This is article four in the Educational Business Series (EBS).
Introduction
Management Information Systems (MIS) are structured to integrate people, processes, data, and technology in ways that assist organizations by improving efficiency, facilitating communication and coordination, enhancing decision-making, supporting strategic planning, etc. in ways that increase value.
MIS components include hardware, software, data, procedures, human resources, etc. while MIS functions include data collection and storage, data processing, reporting, decision support, coordination and control, etc.
MIS systems themselves take various forms such as:
“1. Transaction Processing Systems (TPS): Handle routine, high-volume transactions, such as payroll or order processing.
2. Decision Support Systems (DSS): Provide analytical tools for complex, non-routine decisions, often incorporating modeling and forecasting.
3. Executive Information Systems (EIS): Deliver high-level, summarized data for top management to monitor organizational performance.
4. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems: Integrate core business processes, such as finance, human resources, and supply chain, into a unified system.
For example, a retail company might use an MIS to track inventory levels, monitor sales performance, and forecast demand, generating daily reports for store managers and providing real-time dashboards for regional directors, as illustrated in professional case studies” (xAI, Grok 3, 2025).
From a managerial perspective, an organization's MIS supports managers by providing them with rapid, accurate, and relevant information about the organizations operations, performance, and present state.
MIS should not be viewed solely as a technological system but rather a holistic approach that integrates business, technology, and human resources.
MIS is evolving rapidly, driven by technological advancements and changing business needs. These include the integration of artificial intelligence to create expert systems, an increased focus on quality, a greater adoption of governance and analytics, federated search, automation of business processes, RPA technologies, cloud deployments, increased systems integration, aggregated information from different sources, and speed of access (Malak, 2025).
Management Information Systems - Historical Information
Laudon & Laudon (2009, p. 164) divide the modern history of MIS into five time periods as follows:
1. First era (mid-1960s to mid-1970s) – Mainframe and minicomputer computing
2. Second era (mid-1970s to mid-1980s) – Personal computers
3. Third era (mid-1980s to late 1990s) – Client/server networks
4. Fourth era (late 1990s to the present) – Enterprise computing
5. Fifth era (the present going forward) – Cloud computing
“The first era (mainframe and minicomputer computing) was ruled by IBM and their mainframe computers for which they supplied both the hardware and software… As technology advanced, these computers were able to handle greater capacities and therefore reduce their cost. Smaller, more affordable minicomputers allowed larger businesses to run their own computing centers in-house/on-site/on-premises.
The second era (personal computers) began... as microprocessors started to compete with mainframes and minicomputers and accelerated the process of decentralizing computing power from large data centers to smaller offices. In the late 1970s, minicomputer technology gave way to personal computers and relatively low-cost computers… This proliferation of computers created a ready market for interconnecting networks and the popularization of the Internet.
The third era (client/server networks) arose as technological complexity increased, costs decreased, and the end-user (now the ordinary employee) required a system to share information with other employees within an enterprise.
The fourth era (enterprise computing) enabled by high speed networks, consolidated the original department specific software applications into integrated software platforms referred to as enterprise software. This new platform tied all aspects of the business enterprise together offering rich information access encompassing the complete managerial structure” (“Management Information System,” 2025).
The fifth era (cloud computing) ushered in a model where computing resources and applications are obtained on-demand over the Internet. Cloud software allows customers to use software hosted by vendors; cloud infrastructure allows customers to use processing, storage, networking, and other computing resources over the Internet to run their information systems; and cloud platform offerings allow customers to develop their own applications (Laudon & Laudon, 2009).
Note that this fifth era is increasingly being enhanced by the Industrial Revolution 4.0 which is associated with subjects like “AI (Artificial Intelligence), Big Data, IoT (Internet of Things), Sensors, CPS (Cyber-Physical Systems, i.e. robots), and Blockchain. So, in overall summary, cutting-edge techs like Cloud computing, Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Additive manufacturing (3D printing), Smart manufacturing, Advanced robotics, edge computing, Data analytics, Cyber-physical systems, cybersecurity solutions, Smart supply chain management, Image processing, ML-based Object detection technology, Nanotechnology, Quantum computing, Cognitive computing, Digital twins, Natural language processing (NLP), and Advanced analytics, and every other thing that is relevant to automation in industries, businesses, and other sectors to reduce cost, time and labor” 1 (Rashid et al., 2024).
Management Information Systems
The quality of management in an organization has many aspects from management structure to the effectiveness of the managers themselves; whether they are senior, middle, or operational management.
Laudon & Laudon (2020) points out that, “Management’s job is to make sense out of the many situations faced by organizations, make decisions, and formulate action plans to solve organizational problems.” In addition to effectively managing on-going day-to-day activities, “managers perceive business challenges in the environment, set the organizational strategy for responding to those challenges, and allocate the human and financial resources to coordinate the work and achieve success. Throughout, they must exercise responsible leadership” (p. 22).
They also manage new products and services, restructure when needed, and must successfully navigate the future as well executing correct approaches to these challenges.
