IMPORTANCE OF MIS

Importance of MIS

Importance of MIS

Thesis Statement

Information technology is one of the very advancing and in-demand technologies of this era. Ever since this technology has emerged, it has heavily dominated many organizations and firms providing them with efficient way of work.

Introduction

In the 1980s, the expression information technology (IT) appeared in the MIS field in competition with two previous terms, management information system (MIS) and information system (IS). The success of the new IT concept is related to spectacular progress realized in the networks, machines, and person-machine interface domains—progress that redefined the new potential of information systems of any kind. With the dramatic development of communications networks since the 1980s (local and wide area networks, digitalization of old telephone company networks, digital cellular phone networks and deployment of the Internet, networks of networks), which was accompanied by massive deployment of optical fiber, new wireless capabilities, and the availability of a shared network protocol (TCP/IP, the Internet protocol), it has become apparent that information technology is really the fusion of communication, processing, storage, and multimedia interface capabilities. The key role played by communication networks explains the European expression ICT, which stands for information and communication technology.

An information system —as opposed to concepts such as information technology (IT) or information and communication technology (ICT)—is a fairly old concept that appeared as the first commercial applications of the computer were developed at the dawn of the general systems theory era. According to Davis and Olson, a management information system, as the term is generally understood, is “an integrated, user machine system for providing information to support operations, management, and decision-making functions in an organization. The system utilizes computer hardware and software; manual procedures; models for analysis planning, control, and decision-making; and a database.” The U.K. Academy of Information Systems (UKAIS) defines information systems as “the means by which people and organizations, utilizing technology, gather, process, store, use and disseminate information.”

Entrepreneur Sam Walton opened his first Wal-Mart store in the small Arkansas town of Rogers in 1962. The past four decades have seen Wal-Mart grow into not only the world's largest retailer, but also the largest employer in the United States with the exception of the U.S. Government. Wall-Marts product line has expanded to include toiletries, clothing, toys, electronics, furniture, house wares, pharmacy service, and in some locations even auto repair. Wal-Mart locations are in fact, so large that one can compare them to a small city. The store manager acts as the mayor, the supervisors are council members and women, and the employees are the townspeople. As such, each store has a well-developed culture and several rules and procedures that must be followed to ensure that each individual is fulfilling his or her role within the group. In order for the store to continue to run smoothly and the customers to be served, new employees must be thoroughly trained in not only the role that he or she is to fill, but also in the culture and norms of ...