Introduction
Management information system (MIS) is a computer-based system that focuses on “collecting, processing, storing, and transmitting relevant information to support the management operations in an organization”.
A MIS is relevant to decision support systems since it provides accurate and timely information that enable managers to solve the problems facing their organizations. Ackdff (1967) argues that management information systems often fail because of information overload and managers’ inability to understand how they work. This paper disagrees with this argument.
Information Overload
According to Ackdff (1967), designers of MIS usually assume that providing more information to managers improves their ability to make the right decision. However, the resulting information overload often reduces managers’ ability to make the right decision. In this regard, Ackdff (1967) believes that an effective MIS must have advanced filtration and condensation capabilities.
Indeed, this strategy can help managers to access only the relevant information in order to avoid wasting time in the process of making a decision. However, condensation and filtration does not always improve the effectiveness of the MIS and the outcome of a decision. Organizations often make non-programmed decisions that cannot be made easily using predetermined rules.
In this regard, scenario analysis has to be used to arrive at the optimal solution. Adequate intelligence has to be gathered concerning the problem in order to conduct an effective scenario analysis.
This means that the MIS must be able to provide more information than is ordinarily required to make non-programmed decisions. Managers who are used to condensed information or data are likely to ignore the details about the operations of their organizations, thereby making suboptimal decisions.
Understanding the System
Ackdff (1967) argues that managers will not be able to evaluate the performance of a MIS if they do not understand how it works. In this respect, managers are likely to make wrong decisions, especially, if they are unaware of the inaccuracy of the information provided by the system. Thus, managers have to be trained on how to evaluate the system before it is installed.
However, experience suggests that managers often fail to evaluate their MIS because of their inability to understand the process being managed by the system rather than how the system works. A manager who understands routine processes such as inventory management will have a clear understanding of the output that must be produced by the MIS.
In this case, the manger can easily identify the deficiencies of the MIS if its output deviates from the desired results. In addition, managers will be in a position to recommend effective solutions to the weaknesses of the MIS if they have a good understanding of the process to be managed.
On the other hand, training managers on how the MIS works before they understand the process to be managed will not help them to detect the weaknesses of the system.
Conclusion
A MIS plays a central role in organizations by providing the information required to make relevant decisions. Although information overload has to be avoided, the system should not over emphasize condensation and filtration of information.
This will enable managers to detect errors or problems that are likely to be ignored due to filtration of information. Moreover, the managers should be trained on the process to be managed using the MIS before learning how the system works. This strategy not only enables managers to evaluate the MIS more effectively, but also to improve it.
References
Ackdff, R. (1967). Management misinformation systems. Management Science, 14(4), 147-155.
Asemi, A., Safari, A., & Zavareh, A. (2011). The role of management information system (MIS) and decision support system (DSS) for manager’s decison making process. International Journal of Business and Management, 6(7), 164-167.
Reddy, S., Vuda, R., & Srikanth, R. (2009). Management information system to help managers for providing decision making in an organization. International Journal of Reviews in Computing, 1(1), 1-5.