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Amity Campus Uttar Pradesh India 201303

ASSIGNMENTS PROGRAM: MFC

SEMESTER-II

Subject Name: MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

Study COUNTRY: SOMALIA

Roll Number (Reg. No.): MFC001512014-2016091

Student Name: MOHAMED ABDULLAHI KHALAF

INSTRUCTIONS

a) Students are required to submit all three assignment sets.

ASSIGNMENT DETAILS MARKS

Assignment A Five Subjective Questions 10

Assignment B Three Subjective Questions + Case Study 10

Assignment C Objective or one line Questions 10

b) Total weight-age given to these assignments is 30%. OR 30 Marks c) All assignments are to be completed as typed in word/pdf. d) All questions are required to be attempted. e) All the three assignments are to be completed by due dates and need to be submitted for evaluation by Amity University. f) The students have to attach a scanned signature in the form.

Signature :

Date: 06, June, 2015

( √ ) Tick mark in front of the assignments submitted

Assignment A’ Assignment ‘B’ Assignment ‘C’

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MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

ASSIGNMENT A

Q: 1). Define MIS? What are the characteristics of MIS?

Answer:

The Management Information System (MIS) is a concept of the last decade or two. It has

been understood and described in a number of ways. It is also known as; the Information

System, the Information and Decision System, the Computer-based Information System.

MIS is an abbreviation of the term: Management Information System. It consists of three

different sub terms, namely; Management, Information and System. These three

components of MIS give more complete and focused definition.

Management:

Management covers the planning, control, and administration of the operations of a

concern. The top management handles planning; the middle management concentrates on

controlling; and the lower management is concerned with actual administration.

Information:

Information, in MIS, means the processed data that helps the management in planning,

controlling and operations. Data means all the facts arising out of the operations of the

concern. Data is processed i.e. recorded, summarized, compared and finally presented to the

management in the form of MIS report.

System:

Data is processed into information with the help of a system. A system is made up of inputs,

processing, output and feedback or control. Thus MIS means a system for processing data in

order to give proper information to the management for performing its functions.

Definition of MIS:

Management Information System, 'MIS' is a planned system of collecting, storing and

disseminating data in the in the form of information needed to carry out the functions of

management.

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A management information system (MIS) is a system or process that provides the

information necessary to manage an organization effectively. MIS and the information it

generates are generally considered essential components of prudent and reasonable business

decisions. It is directed towards the managerial functions of planning, controlling and

monitoring, and decision making which are associated at different levels of management.

Management information systems (MIS), produce fixed, regularly scheduled reports based

on data extracted and summarized from the firm’s underlying transaction processing systems

to middle and operational level managers to identify and inform structured and semi-

structured decision problems.

A management information system (MIS) provides information that organizations need to

manage themselves efficiently and effectively. Management information systems are typically

computer systems used for managing five primary components: hardware, software, data

(information for decision making), procedures (design, development and documentation),

and people (individuals, groups, or organizations). Management information systems are

distinct from other information systems, in that they are used to analyze and facilitate

strategic and operational activities.

MIS has more than one definition, some of which are given bellow:

1) The MIS is defined as a system which provides information support for decision-

making in the organization.

2) The MIS is defined as an integrated system of man and machine for providing the

information to support the operation, the management and the decision-making

function in the organization.

3) The MIS is defined as a system based on the database of the organization evolved for

the purpose of providing information to the people in the organization.

4) The MIS is defined as a Computer-based Information System.

From these definitions we can conclude that Management Information System (MIS) is an

organized, automated, and diverse information system that gathers, stores, processes, and

distributes data associated with different departments of the organization. This data is

processed in various forms, such as graphs, diagrams, charts, and reports to generate

accurate, relevant and valuable information for the management. This information is further

communicated to the various departments to be used for decision-making and business

management.

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There are various types of MIS systems, such as transaction processing system (TPS)

decision support system (DSS), financial management systems (FMS), Operations

Information Systems (OIS), system and people management systems (SPMS), project

management system (PMS), accounting management systems (AMS), marketing

management systems (MMS) and sales management system (SMS), which are used to gain

better understanding of the market and enterprise.

OBJECTIVES OF MIS:

An effective MIS has the following objectives

Facilitate the decision - making process by furnishing information in the proper time

frame. This helps the decision - maker to select the best course of action.

Provide requisite information at each level of management to carry out their

functions.

Help in highlighting the critical factors to the closely monitored for successful

functioning of the organization.

Support decision-making in both structured and unstructured problem environments.

Provide a system of people, computers, procedures, and interactive query facilities,

documents for collecting, sorting, retrieving and transmitting information to the

users.

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 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.

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It should create linkage between all sub-systems within the organization, so that the

decision makers can take the right decision based on 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.

