Basics of Management Information System

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UNIT 1
INTRODUCTION TO MIS
Management Information System plays a very important role in an organization.
There is hardly a business magazine that dos not contain article about information
system.
MIS can be defined as –
“A system which collects, processes, stores and distributes information to help in
decision making for managerial functions.”
(Planning, staffing, directing, controlling, organizing and budgeting)
It may also be defined as Integrated user/ Machine system for providing information
to support the decision making process.
MIS is a computer based system, which presents both external and internal
information of business.
This system utilizes computer hardware and software, manual procedure for analysis,
planning, control and decision making.
These system do not take decisions but they assist in providing a necessary
information as an input to the decision making process.
MIS should provide information which is consistent, accurate, timely, economically
flexible and relevant.
MIS can be computerized or manual. MIS provides information in report format on
regular basis to assist managers with decision which occur frequently and can be
anticipated.

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MANAGEMENT
Management has been defined in a variety of ways, but for our purpose it
compromises the processes or activities that describes what managers do in the
operation of their organization; plan, organize, initiative and control operations.
INFORMATION
Data must be distinguished from information. Data are facts and figures that are not
currently being used in decision process.
Information consist of data that have been retrieved, processed or otherwise used for
informative or inference purposes, arguments, or as a basis for forecasting or
decision making.
SYSTEMS
A system can be described simply as a set of elements joined together for a common
objective. The system concept of mis is therefore one of the optimizing the output of
the organization by connecting the operating sub-system through the medium of
information exchange
PYRAMIDICAL STRUCTURE OF MIS
i) Lower level:-The bottom layer consists of information required for
transaction processing and inquiry processing.
ii) Operational level:- This layer has the information which is required for
day to day performance of activities and their control.
iii) Middle level:- This layer has the information which is useful for tactical
planning and decision making to implement the policy of top management.
iv) Top level:- This layer has information which is useful for strategies and
policy planning.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MIS
The mis plays a vital role in management, administrations and operations of an
organization as it helps in information generation, communication, problem
identification in the process of decision making.
The main features of mis are:-

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I) Management oriented:- The development of MIS starts after deciding the
management needs and keeping in view overall objective of management.
II) Management directed:- A good MIS removes the lack of knowledge,
enriches experience and improves analytical abilities leading to better business
judgments.
III) Integrated system:- MIS binds together database of business system and
through information interchange, integrates the organization. It also provides
adequate development resources and removes the human and organizational
barriers to progress.
IV) Avoid redundancy:- Since MIS is a integrated system, it avoids unnecessary
inconsistency and redundancy in data gathering and storage.
V) Common data flow:-MIS provides common data flows, which try to utilize
minimum data processing efforts and minimize the number of output
document.
VI) Heavy planning element:- Designing and implementation of MIS require
detailed and meticulous planning of activities like acquisition and utilization of
resources.
VII) Common database:- MIS acts as a master that holds the functional sub-
system together. It achieves this aim by allowing access to different master
files of data to several functional sub-systems.
VIII) Flexibility:- MIS design should be flexible so as to provide alternate ways of
processing data and system should be easy to operate so that not much of
computers skills are required.
IX) Computerization:- MIS can be computerized because of its nature. This
provide speed, accuracy and consistency in creating and access of files.
X) Relevance:- MIS should deal only with operation and control of relevant
information.
XI) Support to top management:- MIS cannot be effective unless they receive
the full support of top management. For this, top management should be
educated about cost and benefits of mis.
XII) Periodic evaluation:- The last feature of mis is that the system should be
evaluated at periodic intervals to ensure that mis is achieving the objective of
which this has been installed.
COMPONENTS OF MIS
Management information system refers to the data, equipment and computers
program that are used to develop information for managerial use. The MIS consists
of following components which are as follows-

