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Types of Information Systems

An information system refers to a collection of interrelated components known to collect, use, process as well as modify data to information while providing feedback aimed as meeting specific objectives. With the growth in technology, information systems generally use computer technology in performing input, processing as well as output activities.

Information systems are structured to support varied types of decisions at varied organizational hierarchy levels. While middle level managers may make semi-structured decisions, senior managers make unstructured decisions and operational managers make structured ones. For this business organisation, there are four hierarchy levels including strategic, management, knowledge and operational levels.

Sales & Manufacturing Finance Accounting Human

Resources

INFORMATION SYSTEMS TYPES

TYPE OF SYSTEM GROUPS SERVED

Strategic Level Senior Managers

Management Level ……… Middle Managers

Operational Operational

Level Managers

Knowledge Level Knowledge & data

Marketing

Presently, four types of information systems would work well for the organization including-:

Office Automation Systems (OAS)

Transaction Processing Systems (TPS)

Expert Information Systems (EIS)

Decision Support Systems (DSS)

Management Information Systems (MIS

Office automation system

This information system uses software, networks and hardware to improve work flow as well as enhance communication among the employees. In this case, the tasks are performed electronically rather than manually.

Transaction Processing Systems (TPS)

This is the system by which data generated in the day to day transactions of an organization is captured and processed. It involves recording data, confirming and maintenance of data. In most cases, batch processing is incorporated in the TPS where transaction data collected over long periods of time would be processed as a batch later on. This allows for more efficiency in the processing of transactions.

Expert information systems

This system is used in capturing and storing human experts’ knowledge and then mimics the processes of human reasoning as well as decision making for individuals with less expertise. The main users of this system are non-management employees who utilize it to help in making job-related decisions. This information system eases the process of decision making more so when the users do not have expertise in the particular areas. It could however stagnate decision making to moribund ideas that were applicable in the past but not the present.

Decision support systems

This system provides the users with information on which they can base their decisions. It analyses the information captured by the MIS and TPS to support the making of unstructured decisions at the top level of management.

Management support systems

This information system creates timely, organized and accurate information to allow managers and its other users to make decisions, supervise activities, track progress and solve problems. This system generates the reports on regular basis unlike the decision support systems. In most cases, the MIS is integrated with the TPS. It offers three information types including summary, detailed and exception. Summary information combines data into formats which its users would easily and quickly review. In so doing, it contains graphs, tables and totals. Detailed information generally confirms the processing activities of transactions while exception information sorts data in order to report the information that necessitates immediate action. The information produced by the MIS is based on the accepted mathematical and management models.

Conclusion

While there may be differences in the information systems, it is often difficult to categorize as system as exclusively belonging to a particular information system. With today’s complicated communications, software and hardware technologies that support varied information systems, integrated or combined information systems are commonplace. Organizations are increasingly consolidating their needs into single combined information systems.