Managing Information Systems Essay -- Business Management Studies Essa

Managing Information Systems The aim of this assignment is to see the requirements for developing and managing a comprehensive Management Information system for an organization. In today's business environment it is getting harder and harder for organization’s to not only survive but to compete against other organizations. Information technology plays a big part in helping companies compete and survive. Companies that have branches or franchises need to make sure that they can communicate with the head office so that orders can be passed down. Most of a mangers time is spent 1 Passing information and ideas upwards to senior management to aid their decision making 2 Providing other department managers with information which will help them do their jobs more effectively 3 Passing information down wards to subordinates 4 Conveying attitudes or creating them 5 Receiving and interpreting facts and data 6 Communicating with people out sides the company e.g. suppliers. The manager needs resources to aid him with the task mentioned above. Management information systems and decision support systems are two such resources. Computers and information systems play critical roles in the operation of most organizations. All organizations, from factories to banks, are highly dependent on information for their day-to-day operations. The vast quantity of information that large corporations and government agencies need to operate, and the speed with which that information is created and used, makes computer-based information systems critical to such operations. What is a Management Information System? There are different definitions of a management information system: â€Å"Management Information system products produce information products that support many of the day-to-day decisions –making needs of management. Reports, displays, and responses produced by such systems provide information that managers have specified in advance as adequately meeting their information needs.† Taken from Management Information Systems Third edition by James A. O’Brien PG 370 â€Å"Management information system can be defined as a network of computer based processing procedures that are integrated with manual and other procedures to provide timely, effective information to support managerial planning and control† Taken from C... ..., Vol. 28 No. 2, May 1990, pp. 89-101 Burrell, G. and G. Morgan, "Sociological Paradigms and Organizational Analysis", Heinemann Press, London, Chismar, William G. and Charles H. Kriebel, "A Method for Assessing the Economic Gallagher, Charles A., "Perceptions of the Value of a Management Information System", Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 17 No. 1, 1974 Hirschheim, Rudy and Heinz K. Klein, "Four Paradigms of Information System Development", King, William R. and Jaime I. Rodriguez, "Evaluating Management Information Systems", MIS Quarterly, September Lee, Allen S., "A Scientific Methodology for MIS Case Studies", MIS Quarterly, March Lucas, Henry C., "Performance and the Use of an Information System", Management Science, Vol. 21 No. 4, April 1975, pp. 908-918 Melone, Nancy Paule, "A Theoretical Assessment of the User Satisfaction Construct in Information Systems Research", Srinavasan, A., "Alternative Measures of System Effectiveness: Associations and Implications", MIS Quarterly, September Weill, Peter, and Margrethe H. Olson, "Managing Investment in Information Technology: Mini Case Examples and Implications", MIS Quarterly, March