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I) People:- People is only living component of mis which operates and
controls the other components of mis. They enter, analyze and diagnose
data, so that useful information is produced and provided to top executives
for decision making.
II) Data process:- Data process uses different procedures, so that data can be
properly analyzed and effective information is generated. Procedures
explain people how to operate the computer hardware, what program to
run, what data to use and what to do with the results.
III) Data communication:- There are different ways for communication of
data. It may be informed orally or in the form of written report. Written
forms are more appropriate than oral ones as it is permanent and systematic
way of organizing information.
IV) Information:- Data are facts and figures that are not currently being used
in decision process. Data is process by applying different procedures to
obtain information. It may be recorded into computer, storage media or
manual files and is retrived whenever required.
V) System planning:- We have achieved a very high degree of automation
and combination sub-system in scientific, mechanical and factory
manufacturing operation. The system concept of MIS is therefore of
optimizing the output of the organization by connecting the operation sub-
system, through the medium of information exchange.
VI) Hardware and Software:- The hardware generally consists of computer
equipments, on the other hand software consists of programs or instructions
given to the computer such as pay roll processing, invoices etc.
FUNCTIONS OF MIS
A MIS is used to collect data, store and process data and present information to
managers.
I) Collect data:- Data can be obtained from source within and outside the
organization. Internal sources such as records, reports and external
sources such as publications, customers and consultancy.
II) Store and process data:- After creation of data, a database must be
stored and processed in a form useful to managers. The data can be
loaded into computers for easy access by user.
III) Present information to users:- After collection of data, storing and
processing of data, the next step is to present the information to
managers for their use.

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USES/BENEFITS/ROLE OF MIS
I) MIS ensures that appropriate and relevant data is collected from various
sources, processed and is sent further to needy destination.
II) It fulfills the needs of individual, group, management.
III) MIS helps in strategic planning, management control, operational
control and transaction processing system.
IV) MIS plays an important role in information generation, communication,
problem identification and decision making administration.
V) With good MIS support marketing, finance, production and personnel
functions increases efficiency.
VI) MIS creates structured database and therefore saves time.
VII) MIS brings clarity in communication and understanding, thus helps in
bringing degree of professionalism.
INFORMATION
We breathe information, eat information, drink information, wake up with
information, sleep with information etc. So information is as life blood of any
organization, without information survival of any organization is not possible.
Information means “processing of data or analyses of data in a specific context to get
required information”. It is a basis of decision making. The decision taken on basis of
complete and accurate information is less risky.
The value of perfect information is calculated by finding out the difference between
the optimal policy with and without perfect information.
Characteristics of information
i) Accuracy:- accuracy means that information is free from mistakes and
error and it accurately and clearly reflects the meaning of data from which
it is derived. It conveys the accurate picture to receiver and is free from
biasness.
ii) Timeliness :- information must be delivered at the right time and the right
place to the right person otherwise information would be of little value to
the organization. hence, making information available to the receiver within
time is very crucial for every organization.

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iii) Relevance :- information should be to the point and meaningful to the
decision maker. Relevance of information for different users will be
different.
iv) Correct information format :- information should be given to the user in
such a form that it could be easily understood by user.
v) Completeness :-information is said to be complete if decision maker can
satisfactory solve the problem at hand using that information. Incomplete
information has no meaning for user.
vi) Subjectivity :- it is the value and usefulness of the information.
vii) Accessibility :- information should be readily accessible in desired format
when needed. Technological advancement has made data accessibility
easy.
Types Of Information System
I) TPS(Transaction Processing System) :- Most fundamental computer
system which is concerned with processing of business is called TPS. The
objective of TPS is to improve routine business activities on which
functions of organization depend. The main work of TPS is to record and
process the data resulting from business transactions. A transaction is an
event or entity which affects the organization. Transaction processing could
also be considered as a set of procedures for handling transactions and it
includes activities like calculation, classification, storage and retrieval,
sorting, validation, verification, summarization etc. These activities occur at
operational level in nay organization. TPS produces a variety of
information system for internal and external cause.
II) OAS(Office Automation System) :- OAS collects, processes, stores and
transmits data and information in the form of electronic office
communication. These automatic systems rely on text processing,
telecommunication and offer information system technologies. Example-
word processing, electronic mail, desktop publishing, telecommunication
and document image processing. It enhances the abilities of users to
communicate with their colleagues within their work groups and
organization and with external contact such as customers and suppliers.

