Importance of MIS

Nonroutine Cognitive Skills

Nonroutine cognitive skills are important competencies for workers in today’s business climate. Abstract thinking entails the creation of models as well as the ability to manipulate them (Pearlson et al. 26). It comprises thinking pattern flexibility, inventiveness, and high-level problem-solving ability. It can assist a company in identifying relevant trends in organizational data that are critical in strategic planning (Pearlson et al. 27). Such patterns could include customer purchase habits or other key market trends, for example. Abstract thinking is also crucial in the analysis of information and its integration into the business scheme to come up with innovative solutions to problems within the workplace (Pearlson et al. 27). A company may, for instance, utilize abstract reasoning to access critical issues such as product demand when it needs to expand its scale of production failure to which, over production may result leading to possible monetary losses.

Systems Thinking

Systems thinking involves a holistic assessment of the different entities that make up a system in its entirety in a bid to understand the system and come up with better decisions (Pearlson et al. 29). It is a holistic approach that views organizations as being made up of several entities which are interrelated but working within the context of a larger system. Systems thinking recognizes that people, processes, and decisions in a business environment are interdependent and as such, ensures that organizational actions are designed accordingly (Nikoloski and Ajwad 74). System thinking deviates from the age-old business decision making ways which break individual entities of a system and study them separately. Since systems thinking focuses on the interactions between the different parts of a system, it averts the possible shortfalls associated with utilizing exclusively linear thinking patterns in a business environment (Pearlson et al. 29). Systems thinking lets one find opportunities and solutions. For instance, if a company noted that it is losing money, the approach can help to find possible problems such as high costs, overproduction, low profits, etc.

Collaboration

Collaboration occurs when people work together through thinking and sharing of ideas to accomplish shared goals. It may be synchronous or asynchronous depending on whether the collaborating partners are communicating while working together simultaneously (Pearlson et al. 30). At the organizational level, collaboration entails individuals viewing and contributing to content shared over a network. Technological changes and advancement in issues such as file sharing and web-based programs have continually enhanced collaboration and communication among enterprises (Pearlson et al. 34). For example, to attract customers, shopping malls allow well-known brands to set up stores in the malls to which, famous brands choose to set up their stores in the mall because a mall attracts scores of people which further increases the chances of the brand making more sales of their products.

Experimentation and Innovation

Experimentation is usually the basis for innovation in business, ie, it is through experimentation that new ideas are developed and implemented accordingly (Nikoloski and Ajwad 77). However, experimenting in business demands a well thought out analysis of the presenting opportunity coupled with an evaluation of the identified solutions to develop the most promising which is in line with the available resources (Pearlson et al. 25). For instance, a pharmaceutical company which intends to start manufacturing a particular medicine may first carry out test studies of the effects of the drug using animal models for approval before committing significant resources to the mass production of the drugs.

Works Cited

Nikoloski, Zlatko, and Mohamed Ihsan Ajwad. Cognitive and non-cognitive skills affect employment outcomes: Evidence from Central Asia. World Bank, 2014.

Pearlson, Keri E., Carol S. Saunders, and Dennis F. Galletta. Managing and Using Information Systems, Binder Ready Version: A Strategic Approach. John Wiley & Sons, 2016.