Characteristics of Computerized MIS

Following are the characteristics of a well-designed computerized 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.

Characteristics of Effective & Useful MIS:

To function effectively as an interacting, interrelated, and interdependent feedback tool for

management and staff, MIS must be "useable." The essential elements of a useable MIS system are

listed below. The usefulness of MIS is hindered whenever one or more of these elements are

compromised.

1) Timeliness:

To simplify prompt decision making, an institution's MIS should be capable of providing

and distributing current information to appropriate users. Information systems should be

designed to expedite reporting of information. The system should be able to quickly collect

and edit data, summarize results, and be able to adjust and correct errors promptly.

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2) Accuracy:

A sound system of automated and manual internal controls must exist throughout all

information systems processing activities. Information should receive appropriate editing,

balancing, and internal control checks. A comprehensive internal and external audit program

should be employed to ensure the adequacy of internal controls.

3) Consistency:

To be reliable, data should be processed and compiled consistently and uniformly. Variations

in how data is collected and reported can distort information and trend analysis. In addition,

because data collection and reporting processes will change over time, management must

establish sound procedures to allow for systems changes. These procedures should be well

defined and documented, clearly communicated to appropriate employees, and should

include an effective monitoring system.

4) Completeness:

Decision makers need complete and pertinent information in a summarized form. Reports

should be designed to eliminate clutter and voluminous detail, thereby avoiding "information

overload."

Relevance Information provided to management must be relevant. Information that is

inappropriate, unnecessary, or too detailed for effective decision making has no value. MIS

must be appropriate to support the management level using it. The relevance and level of

detail provided through MIS systems directly correlate to what is needed by the board of

directors, executive management, departmental or area mid-level managers, etc. in the

performance of their jobs.

5) Management-oriented:

The basic objective of MIS is to provide information support to the management in the

organization for decision making. So an effective MIS should start its journey from appraisal

of management needs, mission and goal of the business organization. It may be individual or

collective goals of an organization. The MIS is such that it serves all the levels of

management in an organization i.e. top, middle and lower level.

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6) Management directed:

When MIS is management-oriented, it should be directed by the management because it is

the management who tells their needs and requirements more effectively than anybody else.

Manager should guide the MIS professionals not only at the stage of planning but also on

development, review and implementation stages so that effective system should be the end

product of the whole exercise in making an effective MIS.

7) Integrated:

It means a comprehensive or complete view of all the sub systems in the organization of a

company. Development of information must be integrated so that all the operational and

functional information sub systems should be worked together as a single entity. This

integration is necessary because it leads to retrieval of more meaningful and useful

information.

8) Common data flows:

The integration of different sub systems will lead to a common data flow which will further

help in avoiding duplication and redundancy in data collection, storage and processing. For

example, the customer orders are the basis for many activities in an organization viz. billing,

sales for cashing, etc. Data is collected by a system analyst from its original source only one

time. Then he utilizes the data with minimum number of processing procedures and uses the

information for production output documents and reports in small numbers and eliminates

the undesirable data. This will lead to elimination of duplication that simplify the operations

and produce an efficient information system.

9) Heavy planning-element:

The preparation of MIS is not a one or two day exercise. It usually takes few years and

sometimes a much longer period. So the system expert has to keep two things in mind – one

is that he has to keep future objectives as well as the firm’s information well in advance and

also he has to keep in mind that his MIS will not be obsolete before it gets into action.

10) Sub System concept:

When a problem is seen in two sub parts, then the better solution to the problem is possible.

Although MIS is viewed as a single entity but for its effective use, it should be broken down

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in small parts or subsystems so that more attention and insight is paid to each sub system.

Priorities will be set and phase of implementation will be made easy. While making or

breaking down the whole MIS into subsystems, it should be kept in mind that the

subsystems should be easily manageable.

11) Common database:

This is the basic feature of MIS to achieve the objective of using MIS in business

organizations. It avoids duplication of files and storage which leads to reduction in costs.

Common database means a “Super file or Master file” which consolidates and integrates data

records formerly stored in many separate data files. The organization of the database allows

it to be accessed by each subsystem and thus, eliminates the necessity of duplication in data

storage, updating, deletion and protection.

12) Computerized:

MIS can be used without a computer. But the use of computers increases the effectiveness

and the efficiency of the system. The queries can be handled more quickly and efficiently

with the computerized MIS. The other benefits are accuracy, storage capacity and timely

information.

13) User friendly/Flexibility:

An MIS should be flexible i.e. there should be room for further modification because the

MIS takes much time in preparation and our environment is dynamic in nature.MIS should

be such that it should be used independently by the end user so that they do not depend on

the experts.

14) Information as a resource:

Information is the major ingredient of any MIS. So, an MIS should be treated as a resource

and managed properly.

