Management Information Systems (MIS) is the study of people, technology, organizations and the relationships among them. MIS professionals help firms realize maximum benefit from investment in personnel, equipment, and business processes. MIS is a people-oriented field with an emphasis on service through technology. If you have an interest in technology and have the desire to use technology to improve people’s lives, a degree in MIS may be for you. Businesses use information systems at all levels of operation to collect, process and store data. Management aggregates and disseminates this data in the form of information needed to carry out the daily operations of business. Everyone who works in business, from someone who pays the bills to the person who makes employment decisions, uses information systems. A car dealership could use a computer database to keep track of which products sell best. A retail store might use a computer-based information system to sell products over the Internet. In fact, many (if not most) businesses concentrate on the alignment of MIS with business goals to achieve competitive advantage over other businesses. MIS professionals create information systems for data management (i.e., storing, searching and analyzing data).
In addition, they manage various information systems to meet the needs of managers, staff and customers. By working collaboratively with various members of their work group, as well as with their customers and clients, MIS professionals are able to play a key role in areas such as information security, integration and exchange. As an MIS major, you will learn to design, implement and use business information systems in innovative ways to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of your company.
The Business Information Value Chain :
Every business has an information value chain, illustrated in Figure 1-3, in which raw information is systematically acquired and then transformed through various stages that add value to that information. The value of an information system to a business, as well as the decision to invest in any new information system, is, in large part, determined by the extent to which the system will lead to better management decisions, more efficient business processes, and higher firm profitability. Although there are other reasons why systems are built, their primary purpose is to contribute to corporate
value.
The business perspective calls attention to the organizational and managerial nature of information systems. An information system represents an organizational and management solution, based on information technology, to a challenge posed by the environment. Every chapter in this book begins with short case study that illustrates this concept. A diagram at the beginning of each chapter illustrates the relationship between a changing business environment and resulting management and organizational decisions to use IT as a solution to challenges generated by the business environment.
Table :Value Chain
To fully understand information systems, a manager must understand the broader organization, management, and information technology dimensions of systems (see Figure 1-4) and their power to provide solutions to challenges and problems in the business environment. We refer to this broader understanding of information systems, which encompasses an understanding of the management and organizational dimensions of systems as well as the technical dimensions of systems, as information systems literacy. Information systems literacy includes a behavioral as well as a technical approach to studying information systems. Computer literacy, in contrast, focuses primarily on knowledge of information technology.
FIGURE 1-4 Information systems are more than computers.
Using information systems
effectively requires an understanding
of the organization,
management, and information
technology shaping the systems.
An information system creates
value for the firm as an organizational
and management solution
to challenges posed by the
environment.