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Advantages-
 They provide more time to managers to concentrate on their basic jobs.
 They improve the quality of work in terms of content, thoroughness, timeliness
and accuracy.
 They speed up specific functions and thereby increase the quantity of clerical
output.
 They reduce the time spent on input capture and creation.
 They co-ordinate and integrate office tasks.
 They enable more cost- effective and time- effective communications.
 They increase the productivity of office workers at all levels.
Disadvantages –
 Cost of automated office hardware is very high.
 Oas can disrupt traditional office work roles and environment.
 Oas may lead to security problems.
III) EIS(Executive Information System):- The decision made by executives
are mostly unstructured for which informational requirements are generally
for processed and summarized data from variety of sources. Initially tip
executive information system relies on non computer source. Top level
executives get information whenever they require from many sources like
letters, memos, periodicals and report produced manually as well as by
computer system. Thus, with computer based EIS provides top
management with immediate and easy access to selective information,
which reduces the information overload on executives and help to achieve
firm’s strategic objective.
IV) ES(Expert System):- Expert system aims at formalizing expertise and
makes it available for repetitive types of business decisions. They use
artificial intelligence tools to generate knowledge out of information. It
helps human experts perform their jobs effectively and is important where
expertise is scarce and is therefore expensive. The expert system has been
developed for the purpose of expertise from those with the knowledge in a
convenient and easily accessed manner. Expert systems are designed to
replace the function formed by human experts. Expert system provide
information to managers as expert advice.

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An expert system supports the intellectual work of professionals engaged in
design, diagnosis or evaluation of complex situation requiring expert
knowledge in a well- defined area.
Advantages:-
 Planning:- ES can make a valuable contribution to planning. It can use
information from earlier project which can be used to improve subsequent
plans.
 Decision making:- ES can support decision making by storing information in
its knowledge base from several experts rather than a single expert.
 Monitoring:- ES can be used to monitor the process, activities of employees
and cash management etc.
 Diagnosis:- ES can be used in diagnosing different conditions. Ex- in
diagnosing the reasons for manufacturing equipment, human diseases in
medicine etc.
 Training:- when an ES is being used as a regular nature in the course of work,
users learn the way the system reaches destination.
 Timely response:- ES are available on call at all the time and, can be used to
provide immediate support and to perform task immediately.
 Reliability:- they are reliable in the sense that they do not become tired or
bored. They pay attention to all details and do not overlook any relevant
information.
Disadvantages:-
 Expert system is not problem solver.
 It may take longer time to solve problem than an expertise.
 Expert system takes long development time and is expensive.
SYSTEM VIEW OF BUSINESS
We should be able to visualize any business organization as a system. Thus business
is a system which is a set of interrelated components that are working together to
achieve organization’s objective in a controlled manner. In the past, managers had to
solve the problem, independently and in isolation. Suppose organization face the
problem of decline in sales and it is traced that problem is due to poor performance
of sales man. But practically there are no. Of reasons responsible for that such as
poor management, poor understanding, poor quality of product, poor marketing
policy etc.

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This type of activity could be related to a system. A business must maintain
appropriate relationships with other political, economic and social systems in the
environment. This group includes its stakeholders such as customers, suppliers,
stockholders etc. Information system can help a business to shape its relationships
with each of these stakeholders. In the same way, MIS is also a system which
consists of group of people, a set of manual and data processing equipment which
aims to provide information to reduce the uncertainty in decision making.

