The term management information systems refers to a specific category of information systems serving

Management Information Systems (MIS) is the study of people, technology, organizations, and the relationships among them. MIS professionals help firms realize maximum benefit from investment in personnel, equipment, and business processes. MIS is a people-oriented field with an emphasis on service through technology. If you have an interest in technology and have the desire to use technology to improve people’s lives, a degree in MIS may be for you.

MIS Professionals Make Business Better

Businesses use information systems at all levels of operation to collect, process, and store data. Management aggregates and disseminates this data in the form of information needed to carry out the daily operations of business. Everyone who works in business, from someone who pays the bills to the person who makes employment decisions, uses information systems. A car dealership could use a computer database to keep track of which products sell best. A retail store might use a computer-based information system to sell products over the Internet. In fact, many (if not most) businesses concentrate on the alignment of MIS with business goals to achieve competitive advantage over other businesses.

MIS professionals create information systems for data management (i.e., storing, searching, and analyzing data). In addition, they manage various information systems to meet the needs of managers, staff and customers. By working collaboratively with various members of their work group, as well as with their customers and clients, MIS professionals are able to play a key role in areas such as information security, integration, and exchange. As an MIS major, you will learn to design, implement, and use business information systems in innovative ways to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of your company.

More Than Coding

A common misconception is that MIS only concerns coding (or writing computer code). While coding concepts represent some of the fundamental principles of information systems development, implementation, and use, many jobs in MIS do not utilize coding at all. A large portion of the MIS degree focuses on data analysis, teamwork, leadership, project management, customer service, and underlying business theories. These aspects of the degree are what set the MIS professional apart from a computer science specialist.

  • Do you enjoy working with people?
  • Would you enjoy the chance to work on global problems with people from all over the world?
  • Do you enjoy analyzing and solving problems?
  • Do you want to create innovative, cutting-edge technology solutions?
  • Do you want to learn how to make businesses more efficient, effective and competitive?

Then you should consider as your major the field that is experiencing a critical shortage of professionally trained individuals. A field where demand is skyrocketing with projected growth rates of 38 percent – the fastest of any business discipline (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

What kinds of people pursue MIS degrees?

The profiles of MIS professionals are varied, but in general, such individuals possess many of the following traits:

  • good problem solving skills
  • ability to effectively manage time and resources
  • a clear vision of “the big picture” as well as the “small details”
  • a desire to work closely with other people
  • excellent communication skills
  • ability to think strategically about technology
  • a desire to take responsibility for developing and implementing their own ideas

What are typical career options for MIS professionals?

  • IT Consultant
  • Web Developer
  • Information Systems Manager
  • Business Intelligence Analyst
  • Network Administrator
  • Business Application Developer
  • Systems Analyst
  • Technical Support Specialist
  • Business Analyst
  • Systems Developer

Why should I choose to major in MIS?

  • Job satisfaction
  • High placement rate
  • High salaries
  • Exciting field
  • Challenging field
  • Hands-on problem solving
  • Innovation and creativity
  • Global opportunities
  • Great chance for advancement
  • You can have an impact!

What is an average salary for an MIS professional?

MIS majors have one of the highest starting salaries of all the undergraduate degree programs in Mays Business School. The average starting salaries of our MIS graduates in 2019 was $65,679.

MIS (management information systems) is the department controlling hardware and software systems used for business-critical decision-making within an enterprise.

The MIS department was originally the whole of information technology. From the 1960s to the early 1980s, practitioners and business schools referred to MIS, rather than IT. In the early days, enterprise computing's main role was to help the CEO and CFO with information systems management for a few key run-the-business tasks, such as order entry, accounting and budgeting. No enterprise applications existed; programmers painstakingly wrote code to carry out these functions, usually on a mainframe.

These systems were business-critical, meaning a business would fail if it had to go back to manual accounting. If MIS failed, the business was in danger. The CFO oversaw MIS, ensuring the developers and administrators delivered what accounting needed.

In the 1980s, with the advent of personal computers that ran spreadsheets, the scope of computing's responsibilities began to change. Personal spreadsheets took business-critical processes out of the domain of upper management; MIS needed to service a wider range of users -- deploying external, as well as internal, software programs. The name of the department changed to reflect this new set of internal customers, becoming information systems (IS). The MIS department became one, still-vital part of the overall IS department.

How a MIS works

In addition to serving as a department within a company, MIS refers to computer software that is used to store, organize and analyze information. Management information systems are used to track sales, inventory, equipment and related business information. In the past, management information systems ran on mainframe computers. As computing systems evolved, MIS moved to run on client/server systems. Today, it’s common for MIS to run in the cloud or in a hybrid cloud.