Q: 2). Explain strategic MIS categories in detail. Give relevant examples.

Answer:

Strategic Information System - A Strategic Information System (SIS) is a system to

manage information and assist in strategic decision making. A strategic information system

has been defined as, "The information system to support or change enterprise's strategy."

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A SIS is a type of Information System that is aligned with business strategy and structure.

The alignment increases the capability to respond faster to environmental changes and thus

creates a competitive advantage. An early example was the favorable position afforded

American and United Airlines by their reservation systems, Sabre and Apollo. For many

years these two systems ensured that the two carriers' flights appeared on the first screens

observed by travel agents, thus increasing their bookings relative to competitors. A major

source of controversy surrounding SIS is their sustainability.

SISs are different from other comparable systems as:

1) They change the way the firm competes.

2) They have an external (outward looking) focus.

3) They are associated with higher project risk.

4) They are innovative (and not easily copied).

It is mainly concerned with providing and organization and its members an assistance to

perform the routine tasks efficiently and effectively. One of the major issue before any

organization is the challenge of meeting its goals and objectives. Strategic IS enables such

organization in realizing their goals. Strategic Information System (SIS) is a support to the

existing system and helps in achieving a competitive advantage over the organizations

competitors in terms of its objectives. This unit deals with the critical aspects of the strategic

information system. This units indicates the theoretical concepts and the way in which the

same are realized in practice. The flow of the unit is in such a way that it starts with the

development of contemporary theory about strategic uses of corporations' internal

information systems leading to systems which transcend the boundaries of particular

organizations. The process whereby strategic information systems are created or identified is

then examined. A number of weaknesses in the existing body of theory are identified, and

suggestions made as to directions in which knowledge is or may be progressing. A strategic

information system is concerned with systems which contribute significantly to the

achievement of an organization's overall objectives. The body of knowledge is of recent

origin and highly dynamic and the area has an aura of excitement about it. The emergence of

the key ideas, the process whereby strategic information systems come into being is assessed,

areas of weakness are identified, and directions of current and future development suggested.

Information system is regarded as a tool to provide various services to different management

functions. The tools have been developing year by year and the application of the tool has

become more and more diverse. In management it is now a very power means to manage

and control various activities and decision making process. The original idea of automating

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mechanical processes got quickly succeeded by the rationalization and integration of systems.

In both of these forms, IS was regarded primarily as an operational support tool, and

secondarily as a service to management. Subsequent to the development, it was during the

last few years that an additional potential was discovered. It was found that, in some cases,

information technology (IT) had been critical to the implementation of an organization's

strategy.

An organization’s strategy supported by information system fulfilling its business objectives

came to be known as Strategic Information System. The strategic information system

consists of functions that involved gathering, maintenance and analysis of data concerning

internal resources, and intelligence about competitors, suppliers, customers, government and

other relevant organizations.

Q: 3). Write a detailed note on the planning and development of MIS?

Answer:

Planning of information systems:

Many organizations have purchased computers for data processing and for meeting the

statutory requirements of filling the returns and reports to the government. Computers are

used mainly for computing and accounting the business transactions and have not been

considered as tool for information processing.

The organizations have invested on computers and expanded its use by adding more or

bigger computers to take care of the numerous transactions in the business. In this

approach, the information processing function of the computers in the organization never

got its due regard as an important asset to the organization. In fact, this function is

misinterpreted as data processing for expeditious generation of reports and returns, and not

as information processing for management action and decisions.

However, the scene has been changing since late eighties when the computers become more

versatile, in the function of storage, communication, intelligence and language. The

computer technology is so advanced that the barriers of storage, distance understanding of

language and speed are broken.

In short, we need a management information system flexible enough to deal with the

changing information needs of the organization. It should be conceived as an open system

continuously interacting with the business environment with a built-in mechanism to

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provide the desired information as per the new requirements of the management. The

designing as such in open system is a complex task. It can be achieved only if the MIS is

planned, keeping in view, the plan of the business management of the organization.

Development of information systems:

Once the plan of MIS is done; the development of the MIS calls for determining for the

strategy of development. As discussed earlier, the plan consists of various systems and sub

systems. The development strategy determines where to begin and what sequence the

development can take place with the sole objective of assuring the information support.

The choice of the system or the sub-system depends on its position in the total MIS plan,

the size of the system, the user understands of the systems and the complexity and its

interface with other systems. The designer first develops systems independently and starts

integrating them with other systems, enlarging the system scope and meeting the varying

information needs.

Determining the position of the position of the system in the MIS is easy. The real problem

is the degree of structure, and formalization in the system and procedures which determine

the timing and duration of development of the system.

Q: 4). Explain the challenges before an E-business management.

