Management information system and academics
The management information systems draw a lot of support from
other academic disciplines too. The foundation of MIS is the management theory.
It uses the principles and practices of management while designing the system,
and gives due regard to the theory of organizational behavior.
It considers the human mind as a processor of information.
While designing the report format and forming communication channels, MIS takes
into account the behavior of the manager as an individual and in a group. It gives due regard to the personal
factors such as bias, thinking with a fixed frame of reference, risk aversion,
strengths and weaknesses.
Another area of academics is operational research. The
operational research is used for developing the models of management problem and
they are then incorporated in MIS as decision support systems. The inventory
control, queuing theory, and resource programming are used in the MIS as
decision support systems. The network theory is used for planning and
controlling large projects.
In the area of accounting application, it uses the accounting
principles to ensure that the data is correct and valid. It uses the accounting
methodology for generating a trial balance, balance sheet and other books of
accounts.
The MIS uses the communication theory in a significant
manner. The principle of feedback is used while designing analysis and reporting
systems. While designing the report format, attention is paid to avoid noise and
distortions in the communication process.
The MIS is based on database and uses the database for
generating information. The three types of data structures, viz., hierarchical,
network and relational database have roots in the mathematics and the set
theory.
The MIS becomes rich in content and more useful when it
becomes more and more a decision-making or decision support system. This is
possible when it builds decision making systems in MIS which in turn is possible
if it draws tools, techniques, methods, rules and principles from pure science
and application science, and uses them as an integral part of the system. The
MIS uses knowledge from management, business management, mathematics,
accounting, psychology, communication theory, operations research and
probability theory for building processes, methods, and decision-support systems
in designing business applications.
