision Support System helps the manager who tries to make judgments about a particular situation. Also using the Decision Support System makes it not so well structured (Guo et al. 2015).
Office Automation System is basically a multi functional integrated inside a computer which offers office activities to go on in an electronic mode.
Executive Support System (ESS) is software generally used at enterprise level that allows turning the organizational data into concise summarized reports. The reports are generally used by the executive level managers for their quick access to reports which later help them to do the billing, cost, accounting, staffing and many more (Galliers and Leidner 2014). It can also help in analyzing which can predict a series of performance with the data that is present. This is mainly useful when it comes to statistics and numbers related decision making.
Decision Support System
Transaction Processing System (TPS) is the most fundamental computer based system. It can be often defined as a system that captures, classifies, stores, maintains, updates and retrieve transaction data for the records that are stored in the database. It mainly focuses on improving the routine business activities upon which any company depends (O’Regan et al. 2015). Using this system also ensures speed and accuracy and can be programmed further to follow any routines without deviating from the core. It is mainly used when placing an order, billing customers, hiring of employees and also while deposing the cheques.
Conclusion
From the above article it can be concluded that decision support systems are really important when it comes to an organizational success. With the help of this support system, organization can make better decisions which will help them to grow more and more in the near future. There are various types of computer based information system which can be used by different parts of an organization to fulfil their needs accordingly. Along with this, decision making process is also quite significant as this can help the decision makers to know what is lacking and make an alternative from all the decisions that they have chosen and finally choosing one that is best for the organization.
References
Dartmouth, U. (2017). Decision-making process – UMass Dartmouth. [online] Umassd.edu. Available at: https://www.umassd.edu/fycm/decisionmaking/process/ [Accessed 23 Apr. 2017].
Galliers, R.D. and Leidner, D.E., 2014. Strategic information management: challenges and strategies in managing information systems. Routledge.
Guo, Z.X., Ngai, E.W.T., Yang, C. and Liang, X., 2015. An RFID-based intelligent decision support system architecture for production monitoring and scheduling in a distributed manufacturing environment. International journal of production economics, 159, pp.16-28.
Hasan, Y., Shamsuddin, A. and Aziati, N., 2013. The impact of management information systems adoption in managerial decision making: A review. The International Scientific Journal of Management Information Systems, 8(4), pp.010-017.
Kelley, P.G., Cranor, L.F. and Sadeh, N., 2013, April. Privacy as part of the app decision-making process. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 3393-3402). ACM.
O’Regan, A.J., Huxham, H.N., Moss, T.A. and Van Wyk, H., Visa International Service Association, 2015. System and method for transmitting and and receiving transaction information. U.S. Patent Application 15/112,947.
Pettigrew, A.M., 2014. The politics of organizational decision-making. Routledge.
Scott, J., Ho, W., Dey, P.K. and Talluri, S., 2015. A decision support system for supplier selection and order allocation in stochastic, multi-stakeholder and multi-criteria environments. International Journal of Production Economics, 166, pp.226-237.