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UNIT 2
SYSTEM APPROACH
The system approach in business was born in decade of 1960’s. it is a systematic
process of problem solving based on scientific methods which defines problems and
opportunity in a system context.
Information describing the problem or opportunity is gathered. Alternative solutions
are identified, evaluated so that, best solution is selected, implemented and then its
success is evaluated.
Purpose of system approach is to utilize scientific analysis in complex organization
for-
 Developing and managing operating system i.e. money flow, personnel
system.
 Designing information system for decision making.
System approach of MIS is optimizing the output of the organization by connecting
to operative sub system through the medium of information exchange. The basic
notation of system approach in MIS is to provide information on decision making on
planning, organizing, controlling the operations of sub-system of the firm.
The system approach in business for MIS is implemented by “SYNERGY”. The
concept of synergy tells us that the sum of part is greater then the whole i.e. the
output of total organization can be enhanced if the components part can be
integrated.
Thus, in an organization synergy is simultaneous action of separate but inter-related
parts that together produce a total effect greater than sum of individual parts.
SYSTEM APPROACH IN PLANNING
The Most Basic And Important Function Of Management Is Planning. We Know
That Planning Is Needed At All Levels of Management And Success of All Other
Management Function Depend Upon Planning
Planning means deciding in advance what has to be done, who has to do it, when it
has to be done and how it has to be done. It bridges the gap between where we are
and where we want to go.

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This system approach to planning starts with strategic plan as a framework. The
strategic plan is specific but not detailed. The long term goal provides the constraints
for setting intermediate and short term goals.
Therefore a strategic plan ties together the development plan also.
The strategic planning process consists of two steps-
 Developing the strategy
 Formulating the steps, timing, cost required to achieve the strategy.
SYSTEM APPROACH IN ORGANIZING
Organizing is important to managers because it helps in effective group action. It also
helps in maintaining the people to work together and accomplish objectives i.e.
organizing. It involves the grouping of tasks necessary to accomplish plans and
assign activity to department.
It consists of following components-
 The formal organization system as describes in chart policies and procedures.
 The informal organization
 The individual as a system
 The organizational communication system
 The power system
 The functional system
 The management process system
 The material logistic system
We know that system approach says that, output is greater if all part work with
integration. This is same concept of organizing.
Phases of organizing are-
 Developing a technical organization based on traditional methods of
departmentalization.
 Start with overall company’s objectives and develop a hierarchy of network of
system required.
 Involve key manager and specialist in order to select group of people so that
planned activities are done in order to achieve objective.

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SYSTEM APPROACH IN CONTROLLING
Controlling Is Important Because It Is Needed To Achieve The Desired Results. The
Most Common Process Consists Of Three Steps-
 Setting standards of performance- it involves what level of performance
we need. Hence, standards are criteria against which result can be measured.
These criteria can be quantitative or qualitative.
 Measuring performance- once standards have been established it is
necessary to measure performance against standards. The statement of
measurement and of any difference is usually in form of personal observation
type of report in oral or written form.
 Deviation control- we know that measuring deviation first comparison of
standards with actual performance is made. If deviation is found then correction
is made by taking some course of action to achieve the targeted objectives.
Methods and techniques for correcting deviation can be described in
terms of functions of management-
a) PLAN- recycles the management process, review the plan, modify the
goal or change standards.
b) Organize- examine the organization in standard and make sure duties
are well understood.
c) Staffing- improve selection of sub-ordinate, improve training, reassign
duties.
d) Directing- provide better leadership, motivate the people, explain the job
better.
DIAGRAMS- [ADD]

