Managing Information Assgn

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Introduction

What is MIS:

It is a system consisting of formalised procedures to help

management in performing functions at all the levels .It provides

data based information to the management, from internal and

external resources, which in turn will enable them to make effective

decisions in time for proper planning, directing and monitoring of

ongoing activities. MIS should have its own structured framework of practices and standards, which should be followed by the

organization in the development, maintenance and use of all the

information systems. MIS is considered and used at many levels of

management, and should support the institution’s long term goals

and objectives.( Lucey,2005)

MIS can be defined as a user and machine integrated system which

provides information to support the operations, management and

strategic functions in an organisation. This system uses computer

hardware and software, procedures, analytical models, decision

making, control and data base. (Davis and Olsen,1985, Collier and

Dixon, 1995).

There are two types of information systems: a. Formal Systems b.Informal systems. However, formal and informal channels should

always be viewed as complementary to each other, and should not

be made competitors. (Lucey,2005).

Processing the data, and converting it into useful information which

can be effectively communicated to the user is the main essence of

using MIS (Lauden and Lauden,1991).It is based on this useful

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information ,that the management takes important and long term

decisions. Hence the information specialists need to know exactly

what kind of tasks and functions a management performs and

design the system accordingly.

Management, technology and organization elements revolve around the information

systems. (http://emuonline.emu.edu.tr/demo/CSIT421/2002/chp1/chpt1-

1fulltext.htm#wininfo)

MIS managers are the people who are in charge for developing the

information operations for their firm (Kotler et al,2006).This system

development requires 4 stages :

At Phase 1 the system team investigates the initial problem by

identifying it, thereby developing a review study for the

management.

At Phase 2 requirements for the systems is identified which

includes system analysis, user requirements, necessary hardware

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http://emuonline.emu.edu.tr/demo/CSIT421/2002/chp1/chpt1-1fulltext.htm#wininfo






and software. Management at the strategic level then analyse the

systems and review it.

At Phase 3 the system is actually developed, by combining the

support and specifications provided by the technical team and areview is again taken up using controlled processes, and it is

decided whether or not the system should be implemented.

At Phase 4 system is actually implemented. A new system is

derived by refining the old one. This process must be an ever on-

going maintenance, to evaluate if it still continues to serve the

current business needs. (Ralph, 1996).

Types of Systems:

Management information systems, when used effectively can help

an organisation to gain competitive advantage, the system must

support the organisation to achieve its goals.(Dudman,2006)

Accounting MIS: Accounting managers at all levels share these

accounting reports.

Financial MIS: Similarly, all financial managers within an

organisation must be provided with financial information, along with

the top manager in the department. The chief financial officer then

evaluates the past and ongoing activities and forecasts the future

financial needs, and is also able to monitor and control the available

funds based on the given input by the information system of theorganisation.

Manufacturing MIS: Operations is one functional area, which has

been widely influenced by technology. So much so, that the

manufacturing operations have changed. For example, in many

organisations, inventories are provided just in time to save the huge

amounts of money spent on warehousing huge inventories.

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Marketing MIS : Information at this level helps in important

functions in the marketing department like the development of a

new product to be launched, plans for distributing it in the market,

how to price it, plans to advertise it and predict its success. Thisfunctional area relies heavily upon external data sources like

competitors and customers.

HR Department MIS: This MIS mainly revolves around the

functions concerning all the employees including managers, workers

and others. As people are the driving force of any organisation,

Human resource MIS plays a vital role in ensuring organisationsuccess. It includes evaluation of the existing employees,

recruitment, selection of the employees and providing them with

specific tasks.

Why MIS?

In today’s world, information systems provide a firm with the

communication and analytical power it needs to carry on with the

business, and sustain in an international market. In this era of

Globalisation, communicating with distributors and suppliers in a

far-flung global corporation, working continuously in new cultures

and still be able to provide the required information across, can

prove to be very challenging for any organisation which requires

very powerful information systems responses.

Moreover, customers now have access to a world wide marketplace

for obtaining price and quality information. Hence, to become a

competitive participant in the international markets, every firm has

to have a sound system to communicate within the firm and also

outside it.

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Management and dissemination of data, is the centre of any

enterprise (Bensau and Earl,1999 ; Jones et al ,2003).However,

some of the theorists (Feeny and Willcocks,1999 ; Jones et al,2003)

have added that only technical skills are not sufficient , a properknowledge of business processes and practice are also equally

essential to be able to design , integrate, implement , evaluate and

apply computer-based solutions to business problems. Even though

this is the responsibility of senior management, but it’s the users

whose assistance and feedback helps in its development.

According to the Strategic Development Manager of Tesco Mark

Goddard, it is its Centralised system of Information which is helping

it in creating a set of KPIs, not only in U.K, but also globally. A

continuous review of such a system will prove beneficial in providing

Tesco with a consistent performance that will support it in its

strategy of an ever on-going expansion in new markets.

