Chapter 1: The Importance of MIS

Technology changed me, without even knowing it!

Not that many people can recall when technology emerged and changed our lives. I can remember when I was 14 and I had a pager. I would write certain codes to represent "I love you" which were "134" or friends had special numbers that will tell me who was "paging me".  This was over 10 years ago, when people also relied on payphones if they were away from home, or if the house phone was occupied for many hours and it felt like the walk to the liquor store and cost of $0.25 was worth it. Of course some people may  not remember pagers and payphones because they became obsolete. Even if you find a payphone, it is rare and chances are most people are relying on cellular phones. Even cell phones from 10 years ago have changed, we had flip-phones, the size and features have changed, and nowadays we live in the "smart" phone world. The truth is, I did not ever think about how much technology would emerged, it seemed like I paid more attention to those around me and as I got older had my kids, work, and attending college, I too greatly needed a "smart" phone. Now I realized that there are choices to make it and while technology will continue to change, I have decided to adapt to it. Some people are skeptical about technology, fear the unknown, or simply like me at 14 do not spend time thinking and researching of what is happening around us. However as business students it is essential to know and asked the right questions because our job can be in jeopardy if we do not adapt and find ways to use MIS. To help others understand what MIS and why it is important I have decided to inform others.

Management Information System (MIS) Fundamental Forces and Key Elements

There are four fundamental forces that changed technology, Moore's Law, Metcalfe's Law, Nielsen's Law, and Kryder's Law. These have introduced theories on how computers have evolved, how digital devices have increased, as well as network speed and the requirement of storage capacity. While theories are great to know and learn, there are three key elements that every business student and professional should know about MIS.

Components of an Information Systems (IS) is one key element. It is a five-component framework consisting of a computer hardware, software, data, procedures, and people. Then there is Management and Use of IS. Since technology is increasing, information systems must be develop, maintain, and adapted to changing requirements. For MIS to support a business, it is much more important for someone to take an active role and ask critical questions that will help others and most important that active individual that can help make their company or break the company profit, in the even that a system gets hacked, crashes, or completely shuts down. The last element is that IS exist to help organizations achieve strategies, but these strategies require people who can carry the strategies out, Information System is just supporting them. Quality of thinking, acting upon strategies, using IS, and determining results rely on abstract thinking. 

Have you taken a MIS class?

You definitely do not want to miss a MIS class! Forget for right now of how much tuition is, what your total student loan will be after you graduate, and concentrate on your future career. Where will it be? What will it be? Technology is accelerating much faster than us taking a course, finishing it, and graduating with a four year degree. Employers might one day not look for a student who has over a 3.5 GPA, knows how to use Office 365, and has fantastic people skills. Companies instead will be looking for graduates and professionals who demonstrate non-routine cognitive skills. To secure a job, nowadays we will need to gain skills in abstract reasoning, systems thinking, collaboration, and ability to experiment. Why? We live in a diverse world, we may work for an international or global business which has different customer demand and needs. For example, as technology changes, we should not fear the unknown but study it and ask questions because we will have to report the scope of a project and report to different stakeholders, internal and external. Collaborating in person or using different collaboration tools will also play a vital role of brand awareness, image, and  educating others about different products because we can communicate with different departments, after all we do not all know everything. As a result, taking a MIS class can potentially save you from your job being outsourced. As a marketing student, I have an opportunity to focus my non-routine skills to focus more on sales, support, or one day becoming a marketing manager.  

Importance of Information System (IS) 

Business students and professionals need to recognize high-tech versus low-tech IS, understand the scope of new IS, and the difference between components being in ordered by difficulty and disruption.

Information and Necessary Data Characteristics

Here are four definitions, which one do you think is the real answer? You will be amazed to know that there is no right or wrong selection because these are all correct.

1. Information is knowledge derived from data, whereas data is defined as recorded facts or figures.
2. Information is data presented in a meaningful context.
3. Information is processed by summing, ordering, averaging, grouping, comparing, or other similar operations.
4. Information is a difference that makes a difference.

To  be successful, one can interpret information by using any of the four definitions, but our way of thinking and the data that we collect, interpret, and report can make or brake our career. Very critical to our quality of work, is the data that we get and evaluate. Good quality data is accurate, timely, relevant, just barely sufficient, and worth its cost. For example, we all know someone that enjoys great bargains, and black Friday is something they look forward to participating in. For the friend who seeks good deals, he/she will want to know how much  the LG Smart 50" television is going to cost, so they can start comparing prices and in a timely manner. Perhaps they have a Best Buy loyalty membership card or credit card and this person knows that paying for a loyalty card is worth the cost because he/she gets deals a few minutes or days before others without a card. On the other hand, if a person does not care about Black Friday, they can wait until they wake up in the morning, did not have to wait in the lines, and might still find good deals. It all depends on the person and what they were seeking. Another example is when E-commerce websites crash because of too much activity, customers get upset because prices may not be accurate, inventory may not be able to keep up with high demand, and it may not be worth the cost and time for these customers who have purchased the same frequent rewards card or have a retail credit card.

Why Business students should not miss a MIS opportunity

Remember my personal story of how I went from communicating from a pager and using a payphone to a smartphone? In the next 10 years, we will not have any desktops and portable computers. Computers will not look like computers, smartphones will be able to store an even larger amount of songs and videos and stream to multiple devices. Technology will have changed so much that we will not be surprised to see autonomous cars, and more all-electric cars out in our roads. Although we may question our privacy, remember that one thing not to question is that technology will continue to change, and so will we.