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UNIT-3
DATA PROCESSING
Data processing is basically concerned with converting raw data into well ordered
information, which serves the purpose of result processing. It essentially consist of
facts relating to events and entities. In a business situation, a sale or purchase is sn
event. While person, place, things etc are entities. Data processing consists of data
input, data manipulation and outputting results of data manipulation. For the purpose
of data processing data contained in source documents are fed into computer. Data
manipulations consist of such operations as classification, sorting, calculations and
summarizations, while an output operation contains management of storage,
retrieval, communications and reproduction of the result.
FLOW CHART
A flow chart is a diagrammatic or pictorial representation of the algorithm. It
indicates solution of a problem. They are constructed by using special geometrical
symbols. Each symbol represents an activity. The activity could be input/output of
data, computation/processing of data, taking a decision, termination of solution etc.
the symbols are joined by flow lines to obtain a complete flow chart.
1. TERMINAL SYMBOL:- The terminal symbol is used to indicate the point at
which a flow chart begins and ends. It is accepted procedure to insert the word
START and STOP with the terminal symbols.
2. INPUT/OUTPUT SYMBOL:- In a program i/p and o/p symbols identify the
logical positioning of input and output operations. i/o symbol indicates to take
input from user and o/p symbol is used to generate solution to the problem.
3. PROCESSING SYMBOL:- In this, data are automatically processed. We can
define computations and after that data moves to storage area or output area.
4. DECISION SYMBOL:- It is also called logical symbol to solve Many
business problems, many comparisons of data are made before selecting the
best alternative. The two principal components of decision symbol are-
 A question that defines the logical operation.
 The result of the decision (i.e. yes/no)
5. Connector:- A flow chart becomes very long, the flow lines start crossing
many places that causes confusions. In that case, it is useful to utilize the

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connector symbol as a substitute for flow lines. It is indicated by a circle and a
letter or digit is placed within the circle.
6. Flow lines:- flow lines are used to indicate the flow of operation i.e. exact
sequence in which the instructions are to be executed. The normal flow of
flow-chart is from top to bottom and left to right.
Advantages-
 Flow- chart is good aid for communicating the logic of a system.
 It helps to identify a relationship that exists among problem element.
 It helps us in effective analysis by breaking down into detailed part of a study.
 Flow –chart act as a guide or blue print during the system analysis program
preparation phase.
 The flow chart helps in debugging process i.e. it helps in detecting, locating
and removing mistakes.
Disadvantages-
 When the program logic is complex the flowchart becomes complex.
 If alterations are required, the flow chart may require re-drawing completely.
 No uniform practice is followed for drawing flow-chart.
 Sometimes it becomes difficult to establish the linkage between various
conditions and actions.
CONVERSION OF MANUAL SYSTEM INTO
COMPUTERISED SYSTEM
Today is the world of information technology. In business lots of complexity and
competition are there. In order to reduce this, we are using information technology in
business. So, we are converting manual system to computerized system. The steps
involved in conversion are:-
1. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION:- IS usually prepared after preliminary
investigation and definition of the problem. The description is essentially a
statement of major input, output, processing operation and files needed.
2. INPUT DOCUMENT:- After the system description is completed. It is
necessary to specify how the information will be put into the form that is
acceptable to the computer. Volume of information, frequency, accuracy and

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verification requirement and the handling of the information are considered in
the selection of input format.
3. OUTPUT DOCUMENT:- Outputs are subject to much the same
considerations as input document but the output format should be treated with
additional care because It represents the objective and purpose of entire
operation. It is the output document with which the management is almost
exclusively concerned and because of its critical nature care should be taken in
its design.
4. FILE DESIGN:- The logic required to control the flow of data through the
system is a part of system design and the flow is in turn dependent upon the
design of data files. In this we consider the type of equipment, storage
capacity, nput and output media and format.
5. PROGRAM LOGIC AND COMPUTER PROGRAM:- Although there are
numerous means of thinking through and document programming logic, we
will use flow-chart because they are easy to depict and understand. The
program flow-chart is the program logic of step-by-step representation of how
the computer program will accomplish the job. It’s the blue print of the
program.
6. SYSTEM VERIFICATION:- After the program has been written and run
through the compilation process. It’s placed memory in binary form and is
ready to process the file on disk and print the required report. The verifications
means to check the work is done according to the specifications or not. If not,
what steps are to be taken to meet specifications?
7. DOCUMENTATION:- The documentation is a complete written format of
whole activities. It is manual. It helps in understanding the system easily.
When a person is new to the system and does not know how to use the system
but by reading the documentation he can easily understand and use the system.
SOFTWARE
Software is a set of computer program instructions that directs the operation of the
hardware called software. A set of instruction for a specific task Is termed a routine.
A complete set of instruction to execute a related set of task is a program.
Software is a language of computer science or technology which deals with the codes
or coded instructions according to which computer is to operate the procedures with
the help of the computer and the programs for various routine applications and
utilities are collectively called “software” and in order to match the word “hardware”.
Computer software is classified into two major types of programs

