The Development of Management Information Systems :: Business Management Studies

The Development of Management Information SystemsThe role of business information systems has changed and expanded overthe last four decades.In the incipient decade (1950s and 60s), electronic data processingsystems could be afforded by only the largest organizations. Theywere used to record and store bookkeeping data such as journalentries, specialized journals, and ledger accounts. This was strictlyan operations support role.By the 1960s management information systems were used to generate alimited range of predefined reports, including income statements (theywere called P & Ls spinal column then), balance sheets and sales reports. Theywere trying to perform a decision making support role, but they werenot up to the task.By the 1970s decision support systems were introduced. They wereinteractive in the sense that they allowed the user to choose betweennumerous options and configurations. Not only was the user allowedcustomizing outputs, they also could put together the programs to theirspecific needs. There was a cost though. As part of your mainframeleasing agreement, you typically had to pay to have an IBM systemdeveloper permanently on site.The main developing in the 1980s was the introduction ofdecentralized computing. Instead of having one large mainframecomputer for the entire enterprise, numerous PCs were spread aboutthe organization. This meant that instead of submitting a job to thecomputer department for batch processing and waiting for the knowingsto perform the procedure, each user had their feature computer that theycould customize for their own purposes. Many poor souls fought withthe vagaries of DOS protocols, BIOS functions, and DOS batchprogramming.As people became comfortable with their new skills, they discoveredall the things their system was capable of. Computers, instead ofcreating a paperless society, as was expected, produced mountains ofpaper, most of it valueless. Mounds of reports were generated justbecause it was possible to do so. This information overload wasmitigated somewhat in the 1980s with the introduction of executiveinformation systems. They sleek the process, giving theexecutive exactly what they wanted, and only what they wanted.The 1980s also saw the first commercial application of artificialintelligence techniques in the form of expert systems. Theseprograms could give advice within a very limited subject area. Thepromise of decision making support, first attempted in managementinformation systems back in the 1960s, had step-by-step, come to