The Advantages & Disadvantages of a Management Information System

Gone are the days where you would find large filing cabinets in organizations, full of files containing information needed for the operation of the business. Organizing and managing company information is now a lot easier with the introduction of information technology. You can now store, organize and access all the information pertaining to one or more functions of your organization in one central place. Information management systems have their advantages and disadvantages
  1. Time Saving

    • Processing, retrieval and dissemination of information is faster with the use of a management information system. Databases help sort and process information, and retrieval of this information is easily done by accessing the necessary database. You do not have to flip through numerous files to acquire a piece of data.

    Coordination

    • Synchronization of an organization's information enables different organizational functions to work better together. It provides real-time information, as all departments have access to information of other departments, to enable effective decision making. When the marketing department needs to collaborate with the human resource department when coming up with an employee training program, for example, all each function needs to do to access the necessary information is to log into the information system server and copy what it needs. Access, however, is granted on a need-to-know basis to avoid misuse of information.

    Privacy Issues

    • Information systems have a central server where you can store all the information. Sensitive information about the organization and its customers may at times be misused by disgruntled organization employees, raising privacy issues. Organizations should install access codes to their systems and regularly change them to avoid hacking of their systems by outsiders or employees whose clearance level does not allow them access to these codes.

    Job Security

    • With the introduction of management information systems, the services of record keepers are no longer required. The system processes and stores information accordingly at the click of a button. Retrieval of this information is also easy. The system only requires one IT person to ensure it is running smoothly. This may be a great advantage to the company, as it means less expenditure in terms of salaries and allowances, but those depending on these jobs as a source of livelihood are greatly disadvantaged.

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