3/15/2016

Management Information System: (Definition and Objectives)

Management Information System: (Definition and

Objectives)
By Smriti Chand Management
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With the coming of the computer age, management information system [i.e. MIS) is becoming popular
in the corporate circle for giving quick information to the management. The purpose of MIS is
reporting and is to provide the necessary information to the managers and supervisors at various
levels to help them to discharge their functions of organising, planning, control and decision making.
MIS is a scientific way of collecting; processing, storing and communicating information relating to the
various activities of an organisation to the various levels of management so that management may be
facilitated in discharging its functions efficiently and run the organisation in an efficient manner for the
betterment of all.
MIS enhances the quality of management and growth of the organisation by providing timely, accurate
and meaningful information for planning, organisation and control, No management can ever succeed
without continuous appraisal of its performance and MIS by providing timely and meaningful
information can be helpful in this regard. MIS should be developed keeping in mind the information
needs of all managers and it should be based on cost- benefit analysis. It should be designed in such
a way that it covers all aspects of the organisation and it should be flexible to meet changing
management needs and changing inputs.
Management information system is a system designed in an organisation to provide right information
at the right time to facilitate managerial decision making. The need for management information
system has arisen because managerial decision making has become very complicated due to fast
changing economic, political, social, and technological changes.
The old techniques of decision making such as intuition, rule of thumb etc. are no more relevant and
useful in the process of decision making. Modern managements assemble both quantitative as well
qualitative information which can be used for analysing the pros and cons of various alternative
courses of actions and thereby facilitating the best course of action.
Thus, modern management functions are information oriented. Therefore, it is very difficult to manage
effectively without an efficient management information system.

Definition of Management Information System:

1. A formal method of collecting timely information in a presentable form in order to facilitate effective
decision making and implementation, in order to carryout organisational operations for the purpose of
achieving the organisational goals. Walter I. Kennevan
2. An MIS is a system designed to provide selected decision oriented information needed by
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3/15/2016

Management Information System: (Definition and Objectives)

management to plan, control and evaluate the activities of the corporation. It is designed within a
framework that emphasises profit planning, performance planning and control at all levels.
It contemplates the ultimate integration of required business information, sub systems both financial
and non-financial within the company.
Management Information System Committee of the Financial Executive Institute
The above definitions of MIS clarify that MIS is a system which helps management in performing its job
effectively. It provides relevant information to each manager to make right decisions and stimulates
his actions. It is a systematic approach to provide useful information for effective managerial
functioning in the form of suitable reports.

Objectives of Management Information System:

The following are the objectives of a management information system:
1. MIS is very useful for efficient and effective planning and control functions of the management.
Management is the art of getting things done through others. MIS will be instrumental in getting the
things done by providing quick and timely information to the management.
2. Reports give an idea about the performance of men, materials, machinery, money and
management. Reports throw light on the utilisation of resources employed in the orgnisation.
3. MIS is helpful in controlling costs by giving information about idle time, labour turnover, wastages
and losses and surplus capacity.
4. By making comparison of actual performance with the standard and budgeted performance,
variances are brought to the notice of the management by MIS which can be corrected by taking
remedial steps.
5. MIS brings to the notice of the management strength (i.e., strong points) of the organisation, to
take advantage of the opportunities available.
6. MIS reports on production statistics regarding rejection, defective and spoilage and their effect on
costs and quality of the products.
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