INTRODUCTION TO MIS

Management Information System plays a very important role in an

organization. There is hardly a business magazine that dos not

contain article about information system.

MIS can be defined as –

“A system which collects, processes, stores and distributes

information to help in decision making for managerial functions.”

(Planning, staffing, directing, controlling, organizing and budgeting)

It may also be defined as Integrated user/ Machine system for

providing information to support the decision making process.

MIS is a computer based system, which presents both external and

internal information of business.

This system utilizes computer hardware and software, manual

procedure for analysis, planning, control and decision making.

These system do not take decisions but they assist in providing a

necessary information as an input to the decision making process.

MIS should provide information which is consistent, accurate, timely,

economically flexible and relevant.

MIS can be computerized or manual. MIS provides information in

report format on regular basis to assist managers with decision

which occur frequently and can be anticipated.

MANAGEMENT

Management has been defined in a variety of ways, but for our

purpose it compromises the processes or activities that describes

what managers do in the operation of their organization; plan,

organize, initiative and control operations.

INFORMATION

Data must be distinguished from information. Data are facts and

figures that are not currently being used in decision process.

Information consist of data that have been retrived, processed or

otherwise used for informative or inference purposes, arguments, or

as a basis for forecasting or decision making.

SYSTEMS

A system can be described simply as a set of elements joined

together for a common objective. The system concept of mis is

therefore one of the optimizing the output of the organization by

connecting the operating sub-system through the medium of

information exchange

PYRAMIDICAL STRUCTURE OF MIS

I) Lower level:-The bottom layer consists of information

required for transaction processing and inquiry processing.

II) Operational level:- This layer has the information which is

required for day to day performance of activities and their

control.

III) Middle level:- This layer has the information which is useful

for tactical planning and decision making to implement the

policy of top management.

IV) Top level:- This layer has information which is useful for

strategies and policy planning.

CHARACTERISTICS OF MIS

The mis plays a vital role in management, administrations and

operations of an organization as it helps in information generation,

communication, problem identification in the process of decision

making.

The main features of mis are:-

I) Management oriented:- The development of mis starts after

deciding the management needs and keeping in view overall

objective of management.

II) Management directed:- A good mis removes the lack of

knowledge, enriches experience and improves analytical

abilities leading to better business judgement.

III) Integrated system:- MIS binds together database of business

system and through information interchange, integrates the

organization. It also provides adequate development resources

and removes the human and organizational barriers to

progress.

IV) Avoid redundancy:- Since mis is a integrated system, it avoids

unnecessary inconsistency and redundancy in data gathering

and storage.

V) Common data flow:-MIS provides common data flows, which

try to utilize minimum data processing efforts and minimize the

number of output document.

VI) Heavy planning element:- Designing and implementation of

mis require detailed and meticulous planning of activities like

acquisition and utilization of resources.

VII) Common database:- MIS acts as a master that holds the

functional sub-system together. It achieves this aim by allowing

access to different master files of data to several functional

sub-systems.

VIII) Flexibility:- MIS design should be flexible so as to provide

alternate ways of processing data and system should be easy to

operate so that not much of computers skills are required. IX) Computerization:- MIS can be computerized because of its

nature. This provide speed, accuracy and consistency in

creating and access of files.

X) Relevance:- MIS should deal only with operation and control of

relevant information.

XI) Support to top management:- MIS cannot be effective unless

they receive the full support of top management. For this, top

management should be educated about cost and benefits of

mis.

XII) Periodic evaluation:- The last feature of mis is that the system

should be evaluated at periodic intervals to ensure that mis is

achieving the objective of which this has been installed.

COMPONENTS OF MIS

Management information system refers to the data, equipment and

computers program that are used to develop information for

managerial use. The MIS consists of following components which are

as follows-

I) People:- People is only living component of mis which

operates and controls the other components of mis. They

enter, analyze and diagnose data, so that useful information

is produced and provided to top executives for decision

making.

