Case breakdown: Movie Minority Report
If you observe this scene, Chief Anderton (played by Tom Cruise) is being asked to download the ‘Minority Report’. Chief Anderton is being accused of a crime, and his only chance of proving his innocence is through that backup report. His life depends on that, similarly, the life of an organization generally depends on something called the MIS reports.
Learning Perspectives blog will explore the meaning of MIS.
MIS reports
Management Information System is a set of infrastructure. It consists of data, computer hardware, and software. MIS is used by large corporations to compile and maintain data.
Management Information System or MIS reports are those reports that need to be downloaded from the system and presented to the top management. These reports are essential not only for the survival of the companies but they help companies thrive and prosper too. It helps managers take crucial decisions based on these reports.
Many organizations have MIS departments, these departments coordinate with all other departments of the company such as finance, marketing, human resource,s, etc. These reports are generated at different levels of the organization. Though one doesn’t have to work as hard as Tom Cruise to get the reports. In small organizations, it could be a challenge to get accurate MIS reports, if the accurate database isn’t well established. MIS reports are easy to download if all systems are in place.
MIS has 5 components, input, output, processing and analysis, storage and retrieval & flow of information. Output is the main component. Let’s try to understand this with an example, Suppose there is a college, it would have a database of students. This database was created by the college itself and all fields were added. The database contains the name, DOB, address, courses taken by the student, etc. This information would be stored & maintained by the college.
Let’s say on a given day, the principal inquires about the number of students taking the french courses who are in the second year of BBA course. You as an MIS executive would go to the system, give the conditions mentioned by the principal and download the MIS report giving the number of students enrolled in the French course in the 2nd year.
It works similarly for different types of organizations. It helps the management make sound decisions and helps them avoid and cut costs and increase profits.