Answer:

Managing an E-business & Challenges before an E-business - Due to Internet

capabilities and web technology, traditional business organization definition has undergone a

change where scope of the enterprise now includes other company locations, business

partners, customers and vendors. It has no geographic boundaries as it can extend its

operations where Internet works. All this is possible due to Internet and web moving

traditional paper driven organization to information driven Internet enabled E-business

enterprise. E-business enterprise is open twenty-four hours, and being independent,

managers, vendors and customers transact business anytime from anywhere. Internet

capabilities have given E-business enterprise a cutting edge capability advantage to increase

the business value. It has opened new channels of business as buying and selling can be done

on Internet. It enables to reach new markets across the world anywhere due to

communication capabilities. It has empowered customers and vendors / suppliers through

secured access to information to act, wherever necessary. The cost of business operations

has come down significantly due to the elimination of paper-driven processes, faster

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communication and effective collaborative working. The effect of these radical changes is

the reduction in administrative and management overheads, reduction in inventory, faster

delivery of goods and services to the customers.

The scope of E-business is limited to executing core business process of the organization.

The process would have external interface life suppliers, customers, contractors, consultants

and so on. The core business process of the organization is procurement, manufacturing,

selling, distribution, delivery and accounting. These core process are best run by application

packages like enterprise definition is made wider including customer, suppliers and

distributors, application package like supply chain management (SCM) is best suited for

planning and execution of entire business process.

In addition to these core business process, organizations use internet enabled systems and

other technologies to handle these process more effectively. Transaction processing

workflow, work group and process control applications are the backend support systems to

main ERP/SCM enterprise management systems.

E-business systems scope manages cross-functional application systems as a single business

process. It integrates cross functions seamlessly, automates the tasks, and updates the

information is real time the ERP/SCM and now customer Relations management system

(CRM) is a family of software solution packages dedicated to care management of functions

of business. They are supported by front-end and back-end systems and applications

designed for transaction processing. Work flow management, work group processing and

automated process control, E-business systems use client/server architecture and run an

internet platform. E-business systems lay foundation for other Enterprise applications,

namely E-commerce, E-communications, and E-collaboration.

In Accounting and finance system, IT application is very strong. E-business applications in

this area are capable of accounting every business entity such as material, men, machines,

cash, customer, vendor and so on, all process which deal with transaction, computing,

accounting and analysis are automated using system intelligence and knowledge driver

intelligent systems.

E-business involves the transaction of business or buying and selling using the electronic

medium usually the internet. It has several benefits as well as challenges. Below are some

listed challenges of E-business to its management.

Management of an E-business will face challenges of maintaining the privacy of their

businesses. Privacy involves the right to control one’s information. While invasion of privacy

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is generally perceived as an undesirable loss of autonomy, government and business

organizations do need to collect data in order to facilitate administration and exploit

marketing opportunities. Electronic commerce presents a particular challenge to privacy, as

personal information is routinely collected and disseminated in a largely unregulated manner.

Preventing abusive invasions of privacy is complicated by the lack of an international legal

standard.

An E-business is likely to face challenges of piracy. Intellectual property, such as computer

software, books, music, and movies, is protected, albeit imperfectly, by patents, trade secrets,

and copyrights. However, such essentially intangible goods can be easily copied and

transmitted electronically over the Web for unlawful reproduction and use. Combinations of

legal statutes and technological safeguards, such as antipiracy encryption and electronic

watermarks, are emerging.

Also, management of an e-business has to work to ensure that the internet site which hosts

and advertises their products and services is regularly updated and in time. This may mean

recruiting experts or training already existing staff and ultimately may involve spending more

of business proceeds.

Again, after having updated the site, its maintenance and security is of essence. Management

has the responsibility of ensuring that the site is maintained and secured to prevent hackers

and fraudsters from defrauding the business. Management therefore has to always think and

plan ahead so as to improve services/products and outwit these fraudsters. This may mean

more work and perhaps sleepless nights for management.

Management of an E-business also has to invest in information systems and decision

support systems tailored which can help their goals and objectives. Failure to do so may

result in serious consequences for the business.

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ASSIGNMENT B

Q: 1). What is an internet? Explain the differences between internet, intranet

and extranet.

Answer:

Internet is a global network of interconnected computers, enabling users to share

information along multiple channels. Typically, a computer that connects to the Internet can

access information from a vast array of available servers and other computers by moving

information from them to the computer's local memory. The same connection allows that

computer to send information to servers on the network; that information is in turn accessed

and potentially modified by a variety of other interconnected computers. A majority of

widely accessible information on the Internet consists of inter-linked hypertext documents

and other resources of the World Wide Web (WWW). Computer users typically manage sent

and received information with web browsers; other software for users' interface with

computer networks includes specialized programs for electronic mail, online chat, file

transfer and file sharing.

