MIS 205 LECTURE 4

1. MIS 205 LECTURE 4 TYPES OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS

2. TPS TPS – Transaction Processing Systems • Is a computerized system that performs and records the daily routine transactions necessary to conduct business. • Generally used by operational management to keep track of the elementary activities and transactions within the organization – sales receipts, cash deposits, payroll, credit decisions, reservations, employee record keeping, supplies etc. • Generally used by management to monitor the status of internal operations. • TPS tasks are pre-defined and HIGHLY STRUCTURED • TPS systems are major producers of information for the other types of systems – GENERALLY THE FIRST LAYER OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS in an organization. • MOST CENTRAL TO BUSINESS – TPS failure for even a few hours can completely SHUT DOWN a firm – e.g. the reservation system failing for British Airways.

4. MIS MIS – Management Information Systems • Is a specific category of information system that generally serves middle management. • Provide middle management with reports on the organizations current performance – this information is used to monitor and control the business and predict future performance. • MIS systems summarize and report on the company’s basic operations using data SUPPLIED BY THE TPS. • The basic transactions data from TPS are compressed and usually presented in reports that are produced on a regular schedule. • MIS systems provide answers to pre defined questions and have a predefined procedure. E.g. comparing total annual sales figures for specific products to planned targets. • MIS systems are generally NOT FLEXIBLE and have VERY LITTLE ANALYTICAL CAPABILITY – the generally use simple routines such as summaries and comparisons and NOT sophisticated mathematical models or statistical techniques.

6. DSS DSS – Decision Support Systems – Business Intelligence Systems • Information systems that generally support NON-ROUTINE decision making for middle management. They focus on problems that are unique and rapidly changing – i.e. problems for which the arriving to a solution might not be pre-defined in advance. • E.g. what would e the impact on production schedules if we were to double sales in the middle of a certain month ; what would happen to our return on investments if the factory schedule was delayed for six months ; hartals • DSS systems use data from TPS and MIS systems – THEY ALSO rely on external sources for information – e.g. stock prices, competitors prices etc • DSS systems focus on extracting useful information to support decision making from LARGE amounts of data – they are analytical and also model driven

8. ESS ESS – Executive Support Systems • Information system that is used to answer NON-ROUTINE decision making for SENIOR MANAGEMENT requiring judgment, evaluation, and insight – there is NO agreed on procedure for arriving at a solution through ESS systems. • Examples of ESS questions – what will employment levels be in five years? What are the long-term industry cost trends? Where does OUR organization fit into that trend? How well are our competitors performing? • ESS are designed to primarily incorporate data from external sources such as new tax laws from the government, or information for competitors – they also draw SUMMARIZED information from MIS and DSS systems. • THEY FILTER< COMPRESS, & TRACK critical data from these sources and displays the data of greatest importance to senior managers. • USES statistical models, and is very user friendly