Chapter 9 Development Process of MIS. Book:- Waman S Jawadekar

Transcription

1 Chapter 9 Development Process of MIS Book:- Waman S Jawadekar 1

2 Development of Long Range Plans of the MIS The plan for development and its implementation is a basic necessity for MIS. In MIS the information is recognized as a major resource like capital, time and capacity. If information (resource) is to be managed well, it calls upon the management to plan for it and control it for the appropriate use in the organization. With the advancement of IT, it is possible to recognize information as a valuable resource like money and capacity. It is necessary to link its acquisition, storage, use and disposal as per the business needs for meeting the business objectives. So we need MIS flexible enough to deal with the changing information needs of the organization. It should be open system. The designing of such an open system is a complex task. It can be achieved if MIS is planned, keeping in view, the plan of the business management of the organization. 2

3 Contents of the MIS plan A long range MIS plan provides direction for the development of the systems, and provides a basis for achieving the specific targets or tasks against a time frame. Business Plan Business goals and objectives Business plan and strategy Strategy planning and decision Management plan for execution and control Operation plan for the execution MIS Plan MIS objectives, consistent to the business goals and objectives Information strategy for the business plan implementation playing a supportive role Architecture of the MIS to support decisions System development schedule, matching the plan execution Hardware and software plan for the procurement and the implementation 3

4 MIS plan is linked to the Business plan MIS Goals & Objectives Goals are to consider management philosophy, policy constraints, business risks, internal and external environment of the organization and the business The typical goals are as under Provide an online information on the stock, markets and the account balances The query processing should not exceed more than 3 sec. The focus of the system will be on the end user computing and access facilities Information support will be the first in the strategic areas of management such as marketing or service or technology. 4

5 Contd.. Strategy for the Plan achievement Development Strategy: An online, a batch, a real time. Technology platform. System development strategy: SSAD or OOT. Database VS conventional etc. Resources for system development: In house VS external, customised development VS the use of packages. Manpower composition: Analyst, programmer skills and know-how. The architecture of the MIS It provides a system structure and their input, output and linkages. It also provides handling of systems & subsystems by way of simplification, coupling and decoupling of subsystems The system development schedule A schedule is made for the development of the system. Unless the systems are fully developed their integration is not possible. 5

6 Contd.. Hardware and software plan Giving due regard to the technical and operational feasibility, the economics if investment is worked out. Then the plan of procurement is made after selecting the hardware and software. The selection of the architecture, the approach to the development and choice of hardware and software are the strategic decisions and needs to be taken very carefully. Following points to consider The organization s strategic plan should be the basis for the MIS strategic plan The IS development schedule should match with the implementation schedule of the business plan The choice of information technology is a strategic business decision and not a financial decision. 6

7 Model of MIS Plan Contents Particulars Focus Corporate info. Corporate mission/obj/goals Business risk and rewards Business policy and strategy Information needs Business environment and current operations Current and new mission/goals/objectives Trade off between risk and rewards Details of the strategic and policy decisions affecting the business Strategic planning: managerial & operational Where are we? Where do we want to reach? What is the risk? Support info to resolve risk How do we achieve the goals & objectives? What is the key information? Architecture of plan Information technology details What are the tools for achievement Schedule of dev. Details of the system & subsystem When & how will it be achieved Orgn & execution of the plan Manpower and delegation details Who will achieve it Budget and ROI Details on the Prepared investment By : Akil Z schedule Surti How much will it cost? 7

8 Ascertaining the class of information Information is classified on the basis of its application and the user. Info. Class Example of information User Organizational Functional managerial Knowledge Decision support Operational The number of employees, products, services locations the type of business, turnover and variety of the details of each one of these entities Purchases, sales, production, stocks, receivables, payables, outstandings, budgets, statutory info. The trends in sales, production, technology. The deviations from the budgets, targets norms etc. competitor s information, industry & business information plan performance and target; and its analysis Status information on a particular aspect, such as utilization, profitability standard, requirement versus availability. Info for problem solving and modeling. Overdue payments and receivables. Info on the production, sales, purchase, dispatches consumptions etc in the form of planned VS actual. The info. For monitoring of execution schedules Many users at all the levels Functional heads and others Middle and the top management Middle management and operations management Operational & management supervisor, section officers. Prepared By : Akil Z Surti 8