The movement of information in the Internet is achieved via a system of interconnected

computer networks that share data by packet switching using the standardized Internet

Protocol Suite (TCP/IP). It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of private

and public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope that are

linked by copper wires, fiber-optic cables, wireless connections, and other technologies.

Difference between internet, intranet and extranet as follow:

Internet:

Internet is an electronic network of computers that includes nearly every university,

government, and research facility in the world. Also included are many commercial sites. It

started with four interconnected computers in 1969 and was known as Arpanet. A network

of computer networks which operates world-wide using a common set of communications

protocols. It is the vast collection of inter-connected networks across the world that all use the

TCP/IP protocols.

It is a global network connecting millions of computers, a worldwide network of computer

networks. It is an interconnection of large and small networks around the globe. The Internet began

in 1962 as a resilient computer network for the US military and over time has grown into a global

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communication tool of more than 12,000 computer networks that share a common addressing

scheme.

Intranet:

An internal is use private network inside an organization that uses the same kind of software

which would also be found on the Internet. It is Inter-connected network within one

organization that uses Web technologies for the sharing of information internally, not

worldwide. Such information might include organization policies and procedures,

announcements, or information about new products.

An intranet is a restricted-access network that works like the Web, but isn't on it. Usually

owned and managed by a company, an intranet enables a company to share its resources

with its employees without confidential information being made available to everyone with

Internet access.

A network based on TCP/IP protocols (an internet) belonging to an organization, usually a

corporation, accessible only by the organization's members, employees, or others with

authorization. An intranet's Web sites look and act just like any other Web sites, but the

firewall surrounding an intranet fends off unauthorized access. Like the Internet itself,

intranets are used to share information.

An intranet is an information portal designed specifically for the internal communications of

small, medium or large businesses, enterprises, governments, industries or financial

institutions of any size or complexity. Intranets can be custom-designed to fit the exact

needs of businesses no matter where they are situated.

Users of intranets consist mainly of:

Members of the executive team.

Accounting and order billing.

Managers and directors.

Sales people and support staff.

Customer service, help desk, etc..

Extranet:

An extranet is a private network that uses the Internet protocols and the public

telecommunication system to securely share part of a business's information or operations

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with suppliers, vendors, partners, customers, or other businesses. An extranet can be viewed

as part of a company's intranet that is extended to users outside the company. An extranet

requires security and privacy.

A new buzzword that refers to an intranet that is partially accessible to authorized outsiders.

Whereas an intranet resides behind a firewall and is accessible only to people who are

members of the same company or organization, an extranet provides various levels of

accessibility to outsiders. You can access an extranet only if you have a valid username and

password, and your identity determines which parts of the extranet you can view. An

extranet is somewhat very similar to an intranet. Extranets are designed specifically to give

external, limited access to certain files of your computer systems to:

Certain large or privileged customers.

Selected industry partners.

Suppliers and subcontractors... etc.

Therefore, a carefully designed extranet can bring additional business to your company.

Intranets and extranets all have three things in common:

They both use secured Internet access to the outside world.

Both can drastically save your company or organization a lot of money.

Both need a user ID & password to control access to the whole system.

The professional development team at My Web Services has the expertise and the right tools

to design the right intranet or extranet that will meet your exact needs, both for today and

the future.

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Internet

This is the world-wide network of

computers accessible to

anyone who knows their

Internet Protocol (IP) address

- the IP address is a unique set

of numbers that defines the

computer's location.

Before this named computer

can be accessed, the name

needs to be resolved into an

IP address. To do this your

browser will access a Domain

Name Server (DNS)

computer to lookup the name

and return an IP address - or

issue an error message to

indicate that the name was not

found. Once your browser has

the IP address it can access

the remote computer. The

actual server does not reside

behind a firewall - if it did, it

would be an Extranet. It may

implement security at a

directory level so that access is

via a username and password,

but otherwise all the

information is accessible.

To see typical security have

a look at a sample secure

directory - the username

is Dr and the password

is Who.

Intranet

This is a network that is not

available to the world outside of the

Intranet. If the Intranet network is

connected to the Internet, the

Intranet will reside behind a firewall

and, if it allows access from the

Internet, will be an Extranet. The

firewall helps to control access

between the Intranet and Internet

to permit access to the Intranet only

to people who are members of the

same company or organization.

In its simplest form, an Intranet can

be set up on a networked PC

without any PC on the network

having access via the Intranet

network to the Internet.

For example, consider an office

with a few PCs and a few printers

all networked together. The

network would not be connected to

the outside world. On one of the

drives of one of the PCs there

would be a directory of web pages

that comprise the Intranet. Other

PCs on the network could access

this Intranet by pointing their

browser to this directory.

From then onwards they would

navigate around the Intranet in the

same way as they would get around

the Internet.

