Text 3 Management Information Systems

In large companies, a management information system (MIS) collects and stores the company’s key data and produces the information needed by managers for analysis, control, and decision making.

A large company’s MIS might have five components: a data-processing system, a management reporting system, decision support systems, office automation systems and expert systems.

In a MIS, permanent records are normally stored in a data base. It is similar in many ways to, but vastly larger than, a microcomputer data base. In fact, all the company’s key data are stored in a single huge file, so access to all of them is very efficient.

The data in a MIS change from time to time. For instance, a company’s total production changes every hour, and the work hours of many employees change daily.

A data processing system converts large amounts of data into the desired information required by managers. It collects data and updates the records in the data base. The data processing systems of large companies are specially designed to keep the records they need. But some applications in the areas of accounting and finance, human-resource management, sales and marketing, and manufacturing are universal.

The management reporting system uses data collected by the data processing system to produce reports that managers can use to make decision. The most common types of reports are detail reports, summary reports, exception reports and demand reports.

A decision support system lets managers get the information they want on demand. A decision support system is a tool for answering “what if” questions, questions about what would happen if the manager made certain changes.

Tool – such as word processing, E-mail, or fax – used by a company for better communication is known as an office automation system.

An expert system gives managers advice like that they would get from a human consultant. Artificial intelligence is what lets a computer system solve problems more or less as humans do.

6. Ответьте на вопросы:

1) What kind of system collects and stores the company’s key data?

2) How many components are there in a large company’s MIS? What are they?

3) Where are the company’s key data stored?

4) What areas are the applications universal in?

5) What are the most common types of reports?

7. Дайте на английском языке развернутое определение понятиям:

a data processing system –

a management reporting system –

a decision support system –

an office automation system –

an expert system –

8. Согласитесь или не согласитесь со следующими утверждениями:

1) In a MIS, permanent records are normally stored in a single huge file.

2) A data processing system never changes the records in the data base.

3) Some applications in the areas of business are unique.

4) Managers can use different types of reports.

5) Artificial intelligence doesn’t always solve problems in the way humans do.

9. Расскажите на английском языке, какие средства связи используются вами в офисе.