Management Information System of ABC Company

ABC Company has been using a management information system for the past three years. The system serves two purposes in the organization. It allows the managers to plan and control by assembling, processing, storing, retrieving, evaluating, and disseminating data throughout the entire organization. However, the system contains a problem that presents an opportunity for improvement. The managers have access to all the information they require, but they cannot verify it to ascertain its accuracy. As a result, the system presents an opportunity for improvement that will allow the managers to authenticate the information, especially financial information to permit them to make better decisions. Therefore, the problem facing the ABC Company is a problem that needs a resolution.

Models for Analysis

The system analyst chose two models for the analysis of the management information system of ABC Company. The two models are functional modeling and business process modeling.

Functional Modeling

The functional modeling is a structured approach to analyzing systems where analysts develop the functions of a system, for example, the operations, actions, and processes to understand the working of a system (Sngiovanni-Vincentelli, Zeng & Natale, 2013). The process would allow the analyst to check the data flow within the system to identify any weaknesses that can be improved to enable the system to serve the organization better.

Business Process Modeling

In the business process modeling, the processes within an enterprise are created so that the analyst comprehend the various functions of a system within an organization (Laguna & Marklund, 2013). Procedures provide an interface for the analyst to find a solution by identifying weaknesses that make it difficult for the company to gather information. Bhalla, Bentley, Vize & Jacob (2014) assert that stage assembly of systems offers an advantage by allowing analysts to encode the target structure in the staging algorithms and not the design components. The business process modeling approach permits analysts to view processes a set of stages to that they can then decide the proper encoding strategy that will enable organizations to make more effective use of their systems.

Present State of the System

The enterprise has decided to outsource the improvement of its system to enable it to create a more effective system. According to Daradicted (2014), outsourcing allows companies to gain access to qualified personnel who may not be available in the organization and can perform specific tasks for a business. The analyst begins by identifying the prevailing condition of the system to recognize opportunities for enhancement. The present status of the system is that it allows the employees in the organization to input data from different business units within the organization. For example, the workers in the human resource function can input data on the number of personnel within the organization. However, the managers cannot verify the information to determine whether the number of employees that the human resource managers input into the system is accurate. Also, the finance department records financial transactions within the company, but they have no requirement to attach any supporting evidence of the operations such as invoices or receipts to prove that the figures that they input into the system are accurate. 

The lack of information on the accuracy of the data creates problems for the managers since they cannot determine its accuracy and leaves the business exposed to the risk of fraud or errors among its personnel. The workers can adjust the figures to reflect any amount they want. For this reason, the system requires improvement to enable the workers to attach supporting documentation that will allow the managers of the ABC Company to verify the data in the management information system to make better decisions. The improvement intends to create better policy cohesion in the organization by enabling the managers to get more detailed data. Jochim & May (2010) observe that coordination in companies is a problem that can be solved through the bridging of divides in organizations across various governmental layers. ABC Company faces the challenge of coordination, which is a crucial element of the managerial function.

Companies need to improve the quality of their internal controls and processes for reporting. Achieving this goal means that they must provide a source-to-user view of the information that is available within the organization. The current system in the ABC Company only allows the users to get information to the user without the source of information. As indicated, the employees of the company input data into the system, which means that the data comes from a different party other than the source itself. Granting the managers access to varying types of data, such as invoices and receipts and the payroll of the company enables them to acquire data from the source itself. As a result, it would reduce the possibility of fraud and inaccuracies that can hamper effective decision making in the company.

The improvement can be made possible through end-to-end automation of the processes. Automation of the process of gathering, mapping, confirmation, and movement of information throughout the organization establishes a standard procedure that will eliminate the possibility of variability in the data. Validation of data and quality checks permit the users to inspect data at every step within the management information system so that they can identify mistakes, generate notifications that will help the managers to identify problems and reconcile any discrepancies that may be present in the data. Robust reporting within the system is vital to the ability of the managers to detect any issues in the system for improvement so that they can take corrective action and enhance the decision-making process in the organization.

The benefits of the improvement involve mainly an increased quality of data. By getting information from the source rather than after the employees have fed it into the system, the managers have better confidence in the data. It will also simplify the data handling process within the organization. It makes it possible to verify the process of collecting, inputting, and moving data within the entire organization. Furthermore, it creates a standardized approach to the management of information within the organization by enabling the organization to rely on repeatable processes for all its transactions. As a result, the improvement proposed on the management information system is vital to allow the organization to reduce the cost of compliance with a variety of governance principles, enhance productivity, and improve the oversight ability of the management team.

Apart from enhancing the internal governance of the enterprise, the improvement is also essential to advancing the agility of the company to respond to the business environment. Karim (2011) asserts that presently, organizations are being forced to enhance their capabilities to survive the modern global markets. A variety of factors, for example, competition, responsiveness to customer needs, and demand for products and services are driving organizations to consider ways to become more efficient and effective to remain relevant in the market. The responsiveness of companies relies mainly on the capability of managers in the organizations to make decisions. Improving the management information will better the organization’s reaction to various market forces by enabling the managers to make more informed choices through the data available in the management information system. As a result, it is necessary to improve the system to provide more accurate information that can be verified from the source rather than the inputs of the employees.

Conclusion

Systems in organizations should be able to perform the particular tasks that motivated their implementation in a company. The management information system of ABC Company can provide detailed information that the managers can use to make decisions. However, it possesses a severe limitation in that it is difficult for the management to confirm the data. As a result, the information system leaves the organization exposed to the risk of errors and fraud that can affect the responsiveness of the enterprise to dynamics in the business environment. Also, the shortcoming presents a problem in the governance of the entity because the managers lack adequate control of various transactions in different units within the company. The business has hired a system analyst to identify problems in the system who has realized that it lacks a means for the managers to verify information since the data available comes from the employees who input it into the system. An end-to-end approach to the system where the data is obtained from the source is vital to verifying the data to ensure it satisfies the requirements of the managers to allow better decision making.

References

Bhalla, N., Bentley, P. J., Vize, P.D. & Jacob, C. (2014). Staging the self-assembly process: Inspiration from biological development. Artificial Life, 20 (1): 29-53.

Daradicted (2014). Outsourcing: Is it good or bad? Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qeehDLYa8g Accessed May 2, 2018.

Jochim, A. E. & May, P. J. (2010). Beyond subsystems: Policy regimes and governance. Policy Studies Journal, 38 (2): 303-327.

Karim, J. A. (2011). The significance of management information systems for enhancing strategic and tactical planning. Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, 8 (2). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4301/S1807-17752011000200011

Laguna, M. & Marklund, J. (2013). Business process modeling, simulation and design, 2nd Eds. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Sangiovanni-Vincentelli, A., Zeng, H. & Natale, M. D. (2013). Embedded systems development: From functional models to implementations. Berkeley, CA: Springer Science & Business Media.