Computers:

Tools for an Information Age

Chapter 16
Management Information Systems
 Chapter 16
MIS
Classic Management Functions
• Planning – devising plans for the organization and
setting goals to achieve the plan
• Organizing – deciding how to use the organization’s
resources
• Staffing – hiring and training workers
• Directing – guiding employees to perform their work
in a way that supports the organization’s goals
• Controlling – monitoring the organization’s progress
toward reaching its goals
2
 Levels of Management
• Strategic level
• Tactical level
• Operational level

3
 Strategic Level
• Managers at this level are often called
executives
• Focus – long-range view of the firm
• Primary function – planning

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4
 Tactical Level
• Managers at this level are often called middle
managers
• Focus – carrying out the visions of top-level
managers
• Primary functions – organizing and staffing

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 Operational Level
• Managers at this level are often called
supervisors
• Focus – meeting that day’s objectives
• Primary functions – directing and controlling

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 Management Information System
• A set of formal business systems designed to
provide information for an organization
– Integrates the five management functions
• MIS manager runs the MIS department
– Also called Chief Information Officer
– Must be comfortable with computer technology
and the organization’s business

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 The New Management Model
• The traditional model has changed over the
years
– Largely due to advances in technology
– Also due to changes in the global business
environment
• Features of the new model
– A flattened pyramid
– The impact of groupware
– Teamwork

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 A Flattened Pyramid
• Networks connect people to
data and other people
– Make information more readily
available
– Allow managers to supervise more
people
– Allow decision-making authority to
be spread throughout the
organization

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 The Impact of Groupware
• Groupware permits information to be
assembled in central databases
– Employees in different departments or different
offices can share information directly
• Impacts managers in different ways

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 Impact on Managers
• The way information is shared
– People acquire power in an organization by
knowing things others do not
– Groupware reduces this imbalance
• Changes in managerial authority
– With information more readily available, decisions
are more prone to being second-guessed

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 Teamwork
• Divide workers into task-
focused teams
– Teams contain workers from
throughout the organization
– When the task is
completed, the team is
disbanded
• Groupware and networks
make working in teams
much easier

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 Top Managers and Computers
• In the past, managers received
printed reports
– Today, most managers have
personal computers on their desks
• Systems designed for top
managers
– Decision support systems
– Executive information systems

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 Decision Support Systems
• Support executives in
nonroutine decision-
making tasks
– Executives deal with a
constantly changing
environment
– Decisions need to be made
that have no precedents
• Key components

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 Key Components of a DSS
• A modeling process
– Model – a mathematical representation of a real-
life system
• Uses variables to produce output
• Simulation – using a computer model to reach
a decision about a real-life situation

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 Variables
• Independent variables – inputs to the system
– Can be changed to test different scenarios
• Dependent variables – outputs of the system
– Called dependent because their values depend on
the values of the independent variables

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 Executive Information Systems
• Concerned with how decisions affect an entire
organization
– Use information from an organization’s systems
– Also use information from outside the
organization
• For example, competitors, government agencies, and
the financial community

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 Differences Between DSS and MIS
• MIS emphasizes planned reports on a variety of
subjects
– DSS focuses on decision making
• MIS reports are standard, structured, scheduled, and
routine
– DSS is unstructured and available on request
• MIS is constrained by the organizational system
– DSS is immediate and friendly

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 Managing Personal Computers
• Several problems emerged as
personal computer usage
exploded
– No one person managed the process
of moving from mainframe
computers to PCs
– Computers and software were not
necessarily compatible
– Users still needed the MIS
department
• Needed help with hardware and
software
• MIS department still had the data
– Workers needed training

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