Management’s responsibility encompasses an organization’s business processes and the right systems to support those processes as well as correctly analyzing and understanding the results and how they can be improved. Systems linking the enterprise together assist with this and include accounting systems, data systems, networking and telecommunications systems, etc. Beyond those, familiar MIS systems include enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), supply chain management systems (SCM), customer relationship management systems (CRM), knowledge management systems (KMS), and decision-support systems (DSS), etc.
MIS toolboxes exist to assist management in charge of organizations. Tools also exist to assist with external entities and services. For example, value chain models examine support activities of an organization and associated external entities (also see the value web). Economic tools are also utilized. An example would be the Porter model which assists in identifying competitive forces.
For an organization, MIS represents the management and control of information in an organization. Correctly analyzing, assessing, understanding, and applying the information associated with an organization is of such value to present and future success that it is difficult to overstate.
MIS naturally extends to the organization’s information systems (IS), information technology (IT) and information and communications technology (ICT), etc. with new and emerging technologies offering opportunities for analysis by organizations to consider how they might gain better utility, gain competitive advantages, expand, and restructure. Well publicized examples include emerging progress in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, e-commerce and digital markets, social tools, mobile technologies, location-based services, enterprise and social networking (including in e-commerce), the Internet of Things (IOT), management of big data, etc.
Analyzing trends in how organizations are implementing new and emerging technologies assists in this. An example is the trend toward the rapid digital firm in which core business processes through digital networks span the organization and can link multiple organizations with “significant business relationships with customers, suppliers, and employees digitally enabled and mediated” (Laudon & Laudon, 2020, p. 13).
These trends highlight the growing interdependence between management and the technological resources leveraged by organizations to accomplish objectives and do so in a manner that overcomes the limitations of time and space. A simple example can look like this:
However MIS is applied, the objective is to support organizational operations and decision-making by providing relevant, timely, and accurate information.
Specifically, the core objectives of MIS are:
“1. Facilitate Decision-Making: MIS provide structured data and analytical tools to support informed decisions at strategic, tactical, and operational levels, enabling managers to address complex business challenges effectively.
2. Enhance Operational Efficiency: By automating data collection, storage, and processing, MIS streamline business processes, reduce manual efforts, and improve productivity across organizational functions.
3. Ensure Data Accuracy and Accessibility: MIS centralize data management to maintain consistency, reliability, and accessibility of information, ensuring stakeholders have trustworthy data for planning and execution.
4. Support Strategic Planning: MIS deliver insights through reports, forecasts, and trend analyses, aligning organizational activities with long-term goals and competitive strategies.
5. Improve Communication and Coordination: MIS enable seamless information flow across departments, fostering collaboration and ensuring alignment of objectives within the organization.
6. Enhance Organizational Control: By providing performance metrics and monitoring tools, MIS help track progress, identify deviations, and implement corrective actions to maintain operational control” (xAI, Grok 3, 2025).
These objectives assist organizations with using technology to manage resources, projects, and activities; gain competitive advantages; and adapt to changing business environments in a manner which achieves operational excellence while fostering customer and partner intimacy/loyalty.
That is not to say it is easy; especially when designing, building, and implementing new systems while overcoming associated organizational challenges.
Security Considerations
Every organization must make both physical security and information systems security a top imperative. In MIS, “security refers to the policies, procedures, and technical measures used to prevent unauthorized access, alteration, theft, or physical damage to information systems. Controls are methods, policies, and organizational procedures that ensure the safety of the organization’s assets, the accuracy and reliability of its records, and operational adherence to management standards” (Laudon & Laudon, 2020, p. 328).
Security must be ensured on every level both with respect to the organization and also its interaction with external entities. Laudon & Laudon (2020) introduce securing information systems in chapter eight of part two in much better detail.
Conclusion
MIS is a broad interactive discipline which is applied by organizations to meet objectives. While the scope of MIS implementations varies, for example an MIS implementation in a government agency or a multinational corporation will differ from that of a small or medium size business, the core objectives of MIS should be met in all MIS implementations. These consist of facilitating decision-making, enhancing operational efficiency, ensuring data accuracy and accessibility, supporting strategic planning, improving communication and coordination, and enhancing organizational control.
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Historically, automation has been around for a long time; at least since the invention of the water wheel. Throughout the history of invention and innovation, increased automation has resulted in varied results for workers. Sometimes labor benefited and sometimes not, depending. There are many factors to consider when predicting whether an acceleration of automation in a specific time and place will result in a net gain or loss for a nation’s (or even a civiliation’s) labor market. When determining this, the economist must be careful to filter out factors that are not relevant. For example, if a nation adjusts trade tarriffs in an environment that results in a substantial net gain of job opportunities for a nation’s domestic labor market; that does not mean a rapid accelleration of automation cannot result in fewer jobs for that nation than would have otherwise resulted without the hyper-automation. And it should be noted that while employers (and the politicians they lobby) strive to undermine increases in labor demand accompanied by a decrease in labor supply (as it results in higher labor costs for them which means less profit for their shareholders), the benefits are very desirable for the workers as well as the nation’s government which benefit from increased tax revenue and decreased social service costs.