Extranet

An Extranet is

actually an

Intranet that is

partially

accessible to

authorized

outsiders. The

actual server

will reside

behind a

firewall.

The firewall

helps to control

access between

the Intranet and

Internet

permitting

access to the

Intranet only to

people who are

suitably

authorized. The

level of access

can be set to

different levels

for individuals

or groups of

outside users.

The access can

be based on a

username and

password or an

IP address.

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Q: 2). Explain the application of MIS by taking either materials management

or production planning system in a manufacturing industry or service

organization.

Answer:

In the manufacturing industry, production planning is a very important thing to do so as to

increase profits and maximize wealth. The use of MIS at various departments or stages of

manufacturing plays a vital role in production planning. This can be done in several ways as

explained below:

Marketing Information Systems is used to process orders from other organizations for the

firm’s products. On the basis of these orders, the production/operations section assess

available inventory so as to ascertain whether or not it will be adequate to produce to meet

orders. If not, an order is made to the firm’s suppliers for inventory. This is done with the

help of logistics management information system. Also, with the use of resources

management information systems, the firm is able to assess itself in terms of its people,

know-how, plant facilities and equipment hence is able to tell whether or not it has the

capacity to produce to meet the orders placed for its products. When the firm acquires

adequate inventory, the production/operation section goes into production as scheduled.

Then, business acquisition management information systems are used to handle information

related to markets, competitors, sales etc. Logistics management information systems are

used to help with accounting for inventory.

The application of management information system (MIS) in either manufacturing sector or

service sector of any economy is as important as other economical resources such as

materials, labor and investments.

The MIS of manufacturing sector does not match with the MIS for Service sector due to the

difference in the nature of two sectors, but the objective of MIS in both sectors is providing

the most satisfying products or services to their consumers and customers.

Managers in service industries such as Hotels, Hospitals, Airlines, Banks, Insurance

companies’ etc. put a lot of efforts to create a distinctive service to remain competitive.

Principles of distinctive service

Tom Peter stated five principles of distinctive service:

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Listen, Understand and Respond to the customers;

Define a Superior Service and establish a Service Strategy;

Set standards and measure the performance;

Select, Train and Empower the employees to work for the customers; and

Recognize and reward the accomplishments.

Service process Cycle

Stages in service cycle Steps in stage Example: educational institute

Initiation of service Enquiry, information,

seeking, checking, assessing

Through website, advertisement

Transition to service Step towards service Information brochure & online

application form.

Pre-service Cross checking the

document, records

Cross check the certificate,

application form

Service Effecting the service,

delivery with the goods

Best faculty with infrastructure.

Post service Concluding the service,

existing assistance

Giving world class placement

Application of MIS in service Sector

MIS for Hotel

• People prefer hotels when they are out of their homes, might be on vacations,

spending their leisure time, or on some official duties.

• Hotel is a place where people would like to have a distinctive service. Due to lot of

competitions in the hotel service, the concept has changed from convenience of stay

to comfort and enjoyment.

• Today, hotels are not only meant for a individual stay but now it’s a place for

business meetings, interviews, conferences, live concerts. Every time the hotel needs

to undergo change according to the needs of the customers.

• Main function of hotel industry is to provide a room to stay with basic amenities and

facilities so that customer has a comfortable stay. Managers put all efforts to keep

hotel occupancy high all the times.

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• Responsibilities of MIS plays important role of providing information to the best

possible way, so that customers expectations are fulfilled.

Customer queries (telephone, web, E-mail)

Transition to service

Customer arrives at hotel reception

Pre-service

Customer gives passport, a letter and visiting card

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Service

Service requests: lunch, dinner, room service

Post-Service

Customer gives feedback

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CASE STUDY

THE CASE OF A DEPARTMENTAL STORE

Mr. BAWA, Director (Sales) of the BAWA Departmental Store Chain in Uganda is a

worried person. The worries revolve around the number of complaints he has been receiving

from the Store Mangers about non-availability of the store information.

The BAWA Stores chain was started about 6 years back. The then management thought it fit

to install a Sales Information System (SIS) also. The present system, therefore, was installed

at the beginning of the chain and became operational a year later.

The system is operated on batch-processing mode and it generates monthly and quarterly

reports on several aspects of Sale.

The basic input document for the processing is the Sale Invoice. In fact the Store personnel

enter the Sale Invoices of the day at the end of the day. The Store Manager is responsible to

see that the input data is created and validated before the same is passed on to the Computer

Department for further processing. Every Store was provided with a PC for this purpose,

however, on persistent demands one more PC was provided to each Store. The Computer

Department does the final processing at the Head Office, and then the Reports distributed

to each Store.

The system worked very well for about 3 years, however, for the last two years there have

been several complaints from the Store Managers about the system.

