ICT - types of information system

Author: Jim Riley

For most businesses, there are a variety of requirements for information. Senior
managers need information to help with their business planning. Middle management
need more detailed information to help them monitor and control business activities.
Employees with operational roles need information to help them carry out their duties.
As a result, businesses tend to have several "information systems" operating at the
same time. This revision note highlights the main categories of information system and
provides some examples to help you distinguish between them.
Information
System

Description

Executive
Support
Systems

An Executive Support System ("ESS") is designed to help senior

management make strategic decisions. It gathers, analyses and
summarises the key internal and external

Information Description
System
Executive
Support
Systems

An Executive Support System ("ESS") is designed to help

senior management make strategic decisions. It gathers,
analyses and summarises the key internal and external
information used in the business.
A good way to think about an ESS is to imagine the senior
management team in an aircraft cockpit - with the
instrument panel showing them the status of all the key
business activities. ESS typically involve lots of data
analysis and modelling tools such as "what-if" analysis to
help strategic decision-making.

Management
Information A management information system ("MIS") is mainly
Systems
concerned with internal sources of information. MIS usually
take data from the transaction processing systems (see
below) and summarise it into a series of management
reports.
MIS reports tend to be used by middle management and
operational supervisors.
DecisionSupport
Systems

Decision-support systems ("DSS") are specifically designed

to help management make decisions in situations where
there is uncertainty about the possible outcomes of those
decisions. DSS comprise tools and techniques to help gather
relevant information and analyse the options and
alternatives. DSS often involves use of complex spreadsheet
and databases to create "what-if" models.

Knowledge
Management Knowledge Management Systems ("KMS") exist to help
Systems
businesses create and share information. These are typically
used in a business where employees create new knowledge
and expertise - which can then be shared by other people in
the organisation to create further commercial opportunities.
Good examples include firms of lawyers, accountants and
management consultants.
KMS are built around systems which allow efficient
categorisation and distribution of knowledge. For example,
the knowledge itself might be contained in word processing
documents, spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations. internet
pages or whatever. To share the knowledge, a KMS would
use group collaboration systems such as an intranet.
Transaction
Processing
Systems

As the name implies, Transaction Processing Systems

("TPS") are designed to process routine transactions
efficiently and accurately. A business will have several
(sometimes many) TPS; for example:
- Billing systems to send invoices to customers
- Systems to calculate the weekly and monthly payroll and
tax payments
- Production and purchasing systems to calculate raw
material requirements
- Stock control systems to process all movements into,
within and out of the business

Office
Automation
Systems

Office Automation Systems are systems that try to improve

the productivity of employees who need to process data and
information. Perhaps the best example is the wide range of
software systems that exist to improve the productivity of
employees working in an office (e.g. Microsoft Office XP)
or systems that allow employees to work from home or
whilst on the move.

information used in the business.

A good way to think about an ESS is to imagine the senior
management team in an aircraft cockpit - with the instrument panel
showing them the status of all the key business activities. ESS
typically involve lots of data analysis and modelling tools such as

"what-if" analysis to help strategic decision-making.

Management
Information
Systems

A management information system ("MIS") is mainly concerned

with internal sources of information. MIS usually take data from the
transaction processing systems (see below) and summarise it into a
series of management reports.
MIS reports tend to be used by middle management and operational
supervisors.

DecisionSupport
Systems

Knowledge
Management
Systems

Decision-support systems ("DSS") are specifically designed to help

management make decisions in situations where there is uncertainty
about the possible outcomes of those decisions. DSS comprise tools
and techniques to help gather relevant information and analyse the
options and alternatives. DSS often involves use of complex
spreadsheet and databases to create "what-if" models.
Knowledge Management Systems ("KMS") exist to help businesses
create and share information. These are typically used in a business
where employees create new knowledge and expertise - which can
then be shared by other people in the organisation to create further
commercial opportunities. Good examples include firms of lawyers,
accountants and management consultants.
KMS are built around systems which allow efficient categorisation
and distribution of knowledge. For example, the knowledge itself
might be contained in word processing documents, spreadsheets,
PowerPoint presentations. internet pages or whatever. To share the
knowledge, a KMS would use group collaboration systems such as an
intranet.