9 Functional Managerial Information The functional information is defined as a set of information required by the functional head in conducting the administration and management of the function. Functional information is largely factual, statistical and detailed in multi-dimensions of the function. Such information is used for planning, budgeting and controlling the operations of the function. Eg. If u take sales information, it can be processed in several ways such as product, product groups, market segment, geographic zone, locations etc. The functional information can be assessed on the following three parameters: The work design The responsibility The functional objectives. 9

10 Contd.. Work design For example, for the customer order scrutiny the available stock, the price, the terms of payment and the probable delivery is an information set evolved out of the work design of customer order processing. The procedure of the order processing requires this information. Responsibility The managers in the functional areas of management are responsible for achieving the targets and accomplishing the goals and objectives. So important to inform and update the information on target at regular intervals. Functional objective Each function has its own objectives which is derived out of the corporate goals. Some of the business plan objectives are given below based on which each function is the organization derives its objectives The total sales per month is Rs. 10 million The finished goods inventory not to exceed Rs. 1 million The outstanding more than six months not to exceed Rs. 0.2 million The employee attendance per month should be 90 percent Prepared By : Akil Z Surti 10

11 Determining the Information Requirement The sole purpose of the MIS is to produce information which will reduce uncertainty risk in a given situation. The difficulty to determine a correct and complete set of information is on account of the factors given below: The capability constraint of the human being as an information processor, a problem solver and a decision maker The nature and the variety of information in precised terms Reluctance(unwillingness) of decision makers to spell out the information for the political and the behavioural reasons The ability of the decision makers to specify the information 11

12 Methods of determining information There are four methods of determining the information requirements. They are: Asking or interviewing Determining from the existing system Analysing the critical success factors Experimentation and modeling Level of uncertainty Level of management method Low(near certainty) Operations management Ask questions such as, what do you need? Precise probabilistic knowledge(a risk situation) Not able to determine in probabilistic terms precisely (very risky) Middle management Middle and top management Ask to express probability. Determine from the existing systems and methods of decision making and problem solving Determine through the critical success factors, decision parameters and decision methodology. Sensitivity analysis High (Total uncertainty) Top management Determine through experimentation, modelling and sensitivity analysis Prepared By : Akil Z Surti 12

13 Methods of determining information Asking or interviewing A designer of the MIS puts questions or converses with the user of the information and determines the information requirements. Putting the questions is an art and it should be used properly to seek information. When multiple users or several decision makers in similar functions or positions are involved, a brain storming session is performed to cover. The experts or experienced users are asked to give their best answers this approach is called the Delphi method. Determining from the existing system In a number of cases the existing system, which has been evolved after a number of years, and has been designed out of experience give you the requirement of information. Moreover, systems from other companies can give additional information requirements. Analysing the critical success factors Every business orgn. performs successfully on efficient management of certain critical success factors. Eg. in a high technology business, the management of the technology becomes the critical function. In a consumer industry, marketing and service becomes the critical functions. 13

14 Methods of determining information Experimentation and modeling When there is total uncertainty, the designer and the user of the information resort to this method for determining the information requirement. The experimentation would decide the methodology for handling the complex situation. Test marketing of a product is an approach of the experimentation to decide the correct marketing strategy. 14

15 Development & Implementation of MIS The development strategy determines where to begin and in what sequence the development can take place with the sole objective of assuring the information support. The designer first develops systems independently and starts integrating them with other systems, enlarging the system scope and meeting the varying information needs. Determining the position of the system in the MIS is easy. The real problem is the degree of structure, and formalisation in the system and procedures which determine the timing and duration of development of the system 15

16 Prototype Approach When the system is complex, the development strategy is Prototyping of the system. Prototyping is a process of progressively ascertaining the information needs, developing methodology, trying it out on a smaller scale with respect to the data and the complexity, ensuring that it satisfies the needs of the users, and assess the problems of development and implementation. This process therefore identifies the problem areas, inadequacies in the prototype, fulfillment of the information needs. The designer then takes steps to remove the inadequacies. 16

