Information is a critical resource in the operation and management of organizations. Timely availability of relevant information is vital for effective performance of managerial functions such as planning, organizing, leading, and control.
An Information System (IS) in an organization is like the nervous system in the human body: it is the link that connects all the organization’s components together and provides for better operation and survival in a competitive environment. Most of the organizations of the previous decade ran on information and the associated supporting systems.
The term IS usually refers to a computer-based system, one that is designed to support the operations, management, and decision functions of an organization. IS in organizations thus provide information support for decision makers.
Image Source: 3.bp.blogspot.com
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Encompasses Transaction Processing Systems (TPS), Management Information Systems (MIS), Decision Support Systems (DSS), and Strategic Information Systems (SIS).
Information consists of data that have been processed and are meaningful to a user. A system is a set of components that operate together to achieve a common purpose. Thus an MIS collects, transmits, processes, and stores data on an organization’s resources, programs, and accomplishments.
The system makes possible the conversion of these data into management information for use by decision makers within the organization. A MIS, therefore, produces information that supports the management functions of an organization.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Information is generated by organizing data within contexts. Data can be sorted and grouped into categories, with associations’ among the data displayed as charts, graphs and maps.
Information generation is an essential intermediate step of the knowledge work process, within which knowledge workers examine content in order to discover important relationships through which knowledge is created. However, information by itself has a limited value. The associated context provides the necessary intent.
Context is an encapsulation of ideas that enriches the overall meaning of any single idea. Compiling data into contexts creates information and provides an implicit meaning.