Knowing Executive Information systems

Executive Information systems are meant to lessen the burden of executives in deciding and receiving the information processed by the systems. They help them to formulate strategies to overcome the technical difficulties and look into the various feasibilities of tackling a problem. They are meant to help the executives and provide support functions and make their job easier and more effective. The functions covered by executive information system are both internal and external.

Some of the nuances of executive information system are as follows:

Why EIS?

Management Information Systems and Integrated information Systems helps the companies to streamline information in a proper manner and make it accessible to everybody. However there is no point in providing the required information to those who are not authorized to take crucial decisions with it. It should reach the hands of the persons who are supposed to act and decide upon it. This is what management Information Systems is all about.

They help the senior managers and executives to consolidate things. The role of these people is very important because they are the link between the boards of directors or otherwise referred as decision makers and the employees of the company. They will have to provide accurate information to them in order to facilitate the formulation and revision of rules policies procedures and guidelines.

The functioning of executive information system can said to fall after the management information system followed by information integrated systems. These functions will have no follow up without the proper working of executive information systems. The earlier function can help in circulation and processing. But when it comes to decision making or making important changes the formers neither have a say nor can afford a place because their results are not directly under the purview of top management. This is not to deny that they don't come under the purview of the higher management. It only aims to explain the fact that senior management will be informed of the progress. But the executive information system provides a scale for them to go further with the operations.

Characteristics of Executive information systems

Executive information systems can be compared to that of a project planner for executives. While project planner helps to schedule the work to be done for a particular project eis help them to schedule them for the company as a whole. Moreover project planner is just for one project. The subsequent projects will have different project planners depending on the requirements and nature of the project. However when it comes to enterprise information systems they are fundamental to the enterprise operation not only in the current scenario but also in the future. The way they work may undergo change but the purpose and objectives will remain one and the same.

This is a system which is directly handled by the managers. They don't have to rely on the assistance of technical persons for every minute issue. It has been designed in such a way that the managers can operate it easily with some prior guidance. Whenever major functions have to be changed for operating the system they may have to approach the persons with technical expertise. Otherwise they will be able to handle small problems by themselves as the complexities are not much.

Another important feature of executive information systems is that they are customizable to the needs of the individual user. A manger may have own preferences in handling and making strategic decisions. They may not necessarily have to be akin with other managers of the same organization. This does not necessarily affect the performance of anyone. As said earlier management information systems are easier to handle and adjust. Therefore each manager can tune things to solely suit his convenience and working pattern.

Factors influencing the functioning of Executive information systems:

Organizational setup

The policies and procedures followed in an organization have a great impact in the manner management information systems are implemented in an organization. For e.g. If a company believes in centralization of authority and hesitates to delegate authority then eis will be provided for the top most managers in the organization. On the contrary if the company is of the opinion that decentralization of authority will help in better governance then eis will be introduced in a separate manner. They will be given to a couple of managers even at the junior level if it is believed that it will aid them in one way or the other.

Other factors

The internal and external factors connected directly or indirectly with the organization will have their own say in establishing executive information systems in an organization. For e.g. if matters relating to compliance of tax, audit and other statutory matters are handled by the senior mangers only then eis will be targeted to them alone. On the other hand if clerical labor is also involved in the same procedures eis they will also be able to access eis and render the necessary supporting functions to the senior managers. Whatever be the case the role of men in an organization plays a crucial part in implementation and functioning of executive information systems.

Conclusion

The success of executive information systems lies in two issues. Firstly the information should properly reach the concerned executives. Secondly they should accord importance and act upon it. Above all whatever they say must be given due consideration by the decision making authority. The system must be a fool proof one. Only then the results will reveal the true picture.

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