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I. SYSTEM SOFTWARE:- A computer is highly complex machine and the
role of the computer software is to make it run. We know that system software
refers to all the programs which make the computer work easy and are
commonly supplied by the manufacturers or computer vendor along with the
hardware. It consists of number of specialized programs that help the computer
to co-ordinate and control all activities relating to computer operations. System
software can be grouped into three major functional categories-
 System Management Programs- it manages the hardware, software
and data resources of the computer system during its extension of the
various information processing jobs of users. Major system management
programs are operating system, database management system and
telecommunication monitors.
 System Support Programs:- programs that support the operations
management and the user of a computer system by providing a variety
of system services. Major support programs are system utilities,
performance monitors and security monitors.
 System Development Programs:- Programs that help user to develop
information system programs and procedures and prepare user programs
for computer processing. Major development programs are language
translators, programming tools and case packages.
II. APPLICATION SOFTWARE:- It refers to the program which helps the
computer to work effectively for specific applications. Application software,
thus, refers to the program of instructions, tailored to cause the hardware to
function in a desired way for processing an application, unique to the user.
Application software therefore is also often called user software.
 General Purpose Program:- General applications programs are programs that
perform common information processing job for end users.
Ex:- Word processing, spreadsheet , data base management programs,
integrated packages and graph programs are popular with micro-computer uses
for education, business, scientific and many other purposes.
 Application Specific Program- Thousand of application software packages
are available to support specific application of end users, major categories of
such application specific program are as follow-
 Business application program:- it is related to the business function or
industry’s requirements, examples of such business function and this

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corresponding application are accounting, marketing, finance,
manufacturing, operation management.
 Scientific application program:- Programs that perform information
processing task for natural, physical, social and behavioral science and for
mathematics, engineering and all areas involved in scientific research,
experiment and development.
 Other application programs:- There are so many application area of
computer such as computer application in education, entertainment, music,
art, law enforcement, medicines and so on.
MODEM
Modem is most common types of communication processor. They convert the digital
signals into analog signals or transmission terminals at one end of the communication
link into analog frequencies, which can be transmitted over ordinary telephone lines.
A modem at another end of the communication converts the transmitted data back
into digital form at receiving terminal. This process is known as modulation and
demodulation and the word “MODEM” is a combined abbreviation of those two
words. It comes in several forms, including small stand-alone unit, plug in circuit
boards and microelectronic modem chip.
Modem is necessary because ordinary telephone lines were primarily designed to
handle continuous analog signal. We know that data transmissions from computers
are in digital form, devices are necessary to convert digital signals into appropriate
analog transmission frequencies and vise-versa.
TELECOMMUNICATON
Telecommunication is sending of information in any form (i.e. voice data, text and
images) from one place to another using electronic or light emitting media.
There are different types of communication network. However, from one end user
point of view there are three basic types-
 WIDE AREA NETWORK:- WAN is a very large network, which are used to
transmit or receive information inter-countries, inter-continents etc. data is
transmitted through satellite. It is a kind of internet. They are connected
through public or private network.
 METROPOLITAN AREA NETWORK:- Network that covers a large city
or metropolitan area can also be included in this category. Such large networks
are becoming a necessity for carrying out the day to day activities of many

