Explain the link between MIS and BPR?

Answer 1

Any exercise towards building design of the management information system will be preceded by an exercise of business process re-engineering. Building the MIS is a long-term project. It is, therefore, essential to have a relook at the organisation where the mission and goals of the organisation are likely to be replaced. The business itself would undergo a qualitative change in terms of the business focus, work culture and style and the value system. This would change the platform of business calling for a different MIS.

The MIS will concentrate more on the performance parameter evaluation which is different in the re-engineered organisation. The data capture, processing, analysis and report­ing would be process central and performance efficiency would be evaluated in relation to the value generated by the processes.

The decision support systems will be integrated in the business process itself, where triggers are used to move the process. The triggers could be business rules and stored procedures, enabling the process to become automotive in its execution. The MIS in the re-engineered organisation would be more of a performance monitoring tool to start with and then a control for the performance. The traditional MIS is function-centered like finance, production, material, etc. The Manage­ment Information System in a re-engineered organisation would be process centred, evaluating customer satisfaction, expectations and perceptions.

The role of Management Information System will be raised to a level where the following activities would be viewed for the management action:

· Control of process cycle time

· Work group efficiency

· Customer satisfaction index

· Process efficiency and effectiveness

· Effectiveness of the Management in enterprise management and not in enterprise resource

· The strength of the organisation in terms of knowledge, learning and strategic effectiveness

The traditional role of the MIS as a decision supporter will continue, however.