Information and Intelligence: Misunderstanding Management

This review paper point out the role of management information Systems in businesses firms competitive advantage from business perspective. Currently, information systems and technologies are a imperative components of successful and competitive businesses. Information technologies consists of Internet-based information systems are playing a vital and expanding role in enhancing firms economic growth.The experience of organizations' managers needs to be provided with the necessary information to reduce risks and make the most appropriate decisions. Thus, firms turn to information systems for the provision of information as firms asset which supplements decision making and performance of business.For the last three decades, different types of information systems are emerged for different intention, depending on the need of the business firms. In today’s very competitive business world, there are various information systems are emerged such as transaction processing systems (TPS), office automation systems (OAS), managerial information systems (MIS), decision support systems (DSS), and executive information systems (EIS), Expert System (ES) and others that supports decision making at different levels of management. In addition to this, there are several functional business systems which enables functional areas managers to make right decision and support business operation in functional areas of business (marketing, manufacturing and production, human resource, accounting) and cross functional business information livelihood information-processing and decision-making needs of several departments such as Supply chain management systems (SCM), customer relationship management systems (CRM), enterprise resource planning systems (ERP). Each information systems, functional and cross functional systems plays a different role in organizational hierarchy and management operations. To purpose of this review, reviewer collected different information related with marketing/management information system that supports business decision making and enhances firms competitiveness. This review paper study endeavors to explain the role information systems in business organizations competitiveness. Keywords: Business Organ0i0 zation, Competitiveness, Strategic advantage, Information Systems. DOI: 10.7176/JMCR/72-01 Publication date: October 31 st 2020

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Expert systems (ES) are computer programs which make recommendations and draw conclusions from heuristic rules and from relationships derived out of human experience. A decision support system (DSS) is a computer-based management information system (MIS) linking one or more data bases to computer software for exploration and analysis of the data. Combined in a single system an ES and a DSS comprise an expert support system. A simple expert support system for use in fishery stock assessment and management is described. It demonstrates a number of practical benefits of the use of expert systems technology to implement and integrate some simple tasks, i.e., bioeconomic modelling, cost/benefit sampling analyses, and technical interpretation, namely: (1) the effects of different population structures and patterns of fishing on modelling results can be examined under the programmed guidance of the expert system; (2) the effects of different levels of sampling precision on modelling results can be similarly examined; (3) cost/benefit analyses of different sampling budgets can be examined; and (4) management advice specific to each sampling, surplus production (four different models), and net present value (NPV) case is given. An examination of the future of expert support systems in fishery stock assessment and management considers four possible levels of support, as follows: (1) to provide technical explanations, (2) to manage and catalog repetitive processes, (3) to guide “low-level decisions”, and (4) to contribute directly to strategic and policy decisions. Currently, movement in expert systems usage is toward so-called “embedded systems”, for example, an expert support system which comprises, in addition to computational models and databases, one or more expert systems. Problems related to the design and development of ESS for fishery stock assessment and management are challenging conceptual problems; the construction and programming of ESS are reasonably tractable tasks. Determining what an ESS will do is often the principle conceptual question. Expert support systems provide another tool for fishery stock assessment scientists and managers to increase their productivity.

It is widely argued that the information systems (IS) leadership function has undergone fundamental changes over the past decade. TO better understand the changes, this study compares the backgrounds, responsibilities, reporting relationships, and power of newly appointed IS executives (who had been in their position for two years or less) with established IS executives (who had been in their position for five years or more). The study found that approximately half of the new IS executives were external hires, whereas almost all of the established IS executives were promoted from within the company. More than two-thirds of the new IS executives had more than five years' experience managing a non-IS function within the past 15 years. Established IS executives had spent the majority of their career within the IS function. The activities receiving the most attention from new IS executives were information technology (IT) strategic planning and control, IT architecture management and standards development, and human resource management. For established IS executives, the activities receiving the most attention were IT architecture management and standards development, human resource management, and operations. An increasing number of new IS executives reported directly to the CEO, and almost half were members of the senior management/strategic policy committee. These findings have several important implications. First, the senior IS executive must be able to bring a broader business perspective to the position. Current senior IS executives who have not broadened their own knowledge, skills, and experiences in business strategy, management, and operations should immediately develop a personal career development program to gain these valuable perspectives. Second, senior IS executives should implement career development strategies within their own organizations that ensure that IS professionals have the opportunity to acquire the business management experience necessary to advance to higher IS management levels. Third, graduate and executive programs designed to prepare future IS managers and leaders must provide both a business and IT perspective throughout the curriculum.

