The main role of Management Information Systems is to report on business operations with the purpose of supporting decision making.
This is to ensure that the organization is managed in a better and more efficient way so that it can be able to achieve full potential thus gain competitive advantage.
To provide information readily to company decision makers. Regardless of whether it is a marketing, financial or operational issue, managers need quick access to information so that they can make good decisions that will have a positive impact on the company’s performance. Management Information Systems enhance this by strategically storing vast amounts of information about the company in a central location that can be easily accessed by managers over a network. This means that managers from different departments have access to the same information hence they will be able to make decisions that collectively help solve the company’s problems in the quickest way.
Management Information Systems also help in data collection. Data from everyday operations in the company is collected and brought together with data from sources outside the organization.
This enables a healthy and functional relationship between distributors, retail outlets and any other members of the supply chain.
It also helps keep good track of performance since production and sales numbers will be recorded and stored in a central database that can be accessed by all members of the MIS. Access to this information also helps ensure that problems are detected early and decisions are made quickly using the latest information.
To promote collaboration in the workplace. In any large company, there are many situations that call for input from several individuals or departments before decisions can be made. Without an efficient communication channel, these decisions can take a very long time.
To run possible scenarios in different business environments. Before making a decision that will affect the overall standing of the business, a lot of precaution must be taken. There is a need to check and verify that the company will not suffer after making a decision. Management Information Systems enable executives to run what-if scenarios so that they can see how some of the important metrics in the business will be affected by a given decision.
Management Information systems give accurate projections of the company’s standing in the short and long term.
Management Information Systems help track the implementation of particular decisions in a company.
To improve on the company’s reporting. One of the reasons why Management Information Systems are favored by large companies is the effectiveness of the reporting features.