Tesco is leading the retail market business in Britain, and

considered to be among the top few in the world. It has nearly 2000

stores in 13 countries across Europe and Asia. The business

transformations in Tesco makes one of the most remarkable stories

in the U.K retail industry .Starting from being a comparatively ‘Pile

it high, sell it cheap’ down market retailer, it has now grown to

become one of Europe’s leading retail businesses.

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In U.K, its loyalty card and its e-commerce operations are

considered to be top-most and its expertise in this field is in much

demand (Humby, Hunt and Phillips, 2003, Fernie and Sparks 2004).

Tesco has been in focus of a lot of academic, analyst andcommentator consideration (Burt and Sparks, 2002), and has

become very much dominant in Britain market and is being closely

watched internationally (Burt and Sparks, 2003).

Tesco providing information across various departments

Tesco got the idea of developing a unique Management Information

System , which could support it in the home market as well as the

group reporting requirements.

(Tesco.com/Microlise – Tesco.com/MIS)

The figure above tries to explain the technology behind the functioning of Tesco’s MIS.

Tesco.com, receives data from the Microlise system by a vehicle,

a store group and a driver which comprise of information relating

vehicle location, contextual speed, driving style and the schedule

adherence. They are updated every minute and the MIS sends

reports to over 320 stores instantly.

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In 2003, Tesco announced “Tesco in a Box” concept, which

according to Mike Yorweth, technology and architecture director

of Tesco is a set of IT systems covering all the building blocks of Tesco. It aims to cover everything from the planning and setting

up of stores to strategic decisions like targeting new markets,

deciding upon the products to be launched and obtain those

products into markets from the suppliers, to the selling of the

products in local market.(http://search.computerworlduk.com/tag/tesco-

information-systems-strategy) , it covers all the important

departments like the information management, people

management and IT management. In short, it is an end-to end

system. Tesco planned to introduce this system in 4 countries

every year, and the company is using the system globally now.In

2007, Tesco extended its in-house design through Micro focus,

and reformed its supply chain application based on main-frame

and then transferred it on Unix servers.

Levels of Management:

In nearly all the organisations, three levels of management are

clearly visible:

1. Top or Strategic Management

2. Middle or Tactical Management

3. Junior or Operational Management

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http://search.computerworlduk.com/tag/tesco-information-systems-strategy






The above figure explains the different information systems involved at the 3 tiers of

management.

It is very important to understand that the role played by different

managers differ at the various stages of organisation. At the

strategic level, decisions about products and services to be

produced are taken and the decisions taken at this level affect the

organization tremendously as these decisions are not easily

reversible and are long-term.

Tesco using MIS at the Strategic Level:

Tesco is able to maintain a competitive edge through an excellent

information systems. This would help it to exercise its sophisticatedMIS and implement it in all the global operations. Tesco’s MIS is

helping it to gain an insight into business performance, and

providing a chance to predict and improve new operations across

the world.

Based on the information collected, stored and organised at the

tactical level Tesco is able to take its strategic decisions. Hence,

Tesco has invested heavily in IT over the years, in an attempt to

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improve its information systems including sales, the supply chain

and efficiency across the company. The company has developed an

in-house designed supply chain application, which runs on the IBM

system p servers based on Unix. Over the time, the company hasmade noticeable improvement in its stock management. It has

implemented more efficient ordering systems, and monitoring

processes. Also, in an attempt to increase the customer service in

all the countries it has invested in self-service checkouts, and also

announced the launch of an application for the iphone, which will

allow the customer to store their club card, loyalty card on their

phone and swipe it in place of actual card.

By maintaining a powerful information system, it was able to

successfully implement its online business and achieved a 14

percent increase in sales and a 26 percent increase in its profit.

MIS at Middle or Tactical level:

At the middle level or the tactical level, middle managers execute

the programs and plans, which are taken up to the strategic level.

Decisions at this level are also important and affect the working of

the organization.

Tesco MIS at tactical level:

At the tactical level, middle-managers have to perform and organise

various functions such as payroll, store planning support, help desk

activities, customer service management and driving the online

traffic to the Tesco.com website in an efficient manner, using online

search tools, networks and other online media sites. The team also

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has to manage and continuously review business reports across the

various retail stores.

At this level, information of all the payrolls for employees in theU.K, is maintained to be retrieved whenever required. Also, the

information collected from all the departments including finance

department, HR department and sales department is reviewed and

used for further planning and forecasting.

The information stored and maintained at this level is utilised at the

strategic level in order to take major strategic decisions, which will

have long-term affect on the organisation.

Hence, the information at the tactical level requires handling of

extensive resources and careful designing of in-house processes,

which in turn will ensure tracking of performance, errors and any

issues across the retail process functions.