The Mohini started its operations with 3 Stores. In the last six years, the number of Stores

has increased to 8. The management has plans to open an additional Store every year during

the next five years. During the last 3 years the sales of Mohini has increased by nearly 120%.

Apart from the usual retail sales, almost all the Store in the chain cater to several bulk

customers e.g. Government Departments, Factories Canteens etc. Which make bulk

purchases from the Stores on a regular basis. The individual Store Managers generally enter

into the sale contracts for these on annual basis. These are credit sales and the individual

Store Manger is responsible for collecting the outstanding.

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Discuss:

Q: 1). The general conditions of the Chain now and in the immediate future.

Answer:

The general condition of the chain is good for now. This is demonstrated in the percentage

increase in sales over the last three years. However, the situation can be better. As the chain

plans to expand within the next five years, its focus should not be shifted away from

equipping and maintaining existing infrastructure, equipment etc. the broken down systems

should therefore be maintained/replaced.

Q: 2). What are the problems, the Chain is facing. List them in order of

priority.

Answer:

The chain is facing the following problems;

inadequate computers for the stores

lack of experts or know-how on the part of workers to develop, operate or maintain

the system leading to breakdown

Q: 3). Suggest a solution to overcome the problems as listed by you.

Answer:

Management should fully equip new stores and maintain existing ones. While doing this, it

should also engage the services of experts to develop improved systems for efficient

functioning or train staff to better operate and maintain the system being used currently.

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ASSIGNMENT C

Q: 1). A computer-based information system consists of which of the

following elements?

a) Computers, keyboards, display monitors, hard disks, and printers

b) People, procedures, data, programs, and computers ()

c) Input, processing, storage, and output

d) Planning, programming, organizing, and evaluating

Q: 2). Which of the following characteristics of a system reflects the fact that

all systems are comprised of subsystems?

a) Synergy

b) Differentiation

c) Regulation

d) Hierarchy ()

Q: 3). The process by which workers develop their own applications, with or

without the help of professional MIS staff, is called

a) decentralized computing

b) distributed computing

c) end-user computing ()

d) client/server computing

Q: 4). A database management system must include which of the following

components?

I. A data definition language

II. A data manipulation language

III. A data dictionary

IV. A data redundancy protocol

a) I only

b) I and II only

c) I, II, and III only ()

d) I, II, III, and IV

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Q: 5). Which of the following is NOT a benefit of electronic data interchange

(EDI)?

a) It reduces errors

b) It reduces the volume of invoices or orders ()

c) It reduces transaction processing costs

d) It saves time

Q: 6). Which of the following terms is used to describe the transmission of

data one character at a time?

a) Synchronous

b) Asynchronous ()

c) Half-duplex

d) Full-duplex

Q: 7). Multiplexors and concentrators are used in telecommunication systems

to do which of the following?

a) Perform high-speed arithmetic operations

b) Increase utilization of the communication lines ()

c) Store and retrieve data

d) Display data on the monitor

Q: 8). Which of the following systems development approaches involves a

highly iterative process of building, using, evaluating, and refining?

a) System development life cycle (SDLC)

b) Top-down analysis (TDA)

c) Prototyping ()

d) Critical-path analysis

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Q: 9). In MIS the concept of “outsourcing” can be best defined as which of

the following?

I. An option that some organizations use to control data processing costs

II. A process of releasing an organization’s computer operations to an external

vendor

III. A data support and retrieval system that organizations can access electronically

a) I only

b) I and II only ()

c) II and III only

d) I, II, and III

Q: 10). Is an example of artificial intelligence. (Choose one only)

a) ADSS

b) Office automation

c) The MIS

d) An expert system ()

Q: 11). You would find an executive on the strategic-planning Level.

a) TRUE ()

b) FALSE

Q: 12). The system life cycle consists of three phases--planning, development,

and use.

a) TRUE

b) FALSE ()

Q: 13). Any time a manager engages in end-user computing (EUC), there is no

need for information specialists such as systems analysts and programmers.

a) TRUE

b) FALSE ()

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Q: 14). Users of the MIS include

a) managers

b) persons and organizations in the firm’s environment

c) non-managers

d) all of the above ()

Q: 15). The box that includes AIS, MIS, DSS, the virtual office, and knowledge-

based systems is named (Choose one only)

a) the super-system

b) the environment

c) the computer-based information system (CBIS) ()

d) information resources management (IRM)

Q: 16). Which one of these BEST describes the role of a manager?

a) Attending meetings, attending corporate luncheons, disciplining staff,

representing the company.

b) Planning, organizing, coordinating, making decisions, controlling ()

c) Maintaining a rigid position in the hierarchy to prevent customer complaints from

coming to the attention of the Board.

d) Supervising the work of junior staff.