Many firms outsource creation of program code for management information systems, but not all experiences are successful. Although some researchers and practitioners are quick to blame failures on differing country cultures, this does not appear to be the reason. Rather it is the compatibility or differences in corporate cultures between the client company and the outsourcing partner that may help or hinder the development of quality systems. In this chapter we examine the metaphors found in the language of client corporations and outsourcing partners and explain how to look for compatibility when designing various types of information systems including traditional MIS, decision support systems, expert systems and AI, executive information systems, cooperative systems, and competitive systems. We explain how the development of certain types of systems can benefit from situations where more positive metaphors exist and offer some guidelines for the MIS practitioner, thereby minimizing risk and increasing the likelihood of a more successful client company-outsourcing partner relationship.

The term Management Information System(MIS) is commonly used to refer to the study of how individuals, groups, and organizations evaluate, design, implement, manage, and utilize systems to generate information to improve efficiency and effectiveness of decision making,including systems termed decision support systems, expert systems, and executive information systems.

Decision support systems have always had a goal of supporting decision-makers. Over time, DSS have taken many forms, or many forms of computer-based support have been considered in the context of DSS, depending on one’s particular perspective. Regardless, there have been decision support systems (DSS), expert systems, executive information systems, group DSS (GDSS), group support systems (GSS), collaborative systems (or computer-supported collaborative work (CSCW) environments), knowledge-based systems, and inquiring systems, all of which are described elsewhere in this encyclopedia. The progression of decision support system types that have emerged follows to some degree the increasing complexity of the problems being addressed. Some of the early DSS involved single decision-makers utilizing spreadsheet models to solve problems. Such an approach would be inadequate in addressing complex problems because one aspect of problem complexity is that multiple stakeholders typically exist. Baldwin (1993) examined the need for supporting multiple views and provides the only attempt found in the information systems literature to operationalize the concept of a perspective. In his work, a view is defined as a set of beliefs that partially describe a general subject of discourse. He identified three major components of a view: the belief or notion to convey, a language to represent the notion, and a subject of discourse. He further described notions as comprising aspects and a vantage point. Aspects are the characteristics or attributes of a subject or situation that a particular notion emphasizes. A vantage point is described by the level of detail (i.e., overview or detailed analysis). Assuming the subject of discourse can be identified with the notion, Baldwin described how differences in views may occur via differences in the notion, the language, or both.

In the past several decades, Taiwanese companies have been successful in the world market. However, knowledge about how these firms use information technology is very limited. Investigates the application of decision support systems (DSS) and executive information systems (EIS) in Taiwan. Two mail surveys were conducted to explore who used the system, where the systems were applied, what decision models were used and reasons for not using these systems. The results indicate that: more than 20 per cent of the firms already used DSS or EIS and an additional 37 per cent had plans to adopt them shortly; 87 per cent of the firms considered DSS and EIS to be important to their competitiveness; middle- and lower-level managers were major DSS and EIS users; half of them used the system every day; the most troublesome problem in developing DSS/EIS was the difficulty in determining information requirements; and information aggregation and what-if analysis were major functions for decision support. Furthermore, quantitative models were employed only in large and old companies. The most popular models included linear programming, PERT/CPM, and regression analysis, whereas the most popular domains for application were finance and production management.

In addition to displaying information, most executive information systems (EIS) provide decision support system (DSS) capabilities. The purpose of this panel is to bring together leading EIS researchers and practitioners to share their insights and experiences about integrating DSS into EIS.

Many companies are using only a portion of what is needed in terms of Information Technologies (IT) and this has caused the researcher to study how best MSD can effectively utilize Management Information Systems (MIS). The objective that directed the study was to investigate value addition by information systems to a service providing business with specific reference to the weather station in Zimbabwe (Meteorological Services Department). Knowing the value added by MIS to one’s business and working environment is key to cope with the ever increasing challenges such as the volume of information resources, nature and quality of information, user needs and expectations, information and communication technology competencies and infrastructure, inflated cost of information resources and staffing needs. The researcher studied how information systems add value to the daily business of Meteorological Services Department (MSD) in the following areas of the organisation processes: products, quality, management, problem solving and decision of the organisation. The study on value addition by management information systems will assist in the improvement of the MSD in Zimbabwe. The study used a multistage sampling process for drawing sample from the target population. Secondary and primary data collection methods were used for data collection purposes. The source for primary data was questionnaire. Five different types of Management Information Systems that add value to the MSD were identified; Management Information Systems, Office Automation Systems, Executive Support Systems, Expert Systems, Decision Support System and Transaction Processing System. From the findings it was concluded that management information systems add value by allowing valid decisions which provide accurate and up-to-date information and performing analytic functions. This study demonstrated the importance of information systems in an organisation and outlined the fundamental roles of Information Systems (IS) which are to support business processes and operation, support decision making by employees and managers and support strategies for competitive advantage.

Executive information Systems (EIS) are still a relatively new phenomenon and problems still exist in their development and implementation. In Australia, little research into EIS has been conducted. This study has attempted to paint a picture of the state of EIS in Australia today, particularly in large organisations. EIS managers and executive users in the largest organisations in Australia revealed that relatively few EIS were fully operational though there had been an increase in the past 5 years and many were now under development and implementation. The study has examined the extent and type of executive-usage, approaches to development, important development problems, the reasons for needing EIS, impacts of EIS, executive attitudes to IT arising from EIS experiences, the relative importance of organisational and technical issues, and reasons why EIS failure might arise. Comparisons have been made with a previous Australian study and also with more recent US studies which reveal the changes in Australian EIS, and differences and similarities with the US.

The concept of Expert Decision Support Systems is based on the integration of Decision Support Systems and Expert Systems, providing the decision maker with features from both types of systems (e.g. simulation, explanations, control of reasoning). Constraint logic programming languages, such as CLP(R) or CHIP, achieve this integration by merging logic programming, a paradigm of Artificial Intelligence and Expert Systems, with constraint solving techniques similar to those used in Operations Research and Decision Support Systems. Their embedded constraint solver extends the expressive power of logic programming languages, most notably on the domain of numerical expressions. The paper illustrates how constraint logic programming may be used in EDSS development by presenting a small classroom scheduling problem developed with CLP(R), and compares this approach to more traditional Operations Research techniques.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that managers have to take into consideration when they implement the strategic information systems planning (SISP) process to develop information systems (IS) in the logistics sector.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using questionnaires to IS executives in Greek small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of the logistics sector. Factor analysis is performed on the detailed items of the SISP process constructs.FindingsThe results of this paper indicate that IS executives do not focus on defining goals, which will be used to improve the operations of the supply chain for the IS development. Both IS executives and managers from the logistics department of each organization should participate in the process of information technology (IT) strategy formulation and implementation. Executives from the logistics department of each organization should be aware of implementing environmental and organizational analysis with greater meticulousness, to identify IT opportunities and apply IT strategy with greater agility rather than now.Practical implicationsA strategic planning process for IS development in the logistics sector is required to achieve the consistently IS planning objectives. This is an important challenge for executives in SMEs who do not concentrate on implementing a strategic planning process for IS development.Originality/valueThis paper examines the factors that influence the strategic development of IS in the logistics sector and improve the effectiveness of decision-making regarding the supply chain’s operation.

An executive information system (EIS) is a software system designed to support the informational needs of senior management. The EIS is characterized by an easy to use and maintainable graphical user interface; integrated capabilities for data access, analysis, and control; analysis and report generation across multiple files; and on-request “drill down” capability. Most existing management information systems provide an enormous quantity of detailed status reports. However, they lack the capability of providing summarized levels of information, in an appropriate format, for higher levels of management. This problem has continued despite the emergence of enterprise resource planning systems. By understanding the concept and functionality of traditional executive information systems, readers will also be able to better understand how EIS has adapted to meet the requirements of senior management in an enterprise system environment.

A major problem with the usefulness of decision support systems (DSS) or executive information systems (EIS) occurs when the data used by the system is not accurate. When inaccurate data is used as input to a DSS, the resulting output may seem illogical to management. As a result, the management views the EIS as defective. To prevent this problem, it is wise for the systems analyst who designs the system to evaluate the accuracy of the source data and to understand the accounting methods used to generate the data. This paper looks at accounting practices, outliers and other practices that may produce inaccurate or misrepresentative data. Often, the problem is that the data is atypical because of an impulse from some normal pattern. The impulse is assumed to be nonrecursive and not to follow a discernible pattern over time. When an impulse is induced by inventory adjustments, strikes, price adjustments, and mergers, it is necessary for the EIS to be designed to accommodate the effect of the atypical data. Decision models which ignore unexpected situations or use inaccurate data are of limited value, for in practice management decision models are evaluated on the basis of infrequency of failures rather than frequency of successes. >