II) Data process:- Data process uses different procedures, so

that data can be properly analyzed and effective information

is generated. Procedures explain people how to operate the

computer hardware, what program to run, what data to use

and what to do with the results.

III) Data communication:- There are different ways for

communication of data. It may be informed orally or in the

form of written report. Written forms are more appropriate

than oral ones as it is permanent and systematic way of

organizing information.

IV) Information:- Data are facts and figures that are not

currently being used in decision process. Data is process by

applying different procedures to obtain information. It may

be recorded into computer, storage media or manual files

and is retrived whenever required.

V) System planning:- We have achieved a very high degree of

automation and combination sub-system in scientific,

mechanical and factory manufacturing operation. The

system concept of mis is therefore of optimizing the output

of the organization by connecting the operation sub-system,

through the medium of information exchange.

VI) Hardware and Software:- The hardware generally consists of

computer equipments, on the other hand software consists

of programs or instructions given to the computer such as

pay roll processing, invoices etc.

FUNCTIONS OF MIS

A MIS is used to collect data, store and process data and present

information to managers.

I) Collect data:- Data can be obtained from source within

and outside the organization. Internal sources such as

records, reports and external sources such as

publications, customers and consultancy.

II) Store and process data:- After creation of data, a

database must be stored and processed in a form useful

to managers. The data can be loaded into computers for

easy access by user.

III) Present information to users:- After collection of data,

storing and processing of data, the next step is to present

the information to managers for their use.

USES/BENEFITS/ROLE OF MIS

I) MIS ensures that appropriate and relevant data is

collected from various sources, processed and is sent

further to needy destination.

II) It fulfills the needs of individual, group, management.

III) Mis helps in strategic planning, management control,

operational control and transaction processing system.

IV) Mis plays an important role in information generation,

communication, problem identification and decision

making administration.

V) With good mis support marketing, finance, production

and personnel functions increases efficiency.

VI) Mis creates structured database and therefore saves

time.

VII) Mis brings clarity in communication and understanding,

thus helps in bringing degree of professionalism.

INFORMATION

We breathe information, eat information, drink information, wake

up with information, sleep with information etc. So information is as

life blood of any organization, without information survival of any

organization is not possible.

Information means “processing of data or analyses of data in a

specific context to get required information”. It is a basis of decision

making. The decision taken on basis of complete and accurate

information is less risky.

The value of perfect information is calculated by finding out the

difference between the optimal policy with and without perfect

information.

Characteristics of an information

i) Accuracy:- accuracy means that information is free from

mistakes and error and it accurately and clearly reflects the

meaning of data from which it is derived. It conveys the

accurate picture to receiver and is free from biasness.

ii) Timeliness :- information must be delivered at the right time

and the right place to the right person otherwise information

would be of little value to the organization. hence, making

information available to the receiver within time is very

crucial for every organization.

iii) Relevance :- information should be to the point and

meaningful to the decision maker. Relevance of information

for different users will be different.

iv) Correct information format :- information should be given

to the user in such a form that it could be easily understood

by user.

v) Completeness :-information is said to be complete if

decision maker can satisfactory solve the problem at hand

using that information. Incomplete information has no

meaning for user.

vi) Subjectivity :- it is the value and usefulness of the

information.

vii) Accessibility :- information should be readily accessible in

desired format when needed. Technological advancement

has made data accessibility easy.

Types Of Information System

I) TPS(Transaction Processing System) :- Most fundamental

computer system which is concerned with processing of

business is called TPS. The objective of TPS is to improve

routine business activities on which functions of organization

depends. The main work of TPS is to record and process the

data resulting from business transactions. A transaction is an

event or entity which affects the organization. Transaction

processing could also be considered as a set of procedures

for handling transactions and it includes activities like

calculation, classification, storage and retrieval, sorting,

validation, verification, summarization etc. These activities

occur at operational level in nay organization. TPS produces

a variety of information system for internal and external

cause.

