Russell Ackoff’s article, Ackoff’s Management Misinformation Systems

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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).

Li, C., Peters, G. F., Richardson, V.J., & Weidenmier Watson, M. (2012). The Consequences of Information Technology Control Weaknesses on Management Information Systems: The Case of Sarbanes-Oxley Internal Control Reports. MIS Quarterly, 36(1), 179-204.

Nowduri, S., & Al-Dossary, S. (2012). Management Information Systems and Its Support to Sustainable Small and Medium Enterprises. International Journal Of Business & Management, 7(19), 125-131. EBSCO Host. January 23, 2014.

Ross, J. W., Beath, C. M., & Quaadgras, A. (2013). You May Not Need Big Data After All. Harvard Business Review, 91(12), 90-98. EBSCO Host. January 23, 2014.

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