Nama : Laila Chairunnisa
No reg: 8335088274
Prodi S1-akuntansi '08 (nonreg)
What are the principle types of information systems that support information activities in the organization?
Answer :
There are various types of management information systems. Mason and Swanson (1981) describe four categories of management information systems:
1. Databank information system
2. Predictive information system
3. Decision-making information system
4. Decision-taking information system.
The classification is based on the level of support that the information system provides in the process of decision making. Sachdeva (1990) comprehensively presents these four types of systems:
1. Databank Information System
The responsibility of this information system is to observe, classify, and store any item of data which might be potentially useful to the decision maker. Examples of the kind of data that might be recorded in such a database for a given village, region, or area are as follows:
• Number of farms
• Number of units of arable land (hectares, fedans, acres)
• Average farm size
• Amounts of selected farm inputs applied annually
• Production per year on a unit of land for selected crops
A second example of data that might be recorded in a database (this time involving data internal to the organization) is as follows:
• Number of extension staff by category and assigned to a particular village, region, or area
• Number of work hours devoted by staff to selected concerns for a particular village, region, or area
• Total extension salary costs and other expenses by village, region, or area
• Number of demonstrations conducted for selected farm technologies by village, region, or area
• Number of on-farm trials conducted for selected farm technologies by region or area
• Number of radio, TV, and print media releases regarding selected farm technologies by time period and region or area
Figure 1. Role of information in the decision process.
Each of these databases can be summarized and converted to single tabular presentations of information of interest to management. When information from two or more time periods is compared, trends can be observed.
2. Predictive Information System
This system moves beyond pure data collection and the determination of trends over time. Predictive information systems provide for the drawing of inferences and predictions that are relevant to decision making. If data from the above examples were to be used in this way, it is possible to obtain information useful for making predictions or for drawing inferences. For example, tables containing the following information for a given village, region, or area might be produced:
The ratio between the number of farms and the various categories of extension staff members
The ratio between the amount of farmland and the various categories of extension staff members
Amount of extension financial operating resources allocated per year to selected farmer problems or concerns
Amount of extension financial resources, both salary and operating expenses, allocated per year to selected extension approaches to solving different farmer problems or concerns
Information obtained from these kinds of analyses is normally summarized in a two-way tabular format. And likewise, the information often is compared over time. Managers can then use such information to make predictions, for example to forecast costs of particular undertakings for budgeting purposes or as a basis for predicting results if a given change is made, such as change in the number of demonstrations with a given change in staffing.
3. Decision-Making Information System
This system goes one step further in the process of decision making and incorporates the value system of the organization or its criteria for choosing among alternatives. An extension organization's values are many and varied. They include concerns for resolving farmer problems, increasing and providing for stability of farmer incomes, and improving the quality of farm life. But they also including and providing for stability of farmer incomes, and improving the quality of farm life. But they also include an intent to provide well for staff members (training, adequate salaries, etc.) and to aid in the process of bringing about rural economic development.
Table 1. Information Groups in India's Agricultural Extension System.
Levels Groups Types of Information Needed
Central Extension commissioner, joint commissioners, directors, joint directors, etc. of the directorate of extension, ministry of agriculture (1) Information on human resources, plans, and budgets for various extension services
(2) Statewide monitoring and evaluation of activities completed
State Director of agriculture, additional director, joint directors, etc. of the state department of agriculture (1) Districtwide information on extension programmes, activities, expenditures, etc
(2) Research-extension linkages and coordination with other allied departments such as animal husbandry and horticulture
District District agricultural officers (DAOs) (1) Information on extension resources and constraints at subdivision and block levels
(2) Training requirements of staff at subdivision and block levels
Subdivision Subdivisional agricultural officers (1) Field demonstration programmes, activities planned and implemented by subject-matter specialists (SMSs) (zone) at the block level
(2) Technical programme and constraints identified at the block level
Block (county) Agricultural extension officers (1) Performance of VEWs in terms of achievements in extension activities
(2) Field-level problem of assessment of beneficiaries' response to various extension programmes
Information regarding these various attributes helps managers to make more enlightened decisions. Examples of ways that an extension organization uses information from a decision-making information system are as follows:
• Change in specific farm outputs (yields, practices) following selected extension activities
• Change in staff productivity following selected interventions (in-service training, better transport, etc)
• Comparison of relative costs and relative effectiveness of alternative extension delivery methods
• Analysis of economic returns to farmers who adopt recommended practices as compared to those who do not
4. Decision-Taking Information System
Examples of decision-taking information systems are not usually found in an extension organization. This is a decision
system in which the information system and the decision maker are one and the same. Management is so confident in the assumptions incorporated in the system that it basically relegates its power to initiate action to the system itself. Airplanes carry automatic pilot systems, which are an example of a decision-taking system. Once activated, the system itself keeps the plane on course and at the proper speed and altitude (according to parameters determined by the pilot). Another example of decision-taking information systems is found in modem factory production. In automobile production, continuous inventories of parts are maintained by computer as cars move down an assembly line. Orders are placed automatically by the computer when additional parts are needed. This is done without the intervention of a manager.
The choice of an appropriate management information system (MIS) category primarily depends on the nature of the decisions it supports. While unstructured decisions may use MIS-category (I), the highly structured ones, such as production schedules in an industry, may use MIS-category (iv). Further, Banerjee and Sachdeva (1995) observe that "as the deep structure of the decision problem becomes more and more understood, we may move to higher level of MIS i.e., from MIS-category (I) to MIS-category (ii); and MIS-category (ii) to MIS-category (iii); and so on."
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar