Please can i get a detailed solution to the following: 1. Executive Information
ID: 3866168 • Letter: P
Question
Please can i get a detailed solution to the following: 1. Executive Information System Definition,properties,features properties, advantages, who/what it's used for? Describe the classes of executive decision making? What are some risks involved in Executive Decision Making? And how it can be dealt with. (Also this would be better described with a Real Life Scenario) And please, i have just the "one question" left for this. So i would appreciate if it can be answered right! Note: Please make it as detailed as possible.
Explanation / Answer
Executive Information Systems (EIS) Definition:
An Executive Information Systems (EIS) is a type of management information system intended to facilitate and support the information and decision making needs of senior executives by providing easy access to both internal and external information relevant to meeting the strategic goals of the organization. Executive Information System can also be considered a specialized form of a Decision Support System.
(or)
An Executive Information System (EIS) as a management information system is designed to be emphasized with graphical display and very easy to use and appealing interfaces which helps in supporting and facilitating the information and decision making needs of senior executives.
For easier understanding:
An Executive Information System can be defined as a specialized Decision Support System. This includes various hardware, software, data, procedures and the people. With that, the top level executives get a great support in taking and performing the various types of the decisions. The executive information system plays a very important role in obtaining the data from the different sources, then help in integration and the aggregation of this data. After performing these steps the resulting information is displayed in such a pattern that is very easy to understand.
Executive information system is “a computer based system that serves the information that is needed by the various top executives. It provides very rapid access to the timely information and also offers the direct access to the different management reports”.
Characteristics of the Executive support system/ Executive Information System
1. Informational characteristics
i. Flexible and easy for use.
ii. Provides timely information with quick retrieval and short response time
iii. Produces correct information.
iv. Produces relevant information.
v. Produces validated information.
2. User interface/orientation characteristics
i. Consist of sophisticated self help.
ii. Contains user friendly interfaces
iii. Can be used from many places.
iv. Offers secure reliable, confidential access along with access procedure.
v. Customized.
vi. Suites the management style of individual executives.
3. Managerial / executive characteristics
i. Supports over all vision, mission and the strategy.
ii. Support strategic management.
iii. Helps to deal with the situations that have a high degree of risk.
iv. Linked to value added business processes.
v. Supports need/ access for/ to the external data/ databases.
vi. Result oriented in nature.
Advantages:
Disadvantages :
Executive Information System Features:
EIS are intended as decision support tools for senior managers. Since these strategic decisions are based on a wide range of input information, they always need to be well integrated with operational systems in a business.
Some important features of executive support system include the fact that:
• They provide summary information to monitoring of business performance. This is often achieved through measures known as ‘critical success factors’ or ‘key performance indicators’ (KPIs).
• They are used mainly for strategic decision making, but may also provide Features that relate to tactical decision making:
• They provide a drill-down feature which gives a manager the opportunity to find out more information necessary to take a decision or discover the source of a problem.
• They provide analysis tools.
• They must be integrated with other facilities to help manage the solving of problems and the daily running of the business.
• They integrate data from a wide range of information sources, including company and external sources such as market and competitor.
• They have to be designed according to the needs of managers who do not use computers frequently. They should be intuitive and easy to learn.
Few things to overcome problems in decision making:
It is very important that the management of the organization always takes the correct decisions. The reason is that if a wrong decision has been taken at any level, it can create problems for the whole organization. However it is also true that despite the best efforts of the management, there are certain problems that may arise during the process of decision-making. These problems related with decision making can be described as follows:-
1. The Timing of Decision: A difficulty that is generally faced by the management while taking a decision is related with the timing of the decision. The reason is that it is very important that the decision should be made at the most opportune time. Therefore, deciding the most appropriate time for taking the decision is a problem in itself. The decision will not be effective if it is not taken at the appropriate time.
2. Need for Correct Decisions: The managers are required to decide if the decision taken by them is correct or not. In case the decision is not correct, a lot of time and money will be wasted. It needs to be mentioned that the correctness of the decision depends on the capabilities of the person making the decision as well as on the information available regarding the problem and the analysis of such information. For example if correct facts are not available with the managers, the decision may be based on incorrect premises. Therefore, the premises should be based on the correct problem and they should also be properly analyzed so that a correct decision can be made.
3. Effective Communication: After a decision has been taken by the management of the organization, it is also required that the decision should be properly communicated to all the persons for whom the decision has been taken. For this purpose, the decision needs to be communicated in such a way that it can be easily understood by these persons. On the other hand, if the decision taken by the management has not been properly communicated to all the persons who have the responsibility to implement the decision, the decision will not be implemented effectively and as a result, it will remain on paper only. Therefore, the management has to deal with various communication barriers and communicate the decision properly.
4. Participating in Decision Making: It is considered that the best way to take an important decision is to hear the views of all the persons that are concerned with the decision before making the final decision. By receiving the views of different persons concerned with the decision, a wider viewpoint regarding the problem can be achieved. However, it has been seen that the top level management of the organization takes all the important decisions at its own level and other persons are not allowed to take part in this process. In this way, the authority of taking significant decisions is confined to a few persons only. However, such a situation can create problems in the effective implementation of the decision. While taking a decision, the views of the persons who are going to be directly impacted by the decision should also be considered. Therefore, in order to avoid such a situation, the management should allow all the concerned persons to participate in the decision-making.
5. Decision Environment: The physical and organizational environment also has an impact on the process of decision-making in an organization. In case favorable environment exists for decision-making, mutual understanding and cooperation are also present. The result is that all the decisions are accepted by others in good spirit and in the same way, these decisions are also implemented effectively. At the same time, such atmosphere also allows the scope for creative thinking and research.
6. Implementing Decisions: Sometimes, the management of the organization may also face problems in implementing a particular decision. Therefore, after a decision has been made by the management, it is also equally important that sincere efforts should be made to implement the decision. The managers and their subordinates play an important role in the implementation of the decisions. Therefore, the managers can consult their subordinates or they may also take advice from specialists but the final decision has to be made by the managers themselves. At the same time, it is also the responsibility of the manager to ensure that the decision is being implemented properly. On the other hand, if a decision proves to be unsuccessful, the manager has to face criticism. In this way, the implementation of a decision may also create problems that have to be handled by the managers.
Real Life Scenario:
For your better understanding you can refer a presentation on the following online link:
http://study.com/academy/lesson/executive-information-systems-eis-upper-management-decision-making-tools.html