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businesses and government organization and their end users. They are used by
manufacturing firms, banks, retailers, distributors, transportation companies,
government agencies and many other organizations to transmit and receive
information across cities.
 LOCAL AREA NETWORK:- It connects information processing devices within a
limited physical area, such as an office building, manufacturing plant or other
workstations. They have become a major type of telecommunication network, since
micro computers were introduced into offices, departments and other work groups.
LAN uses a variety of telecommunication media and communication processors to
interconnect computer terminals, personal computer work station other computer
system and other types of computer peripherals devices.
A telecommunication network consists of five categories of components-
o Terminals
o Telecommunication Processors
o Telecommunication channels and Media
o Computers
o Telecommunication Control Software
WIRED TELECOMMUNICATION
We know that, telecommunication is sending of information in any form (i.e. text, voice,
data, images etc.) from one place to another using electronic or light or through physical
wired.
The wired telecommunication is a type of communication in which information is sending
or receiving from one place to another through physical medium. This medium may be
coaxial cable, twisted wires, fiber optics etc.
The disadvantages of wired telecommunication devices are that, it can’t be moved
anywhere as mobile phones and for long distances longer length cable is required.
WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATION
For the mobile users, twisted pairs, coaxial cable and fiber optics are of no use. They need
to get their bits of data for their laptop, notebooks; palmtop or wrist watch computer
without being bothered to the terrestrial communication infrastructure, for these users,
wireless communication is the answer.
It appears that future holds only two types of communication fiber and wireless. All fixed
computers, telephones, faxes and so on will be by fiber and all mobile ones will be using
wireless. The advantage is that, it is converting large distance and also communication is
possible in plane, train, bus and car or even walking.

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UNIT-4
DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM
The DSS is a interactive computer based system, which decision makers to utilize
data and models to solve unstructured problems. The DSS is designed to facilitate the
solutions of problem of structured than that of MIS and TPS which are less
structured. The nature of decision taken by DSS is of non-routine and less structured.
The DSS is a collection of data and data processing tools used to creatively
manipulate data to answers unknown and often unexpected questions.
DSS aims at supporting the decision maker by providing the information with the aid
of quantitative techniques.
COMPONENTS OF DSS-
 HARDWARE RESOURCES- Executives work stations, are connected by
telecommunication network, to other computers and devices in the
organization, and provided the primary hardware resources for a DSS.
 SOFTWARE RESOURCES- DSS software packages are called DSS
generators. They contain modules for database, model and dialogue
management. A database management module provides for creation,
interrogation and maintenance of DSS.
 DATA RESOURCES- A DSS database contains data and information
extracted from the databases of organization, external databases and a
managers personnel databases.
 MODEL RESOURCES- The model base includes a library of mathematical
models and analytical techniques stored in a variety of program modules and
files.
 PEOPLE RESOURCES- DSS can be used by managers or their staff
specialist to explore decision alternatives. However the development of large
or complex decision support system and DSS software packages is typically
assigned to information system specialists.
APPLICATIONS OF DSS
DSS are used for a variety of applications in both business and government. When
DSS are developed to solve large and complex problem that are continually faced by
an organization they are called institutional DSS.

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 An AIRLINE DSS- An analytical information management system is a
decision support system used in airlines industry, it was developed by
AMERICAN AIRLINES bit is used by other airlines, aircraft manufacturers
and airlines financial analysis consultants and associations. It supports a
variety of airlines decisions by studying factors such as aircraft utilization,
seating capacity and utilization traffic and profitability result.
 A MARKETING DSS- BRAND AID is used for marketing planning,
especially in the packaged good industries. It helps brand managers to make
pricing, sales efforts, promotion, advertising and budgeting decisions for
products, product lines and brand of products
 GOVERNMENT DSS- GADS (GEODATA ANALYSIS AND DISPLAY
SYSTEM) was developed by IBM. It constructs and display maps and other
graphics display that supports decisions affecting the geographic distribution
people and other resources.
 A BANKING DSS- MAPP (Managerial Analysis for profit Planning) is a
DSS developed by CITI-BANK. It was designed to support decisions involved
in the financial planning, budgeting costing and pricing of bank products.
CHARACTERISTICS OF DSS-
 Ability to support the solution of complex problems.
 Fast response to unexpected situations.
 DSS is particularly designed for an individual or group of decision makers.
 A DSS is best conceptualized as a process instead of product.
 Cost saving
 Improving managerial effectiveness.
 Improve the effectiveness of decisions.
 Flexible and adaptable to change in the external environment.
Ahmad Yamin © 2016