Tesco.com, known to be the online arm of Tesco, has developed a

loyal following due to its commitment to excellence in home grocery

delivery service. Due to the huge success and expansion, Tesco had

to open a store designed solely for fulfilling online orders, to serve

the whole of South London. With the dense population and

complexity of London, Tesco felt the need of a navigational device

to ensure drivers found the most efficient delivery routes to provide

excellent customer service.

Hence, Tesco worked with Microsoft and it’s partner ALK to develop

a powerful satellite navigational system which could integrate with

their existing scheduling solution.

The organization element is the anchor between the sales and

production department and the trackable packaging system. This

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system helps both the receiver and sender to identify the packages,

and also to the customer service representatives. This system also

helps the managers and employees to have access to the

information needed. The drivers are then provided with the requiredtraining for the delivery and tracking, so that they can work

efficiently and effectively. Customers also need to be updated as to

how to use the in-house packaging software or the Tesco.com web

site. The management which monitors the level of service being

provided, and checks the costs of the products, in turn help the

company by providing ideas to provide a low- cost service, which is

of a standard quality. With the help of UPS package and delivery

system, the company is able to reduce the costs involved. This

resulted in helping it maintain the strategy of selling products at

affordable prices, even in the tough competition it faces.

MIS at the operational Level:

At the operational level, the managers will have to monitor the

company’s routine activities and report them to the tactical level.

Their decisions are mostly concerned with the day-to –day activities

and do not affect the organization in the long run.

But it is to be understood that all managers at every level have to

be innovative and initiate solutions which should cater to the

problems faced by the company at various functional levels.

Tesco MIS at operational Level:

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In Tesco it is the technology involved which is helping it to perform

all the operations including small factors like the queuing, or

billing, so as to provide the customers a satisfactory

experience. Tesco is able to recognise the changing trend in itsbusiness environment and acting accordingly. Their system

continuously develop and maintain unique and creative

applications and now Tesco has come up with a new working

model that is used by its various business processes and

information departments to meet the business needs inspite of

its expanded market, employees are able to have regular

updates from all the key areas. Detailed information is

available on items and users are able to attain comparisons.

Tesco is also now able to improve its marketing with

improvised tracking and reporting systems.

Tesco has come out with the following projects to improve its

Information system management:

The Club card Process: The club card is a system that allows

customers to accumulate loyalty points on each shopping and save

them for future use. This project was designed, keeping in view

customer’s convenience. Now the customers can continue receiving

their vouchers even after they change their address. However,

there was an issue, as the points that were not properly deducted

and led to losses. The issue was recognised and addressed andcorrected by updating the systems with current customer

information.

Integration with Supplier’s System: Tesco came out with an

integrated IT system, which helped to facilitate the interaction with

retail suppliers .This system enables the supplies to be delivered

directly at stores by the suppliers, through Tesco warehouse. By

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adopting this system Tesco is able to achieve an improvised stock

control , impletion and a more efficient handling of returns.

Smart Voucher Project: By developing this smart voucher

solution, Tesco is now able to redeem the vouchers which are

effective in real-time. The vouchers are now combined with a

unique number which helps in checking fraud and ensures reward

related problems to be resolved efficiently.

Paperless picking: Employees can now use a device which is tied

to their wrists, while entering the distribution centres and swipe it

at the warehouse entrance. After doing this, each employee is

assigned with a list of tasks to be performed on the selected

products, and all related information about the concerned products

is also provided, and helps in the delivery process.

This management Information System at Tesco provides updated

information to the store managers on the available stock in each

store. Real- time and detailed reports are also submitted.

In particular, Planning, decision making and control are the three

crucial areas in any organisation, which demands accurate and high

level of information system. These are the basic tasks required at

every level of management and hence referred as the primary

management tasks. In order to provide the needed degree of

accuracy in the information provided, the MIS specialists have to beinformed about the ‘programmed’ and ‘non-programmed’ areas of

decision making (Hall and Abell, 2006).Programmed decisions are

the ones where, decision rules are predictable due to their repetitive

nature. Whereas , in non-programmed areas, the decision rules are

complex and difficult to understand. Since different decision making

require different procedures, hence there will be different

implications on the designing of MIS.

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Therefore, all businesses irrespective of their size are using

information systems, internet technology and various network

systems to develop their business electronically.

Critical analysis of Tesco’s MIS

• An efficient MIS enables an organisation to provide answers to

various managerial levels by collecting the basic data from the

operations department and combine it with the information

collected from the employees in the expert systems, and

reflect it in the company’s procedures .Tesco is continuously

striving to provide highly sophisticated technology and

investing hugely in the same and has been successful in

maintaining one of the best data bases. Business Objects

Enterprise 6 and Teradata warehouses are providing Tesco

with a centralised information system that provides it with a

sophisticated business insight into its technical operations.