Types of MIS

The four types of MIS are:

  • Transaction Processing System (TPS), which processes the routine transactions associated with a business. Example transactions include payroll processing, order processing, such as for an e-commerce business, and invoicing.
  • Management Support Systems (MSS), which store and organize data, enabling end users to generate reports and analyze data to address business needs and inform planning. A data warehouse is an example of a Management Support System.
  • Decision Support Systems (DSS), which analyze business data to assist managers with decision making. For example, a DSS could project revenue figures based on new product sales assumptions.
  • Expert Systems, which provide managers with insights and advice, using artificial intelligence (AI) to simulate the expert knowledge of a human in a particular field.

MIS vs. IT management

In the 1990s, the rise of the enterprise application brought about a new set of IS tasks. Companies succeeded by providing better services to the consumer than competitors, via a proper mix of enterprise applications and homegrown ones. The applications handled a wider range of functions than the original MIS department: order entry, accounting and budgeting, but also enterprise resource planning, supply chain management and sales force automation. Many of these tasks were not solely the property of the IS department -- outside vendors, outsourcers and line-of-business computing departments all claimed a share of enterprise computing.

Information systems became more of a strategic director of the software and underlying hardware technologies in the enterprise's architecture, and less of a controlling central entity. Again, the name changed to reflect the new role: information technology, or IT, rather than IS. Again, the original MIS department became a smaller part of the overall whole.

Today, the term management information systems is used broadly in various contexts. These include, but are not limited to:

  • Decision support systems
  • Resource and people management applications 
  • Project management
  • Database retrieval applications.

Although the boundaries between MIS and IT management have become fuzzy over the years, typically, MIS still covers systems that are critical to the company's ability to survive, including accounting and order entry. Upper management should understand the importance of MIS in the context of enterprise revenue.

In many businesses, MIS handles legacy software and hardware, coded by programmers long since retired, who left no documentation for the systems. This is equally a role of IT management and business coordination. The enterprise upgrades or modernizes these systems only very carefully, and with high appreciation of the risks involved. Therefore, the importance of MIS, and the people who support it and know its quirks, remains high -- even if it is a little-discussed part of enterprise IT.

The term management information systems refers to a specific category of information systems serving

Importance of MIS

MIS, both the department and the software system, can help companies gain a competitive advantage. The data managed by an MIS system can help managers make better decisions related to sales, manufacturing, resource allocation and more. Both the MIS department and the software systems help organizations increase productivity by enabling workers to spend more time on productive tasks.

The MIS department plays an important role in providing these support services within an organization:

  • Governance, which involves systems and controls over employees’ use of computing systems. This MIS department defines, manager and enforces rules on how (and whether) employees can access the company’s technologies and network infrastructure. MIS is responsible for IT security, as well as enforcing codes of conduct related to computer systems use.
  • Infrastructure, which refers to the technology systems that support the day-to-day functioning of the business, such as phones, desktop/laptop computers, servers, application software and cloud computing. The MIS department provides internal help desk and support services, assisting employees and troubleshooting issues related to the infrastructure.
  • Data management, which involves the provisioning and management of systems that enable employees to access and update critical business data. The MIS department is responsible for ensuring the availability and security of the data management systems.

Management information systems careers

The management information systems job description is likely to include financial concepts and duties alongside those of IT administration. Roles and responsibilities include network and computer systems management, business systems analysis, data integration, and compliance and audit preparations, as well as soft skills such as being a communicator who can liaison with the business units that rely on MIS.

A management information systems career could entail evaluating business applications and selecting those that will help the enterprise achieve sales, marketing or related goals. In turn, the MIS department then deploys and manages these applications throughout their lifecycle.

MIS jobs may require a degree in computer science or management information systems, specifically. The candidate should be able to manage IT and software vendors, and troubleshoot and optimize the computer systems and applications. In addition, they should be able to track metrics related to how effectively the application supports business objectives. The MIS career entails extensive planning and analysis for large-scale and business-critical projects, and it may require experience or education on finance and economics.

This was last updated in August 2019

Continue Reading About MIS (management information systems)

  • Do you need a degree in information systems management?
  • Advice for data management within MIS
  • What can you earn in MIS?

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What is the best definition of a management information system?

A management information system (MIS) is a computer system consisting of hardware and software that serves as the backbone of an organization's operations. An MIS gathers data from multiple online systems, analyzes the information, and reports data to aid in management decision-making.

What is a management information system quizlet?

Management Information Systems (MIS) The study of information systems--how people, technology, processes, and data work together. Also used to describe a special type of information system that supports tactical decision making at the managerial level.

What does MIS refer to quizlet?

What is MIS. It is an academic discipline that uses hardware, software, and telecommunications. systems to create, collect, interpret and analyze data.

Which of the following types of information systems are especially suited to situations in which the procedure?

Chapter 2.