17 MIS Development Model: Prototype Business Goals Refine the needs Modify prototype specification Review Identify Info needs Develop and test Develop revised prototype Implement Define system Boundaries & Scope Define System Objectives Initial prototype Is the User satisfied NO Training Yes Examine Feasibility Develop initial Prototype spec Develop MIS With final spec. Documentation 17

18 Life Cycle Approach There are many systems or subsystems in the MIS which have a life cycle that is they have birth and death. Their emergence may be a sudden or may be a part of the business need, and they are very much structured and rule-based. They have 100% clarity of inputs and their sources, a definite set of outputs in terms of the contents and formats. Eg. are payroll, share accounting etc. These systems have a fairly long duration of survival. 18

19 Life cycle approach to Development of MIS System Application Physical design Install the system Assess Feasibility System Specification Conduct Awareness & Training Information Requirement analysis Program Specification Training Conceptual design Develop the System Documentation 19

20 Comparison of Approaches Prototyping Open system with a high degree of uncertainty about the information needs Necessary to try out the ideas, application and efficiency of the information as a decision support Necessary to control the cost of the design and development before the scope of the system and its application is fully determined. Experimentation is necessary User of the system wants to tryout the system before he commits the specification and the info. Requirements The system and application is highly custom oriented Life cycle Closed systems with little or no uncertainty about the information needs. The system remains valid for a long time with no significant change. The design would remain stable No need to try out the application of the information as it is already proven Scope of the design and the application is fully determined with clarity and experimentation is not necessary The user is confident and confirms the specifications and the information needs The system and application is universal and governed by the principles and practices. 20

21 Implementation of the MIS The implementation of the system is a management process. It brings about organizational change, it affects people and changes their work style. The process evokes a behaviour response which could be either favourable or unfavourable depending upon the strategy of system implementation. In the process of implementation, the system designer acts as a change agent or a catalyst. Certain guidelines system designer should take care of: Not question beyond a limit the information need of the user. Not to forget that his role is to offer a service and not to demand terms. The designer should respect the demands of the user. Not to mix up technical needs with the information needs Impress upon the user the global nature of the system design which is required to meet the current and prospective information need. Not to challenge the application of the information in decision making. Impress upon the user that the quality of information depends on the quality of input 21

22 Contd.. Impress upon the user that you are one of the users in the orgn. and that the information is a corporate resource so contribute to MIS. Ensure that the user makes commitment to all the requirements of the system design specification. Ensure that the overall system effort has the managements acceptance Enlist the user s participation from time to time, so that he is emotionally involved in the process of development Realise that through serving the user, he is the best guide on the complex path of development Not to expect perfect understanding and knowledge from the user as he may be the user of a non-computerised system. Impress upon the user that the change, which is easily possible in manual system, is not as easy in the computer system Impress upon the user that perfect information is non-existent, his role therefore still has an importance in the orgn. Ensure that other organization problems are resolved first before the MIS is taken for development Conduct a periodical user meetings on systems Train the user in computer appreciation and systems analysis. 22

23 Lewin s model of implementation process Three steps in this process Unfreezing To make the people more receptive and interested in the change. Choosing To choose a course of action where the process begins and reaches the desired level of stability Refreezing Where the change is consolidated and equilibrium(balance) is reinforced. 23

24 Management of information quality in MIS The quality of information is the result of the quality of the input data, processing design, system design, system and procedures which generate such a data, and the management of the data processing function. Quality Parameters of information Complete data of all the transactions: This achieves integrity of data with respect to the time period Valid transaction and input data: Ensures the validity of the data and in turn, assures a valid information Accuracy and precision: Assures that the results are accurate and precisely correct based on rule, act or law using complete data. Relevance to the user/decision maker/stake holder: Strong link between business goal and MIS goal Timely information: Useless if received late Meaningful and complete information: incomplete information forces the user to interpret erroneously leading to a wrong decision 24

25 Contd.. The quality of the parameters is assured if following steps are taken All the input is processed and controlled All updating and corrections are completed Inputs are subjected to validity checks Data files is protected and secured Immediate processing checks are introduced Proper file selection for processing Back-up of the data and files System audit is conducted from time to time The system modifications are approved Systems are developed with a standard specification of design and development IS is controlled through programme control, process control and access control. Ensure MIS model confirms consistency to business plan 25