STRATEGIES FOR DETERMINING MIS DESIGN

MIS design should be specific to an organization, respecting its age, structure, and operations.

Six strategies for determining MIS design have been suggested by Blumenthal (1969):

• Organization-chart approach

Using this approach, the MIS is designed based on the traditional functional areas, such as finance, administration, production, R&D and extension. These functional areas define current organizational boundaries and structure.

• Integrate-later approach

Largely a laissez faire approach, it does not conform to any specified formats as part of an overall design. There is no notion of how the MIS will evolve in the organization. Such an MIS becomes difficult to integrate. In today's environment - where managers demand quick and repeated access to information from across sub-systems - the integrate-later approach is becoming less and less popular.

• Data-collection approach

This approach involves collection of all data which might be relevant to MIS design. The collected data are then classified. This classification influences the way the data can be exploited usefully at a later stage. The classification therefore needs to be done extremely carefully.

• Database approach

A large and detailed database is amassed, stored and maintained. The database approach is more and more accepted for two main reasons: first, because of data independence it allows for easier system development, even without attempting a complete MIS; and, second, it provides management with immediate access to information required.

• Top-down approach

The top-down approach involves defining the information needs for successive layers of management. If information required at the top remains relatively stable in terms of level of detail, content and frequency, the system could fulfil MIS requirements (Zani, 1970). The usefulness of this approach depends on the nature of the organization. It can be suitable for those organizations where there is a difference in the type of information required at the various levels.

• Total-system approach

In this approach the interrelationships of the basic information are defined prior to implementation. Data collection, storage and processing are designed and done within the framework of the total system. This approach can be successfully implemented in organizations which are developing.