II) OAS(Office Automation System) :- OAS collects, processes,

stores and transmits data and information in the form of

electronic office communication. These automatic systems

rely on text processing, telecommunication and offer

information system technologies. Example- word processing,

electronic mail, desktop publishing, telecommunication and

document image processing. It enhances the abilities of

users to communicate with their colleagues within their

work groups and organization and with external contact

such as customers and suppliers.

Advantages-

They provide more time to managers to concentrate on their

basic jobs.

They improve the quality of work in terms of content,

throughness, timeliness and accuracy.

They speed up specific functions and thereby increases the

quantity of clerical output.

They reduce the time spent on input capture and creation.

They co-ordinate and integrate office tasks.

They enable more cost- effective and time- effective

communications.

They increase the productivity of office workers at all levels.

Disadvantages –

Cost of automated office hardware is very high.

Oas can disrupt traditional office work roles and environment.

Oas may lead to security problems.

III) EIS(Executive Information System):- The decision made by

executives are mostly unstructured for which informational

requirements are generally for processed and summarized

data from variety of sources. Initially tip executive

information system relies on non computer source. Top level

executives get information whenever they require from

many sources like letters, memos, periodicals and report

produced manually as well as by computer system. Thus,

with computer based EIS provides top management with

immediate and easy access to selective information, which

reduces the information overload on executives and help to

achieve firm’s strategic objective.

IV) ES(Expert System):- Expert system aims at formalizing

expertise and makes it available for repetitive types of

business decisions. They use artificial intelligence tools to

generate knowledge out of information. It helps human

experts perform their jobs effectively and is important

where expertise is scarce and is therefore expensive. The

expert system has been developed for the purpose of

expertise from those with the knowledge in a convenient

and easily accessed manner. Expert systems are designed to

replace the function formed by human experts. Expert

system provide information to managers as expert advice.

An expert system supports the intellectual work of

professionals engaged in design, diagnosis or evaluation of

complex situation requiring expert knowledge in a well-

defined area.

Advantages:-

Planning:- ES can make a valuable contribution to

planning. It can use information from earlier project

which can be used to improve subsequent plans.

Decision making:- ES can support decision making by

storing information in its knowledge base from several

experts rather than a single expert.

Monitoring:- ES can be used to monitor the process,

activities of employees and cash management etc.

Diagnosis:- ES can be used in diagnosing different

conditions. Ex- in diagnosing the reasons for

manufacturing equipment, human diseases in medicine

etc.

Training:- when an ES is being used as a regular nature

in the course of work, users learn the way the system

reaches destination.

Timely response:- ES are available on call at all the

time and, can be used to provide immediate support

and to perform task immediately.

Reliability:- they are reliable in the sense that they do

not become tired or bored. They pay attention to all

details and do not overlook any relevant information.

Disadvantages:-

Expert system are not problem solver.

It may take longer time to solve problem than an expertise.

Expert system take long development time and are expensive.

SYSTEM VIEW OF BUSINESS

We should be able to visualize any business organization as a system.

Thus business is a system which is a set of interrelated components

that are working together to achieve organization’s objective in a

controlled manner. In the past, managers had to solve the problem,

independently and in isolation. Suppose organization face the

problem of decline in sales and it is traced that problem is due to

poor performance of sales man. But practically there are no. Of

reasons responsible for that such as poor management, poor

understanding, poor quality of product, poor marketing policy etc.

This type of activity could be related to a system. A business must

maintain appropriate relationships with other political, economic

and social systems in the environment. This group includes its

stakeholders such as customers, suppliers, stockholders etc.

Information system can help a business to shape its relationships

with each of these stakeholders. In the same way, MIS is also a

system which consists of group of people, a set of manual and data

processing equipment which aims to provide information to reduce

the uncertainity in decision making.

SYSTEM APPROACH

The system approach in business was born in decade of 1960’s. it is a

systemmatic process of problem solving based on scientific methods

which defines problems and oppurtunity in a system context.

Information describing the problem or oppurtunity is gathered.

Alternative solutions are identified, evaluated so that, best solution

is selected, implemented and then its success is evaluated.

Purpose of system approach is to utilize scientific analysis in complex

organization for-

Developing and managing operating system i.e. money flow,

personnel system.

Designing information system for decision making.

System approach of MIS is optimizing the output of the organization

by connecting to operative sub system through the medium of

information exchange. The basic notation of system approach in MIS

is to provide information on decision making on planning, organizing,

controlling the operations of sub-system of the firm.

The system approach in business for MIS is implemented by

“SYNERGY”. The concept of synergy tells us that the sum of part is

greater then the whole i.e. the output of total organization can be

enhanced if the components part can be integrated.

Thus, in an organization synergy is simultaneous action of separate

but inter-ralated parts that together produce a total effect greater

than sum of individual parts.

SYSTEM APPROACH IN PLANNING

The Most Basic And Important Function Of Management Is

Plannning. We Know That Plannning Is Needed At All Levels Of

Management And Success Of All Other Management Function

Depend Upon Plannning

Planning means deciding in advance what has to be done, who has to

do it, when it has to be done and how it has to be done. It bridges

the gap between where we are and where we want to go.

This system approach to planning starts with strategic plan as a

framework. The strategig plan is specific but not detailed. The long

term goal provides the constraints for setting intermediate and short

term goals.

Therefore strategic plans ties together the development plan also.

The strategic plannning process consists of two steps-

Developing the strategy

Formulating the steps, timing, cost required to achieve the

strategy.

SYSTEM APPROACH IN ORGANIZING

Organizing is important to managers because it helps in effective

group action. It also helps in maintaining the people to work

together and accomplish objectives i.e. organizing. It involves the

grouping of tasks necessary to accomplish plans and assign activity to

department.

It consists of following componenets-

The formal organization system as describes in chart policies

and procedures.

The informal organization

The individual as a system

The organizational communication system

The power system

The functional system

The managemnet process system

The material logistic system

We know that system approach saya that, output is greater if all part

work with integration. This is same concept of organizing.

Phases of organizing are-

Developing a technical organization based on traditional

methods of departmentalization.

Start with overall company’s objectives and develop a hierarchy

of network of system required.

Involve key manager and specialist in order to select group of

people so that plannned activities are done in order to achieve

objective.

SYSTEM APPROACH IN CONTROLLING

Controlling Is Important Because It Is Needed To Achieve The Desired

Results. The Most Common Process Consists Of Three Steps-

Setting standards of performance- it involves what level of

performance we need. Hence, standards are criteria against

which result can be measured. These criteria can be

quantitative or qualitative.

Measuring performance- once standards have been

established it is necessary to measure performance against

standards. The statement of measurement and of any

difference is usually in form of personal observation type of

report in oral or written form.

Deviation control- we know that measuring deviation first

comparison of standards with actual performance is made. If

deviation is found then correction is made by taking some

course of action to achieve the targeted objectives.

Methods and techniques for correcting deviation can be

described in terms of functions of management-

a) PLAN- recycle the management process, review the plan,

modify the goal or change standards.

b) Organize- examine the organization in standard and make

sure duties are well understood.

c) Staffing- improve selection of sub-ordinate, improve

training, reassign duties.

d) Directing- provide better leaderhip, motivate the people,

explain the job better.

DIAGRAMS-

UNIT-3

DATA PROCESSING

Data processing is basically concerned with converting raw data into

well ordered information, which serves the purpose of result

processing. It essentially consist of facts relating to events and

entities. In a business situation, a sale or purchase is sn event. While

person, place, things etc are entities. Data processing consists of data

input, data manipulation and outputting results of data

manipulation. For the purpose of data processing data contained in

source documents are fed into computer. Data manipulations

consists of such operations as classification, sorting, calculations and

summarizations, while output operations contains management of

storage, retrieval, communications and reproduction of the result.

FLOW CHART

A flow chart is a diagrammatic or pictorial representation of the

algorithm. It indicates solution of a problem. They are constructed by

using special geometrical symbols. Each symbol represents an

activity. The activity could be input/output of data,

computation/processing of data, taking a decision, termination of

solution etc. the symbols are joined by flow lines to obtain a

complete flow chart.

1. TERMINAL SYMBOL:- The terminal symbol is used to indicate

the point at which a flow chart begins and ends. It is accepted

procedure to insert the word START and STOP with the

terminal symbols.

2. INPUT/OUTPUT SYMBOL:- In a program i/p and o/p symbols

identify the logical positioning of input and output operations.

i/o symbol indicates to take input from user and o/p symbol is

used to generate solution to the problem.

3. PROCESSING SYMBOL:- In this, data are automatically

processed. We can define computations and after that data

moves to storage area or output area.

4. DECISION SYMBOL:- It is also called logical symbol to solve

Many business problems, many comparisons of data are made

before selecting the best alternative. The two principal

components of decision symbol are-

A question that defines the logical operation.

The result of the decision (i.e. yes/no)

5. Connector:- A flow chart becomes very long, the flow lines start

crossing many places that causes confusions. In that case, it is

useful to utilize the connector symbol as a substitute for flow

lines. It is indicated by a circle and a letter or digit is placed

within the circle.

6. Flow lines:- flow lines are used to indicate the flow of

operation i.e. exact sequence in which the instructions are to

be executed. The normal flow of flow-chart is from top to

bottom and left to right.

Advantages-

Flow- chart is good aid for communicating the logic of a system.

It helps to identify a relationship that exists among problem

element.

It helps us in effective analysis by breaking down into detailed

part of a study.

Flow –chart act as a guide or blue print during the system

analysis program preparation phase.

The flow chart helps in debugging process i.e. it helps in

detecting, locating and removing mistakes.

Disadvantages-

When the program logic is complex the flowchart becomes

complex.

If alterations are required, the flow chart may require re-

drawing completely.

No uniform practice is followed for drawing flow-chart.

Sometimes it becomes difficult to establish the linkage

between various conditions and actions.

CONVERSION OF MANUAL SYSTEM INTO

COMPUTERISED SYSTEM

Today is the world of information technology. In business lots of

complexity and competition are there. In order to reduce this, we are

using information technology in business. So, we are converting

manual system to computerized system. The steps involved in

conversion are:-

1. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION:- Is is usually prepared after preliminary

investigation and definition of the problem. The description is

essentially a statement of major input, output, processing

operation and files needed.

2. INPUT DOCUMENT:- After the system description is completed.

It is necessary to specify how the information will be put into

the form that is acceptable to the computer. Volume of

information, frequency, accuracy and verification requirement

and the handling of the information are considered in the

selection of input format.

3. OUTPUT DOCUMENT:- Outputs are subject to much the same

considerations as input document but the output format

should be treated with additional care because It represents

the objective and purpose of entire operation. It is the output

document with which the management is almost exclusively

concerned and because of its critical nature care should be

taken in its design.

4. FILE DESIGN:- The logic required to control the flow of data

through the system is a part of system design and the flow is in

turn dependent upon the design of data files. In this we

consider the type of equipment, storage capacity, nput and

output media and format.

5. PROGRAM LOGIC AND COMPUTER PROGRAM:- Although

there are numerous means of thinking through and document

programming logic, we will use flow-chart because they are

easy to depict and understand. The program flow-chart is the

program logic of step-by-step representation of how the

computer program will accomplish the job. It’s the blue print of

the program.

6. SYSTEM VERIFICATION:- After the program has been written

and run through the compilation process. It’s placed memory in

binary form and is ready to process the file on disk and print

the required report. The verifications means to check the work

is done according to the specifications or not. If not, what steps

are to be taken to meet specifications?

7. DOCUMENTATION:- The documentation is a complete written

format of whole activities. It is manual. It helps in

understanding the system easily. When a person is new to the

system and does not know how to use the system but by

reading the documentation he can easily understand and use

the system.

SOFTWARE

Software is a set of computer program instructions that directs the

operation of the hardware called software. A set of instruction for a

specific task Is termed a routine. A complete set of instruction to

execute a related set of task is a program.

