Developments within MIS

Initially, as has already been mentioned, IT was used at the operational level for data processing. The next stage of development was the introduction of MIS in particular providing information to support management decision making. Such systems are often called decision support systems (DSS) These systems are used by managers at the implementation level. The data that provides the information for such systems will be mainly internal.

A further development has been the emergence of Executive Support Systems (ESS) These are more generalised systems that combine data from various sources, both internal and external and are characterised by a greater degree of interaction and the increased use of graphics and they are designed to provide a more general level of information about the organisation, its competitors, and the economic climate to support executive level strategic decision making. They can also be expected to have an extremely user-friendly graphic based user interface.

The facilities that an ESS might be expected to provide, in addition to the decision support systems are:

• Ability to create presentations including multimedia
• Integrated communication support - fax, email, phone
• Time organisation - diary, meeting management.

Additional Information:

© LEV