• As an organisation expands, MIS must allow the information

to be easily accessible to various departments and functional

areas. Thereby, minimising the requirement of direct

interaction, and thus result in increased responsiveness by the

firm. Tesco is operating 2000 stores in 13 countries, and isefficiently managing and transferring the required data to

various functional managements in a timely manner, across

the globe. Its success speaks for its excellent information

systems.

• Tesco introduced Group MIS in Turkey, and implemented the

same in Poland during 2005, and plans to repeat the same

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with the help of a group MIS, that should be bale to address

the key areas of operations, finance and people.

.

• A well organised and well constructed MIS provides the

management with the information needed to help it reduce its

operating costs and increase profits. Tesco is proving this by

maintaining a dominant position in U.K retail market and by

being counted amongst top 3 international retailers. It has

cut down its operating costs efficiently by introducing Tesco

direct and Tesco.com, and has sustained recession with

considerable increase in profits over years.

• However, Tesco is investing hugely in its technology and

advanced technological systems can prove to be expensive if

the financial head doesn’t know where and how to control the

system purchases needed by various departments right from

the beginning.

• Also all organisations have similar technologies or will be able

to acquire them soon, so the real challenge is to retain the

information assets which are exclusive to Tesco. Even though

information resources can be acquired , utilized and

manipulated ,the continuous development of information

assets is very significant.(Desouza,2009)

• Tesco has to take care that its MIS does not become an

inflexible system over the time. Making quick changes to its

complicated MIS in times of fluctuating business operations

might become a challenge for Tesco, depending on the style

and functionality of its MIS. Even though carrying out internal

processes like policy revisions for internal control and

operations might be easy but major changes like marketing

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strategy, product development or service changes will not be

easy.If it has to undertake major business changes, then its

MIS will also have to undergo sudden changes, which will lead

to high costs and downtime of information reporting.

• When a company is small in size , it is easier for them to be in

direct contact with each other and employees are often able

to share knowledge directly, whereas as the number of

employees increase the difficulty in maintaining teams and

functional areas increases( Kroenke,2008). Tesco is a huge

organisation, hence it is more difficult for them to maintain

the flow of data and ideas across the organisation.

Conclusion

In today’s world of globalisation, and information, managing

information is one of the key strategic issues for management.

By managing information, it can increase organisational

effectiveness and optimize achievement of business goals and

objectives. Tesco has successfully implemented its information

systems through out the organisation, and is using information

effectively across all its departments. Inspite of having a

complicated and huge infrastructure, Tesco is regularly updating

its systems, and utilising it to manage business processes,

efficiently. But it has to keep improving and make itself ready for

new challenges, and continue to grow.

Recommendations

Tesco has deployed a sophisticated MIS , and is maintaining it

well, however it should ensure that it is flexible in order to copeup with sudden and unpredictable changes in the Business

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processes, as this can be a challenge even for the best

information systems. Security of the stored and used information

is an issue of concern, hence all possible security measures have

to be revised from time to time. As just knowing that change isinevitable is different from accepting it and taking right actions at

the right time.(Penfold, 2000)

As is the case with all major organisations, Tesco also has to

concentrate on its external environment and keep a close watch

on its competitors. Hence, it needs to work towards the informal

systems and develop its resources.

As information systems

extend beyond the firm’s boundaries and has to include vendors,

customers and even competitors (Laudon and Laudon 2004).

Because of its huge size, the amount of data accumulated can

cause an over flow. Therefore, it has to keep a continuous check

on the information flow to avoid an impaired communication

across the various functional departments, which could seriously

affect its information systems slowly and gradually in the long

run.

It has to ensure the compatibility of the systems by adopting the

right set of applications are used throughout the organisation,

this will make the creation of sophisticated databases cost-

effective and easier. This should eventually result in inclusion of

programs that collect procedural and other knowledge deposited

by the employees.

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th

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managing change for information services, Business Information

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17. Stair, Ralph M. (1996) Principles of Information Systems and

Managerial Approach (2nd Cincinnati Edn) Boyd & Fraser .

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strategy-to-support-international-expansion.htm (Accessed on 25

May 2010)

18. http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/66/65066-004-

FBFF76C8.jpg Accessed on 20-5-2010. (Accessed on 20 May

2010)

19. www.qfinance.com (Accessed on 20 May 2010)

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1fulltext.htm#wininfo (Accessed on 25 May)

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http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/66/65066-004-FBFF76C8.jpg%20Accessed%20on%2020-5-2010


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21. http://www.businessobjects.co.uk/company/customers/spotlight/tes

co.asp (Accessed on 27 May)

22. http://www.tescohsc.com/whatwedo/it_services.html (Accessed on

27 May)

.

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http://www.tescohsc.com/whatwedo/it_services.html

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