Software is a language of computer science or technology which

deals with the codes or coded instructions according to which

computer is to operate the procedures with the help of the

computer and the programs for various routine applications and

utilitues are collectively called “software” and in order to match the

word “hardware”.

Computer software is classified into two major types of programs

I. SYSTEM SOFTWARE:- A computer is highly complex machine

and the role of the computer software is to make it run. We

know that system software refers to all the programs which

make the computer work easy and are commonly supplied by

the manufacturers or computer vendor along with the

hardware. It consists of number of specialized programs that

help the computer to co-ordinate and control all activities

relating to computer operations. System software can be

grouped into three major functional categories-

System Management Programs- it manages the

hardware, software and data resources of the computer

system during its extension of the various information

processing jobs of users. Major system management

programs are operating system, database management

system and telecommunication monitors.

System Support Programs:- programs that support the

operations management and the user of a computer

system by providing a variety of system services. Major

support programs are system utilities, performance

monitors and security monitors.

System Development Programs:- Programs that help user

to develop information system programs and procedures

and prepare user programs for computer processing.

Major development programs are language translators,

programming tools and case packages.

II. APPLICATION SOFTWARE:- It refers to the program which

helps the computer to work effectively for specific applications.

Application software,thus,refers to the program of instructions,

tailored to cause the hardware to function in a desired way for

processing an application, unique to the user. Application

software, therefore is also often called user software.

General Purpose Program:- General applications programs are

programs that perform common information processing job for

end users.

Ex:- Word processing, spreadsheet , data base management

programs, integrated packages and graph programs are popular

with micro-computer uses for education, business, scientific

and many other purposes.

Application Specific Program- Thousand of application

software packages are available to support specific application

of end users, major categories of such application specific

program are as follow-

Business application program:- it is related to the business

function or industry’s requirements, examples of such business

function and this corresponding application are accounting,

marketing, finance, manufacturing, operation management.

Scientific application program:- Programs that perform

information processing task for natural, physical, social and

behavioural science and for mathematics, engineering and all

areas involved in scientific research, experiment and

development.

Other application programs:- There are so many application

area of computer such as computer application in education,

entertainment, music, art, law enforcement, medicines and so

on.

MODEM

Modem are most common types of communication processor. They

convert the digital signals into analog signals or transmission

terminals at one end of the communication link into analog

frequencies, which can be transmitted over ordinary telephone lines.

A modem at another end of the communication converts the

transmitted data back into digital form at receiving terminal. This

process is known as modulation and demodulation and the word

“MODEM” is a combined abbreviation of those two words. It comes

in several forms, including small stand-alone unit, plug in circuit

boards and microelectronic modem chip.

Modem is necessary because ordinary telephone lines were primarily

designed to handle continous analog signal. We know that data

transmission from computers are in digital form, devices are

necessary to convert digital signals into appropriate analog

transmission frequencies and vise-versa.

TELECOMMUNICATON

Telecommunication is sending of information in any form (i.e. voice

data, text and images) from one place to another using electronic or

light emitting media.

There are different types of communication network. However, from

one end user point of view there are three basic types-

WIDE AREA NETWORK:- WAN is a very large network, which

are used to transmit or receive information inter-countries,

inter-continents etc. data is transmitted through satellite. It is a

kind of internet. They are connected through public or private

network.

METROPOLITAN AREA NETWORK:- Network that covers a large

city or metropolitan area can also be included in this category.

Such large networks are becoming a necessity for carrying out

the day to day activities of many business and government

organization and their end users. They are used by

manufacturing firms, banks, retailers, distributors,

transportation companies, government agencies and many

other organizations to transmit and receive information across

cities.

LOCAL AREA NETWORK:- It connects information processing

devices within a limited physical area, such as an office

building, manufacturing plant or other workstations. They have

become a major type of telecommunication network, since

micro computers were introduced into offices, departments

and other work groups. LAN uses a variety of

telecommunication media and communication processors to

interconnect computer terminals, personal computer work

station other computer system and other types of computer

peripherals devices.