Transaction
Processing
Systems

As the name implies, Transaction Processing Systems ("TPS") are

designed to process routine transactions efficiently and accurately. A
business will have several (sometimes many) TPS; for example:
- Billing systems to send invoices to customers
- Systems to calculate the weekly and monthly payroll and tax
payments
- Production and purchasing systems to calculate raw material
requirements
- Stock control systems to process all movements into, within and out
of the business

Office
Automation
Systems

Office Automation Systems are systems that try to improve the

productivity of employees who need to process data and information.
Perhaps the best example is the wide range of software systems that
exist to improve the productivity of employees working in an office

(e.g. Microsoft Office XP) or systems that allow employees to work

from home or whilst on the move.

Some examples of such systems are:

data warehouses

enterprise resource planning

enterprise systems

expert systems

geographic information system

global information system

office automation.

usuallytransaction processing systems at the bottom of the pyramid, followed by management

information systems, decision support systems and ending with executive information systems at the top.
Decision Support System (DSS)
Management Information System (MIS)
Expert Information System (EIS)
Knowledge Management System (KMS)
Transaction Processing System (TPS)
Office Automation System (OAS)
Human Resource Management System (HRMS)
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Types of Management Information Systems

By Alfred Sarkissian, eHow Contributor
An MIS provides the information necessary to manage an organization effectively.

A management information system (MIS) is a computer-based system that provides the

information necessary to manage an organization effectively. An MIS should be designed
to enhance communication among employees, provide an objective system for recording
information and support the organization's strategic goals and direction.

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1.
o

Transaction-Processing Systems
Transaction-processing systems are designed to handle a large volume of
routine, recurring transactions. They were first introduced in the 1960s with the advent of
mainframe computers. Transaction-processing systems are used widely today. Banks use
them to record deposits and payments into accounts. Supermarkets use them to record sales
and track inventory. Managers often use these systems to deal with such tasks as payroll,
customer billing and payments to suppliers.

Operations Information Systems

o

Operations information systems were introduced after transaction-processing

systems. An operations information system gathers comprehensive data, organizes it and

summarizes it in a form that is useful for managers. These types of systems access data from
a transaction-processing system and organize it into a usable form. Managers use
operations information systems to obtain sales, inventory, accounting and other
performance-related information.
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Decision Support Systems (DSS)

o

A DSS is an interactive computer system that can be used by managers

without help from computer specialists. A DSS provides managers with the necessary
information to make informed decisions. A DSS has three fundamental components:
database management system (DBMS), which stores large amounts of data relevant to
problems the DSS has been designed to tackle; model-based management system (MBMS),
which transforms data from the DBMS into information that is useful in decision-making;
and dialog generation and management system (DGMS), which provides a user-friendly
interface between the system and the managers who do not have extensive computer
training.

Expert Systems and Artificial Intelligence

o

Expert systems and artificial intelligence use human knowledge captured in a

computer to solve problems that ordinarily need human expertise. Mimicking human
expertise and intelligence requires the computer to do the following: recognize, formulate
and solve a problem; explain solutions; and learn from experience. These systems explain
the logic of their advice to the user; hence, in addition to solving problems they also can
serve as a teacher. They use flexible thinking processes and can accommodate new
knowledge.

Considerations
o

A potential problem with relying on electronic communication and processing

of information is the loss of the vital human element. Sometimes, because of the complexity
of information, an MIS report cannot effectively summarize it. Very rich information is
needed to coordinate and run an enterprise, and certain classes of information cannot be
quantified. For example, it might be wrong to evaluate an employee's performance solely

based on numbers generated by an MIS. Numbers can indicate a performance problem, but
a face-to-face meeting is necessary to discuss the nature of the problem.

Read more: Types of Management Information Systems |

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