Russell Ackoff’s article, Ackoff’s Management Misinformation Systems, relates five assumptions about information systems used to provide mass amounts of analyzed data to management to assist them in making adequate decisions (1967). Ackoff’s assumptions are that: “Management Needs More Information; Managers Need the Information They Want; Giving Managers The Information They Need Improves Their Decision Making; More Communication Means Better Performance;” and finally, “Managers Need Only to Understand How To Use an Information Systems” (1967). Although Ackoff wrote the article in 1967, he has pinpointed problems within organizations that still exist today, and organizations that do not evaluate their entire management information systems are likely not operating efficiently.
Ackoff’s first assumption that “Management Needs More Information” relates that the majority of management personnel receive information from management information systems that is not “relevant” to decisions that they are responsible for making (1967). I agree with this statement in some circumstances, but tend to disagree that this could be a blanket statement for all management information systems. Managers are responsible for identifying ideas that are beneficial and then they should delegate workers to gather data that is relevant to those ideas. If management is not receiving “relevant” data than they only have themselves to blame for not requesting data that is pertinent to their specific job duties or their business, or the information system they have in place is inadequate for their business, or the workers that input data or analyze the information are not doing their job correctly. In the first assumption Ackoff also contends that manager...
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...hers will heed Ackoff’s advice and evaluate the processes, policies, and tools they use to become efficient and succeed.
References
Ackoff, R. L. (1967). Management Misinformation Systems. Management Sciences. 14 (4).
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Saunders, C. S., & Pearlson, K. E. (2009). Managing and Using Information Systems. John Wiley&Sons, Incorporated.
Dey, A. (2010). The Chilling Effect of Sarbanes-Oxley: A Discussion of Sarbanes-Oxley and Corporate Risk-Taking. Journal of Accounting And Economics, 49(1-2), 53-57. doi:http://proxy.ulib.csuohio.edu:2279/10.1016/j.jacceco.2009.06.003
Asemi observe that Management Information System (MIS) is one of the information systems that is computer based. Besides, Asemi defines MIS as “an organizational method of providing past, present and project information related to internal operations and external intelligences. It supports the planning, control and operation functions of an organization by furnishing uniform information in the proper time frame to assist the decision makers,” (2011). The aim of MIS is to satisfy the general information need of the entire manager in an organization. Before the advent of computers, the process of decision-making was one that was full of built-in advantages and ad hoc methods. Computers technologies have changed the landscape of the decision-making process completely by making the process less demanding and easy to undertake. The reason for this situation is that information technology has made access to information more automated, efficient, effective, timely, and less ambiguous. Consequently, the ordinary t...
In the business world today, technology is becoming an essential staple. Every big business relies on it one way or another. More importantly than just technology itself, the use of management information systems is what guides a company in terms of catering to its customers and knowing what moves to make next. Management information systems (MIS) can be defined is the study of people, technology, and organizations (What is MIS?). However, that is a very general definition because there is a lot more that comes out of the use of these MIS systems.
Haag, S. & Cummings, M. (2008). Management information systems for the information age (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
The key strategy implementation efforts at Amazon all surround the use of “big data”. Big data is the growth and availability of large volumes of structured/unstructured data. The use of big data has allowed decision making based upon data and analysis instead of past experience and intuition. Big data has directed organizational change in allowing Amazon to expand from an online book store to an internet giant. Revolutionary application of big data has allowed Amazon to create superior service quality while motivating employees by providing real time information to solve customer issues. Big data has strengthened Amazon’s competitive capabilities by pioneering the application of big data and charging a monthly fee to smaller businesses
Davenport, Thomas H., Paul Barth, and Randy Bean. "How Big Data Is Different." MIT Sloan Management Review. N.p., 30 July 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. .
Ackoff identifies five assumptions commonly made by designers of management information systems (MIS). With these assumptions, Ackoff argues that these assumptions are in most cases not justified cases, and often lead to major deficiencies in the resulting systems, i.e. "Management Misinformation Systems." To overcome these assumptions and the deficiencies which result from them, Ackoff recommends that management information system should be imbedded in a management control system.
Companies have transformed technology from a supporting tool into a strategic weapon.”(Davenport, 2006) In business research, technology has become an essential means that many organizations use in their daily operations. According to the article, Analytics is a major technological tool used. It is described as “the extensive use of data, statistical and quantitative analysis, explanatory and predictive models, and fact-based management to drive decisions and actions."(Davenport, 2006) Data is compiled to enhance business practices. When samples are taken, they are used to examine research and understand how to solve problems or why situations are as they are. Furthermore, in this article, Thomas Davenport discusses analytics from a business standpoint. He refers to organizations that have been successful in their usage of data and statistical analysis. In addition, he also discusses how data and statistics can be vital in the efforts to improve the operations of businesses.
Decision making is the most important and challenging part of business management. Decision making is the proses by which organization members choose specific course of action in response to threats and opportunities (George and Jones, 1996). In recent, all of the organizations are enhancing their capability for purpose to survive in the competitions of the new century global market. The organizations are attempting to improve the decision making process so that it can be more efficient and highly effective to meet the successive fluctuations of the market. Many modern organizations, either medium or large sized, adopted Management Information System (MIS) to enhance the decision making based on information available. Information enables managers to make a better connection with organization, environment and each other. Managers have to know how to dealt with the information, collect, analyze and organize it. When the information are large and complex, it is difficult for the managers to make decision. If the organization have a significant MIS, it is easy for the organization to take decision on the basis of available information. Therefore, MIS is an effective tool
Prior to the start of the Information Age in the late 20th century, businesses had to collect data from non-automated sources. Businesses then lacked the computing resources necessary to properly analyze the data, and as a result, companies often made business d...
Turning to the issues related to information handling, the definition of the information management should be mentioned. According to Hinton’s perspective (2006, p.57) the information management is “the conscious process of gathering information”. A brief overview of the presumable information sources in a high-technology company can help to outline the situation. T...
Management information systems can be used as a support to managers to provide a competitive advantage. The system must support the goals of the organization. Most organizations are structured along functional lines, and the typical systems are identified as follows: