BCG Matrix is a simple tool. This tool is mostly used to understand and analyze business units and product lines. It was developed by Brucy Henderson of Boston Consulting Group. It is a powerful tool which can be used for resource allocation decisions in strategic management. Given below is a figure that represents the basic contours of a BCG matrix. This tool places business units/products/brands within four quadrants, based on their relative market share and market growth.

The names of the quadrants are ‘Star’, ‘Question Mark’, ‘Cash Cow’ and ‘Dog’. Each quadrant represents some unique characteristics. These are given below:

1. Star-these are units in fast growing industries and have large market share. They require cash for growth as they are net balanced in cash flows. It is hoped that they would become cash cows.
2. Cash cows-these are units in a slow growing industry but have large market share. They are cash flow positive and are considered to be great assets. Investment required in such units is low but output of these units in terms of profits and cash flow is high.
3. Dogs-these are the units in a slow growing industry that also have low market share. They break-even and are ideal candidates for being sold off. They are considered to be poor assets.
4. Question mark-these are units which though in growing markets have low market share. They consume a large amount of cash for expansion and are typically not in a position to generate large cash flows. Hence, they are cash negative. They can become dogs and hence the companies should either invest heavily in such units or sell them off.

The subject of information management is however distinct from information technology, even though there is a lot of dependence on information technology to manage information.

When the realization dawned on management thinkers that information can also be regarded as a key resource, they were faced with the issue of managing it because information can only be a resource if it lends itself to processing that includes one or more of the following operations,

1. Recording-transaction level data is saved in a proper format for retrieval later.
2. Sorting, merging and sequencing-ordering and sequencing the data in records.
3. Analyzing-analyzing the data using any analysis methodology like summarization, or clustering.
4. Retrieving-cutting out information from huge data repositories.
5. Reproducing-generating information again and again.
6. Visualizing-providing information in a visually stimulating manner.

Moreover, gathering information is another complex task involving the capture and storage of transactions in databases which have to be designed suitably and then accessing this data repository using networks. The visualization aspect or the output of the data is in itself another complex operation involving query optimization, graphics, analysis and modeling of information.

Information technology is a term used to refer to the basket of technologies, like networking, communication, database management, application software, computer hardware and system software, graphical display and internet enabled technologies. The scope of IT in organizations may be termed as:

1. IT platform which is the hardware and software infrastructure of the organization.
2. Information reaches which is the ability of the organization’s IT platform to reach out and capture information both within and outside the organization.
3. Information range which is the diverse type of information and related services that the IT platform allows the managers to access in the organization.

Organizations use several types of information systems to suit their needs. The various types of information systems that an organization uses may be classified into the following categories:

1. Office automation systems
2. Transaction processing system
3. Decision support systems
4. Executive information systems
5. Business expert system

Apart from these broad classes of information systems, organizations also use specific information systems for some special tasks like executive information system, enterprise (wide) resource planning systems, customer relationship management systems and supply chain management system. These systems also fall under the above broad classification.

Office Automation Systems

This type of information system aids in automating office tasks. They have a limited role in decision-making and are more useful for operational level people. The information coming out of this kind of system can be used for rule-based decision-making for managers at the operational level. These systems however play an important role in automating several functions of an office and thus help in creating paperless offices. These kinds of systems help in increasing the productivity and efficiency of the office workforce by automating simple tasks. These systems mostly deal with operational data. More and more modern businesses are opting for this paperless office environment as this brings in the following unique advantages for the business:

1. Office work becomes faster and process driven.
2. All basic level data is digitized and stored for future action.

An example of office automation system is the office suite of software that helps in automating simple office tasks like presentations and documentation. Sometimes we also come across a class of systems called the operations support system (OSS). OSS also work with the lowest levl31of management is ensuring that the operations of the firm are performed smoothly. OSS can be very different from Office Automation System even though they both help bottom level managers, in term of the information complexity involved.

Transaction Processing System

This type of system is critical to the smooth functioning of an organization. The objective of this kind of system is to capture all transaction related data between the organization and its external and internal customers. Typically, these transaction level data are stored in a pre-formatted manner in a relational database for further action in future. TPS is the most widely used form of information systems as they provide the management with the flexibility of storing data in a structured manner and retrieving it at a later date using a query facility. The system also helps in aggregating and summarizing the data for creating of management reports. These reports are further improved by using visualization tools that help the management in understanding situations and scenarios better. These systems deal with tactical data from within the organization.

An example of TPS would be the sales management system with a relational database management system at the server side back end and a customized front end to interact with the users.

Decision Support Systems

Decision support systems help senior management to take strategic decisions. Contrary to the other systems, decision support systems are developed with the objective of providing the users (top management personnel) with unstructured information. These systems help the management to develop ‘what if analysis’ so that different scenarios can be developed for decision-making. Decision support systems deal with both internal and external data. Such systems are custom built with features like business dashboard and scenario panel.

Such systems are complex with working models (internal) on the data to provide the senior managers with decision support. Unlike transaction processing systems, these systems are not query dependent only. Their main role is to access data from a data repository and then pass that data through a model (mathematical, heuristic, statistical, econometric, operations research and combinatorial), so that the senior management can take better decisions by doing either ‘what if analysis’ and scenario building or by doing ‘predictive analysis’ to get some insight into a business issue. Such systems are very costly to build and require advanced analytics tools.

Executive Support System

Executive support system is also known as the executive information (support) system. It began to gain acceptance in the mid-eighties in large corporations and is now used even is smaller corporations. In functionality, it is nearer to decision support systems than management information systems. Its main objectives are to provide a macro-organization wide view for senior executives, by providing a very user-friendly user-interface so that proactive steps may be taken to beat competition. It provides timely and proactive organization tracking and control. It is able to perform these tasks by providing fast access to all type of data and by filtering and tracking critical data and information. It helps to identify problems and opportunities and thus, helps senior executives to troubleshoot problems and take advantage of opportunities.

Business Expert System

Some business scenarios are so complex that they require the help of advanced systems that can provide expert solutions. These systems use artificial intelligence and neutral networks to reach the performance level of a human expert thereby helping the organization. These systems are different from any other information system as they are capable of decision-making by themselves without human intervention. Actually, these systems are loaded with the knowledge of experts and these systems simply simulate the expert knowledge to arrive at decisions.

A modern manager is a person who does the most important task within an organization taking decisions. However, we can categorize his tasks among the categories of staffing, planning, controlling, organizing and leading. We would have to say that different managers at different levels spend different amounts of time and effort in each of these categories of activities.

Even though, most managers would be required to perform all the activities in their own domain of influence. For performing his tasks in each of the activities that have been mentioned above the manager needs information. Without information he cannot perform his work in any of the activities of planning, organizing, directing or controlling.

For example, a manager when performing the task of planning would need to know many things. Some of the issues in a generic manner that he needs to be aware of are the following:

1. What is the objective for the plan?
2. What are the parameters that need special attention while planning?
3. What are the independent variables and what are the dependencies?
4. What are the things one must be careful of to ensure that the plan is realistic?
5. What is the context under which the planning is done?
6. What are the key issues related to the plan.
7. Who are the key people involved and affected by the plan?

The answer to all these questions will be required for the manager to come up with a suitable plan. However, each question even when considering from a generic sense would have several questions/issues embedded in it. As we can see a vast amount of information is required to even set the process of planning into motion. A manager in today’s modern competitive business environment may not be fully aware of all the issues and might not be personally aware of the information against each issue. This is the reason that makes the manager to rely on some system to provide him with this necessary information, Management information system bridges this gap by providing the manager with all the necessary information from different angles thereby making the task of the manager easier. The same is the case when the manager is performing tasks in organizing, directing or controlling. In each sphere of activity, the manager needs information such as in the case of planning. Normally, the means to get the information is through reports. Reports are formatted documents which arrange information in such a manner that the manager understands the meaning of the information being provided in the document easily and without any further analysis. Visualization of data and information is a common tool used to make the report easily understandable and to provide mangers with the insight on a particular issue. Visualization can be done in several ways. The easiest way to attain visualization is to use graphs in reports. A pictorial representation of data in the form of a graph conveys greater meaning to the manager than data being presented in plain text. Hence, reports have a bias towards graphical representation. Moreover, the pre-formatted nature of the report called the report structure helps the manager to access the information that he is looking for faster. He knows what information is available in which part of the report and can save time by accessing the particular portion of the report that he needs. This is another feature of report.

Role of CIO

Chief Information Officer is the head of the MIS department. He is responsible for the entire department. The CIO’s job is to ensure that the managers get the information they are looking for.

The key tasks that the CIO performs are:

1. Ensuring that the MIS is managed properly. He creates and manages a team of people who are entrusted with the task on managing the system.
2. Create security policy. He creates the security policy in consultation with the top management and decides on the type of information to give to different classes of employees.
3. Limits the access of employees. In a centralized MIS environment all data is located in one place. If everyone accesses all kinds of information it will lead to chaos and confusion. The CIO in consultation with department heads decides on the type of access to be given to each class of employees in the organization.

The key skills required for a CIO are:

1. Interpersonal skills. The CIO needs to interact with managers who are not fully aware of the complexities and possibilities on information systems. This leads to complications and conflicts. The CIO needs all the interpersonal skills to remain effective. He needs to be a good communicator to be able to connect to people to make them understand the limits of the system and understand their needs. He needs to be a good negotiator to negotiate conflict issues and resolve them. He needs to be a good manager to manage the diverse set of activities under his domain.
2. Technical skills. The CIO needs to have technical skills as well as the ability perform particularly with respect to database management and system administration. The CIO needs to be technically competent to retain control over his team and to suggest solutions to his team in times of crisis.

The common thread of activity in all the management functions is information management. Every manager today has to manage loads of information some for the purpose of reporting and some for taking actionable decisions. A marketing manager trying to fine-tune a sales strategy would be doing it only after analyzing a lot of relevant information about the market, the customer profile, the product profile and competitor’s pricing strategy.

Similarly, a human resource manager trying to recruit someone for the organization would do a lot of information analysis regarding the job profile, suitability of the candidate for the job, the job market dynamics, etc. The competitive environment that exists in today’s time makes this task of management even more challenging. Decisions have to be taken very fast and after analyzing a lot of data.

It is precisely due to these reasons8 that more and more information technology (IT) intervention is being used in modern management functions. However, Information managementusing technology has itself transformed dramatically over the years. From being just a support function it has become a key resource for gaining competitive advantage.

More and more corporations are investing in acquiring the latest management information system tools like enterprise (wide) resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), knowledge management (KM), decision support system (055), business intelligence (81) suites data warehouse (OW) facility as they are convinced of the benefits of such huge investments.

Information Needs for the Different Levels of Management

Even though the broad objectives of management as an entity may be same, like increasing shareholder value, it is by no means a monolithic entity. As has already been discussed, there are different levels of management and each performs its specific purpose. The top level deals with strategy, the middle level with tactical issues and the bottom level with operational issues. The top level that deals with strategy will be taking strategic decisions, middle level will take tactical decisions and entry level will take operational decisions. Now in order to take such decisions, contextual information will need to be provided.

                            Information Needs of Different Levels of Management

A manager at the top level who is deciding on the location of a new factory of the organization has strategic consideration like the labor costs of the location, proximity of the location to the market and long-term growth prospects in mind. He/she is not bothered about the shop floor level operational details like the reason for absence of a worker. He/she will have a strategic view and would need only such information that helps him to take correct decisions. Information is only a resource to him if it can help him to improve the quality of his strategic decision-making. Similarly for other tiers, information is only a resource if one can derive value from it.

Information Management

The business of information which is today a multibillion dollar industry first started when a firm called Bloomberg started compiling important information about US companies and their balance sheets and selling them to stock brokers. This was the first open trade in information as a resource in modern times. From then on, information (external) has been regarded as a resource that is traded10 sometimes freely and openly as in published literature and sometimes clandestinely in the form of corporate intelligence reports. Also, internal information is seen as equally valuable and every effort is made to derive more value from it and to ensure that this internal information does not find its way outside the organization.

The idea of information management is based on the fundamental premise that information is a resource that is valuable for an organization. The entire subject of information management is about how to derive more and more value from this precious resource. However, unlike most other resources that have to be procured from the outside environment, most information resource is available within the organization if an effort has been made for its safekeeping. Detailed logs of transactions of an organization with its external and internal customers over a period mostly form the basic ingredient of a good quality information resource. This basic information repository is then drilled and analyzed for actionable information, this is one aspect of information management in which strategies are used to derive greater value from the internal repository of data and information. The other aspect of information management is to ensure that this internal information is not ‘leaked’ to the outside world of competitors.

In order to understand the importance of MIS one must understand and appreciate the role that MIS plays in an organization. An organization may be conceived in a lot of ways. One can visualize an organization as a balance sheet or a function of financial statements, i.e., as a financial entity or as an organization chart delineating the decision-making hierarchy levels and formal communication channels. While both views are correct, the latter view is more appropriate for understanding an organization’s MIS.

Anthony in his seminal work elaborated (R.A. Anthony 1965) on this view of an organization as its hierarchy of decision-making. He focused on the managerial aspects of an organization and classified the management process into three distinct levels.

Strategic Planning

This requires focusing on the objectives and goals of the organization, on changes in the objectives, on the resource requirements to fulfill the objectives and on the guiding principles and policies that will govern the acquisition, use and disposal of resources to attain the objectives. In short, this role is the most important role in the management hierarchy and the decisions taken by managers in this role have a far-reaching impact on the organization. Managers in this role set the direction in which the organization will travel. In terms of hierarchy, this lies at the top.

Managerial Control

This requires that resources are acquired and used effectively and efficiently to attain the objectives of the organization. This is a middle management role. Managers in this role take guidance from the strategic planning hierarchy and control the activities of the organization such that the goals set by the higher level are attained in an efficient and effective manner. The impact of the decisions of the managers in this role is medium term and degree.

Operational Control

This requires that directives as set by the immediate higher hierarchy is followed and that specific task/s are carried out effectively and efficiently. The decisions at this level have very little impact on the organization. The organization behaves in a routine nature where the parameters of the decision-making process are well laid and certain.

Anthony’s idea of an organization’s hierarchy from the perspective of managerial activities. As is clear, it is a three-level pyramid with very distinct levels. Each level has its own set of tasks and decisions to take which have a varying impact on the organization as a whole.

                                                Management Levels in Organizations

For example, if we want to classify the decisions of a manufacturing firm, the strategic planning will encompass the annual production planning, annual budgeting, setting up of new plants and/or installation of new machinery to upgrade the production process and other such activities. Management control activities would include monthly production planning, maintenance planning and scheduling. Operational control on the other will deal with routine daily tasks of managing and supervising shifts to exercise control over the process so that the monthly plans and schedules as made by the management control level managers are met.

Information systems cannot deliver value from the first day in an organization. The organization needs time and maturity to be able to leverage the information system. Various organizations are at different levels of maturity in dealing with information systems. Nolan has provided a model for such information systems using maturity in organizations. However, empirical evidence is not available in favor of such models but intuitively, it seems correct. To leverage the benefits of information, an organization has to first appreciate the usefulness of information. This requires a change in the mindset and way of working. Organization culture needs to change to accommodate this kind of information-based working. Changing organizations takes time and hence, organizations pass through stages of maturity in dealing with information systems.

Nolan’s Six-stage Model

One of the stages of growth model, helping in the understanding of the role of information systems, in an organization’s strategy and its maturity. Earlier, in a similar model called the four-stage growth model the maturity of an organization was captured in terms of use of information systems. The stages are,

1. Initiation-in which the primary focus is cost reduction and only specialized applications are run with a specialized staff. Management in not very keen on monitoring the information system.
2. Expansion-in which application increase rapidly. Specialization of staff and applications is the order of the day. Management begins to take note of the new way of doing things.
3. Formalization-in which emphasis is laid on control and specialization, is built around control. Management controls information systems.
4. Maturity-in which database oriented applications proliferate. Information is used as a resource.

                                                                            Nolan’s Stages of Growth Model

Nolan (1979) indicated that there are six stages in the information system evolutionary process. It is an improvement over the four-stage model. The stages are:

1. Initiation- in which the organization has an operational focus and tries to get operational efficiency and thereby limited value from the information systems.
2. Contagion-in which the organization moves towards online systems after having tasted success in the initiation stage. More users are added.
3. Control-in which the management exercises control and makes a cost-benefit type of assessment.
4. Integration-in which the organization moves away from an ad hoc isolated solutions based on information system to a service based information system. This is the stage when the organization transitions from a data processing outlook about information systems to more holistic information-based decision-making approach towards information systems. A more comprehensive approach towards information systems results in changes in the organization’s behavior towards information systems and initiates a new appreciation for data and information.
5. Data administration-in which the organization begins to appreciate the value of information and makes efforts to centralize the data management to take advantage of the benefits of information based decision-making.
6. Maturity-in which the organization creates synergies in its corporate objectives and information systems planning so that the two can work in a synchronized manner.

These are the stages as Nolan has described in this research. However, no empirical proof exists of this stage growth model of information system maturity.

Information system is a special type of system that allows storage, retrieval and processing of data in a secure environment. Logically the major sub systems of information systems are:

Data Repository

This is a subsystem which is at the core of any information system. Mostly this is a relational database management system that has pre-formatted and structured tables for storage of data. These structures are arranged in a way that helps in faster storage and retrieval of such data with adequate security.

User Interface

This subsystem handles the interaction of the system with the user (human) and hence it has to take care of issues related to the display of data on an output medium. This can be either graphical or character-based depending on the level of ease offered to the user.

Network

This subsystem ensures communication between the different entities of an information system. It is crucial for functioning of an information system.

Computer Hardware

One needs IT infrastructure to use information systems in an effective manner. Almost all the components of an information system are housed in some kind of computer hardware enabling it to perform the tasks better. For example, an algorithm to find the lowest of three numbers can also be calculated manually but under a computerized system, it will be much faster and efficient.

System Software

Some basic software is required just like computer hardware for efficient functioning of information systems. The system software does not directly aid in the functionality of information systems but work as enablers. Examples would include operating systems.

Input/Output

Sometimes this is clubbed with the user interface to suggest that I/O functions are handled by UI alone. However, in some systems I/O may be user independent like when an alert is activated, the input for the alert comes from some other system input rather than a user.

Business Rule (Process)

This is a set of rules that governs how a system should function to mimic the real business process.

Algorithm/Program/ Application Software

This is the actual invisible component that integrates all the components. The logic (business rule), is defined in the program (embedded in it) which enables the functioning of the information system for some specific purpose.

All the above components work in concert to make a functional information system.

Management is the often unseen force that helps bind an entire organization and helps it to achieve its objectives by conducting the activities of planning, directing, organizing and controlling. In an organization the structure of management conforms to the pattern of a pyramidal structure (in most cases) with a well-defined hierarchy.

This hierarchy in the management with an increasing authority and responsibility as one rises up the pyramid has to be understood before a suitable MIS is designed for the organization. Management deals with organizational functions. Managers are the people who drive an organization by planning for its future, organizing and controlling its present and directing others in the organization to work towards a common objective. However, strictly speaking, in functional terms, management is all about taking decisions. In fact, the only attribute, which distinguishes a manager from the rest of people in the organization, is the manager’s ability to take decisions.

However, decision cannot be taken in isolation. Even simple decisions require information as an input.These decision requirements fuel an insatiable need for information within the organization. This information need is met by a set of information systems working in a synchronized manner, which is collectively called management information system (MIS). The competitive environment of today’s business necessitates that the MIS of any modern organization works on an information technology platform and that suitable information is delivered to the right person at the right time. Information systemscan be theoretically even manual systems but for all practical purposes3, information systems in today’s organizations are based on information technology platforms. Therefore, such information systems are expensive to acquire and maintain. The cost of their failure is even more expensive for the organization as lack of information may cause havoc within the organization. Thus, almost all business organizations have an information technology enabled information system.

Information systems are of different types catering to different user classes. Information systems that cater to the needs of management are the focus in this chapter. These systems are broadly called management information systems if they conform to some specifications. These management information systems can be created from scratch or can be acquired off the shelf and then customized to fit the needs of the organization. Contribution to MIS literature (Anthony 1965) by developing a framework for management information systems in organizations, that remains largely valid. The framework under which management works is also important from the point of view of MIS as MIS is a support function. MIS in an organization is also dependent on the role played by some key personnel like CIOand the system analyst. We shall look into these aspects in detail in this chapter.

Information Systems: Definition and Characteristics

The role of information in enhancing the competitiveness of an organization has been known in management circles for quite some time now. A former Chairman and CEO of Citicorp, Walter B Wristoncommented on information systems and their value to organizations more than two decades back saying,

‘Timely information has always conferred power, both in the commercial and in the political marketplace. But as the availability and timeliness of information continues to increase, some of the more traditional sources of power (e.g., natural resources), are declining. Today, management structures are being flattened and sharply reduced by those who really understand the impact of technology on business. The need for layers of management is being reduced everywhere, when information becomes available to more and more people at all levels at a faster rate; One of our leadership tasks is to design … databases which are important for our own business Anything that enhances the value of a company’s data and makes it more available to executives who lack computer skills in general, cannot help but improve the performance of our companies. Corporations may have to develop a formal information strategy, or a formal financial strategy. As all successful companies are market driven, timely access to market information must not only be out in place, but it has to be linked to the internal MIS system.’

According to (Orlikowski 1992), ‘Nothing is more central to an organization’s effectiveness than its ability to transmit accurate, relevant and understandable information amongst its employees. All of the advantages of an organization’s economy of scale, financial and technical resources, diverse talents and contacts are of no practical value if the organization’s employees are unaware of what other employees require of them’.

Information systems come a long way. Over the years, their role in the organization has increased and their importance understood and valued by all. They have become sophisticated and now offer a variety of benefits to organizations. They deliver value by enhancing the organization’s internal communication channels, extending suitable information to managers to help them take decisions, help in decision-making of top level management by simulating different scenarios, assisting in routine office tasks by automating them, capturing, stores and mapping all transactions between the organization and its internal and external customers. In short, in an organization they are all pervasive and offer tremendous value. This is evident from the enormous investments in information systems by most business organizations. Let us now formally define information systems and its related concepts.

Information System

Information systems are a special class of systems whose main objective is to store, retrieve and process, communicate and secure data. Information systems which help management at different levels to take suitable decisions are called management information systems. Typically information systems are housed in a computerized environment/platform to enable users to get faster and accurate information.

Information Systems over the Years

Information systems have themselves had a remarkable transformation in the last forty years of their existence. Initially information systems were designed to perform a specific task. The objective here in this type of system was to perform a task as quickly as possible with the minimum number of errors. The concept of using information systems for taking decisions had not been thought of yet. Organizations used information systems for data processing work only. Be it salary processing or bill processing, information systems of those times were focused on efficiency of operation. The people who worked on these systems had knowledge about the system and the user interface of the systems was very basic (character user interface). The output was in the form of output like salary slips, etc. Processing the data in the most efficient way was the prime focus of such systems. Most of these systems used file based data storage systems on which a computer programme would work, i.e., the computer programme would be able to access the data and organize it but it would store the data in a file. The problem with this type of system was that it led to replication of data and loss of consistency. Most of these system used COBOL computer programming language for such applications. The management of data and records in such files led to the development of important file management concepts like indexing.

Over the years, information systems have changed. Now more focus is on helping the management by providing information useful for decision-making. Data processing systems have become obsolete. Presently, focus is on delivering the right information to the right people at the right time. Information systems have become faster, more accurate and user friendly so that anyone can use it. The people who work on information systems nowadays are not knowledgeable about systems per se. They are normal users. The systems have become so friendly that they do not require users to be specialists in information systems to use them. Newer concepts have emerged in the information systems space to help organizations get better value for their money. Concepts like client server architecture, networking, distributed computing, centralized database, graphical user interface, and Internet have completely changed the information system space. Gone are the bulky mainframe systems requiring loads of money to procure and run. Now more money is required to procure the software than the hardware.

Systems approach is widely used in problem solving in different contexts. Researchers in the field of science and technology have used it for quite some time now. Business problems can also be analyzed and solved using this approach. The following steps are required for this:

Defining the Problem

This is the step when the problem has to be defined. Sometimes one may confuse the symptoms or the exhibition of a behavior to be a problem but actually it may only be a symptom of a larger malaise. It may just exhibit the behavior of a larger phenomenon. It is vital to drill deep into an issue and clearly understand the problem rather than having a superficial understanding of the problem. One must appreciate that this in the initial stage of problem solving and if the problem itself is not correctly diagnosed then the solution will obviously be wrong. Systems approach is therefore used to understand the problem in granular detail to establish requirement and objectives in-depth. By using the systems approach the problem will be analyzed in its totality with inherent elements and their interrelationships and therefore this detailed analysis will bring out the actual problem and separate out the symptom from it.

Developing Alternative Solutions

This the logical next step in the systems approaches for problem solving. In this stage alternative solutions are generated. This requires creativity and innovation. In this stage-the analyst uses creativity to come up with possible solutions to the problem. Typically in this stage only the outline of solutions are generated rather than the actual solutions.

Selecting a Solution

In this step, the solution that suits the requirement and objectives in the most comprehensive manner is selected as the ‘best’ solution. This is done after evaluating all the possible solutions and then comparing the possible set of solutions to find the most suitable solution lot of mathematical, financial and technical models is used to select the most appropriate solution.

Designing the Solution

Once the most appropriate solution is chosen, it is then made into a design document to give it the shape of an actionable solution, as in the evaluation stage, only the outline of the solution is used. At this stage the details of the solution are worked out to create the blueprint for the solution. Several design diagrams are used to prepare the design document. At this stage the requirement specifications are again compared with the solution design to double check the suitability of the solution for the problem.

Implementing the Solution

It is the next step in the process. The solution that has been designed is implemented as per the specifications -laid down in the design document. During implementation care is taken to ensure that there are no deviations from the design.

Reviewing the Solution

This is the final step in the problem solving process where the review of the impact of the solution is noted. This is a stage for finding out if the desired result has been achieved that was set out.

A Systems Approach Example

Let us assume that A is the coach of the Indian cricket team. Let us also assume that the objective that A has been entrusted with is to secure a win over the touring Australian cricket team. The coach uses a systems approach to attain this objective. He starts by gathering information about his own team.

Through systems approach he views his own Indian team as a system whose environment would include the other team in the competition, umpires, regulators, crowd and media. His system, i.e., team itself maybe conceptualized as having two subsystems, i.e., players and supporting staff for players. Each subsystem would have its own set of components/entities like the player subsystem will have openers, middle order batsmen, fast bowlers, wicket keeper, etc. The supporting staff subsystem would include bowling coach, batting coach, physiotherapist, psychologist, etc. All these entities would indeed have a bearing on the actual outcome of the game. The coach adopts a systems approach to determine the playing strategy that he will adopt to ensure that the Indian side wins. He analyses the issue in a stepwise manner as given below:

Step 1: Defining the problem-In this stage the coach tries to understand the past performance of his team and that of the other team in the competition. His objective is to defeat the competing team. He realizes that the problem he faces is that of losing the game. This is his main problem.

Step 2: Collecting data-The coach employs his supporting staff to gather data on the skills and physical condition of the players in the competing team by analyzing past performance data, viewing television footage of previous games, making psychological profiles of each player. The support staff analyses the data and comes up with the following observations:

1. Both teams use an aggressive strategy during the period of power play. The competing Australian team uses the opening players to spearhead this attack. However, recently the openers have had a personal fight and are facing interpersonal problems.
2. The game is being played in Mumbai and the local crowd support is estimated to be of some value amounting to around fifty runs. Also the crowd has come to watch the Indian team win. A loss here would cost the team in terms of morale.
3. The umpires are neutral and are not intimidated by large crowd support but are lenient towards sledging.

Step 3: Identifying alternatives-Based on the collected data the coach generates the following alternate strategies:

1. Play upon the minds of the opening players of the competitors by highlighting their personal differences using sledging alone.
2. Employ defensive tactics during power play when the openers are most aggressive and not using sledging.
3. Keep close in fielders who would sledge and employ the best attacking bowlers of the Indian team during the power play.

Step 4: Evaluating alternatives-After having generated different alternatives, the coach has to select only one. The first alternative may lead to loss of concentration on the part of openers and result in breakthroughs. However, there is a chance that the interpersonal differences between the two openers may have already been resolved before they come to the field and in such a case this strategy will fail. The second strategy provides a safer option in the sense that it will neutralize the aggressive game of the openers but there is limited chance of getting breakthroughs. The third option of employing aggressive close in fielders to play upon the internal personal differences of the openers and at the same time employing the best bowlers may lead to breakthroughs and may also restrict the aggressive openers.

Step 5: Selecting the best alternative-The coach selects the third alternative as it provides him with the opportunity of neutralizing the aggressive playing strategy of the openers as well as increases the chances of getting breakthrough wickets.

Step 6: Implementing and monitoring-The coach communicates his strategy to his players and support staff, instructs support staff to organize mock sessions and tactics to be employed to make the strategy a success. The players and support staff performance is monitored by the coach on a regular basis to ensure that the strategy is employed perfectly.

Simplifying a System or Applying Systems Approach For Problem Solving

The easiest way to simplify a system for better understanding is to follow a two-stage approach.

Partitioning the System into Black Boxes

This is the first stage of the simplification process, in this stage the system is partitioned into black boxes. Black boxes need limited knowledge to be constructed. To construct a black box one needs to know the input that goes into it, the output that comes out of it and its function. The knowledge of how the functionality is achieved is not required for constructing a black box. Black box partitioning helps in the comprehension of the system, as the entire system gets broken down into granular functionalities of a set of black boxes.

Organizing the Black Boxes into Hierarchies

This is the second stage of the simplification process, in this stage the black boxes constructed in the earlier phase are organized into hierarchies so that the relationships among the black boxes is easily established. Once, a hierarchy of the black boxes is established, the system becomes easier to understand as the internal working of the system becomes clearer.

Different types of systems exist. Some are abstract concepts while others are operational ones. Given below are different types and classes of systems:

Closed and Open Systems

A system is said to be closed if it does not interact with the environment in which it exists. It is in a state of isolation. It is completely self-contained. This is only of theoretical interest as in reality systems exhibit different degrees of openness.

A system is said to be open when it interacts with the environment in which it exists. It exchanges inputs and outputs with the environment. Such regular interaction with the environment makes the study of open systems difficult (Checkland 1981). A system might be said to be ‘open’ with regard to some entities and processes but might exhibit ‘closed’ behavior with respect to other entities and processes.

Deterministic, Probabilistic and Random Systems

A system is deterministic if its outputs are certain. This means that the relationships between its components are fully known and certain. Hence, when an input is given the output is fully predictable. An example of a deterministic system is the common entrance examination for entry into IIM. All the entities in the system and their interrelationships are well known and given an input the output can be determined with certainty.

A probabilistic system is one where the output from the system behaves probabilistically, i.e., the output is predictable according to probability values. The portfolio investment systems of an asset management company that invests in the stock market will have a probabilistic output for a given input as the system and its entities behave probabilistically.

Random systems are completely unpredictable systems. One is completely unaware of the components and their relationships with each other and hence, the output is random. An example of random system is the transport system. Given an input one is not sure about the output.

Human, Machine and Human-machine System

A human system consists of humans as components. It is an open system exhibiting probabilistic behavior. An example of this kind of system is a department within an organization.

A machine system is composed entirely of machines and machine subsystems. It is deterministic and relatively closed. An example of this type of system would be a fire alarm system. A system which consists of humans and machines is called a human-machine system. Information systems are examples of human-machine systems. These systems are deterministic in delivery but probabilistic in interpretation.

Abstract and Concrete Systems

An abstract system is an ordered arrangement of concepts. Abstract systems can be procedural or conceptual.

Concrete systems are systems in which at least two components are objects. Concrete systems can be physical or social systems.

Adaptive and Non-adaptive Systems

A system is said to be adaptive if it modifies itself with the changes in its environment.

A democratic system of government is an example of adaptive system as it changes to accommodate the changes in the environment.

A non-adaptive system does not react to changes in its environment.

An autocratic system of governance is an example of non adaptive system. It does not change or adapt to changes in the environment.

Simple and Complex Systems

A simple system is one in which there are a few interrelated entities whereas a complex system is one in which there a lot of components with a lot of interrelations amongst them.

A bicycle may be considered as an example of a simple system whereas a motorcycle may be considered a complex system. In the bicycle, the number of entities and subsystems are very few, whereas in a motorcycle the number of entities, subsystems and their interrelations are many. Each subsystem in a motorcycle may itself be considered as a simple system.

Control is essential for monitoring the output of systems and is exercised by means of control loops. It is necessary for monitoring the desired output of a system with the actual output so that the performance of the system can be measured and corrective action taken if required. Schoderbek, 1985 mentions four elements required for effective control:

1. A control variable is the variable whose value would determine the degree of performance of the system.
2. A detector is to monitor the output of the system by measuring the control variable parameters.
3. A comparator is to compare the actual and planned output of the system.
4. An effecter is to make suitable changes.

To illustrate these in greater detail, let us visualize the cooling system of a refrigerator. The cooling coils cool the refrigerator to bring the temperature to a certain level and then the effecter is relied upon to change the system inputs so that the cooling process is stopped once the desired temperature is reached. The detector measures the temperature and compares it with the desired temperature and the effecter stops the cooling process once the desired temperature is reached. Again, if the temperature rises above the desired temperature, the effecter comes into play again by putting on the cooling system. This is called control and the process in which this was done in this case is called a control loop. In this case a closed loop. The open loop control systems have a structure in which the output of the system is not coupled with the input of the system.

Types of Control

Control mechanisms can be of two types: feedback control and feed forward control.

Feedback Control

When we have a control structure in which the output is used to directly alter the inputs we call that as a feedback control mechanism. Feedback control can itself be of two types, i.e. positive feedback and negative feedback. Positive feedback is when the output of a system is positively correlated with the input, i.e., more output prompts more input or less output prompts less input. For example, stock market sometimes exhibit positive feedback. Positive feedback generally indicates an instable system unless there is an outside mechanism to stop the process beyond a point. Negative feedback on the other hand is the opposite of positive feedback in the sense that in negative feedback the relationship between output and input is negative. The refrigerator example given earlier is an example of negative feedback.

Feedback control systems particularly the ones with negative feedback have a tendency to oscillate around the desired values of control variables. For example, take the example of a driver driving a vehicle and wanting to keep a speed of around sixty km per hour. He will apply brakes when he is beyond sixty km per hour and as a result the vehicle speed will come back, to let us say, fifty-five km per hour at which time he will again press the accelerator and push the speed to near sixty km per hour and this will again result in the speed crossing sixty km per hour alerting him to press brakes and slow down. Thus vehicle speed will oscillate around sixty km per hour, which happens as control mechanisms are not designed to work in a step wise manner, instead they have a steady effect on the system. This means that system oscillation happens when control mechanisms might take some time to react to an alert or may also take a finite time to take effect or both. This can also happen if the control mechanism overcompensates for the deviation from a stable state.

Feed Forward Control

This is a type of control mechanism to address the problem of system oscillation. In this type of control mechanism, the control is exercised after predicting the output and if the prediction about the output is that it will cross the stable limit or the target then control mechanisms are applied even before the target value or control value of the control variable is attained bringing down the system automatically below the danger limit. For example, if in our driver example, if the vehicle had an intelligent braking system controlled by computer aided automatic brake controls then whenever the vehicle would go over fifty-eight km per hour, automatic brakes would be applied irrespective of whether the driver applies brakes or not bringing down the speed to the desired level. This is called feed forward system and it works on a proactive philosophy rather that the reactive philosophies of a feed back control mechanism. However, to apply feed forward control mechanism we need to have complete understanding of the system.

Systems have very specific common characteristics which help in its identification. They are:

1. Systems have a specific structure which is defined by its components (entities/subsystems) and processes (interrelationships between its components). A system is a collection of interrelated entities and/or subsystems which can be analyzed. It is possible to understand the specific structure of a system. However, in some systems complete knowledge may not be available but in most cases the fundamental entities and their interrelations are known.
2. Systems are a model of reality-a system is an abstraction of reality. It is created to comprehend the nuances of a real-world condition and understand the interrelationships of subsystems in such real-world conditions in greater clarity.
3. A system has a purpose-a system performs a function. It has a reason for its existence. The purpose in most cases is the output of the system and in a way the output defines the purpose of the system.
4. Systems have inputs and outputs. Outputs are produced by processing the inputs-a system (unless of theoretical interest and fully closed), interacts with the environment by taking in input and then after processing the input produces the output.
5. Systems have performance that can be measured in terms of its output-a system will have measures of performance. In most cases, the performance of the system is a function of its input and output.
6. A system serves a client-the system will have a utility and hence, a client for it. The client can also be another system.
7. The components that make up a system have functional as well as structural interrelationships with each other.
8. A system has an environment-a system cannot exist in isolation. It exists in an environment. The environment reacts with it.
9. Each subsystem also has a purpose and a measure of purpose.

A special class of systems dealing with the storage, processing and delivery of information is of special significance to business and is called information systems. When these information systems aid the management in taking decisions, they are then broadly classified as management information systems. These are special systems with unique characteristics.

Even though we are focusing here on business systems and information systems, the concept of system lies at the core of many scientific management theories and techniques. In fact, the idea of the system originated from the field of physical and biological sciences. After a lot of deliberations, scientists in these fields of science could define a system with clarity. Management has borrowed the concept from these disciplines and has used it extensively in its theory. Some modern management techniques have evolved from the concept of systems. In fact, the entire study of management decision-making using information is in a way derived from the study of the structured systems based approach and systems concept.

What is a System?

System can be defined as a set of interacting entities with interrelationships/interconnections amongst each other forming an integrated whole. Here in the context of systems concept an entity may be conceptualized as something, which has a distinct existence. The entity may just be abstract without any material or animate existence but it must be distinct. The entities can themselves be systems, in which case they are called subsystems, as they work like components which make up the bigger system. Churchman (1971) has laid down nine conditions for entities to be considered as systems (human-designed systems).

Also, most systems would have with at least one input and one output through which the system would interact with the environment. However, there are systems (theoretical cases), which do not need to interact with the environment.

A system can be conceived of as a ‘White Box’ where clear understanding of the internal workings of the system is known, i.e., the interrelationships between its constituent elements are understood or as a ‘Black Box’ where there is no clear understanding of the internal workings of the system.

Typically, we conceptualize systems as black boxes when we do not fully understand the inner working of the system and its interrelations within or choose to ignore it for the sake of simplicity.

The boundary of a system is the imaginary line separating the domain of the system from that of the environment. It is more of an abstract concept rather than a physical one. However, in some cases the boundary of a system may indeed be also its physical boundary. A good way of identifying a system boundary is to find out if the boundary encloses a self contained entity and if there is adequate control of the system within the boundary. The environment of a system is the set of variables which interact with the system.

Systems exhibit behavior which helps in their classification. Some of the important dimensions used for such classification are the degree of openness of the system to environmental exchanges, degree of determinism or predictability of the system in terms of given inputs and expected output, degree of dynamism or churn in the system (mostly to adapt to changing environments) and the degree of self-regulation or control of the system. These dimensions help in classification of systems.

Some Basic System Ideas

Let us now discuss some basic ideas about systems, which are generic in nature and are present irrespective of the type or characteristic of a system.

Emergent properties: This is one of the fundamental ideas of systems. It means that the system exhibits a set of properties when working collectively as a whole system, which are not present in any of the entities that make up the system. The manner in which the system will behave cannot be understood by looking only at its constituent elements. An example of this ’emergent property’ is a living organism. The organism as a whole system exhibits properties that are quite different from the properties of its constituent element, i.e., cells. By examining cells alone, the behavior of the living organism cannot be determined.

Hierarchy: In most systems the interrelated and interacting entities that make the holistic integrated whole of a system may itself have some entities which are systems in themselves. They have their own input, output, their own set of interrelated entities and their own emergent properties. These are called subsystems. Indeed, the system under study may itself be a subsystem of a larger system called supra system. Like when analyzing organizations as systems we find that there are subsystems of production, HR, etc., which makes up the entire organization as a system but then this organization is itself a subsystem of the larger society and civilization at large. Thus, in most cases we will find that systems are themselves subsystems of some larger system and have in themselves subsystems that come together with other entities to make the system in the first place. Therefore, there is a hierarchy of systems. Each level of hierarchy will present its own set of complexity. We have to understand the level of granularity we wish to approach in understanding a system. At one level we may just wish to know the interrelationships of a system’s entities, some of which may be subsystems. At another level we might not restrict ourselves to this kind of macro view and may go into the analysis of the interrelationships of entities of not only the system under review but also the interrelationships of all entities of subsystems of the system under review. This hierarchy helps in the understanding of the abstractions of systems.

Communication: This is an issue that affects all systems and indeed, is the single most important reason for system failures. B communication, in the context of systems, we mean the ability of the interrelated subsystems and entities that make up the system to interact with each other. Sometime s the output of a subsystem may be the input of another subsystem and if this communication between these two subsystems is not good the system will face problems. For example, if in an organization system, the output from the marketing subsystem on the demand scenario in the market is not clearly communicated to the production subsystem then the organization system will face problems. In fact, this issue leads to another important concept in system literature, i.e., the issue of coupling. The degree of closeness of subsystems is known as coupling.

Control: This is the mechanism to regulate the system. It is the internal mechanism to create a stable system so that the output remains within the desired limits. This is one of the most important concepts in systems as without control a system will behave in a chaotic manner.

The systems approach is an old concept. The approach stands on the assumption that breaking down of a complex concept into simple easy to understand units helps in better understanding of the complexity. Ludwig von Bertalanffy first proposed the systems approach under the name of ‘General System Theory’.

Even though he had orally created the notion of the general systems theory in the 1940’s he formally published it in 1968 (Ludwig von Bertalanffy 1968). He introduced system as a new scientific philosophy and defined it in a formal manner. He noted that most systems (biological or physical) of any practical relevance are open as they interact with the environment. Therefore, to understand the system it has to be differentiated from the environment, i.e., the boundary of the system has to be clearly defined along with its interaction with the environment from within this boundary.

The approach concentrates on the holistic entity of the system without neglecting the components. It attempts to understand the role each component plays in the system while simultaneously understanding the activity of the whole system. Major concepts of the systems approach are:

1. Holism: A change in any part/component of a system affects the whole system directly or indirectly (Boulding 1985, Litterer 1973, von Bertalanffy 1968).
2. Specialization: A whole system can be divided into granular (smaller easy to understand), components so that the specialized role of each component is appreciated.
3. Non-summational: Every component (subsystem/partial system) is of importance to the whole. It is therefore essential to understand the actions of each component to get the holistic perspective (Boulding 1985, Litterer 1973).
4. Grouping: The process of specialization can create its own complexity by proliferating components with increasing specialization. To avoid this it becomes essential to group related disciplines or sub-disciplines.
5. Coordination: The grouped components and sub components need coordination. Without coordination the components will not be able to work in a concerted manner and will lead to chaos. Coordination and control is a very important concept in the study of systems as without this we will not be a unified holistic concept.
6. Emergent properties: This is an important concept of systems approach. It means that the group of interrelated entities (components) has properties as a group that is not present in any individual component. This is the holistic view of a system. For example, multicellular organisms exhibit characteristics as a whole which are not present in individual constituent parts like cells.

For the better part of our productive life, most of us are a part of one organization or another. The organization that we are part of may be very structured, like the armed forces or corporate entities or it may be loosely structured like a neighborhood cricket team. Even though organizations may be of different types, they have some common characteristics like the existence of a common goal/mission towards which each member of the organization works for, a plan or an agenda to make the goal/mission a reality and the utilization of resources to achieve the goal.

Managementis the practice of shaping organizations and its people to achieve its goal/s and mission. Management generally involves the following activities or techniques,

1. Planning: Making informed decisions about what to do in the future.
2. Organizing: Making arrangements to fulfill the plan requirements.
3. Staffing: Employing the right people for the right job.
4. Leading: Influencing the members of the organization to move towards the common goal of the organization.
5. Controlling: Making checks to find the deviations/hold ups and taking corrective action/s.

A manager in the course of his duties performs the above activities effectively to do justice to his profession. However, it will be worthwhile to mention here that management itself is an evolving concept. Some consider it as an exact science and others consider it as art. Actually, it is based on practice. The practice of management makes it what it is. The other important criterion for defining management is that management as a profession is associated with the most important activity of an organization and that is decision-making. The only distinguishing attribute of a manager in an organization is his authority and capability to take decisions. This quality makes the profession distinct.

Decisions however cannot be taken in isolation. To take a decision a manager needs information on the problem on which decision is required, information to help generate alternatives, information about the different alternatives and also information about the implications of choosing the alternative. At each phase of the decision-making process, a manager needs information and this is the vital link between management and information. Without information a manger’s ability to take decision is seriously impaired.

Levels of Management

Management however, is not a monolithic entity. Every manager has a distinct role and even though all managers take decisions, some managers take more important decisions than others, which have a greater impact on the entire organization. Management actually is itself divided into levels. Each level of hierarchy has got specific roles, a level of authority, responsibility, accountability and deliverables. Decision-making therefore is of different levels of complexity and impact at the different levels of management. Hence, information requirement is also different for each level.

Antony (1965) has suggested a framework that is widely accepted in which management is divided into three levels-top, middle and operational. Each level has a distinct role and responsibility and the structure is pyramidal. This means that in middle management there are less number of managers than at the operational level and in the top level there are still lesser number of managers than even the middle level. However, the responsibilities grow exponentially as one move up the ladder of the pyramid.

The top level managers are responsible for planning and other strategic activities. Ideally this top management constitutes the CEO, the board and other heads. The top management decision would include strategic issues that will have a lasting impact on the whole organization like the decision to open a factory in say China or the decision to launch a new product, etc. The middle level works on tactical issues. They are responsible for the smooth functioning of the company and also to pass on critical information to the top management about markets and competitors, etc. The middle level managers take decisions regarding say, whether to have a preventive maintenance in the factory or have breakdown maintenance. As can be understood their impact even though important, is not a lasting impact. In different organizations this middle level function is handled by different designated people. In a large firm a Vice President may also perform the role of a middle level manager and in some cases the General Manager may perform a middle level role. The operational management takes decisions on operational issues like taking decisions on which worker will be deployed for what work, etc. They are basically implementers of broad decisions taken by the higher tiers of management. For example, if the top management has decided to make a new product using the same assembly line of the organization then the middle level managers have to completely reschedule the production planning and scheduling. This new production plan will then pass on to the supervisors at the operational level whose job will be to see to it that the broad objectives of the plan remain intact. They can however decide (like decisions on floor level action, decisions on manpower decision on overtime) on the best way to make the plan a reality.

The tier-wise structure of management helps in maintaining order. Even though in modern organizations the levels have blurred a bit, the broad contours remain. However, in different cultures the levels of management take on new meaning like in Japanese companies. In Japanese companies the shop floor level managers have a much greater authority than in other American or Indian companies. This has got more to do with cultural issues than anything else.

The role of information is vital at each level. As is evident, each level takes decisions with varying degree of complexity and impact. However, all the decisions are vital for the smooth functioning of the company. Each level requires a very distinct type of information. At the shop floor level one needs operational information about people, processes, guidelines, etc. All such information is very structured. The manager who goes through the process of taking the decision at this operational level knows that the decision that he is going to take has been taken by him or someone before him several times. Uncertainty about the outcome is minimal. Even then to take the decision, he needs information in a structured format. Like say, at the shop floor level if a supervisor has to decide on shutting down a machine after observing deviations in the output and behavior of the machine he needs to know what the ideal characteristics of the machine are, what the deviation characteristics are and what needs to be done at the first onset of deviation. This information has to be made available to him on a real time basis for him to take that simple decision of shutting the machine. Similarly, for other levels, the same logic holds true. Without information, managerial decision-making quality is severely impaired. In fact, at the higher tiers of management the implications of a decision and wrong decisions at that are much more severe than at the operational level.

Characteristics of Different Levels of Management

The different levels of management have different roles and responsibilities. Each such level works within its own boundary but with the objective of attaining the overall corporate goal.

Information and its use has become the competitive advantage of today’s world. The efficiency with which a firm manages its information determines its success in the marketplace. This enormous power of information unleashed in today’s world has brought down reaction times for decision-making of managers, made customers more aware, competitors more efficient and regulators more alert.

Today, one can no longer hide behind excuses of ‘plausible deniability’. These changes have resulted in a change in mindset of managers and have transformed the way business is conducted. Management of information itself has become a key success factor for firms. However, information is not to be seen in isolation. Information in the current competitive business environment is available to business firms in a computerized environment. Computerization is required to make the information supplied to be timely and accurate, which are critical factors for success in these competitive times.

Hence, the study of information management entails an understanding of information and communication technology also. However, information management is a distinct subject not related (other than the practical considerations of providing the output information timely and accurately) to information and communication technology. Let us now delve deeper into the subject to get a clear understanding of the basic concepts that drive management information systems.

As is clear, the advantage that a modern corporate house enjoys can be traced to its management of information. If the business house cannot manage its information, then it is likely that it will not have any competitive advantage. Typically an organization can develop competitive advantage if it can, does or have what others can’t, do or have. In modern times, the advantages on account of raw materials, technological edge, etc., is being neutralized by the forces of modern business. The last frontier so to say is information management. Companies that have managed to do it successfully like Dell, Google, etc., have generated an unparalleled competitive advantage as their reaction time to changes in the market and/or competition is much less and hence, they can shift business gears faster than their competitors and hence the advantage. Competitive advantage through managing information can accrue to an organization if it:

1. Manages information to reduce reaction time for change
2. Managing information makes the organization efficient
3. Information management leads to insights into the business that the competitors cannot have

4. Information management is used for predictive analysis so that the organization is one step ahead of competition.

This competitive advantage gained by managing information also requires changes in organization cultures. Companies need to create a culture of information based management and decision-making to take advantage of the opportunities of information management. This is a challenge, as installing an organizational culture is not as straightforward as installing an information management system. It is a process that takes a lot of time.

Information systems can be manual but the compulsions of competition in modern business makes information systems run on information technology platforms. Information technology is a term used to describe a set of technologies that includes technologies from the domain of computer science and engineering, networking, electronics and telecommunication and other such domains.

Information technology ensures that processing of data is faster and accurate so that the right information can be supplied to the right person at the right time with better efficiency. Information technology helps information systems to deliver greater value to the management by technology intervention not only in the procession arena but also in the delivery of information, visualization, communication and ease of access areas.

Management using information systems have greater options when such systems are technology enabled. Technology not only ensures the faster processing, storage and retrieval of data but also generates a lot of flexibility in the system by introducing different options making the task of the end user easier. For example, on a manual system the monthly sales information can be delivered to a marketing manager on a hard copy format only, i.e. on paper. This means that the individual cannot have the information on monthly sales when he is traveling, but if technology based information systems are used then the monthly sales related information can be made available through mobile communication technology to the mobile computing device of the marketing manager even when he is traveling, making his work much easier. These kinds of options are possible when technology is used. They make an impact on the information quality as well as the information delivery and provide the users (managers) with a host of options. The technological interventions most commonly used in information systems are:

Common interventions (this is apart from the standard hardware and system software like operating system, etc., interventions that constitute the physical computer infrastructure),

1. Database management system
2. Computer networking
3. Application development tools (3GL or 4GL)
4. Internet based tools
5. Report generation utilities

Niche interventions (this is over and above the common interventions),

1. Wireless communication
2. Enterprise systems
3. Enterprise resource planning
4. Customer relationship management

1. Knowledge management
2. Mobile computing
3. Multi tier architecture
4. Business intelligence
5. Data warehousing and data mining

These technological interventions make the job of a manager easier when dealing with information. The ease of use, ensured quality of information and a host of available options that provide flexibility in information delivery, capture, processing, retrieval and storage makes information technology an integral part of information management and information systems.