A telecommunication network consists of five categories of

components-

o Terminals

o Telecommunication Processors

o Telecommunication channels and Media

o Computers

o Telecommunication Control Software

WIRED TELECOMMUNICATION

We know that, telecommunication is sending of information in any

form (i.e. text, voice, data, images etc.) from one place to another

using electronic or light or through physical wired.

The wired telecommunication is a type of communication in which

information is sending or receiving from one place to another

through physical medium. This medium may be coaxial cable, twisted

wires, fiber optics etc.

The disadvantages of wired telecommunication devices is that, it

can’t be moved anywhere as mobile phones and for long distances

longer length cable is required.

WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATION

For the mobile users, twisted pairs, coaxial cable and fibre optics are

of no use. They need to get their bits of data for their laptop,

notebooks, palmtop or wrist watch computer without being

bothered to the terrestrial communication infrastructure, for these

users, wireless communication is the answer.

It appears that future holds only two types of communication fiber

and wireless. All fixed computers, telephones, faxes and so on will be

by fiber and all mobile ones will be using wireless. The advantage is

that, it is converting large distance and also communication is

possible in plane, train, bus and car or even walking.

UNIT-4

DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM

The DSS is a interactive computer based system, which decision

makers to utilize data and models to solve unstructured problems.

The DSS is designes to facilitate the solutions of problem of

structured than that of MIS and TPS which are less structured. The

nature of decision taken by DSS is of non-routine and less structured.

The DSS is a collection of data and data processing tools used to

creatively manipulate data to answers unknown and often

unexpected questions.

DSS aims at supporting the decision maker by providing the

information with the aid of quantitative techniques.

COMPONENTS OF DSS-

HARDWARE RESOURCES- Executives work stations, are

connected by telecommunication network, to other computers

and devices in the organization, provided the primary hardware

resources for a DSS.

SOFTWARE RESOURCES- DSS software packages are called DSS

generators. They contain modules for database, model and

dialogue management. A database management module

provides for creation, interrogation and maintainance of DSS.

DATA RESOURCES- A DSS database contains data and

information extracted from the databases of organization,

external databases and a managers personnel databases.

MODEL RESOURCES- The model base includes a library of

mathematical models and analytical techniques stored in a

variety of program modules and files.

PEOPLE RESOURCES- DSS can be used by managers or their

staff specialist to explore decision alternatives. However the

development of large or complex decision support system and

DSS software packages is typically assigned to information

system specialists.

APPLICATIONS OF DSS

DSS are used for a variety of applications in both business and

government. When DSS are developed to solve large and complex

problem that are continually faced by an organization they are called

institutional DSS.

An AIRLINE DSS- An analytical information management system

is a decision support system used in airlines industry, it was

developed by AMERICAN AIRLINES bit is used by other airlines,

aircraft manufacturers and airlines financial analysis

consultants and associations. It supports a variety of airlines

decisions by studying factors such as aircraft utilization, seating

capacity and utilization traffic and profitability result.

A MARKETING DSS- BRAND AID is used for marketing planning,

especially in the packaged good industries. It helps brand

managers to make pricing, sales efforts, promotion, advertising

and budgeting decisions for products, product lines and brand

of products

GOVERNMENT DSS- GADS (GEODATA ANALYSIS AND DISPLAY

SYSTEM) was developed by IBM. It constructs and display maps

and other graphics display that supports decisions affecting the

geographic distribution people and other resources.

A BANKING DSS- MAPP (Managerial Analysis for profit

Planning) is a DSS developed by CITI-BANK. It was designed to

support decisions involved in the financial planning, budgeting

costing and pricing of bank products.

CHARACTERISTICS OF DSS-

Ability to support the solution of complex

problems.

Fast response to unexpected situations.

DSS is particularly designed for an individual or

group of decision makers.

A DSS is best conceptualized as a process instead

of product.

Cost saving

Improving managerial effectiveness.

Improve the effectiveness of decisions.

Flexible and adaptable to change in the external

environment.