Q: 17). Which one of these statements describes the role of a management

information system?

a) Software that makes decisions based on external and internal data.

b) Software that provides information to enable a manager to make decisions based

on internal data.

c) Software that provides information to enable a manager to make decisions based

on external data.

d) Software that provides information to enable a manager to make decisions

based on internal and external data ()

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Q: 18). Which one of these statements describes a function that is NOT carried

out by a management information system?

a) Recording the sale of an item to a customer.

b) Recording information about the products produced by a competitor ()

c) Calculating the financial implication for the company form a rise in the minimum

wage.

d) Modeling the impact on the business of a new piece of Government legislation.

Q: 19). Which one of these statements best describes a formal flow of

information.

a) An article written in a trade paper.

b) A chance comment in a telephone conversation

c) Data that are collected from a data collection agency ()

d) A conclusion drawn while thinking about a particular problem

Q: 20). A manager has to make an unstructured decision, which means that:

a) The decision has a definite procedure to deal with the problem.

b) The manager has to use judgment based on previous experience, insight

and careful evaluation ()

c) The decision will result in no correct course of action.

d) No decision can be made.

Q: 21). Which one of these features is desirable in a management information

system?

a) It takes up little space on the computer.

b) It can make decisions for the manager

c) The manager receives all the data that are stored by the company in as tables of

numbers.

d) It can be interrupted so that the manager can come back at a later stage

()

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Q: 22). Why do computer projects in MIS need to be carefully managed?

a) Computer professionals are rather disorganized people.

b) Many specialist skills are needed, which have to be coordinated ()

c) MIS systems are powerful bits of software that make decisions.

d) The hardware is complex to set up.

Q: 23). Which one of these statements describes the waterfall model of project

management?

a) Each stage is completed before the next stage is undertaken.

b) The next stage is undertaken after completion of the previous stage, but it

is possible to rework previous stages in the light of experience gained at

later stages ()

c) A model is made of the system that allows the end user to have an input into the

new system.

d) It is a scornful description of a project that has failed.

Q: 24). A drawback of prototyping is:

a) That the end user is involved in the project.

b) The end user notices the missing functions, which can be an embarrassment to a

computer professional.

c) The software is more susceptible to viruses.

d) That the project management can be sloppy ()

Q: 25). How is information collected for the requirements analysis in a new IT

project?

a) A quick discussion with the managing director on the telephone.

b) Detailed discussion with board members and other members of senior

management.

c) Interviewing all staff at all levels, sending out questionnaires, detailed

examination of documentation and information flows, and observation of

company practice ()

d) Discussion with the network manager and the IT technicians

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Q: 26). When a system is designed, it is put together with a modular design

structure. This means that:

a) System is constructed according to the prototype model.

b) The software is made up of sub-units and put together to make a finished

unit ()

c) The hardware is made up of sub-units that are put together.

d) The implementation will be in phases.

Q: 27). Which one of the following statements would indicate that a new MIS

was successfully implemented?

a) Perfective maintenance has been carried out.

b) The hardware has high specification

c) The system processes data adequately.

d) There is a high degree of user satisfaction ()

Q: 28). Governance of IT is shifting from being handled exclusively by IS

executives to being a collaborative effort between IS business and their

constituencies.

a) True ()

b) False

Q: 29). Governance of IT is a collaborative effort between IS, the business, and

their constituencies.

a) True

b) False ()

Q: 30). System integration and infrastructure development is the SYSTEM

INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE.

Q: 31). RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT is characterized as the

development and management of relationships with external service providers.

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Q: 32). The device that was hailed as a technological marvel in the 1950's was

the:

a) Mainframe ()

b) PC

c) Calculator

d) Terminal

e) Abacus

Q: 33). HEWLETT PACKARD was credited with the creation of the first

handheld calculator.

Q: 34). IBM and ORACLE emerged as key players in the DBMS market.

Q: 35). Products in digital formats that can be delivered anywhere, at any time,

at a low cost and no delivery cost are sold on ONLINE SHOPPING.

Q: 36). The emerging trend that has shifted focus from tangible items such as

capital, equipment, and factories to intangibles such as ideas, intellectual

capital, and knowledge is known as KNOWLEDGE ASSETS.

Q: 37). An MIS helps businesses achieve:

a) Its goals and objectives ()

b) Parity.

c) Fairness.

d) Security.

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Q: 38). The most important component of an information system is the

_________________.

a) Software.

b) Hardware.

c) Data.

d) People ()

Q: 39). Which of the following is not a characteristic of good information?

a) Interchangeability ()

b) Relevance.

c) Cost effectiveness.

d) Timeliness.

Q: 40). In order to be cost effective, information must be:

a) Timely.

b) Adaptable.

c) Be worth the cost of producing it ()

d) An input into another system.