MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

 

The objective of Management Information Systems (MIS) is to support better decision making by providing qualitative and quantitative data that will enable faster and more accurate conclusions.

While intuition, experience and detailed knowledge will continue to be irreplaceable, Management Information Systems offer a significant advantage in that they

  • make complexity more tangible,
  • provide speed in order to adapt and react to change more quickly,
  • create transparency when technology keeps getting overwhelming and
  • reduce redundancy, inconsistencies and error-prone data-collection processes.

From Status Quo to New Horizons

Planning Systems such as sales planning, headcount costing or capacity planning provide the basis for performance management in an organisation. Without a plan there is little orientation, let alone clear objectives or direction. A plan represents given facts paired with assumptions about future development and suggests new goals and actions to be taken. Alignment about the planning approach as well as about the meaning and interpretation of the details contained in the plan are similiarly (if not more) imporant as the planning infrastructure.

A plan is often complemented by Calculations & Simulations, both aiming to respond to the complexity in todays business world. Scenarios, variants or models are typical approaches. As a result, decision alternatives become more comprehendable and comparable; even a high number of alternatives can be dealt with in a relative short time. A sophisticated system would even suggest the best alternatives for you.

Data Analysis are investigations into characteristics of usually large amounts of data for a given subject. Examples are mix-analysis, correlations or data comparisons. Often these solutions require that redundant data-sources are harmonized, missing data is added and erroneous data is corrected beforehand. A solid data-model is just as essential to a succesful implementation as clear responsibilities and processes for dealing with the data.

As a means to quickly familiarize oneself with the many Critical Success Factors in an organization, the use of key figures has become a widely adopted approach. An effective system of key figures is dedicated and goal-driven. Key figures can be developed for business units, processes or complete value chains. The most value offer key figures that are linked with one another, thereby providing insights to the cause-and-effect each key figure drives.

Not withstanding any development in the area of machine learning, any modern management information system needs to have the means not only to forecast but also to detect outliers, extrapolate and predict. Interfacing with high-end suppliers will allow you to limit the effort to simply using an application-programming-interface (API) to the algorithms running in the cloud.

Dashboards combine the advantages of each previously mentioned solution. They combine the essentials in clear and user-friendly systems using graphical representations and tools to control further action. Dashboards are used in management discussions and in preparation decisions as well as communications. Examples for such dashboard systems are Scorecards, Performance Dashports, Productivity Reports or Decision Support Systems.

 

You can´t manage what you don´t measure

What has almost become a worn out phrase is nevertheless still true. If you don´t have the information to know how your company is doing, then you are flying blind - and nobody wants that. Management Information Systems are at the heart of controlling what is going on - and what will be possible. Planning and Analytics Systems have more and more become tools to forecast and simulate future events. While it is necessary to know how you did, in order to identify room for improvement, it is all the more important to understand where you are headed and what possibilities the future holds. Perspectives are the muscles of competitiveness. The more and the better perspectives you have, the more flexibility, agility and durability you can develop.

Setting up Management Information Systems is nothing that any standard organization can´t do. The question is: how valid, reliable and integrated are these systems, how easy are they to maintain, how frequently are they updated, how closely do they feed back results into your ERP systems. Last but not least, there is the question of what horizon these MIS capture: are they looking far enough out towards the future, so that you can prepare your next move and start to grow?

 

Get yourself some "cutting edge"

Surely, a sofisticated team will be by your side already. But think of it: the competition never sleeps - do really want to be last to get to the cutting edge?

Management Information Systems we develop are based on ERP systems (small and large) interfacing powerful spreadsheets. We offer support for data-extraction, data-transformation, data-modelling, the creation of relational and olap databases, queries and reports (financial and otherwise) as well as the organizational integration and the rollout of the new system.

We are here for you.