MIS管理信息系统英文全解析

外文原文

Management Information Systems

Introduction To MIS

What is "Management Information Systems (MIS)"? Field Began in Early 80s. MIS bridges the gap between end-users and technical staffs (e.g. programmers). Consider the three key words (management, information, & systems) that have significant implications.

Management: Managing resources that include people, machinery (technology and computers), money, and time, etc. You have to consider three managerial factors together in MIS: effectiveness, efficiency and profitability.

Effectiveness–how well a firm is pursuing a goal or objective of its business; for instance, providing quality product/service can be a business goal that is usually stated in a firm's mission statement; Management by objective (MBO), etc.

Efficiency–best use of resources, a synonym ['sin?nim] is productivity = output divided by input. Productivity is measured in general by a ratio of OUTPUT to INPUT. Here, output indicates revenue, market share, etc., while input indicates labor, raw materials, administrative costs, operations costs, and IT related costs.

Profitability - The empirical[em'pirik?l] studies（实证研究）in the IS literature have reported that on the contrary to the management's belief, there exists no significant difference in the profitability between before and after the new IS implementation. In other words, the new IS does not make significant profitability increase. In general, the bottom line in any business is the profitability. If it does not enhance the profitability, then what is a point to go through all the trouble to develop/implement a new IS? Using IT is not the perfect solution for every business situation. Whenever a new IT or information systems (IS) are implemented, additional costs incur. They can be costs related to hardware, software, training, maintenance, etc. Therefore, the cost-benefit analysis should be conducted prior to a new systems implementation.

Information：Information relates to the computer; refers to knowledge. Data are a source for the information. If the data are processed in a meaningful way, they become "information." Here, IT can contribute. Information can be extracted easily through IT (e.g. computer) if data are properly processed. Therefore, the second word in M.I.S. indicates IT or computer. Of course, information can be obtained by a primitive way such as manual sorting by a clerk. Using IT definitely outperform any other means in history, in terms of processing data.

Systems：If a nice system is made, it is self-running which leads to reducing the people necessary to the business process. An approach systematically doing business systems comes from systems theory that stresses the importance of systems approach to problem solving and a structured way to control and adjust automatically. Computer programmers and software engineers/developers realized it was only way to reduce a possibility of encountering errors later in the systems development process. When you construct a new/better system for the current business operations/decision-making process, you don't want to make a computer program based on the current business way. Instead, you develop a new model after serious analysis of the current system, so later can save resource in terms of time and money by avoiding a possible mistake/error. Therefore, business process reengineering (BPR) is unthinkable without a sound understanding of systems theory/concepts.

MIS is a field of science that studies on (1) how better we can manage technologies (2) how better we can design information systems, in order to enhance a firm's effectiveness, efficiency and profitability. MIS is a new subject in the last ten to fifteen years. The idea is still being researched since the concept is being evolved. A teacher's bias has a large impact on this type of subject.

Classification of Specialties in MIS

?Systems Planning; ? Systems Development; ?Systems Review and Enhancement; ? Special Computer Applications Systems Planning - facilities planning, distributed processing systems, systems organization, management and staff development and training, and application of new technologies.

Systems Development - feasibility study and cost benefit analysis, detailed specifications of system development, equipment selection and configuration, software procurement / technical supervision of programming, implementation assistance, documentation and user training.

Systems Review and Enhancement - reevaluation of information processing requirements, complete information system productivity audits, hard-ware/software performance evaluation and fine tuning, assessment and improvement of application program efficiency, staff productivity, data processing operations, studies of testing procedures, environment, security and reliability.

Special Computer Applications - production planning and scheduling, inventory control, resource allocation, transportation and distribution logistics, personnel planning and administration, project management/control, information retrieval and analysis, process control, scientific and engineering applications.

Approach to MIS Design

All modern organizations are characterized by the need for management information. However this need is met, from the simplest verbal reporting system to the most sophisticated computerized system, certain basic principles must be

observed if the information provided is to contribute to effective management. Management information must be timely, accurate and in a format that lends itself to decision making. The cost of obtaining it must not exceed its value in the decision making process.

RMC believes that an information system must be designed to take account of the nature of the client's business, the structure of the organization and the managerial styles of the system users. Data to be processed should be captured once only - and preferably by those who originate it and are most familiar with it. This means that the information system must be geared by operators with minimal system training, and must facilitate input error detection and correction. Our goals in information system design are to provide maximum flexibility and growth capacity for the system while minimizing operating costs and implementation disruptions.

System Performance Audit

Once established, an information system must be audited periodically to ensure that it is performing all the tasks required of it as efficiently and effectively as possible. Growth of the organization, increased volume of business, changes in the business environment, technological changes and newly conceived information requirements all place increased demands on existing information systems and often cause them to be modified or extended on an ad hoc basis. Our staff has the specialized skills and experience to perform a thorough audit on existing information systems and to recommend changes in design, equipment, software and procedures, to bring them up-to-date and to peak performance. An information system audit should be performed every three years, or when processing capacity appears to be strained and upgrading of facilities is being considered.

Stages in the development of Management Information Systems

Organizations have always had some kinds of management information systems, even if it was not recognized as such. Developments in the use of the new technology have gone through several stages.

Stage 1: EDP. When computers were first introduced into organizations, they were used mainly to process data for a few business functions –usually accounting and billing. Computers were located in electronic data processing (EDP) departments, because of the specialized skills needed to operate the extensive and complex system.

Stage 2: MIS. The growth of EDP departments spurred managers to focus more on planning their organiz ations’ information systems. As the EDP departments’ function expanded beyond routine processing of masses of standardized data, they began to be called management information system (MIS) departments. MIS uses data created mainly in the EDP departments and it can be developed only when there already exists such department. It does not make any changes in these data. MIS could obtain information from internal and external sources.

Stage 3: DDS. Later on, when remote terminals were introduced, more than one department began to use the same system. At this stage the MIS has grown beyond a data processing role and included the provision of a number of decision support systems(DSSs). While the MIS controls routine operations using data processing methods, the DSS is seen as supporting decisions on “less routine issues” and solving “semi-structured” problems.

Stage 4: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE and EXPERT SYSTEMS. One of the fastest growing areas of information technology, artificial intelligence uses the computer to simulate some of the characteristics of human thought. The term artificial intelligence(AI) means the simulation of human thought process in order to select the best mode of behavior, e. g. taking a decision or responding to a situation. Expert systems are a major application of AI. They act like a human “expert” in analysing unstructured situations. Expert systems are also called “knowledge-based” systems since they are built on a framework of known facts and responses to situations. It is believed that we are moving rapidly from industrial-based society to an information-based one. The application of computer technology to management information and decision support systems has certainly had an effect on how managers perform their tasks and on how organizations behave.

The changing nature of organizations and work

The development of the IT offers enormous opportunities to improve the way in which organizations work. However, the introduction of a new technology does not lead automatically to improved performance. It might result in greater job insecurity and might cause fear from the process of adapting the workforce to the requirements and pressures of implementation of modern MIS. On the other hand, MIS made it easier to store, process and access information than ever before. Employment might be also affected through the changes in demand for more and broader skills and for fewer unskilled people. More than ever, organizations seamed to be dependent on highly skilled and motivated workforce.To benefit from their investment in new IT and MIS, firms probably need to address not only the technological environment within they operate, but also their relationships with suppliers, customers and other trading partners.

As the global economy and online communities collide, more and more organizations have come to depend on collaborative technology to support distributed teamwork. Flexible working arrangements, such as part-time work, working at or from home, self-employment and flexible employment contracts might become increasingly prominent. The implementation of modern MIS might improve the firm’s competitiveness and make them more flexible, more profitable through decreasing the cost and creating possibilities for accessing new markets and customers.