Development and Implementation of the MIS

Development of the MIS:

After the MIS plan is created, the development of the MIS necessitates deciding on the development strategy that was previously established. The plan is made up of numerous systems and subsystems. The development strategy’s only goal is to ensure the information and support, thus it establishes where to start and in what order to complete the development. The decision of which system or subsystem to utilize is based on factors, including the system’s size, complexity, user comprehension, interface with other systems, and placement within the overall MIS plan.

The system designer expands the system scope and satisfies the various information needs by developing the system independently and then beginning to integrate it with other systems. It is simple to ascertain the system’s location within the MIS. The degree of formalization and structure in the system, as well as the methods that dictate the length of time the system takes to grow, are the true issues. The more organized and formalized anything is, the more stable the policies, practices, judgment calls, and comprehension of the firm as a whole are. Here, it’s evident that the designer and user communicate well and that each other’s demands are acknowledged. The process of development turns into a method of approach with predictable inputs and outputs.

Prototype Approach:

Prototyping the system is the development approach used when the system is complex. The process of prototyping involves gradually identifying the information needs, creating a technique, testing it on a smaller scale with the data and complexity, making sure it meets user needs, and evaluating development and implementation issues.

As a result, this procedure finds the weak points and incompleteness in the prototype visa while also meeting information requirements. The designer then moves to make the shortcomings disappear. This can necessitate altering the system prototype, reevaluating the information requirements, simplifying the current systems and processes, and shifting user interaction.
When there are several users of the same system and their inputs are also used by other users, the designer’s job in the prototyping process becomes more challenging. For instance, the purchasing department provides a large amount of the input data needed in inventory and accounting management.

A significant amount of positivism must be applied while developing the attitudes of different users and their role as the data’s original creators. To meet the needs for corporate information, all staff members must understand that the information is a corporate resource and that they must each contribute per the role that has been assigned to them by the designer. There are no departmental, functional, or personal borders when it comes to information. This requires everyone to adhere to the design requirements and consistently supply the required data inputs as needed by the specifications that the designer has discussed and decided upon.

The administrative objective of the system designer is to unify the many users on a single platform and alter their perceptions of information as a corporate resource. The ability to change the attitudes of many users and the data’s originators is greatly aided by qualifications, experience, knowledge of the state of the art, and an understanding of corporate business.

Life Cycle Approach:

The MIS has a large number of systems and subsystems that have a life cycle, or birth and death. They are very much structured and rule-oriented, and their emergence can be abrupt or a result of a corporate requirement. They have a precise set of outputs in terms of content and format, and they have complete transparency regarding inputs and their sources. From the day the system is created, these details essentially stay unchanged and stay that way for a considerable amount of time. While little adjustments or changes do happen, neither the system’s designer nor its user will find them to be very significant. Because of this, these systems have a life of their own and can be developed methodically. After a year or two, they can be reviewed for any substantial modifications.

Payroll, share accounting, basic financial accounting, finished goods accounting and dispatching, order processing, and so on are a few examples of these kinds of systems. These systems have been around for a while and provide a significant amount of data to the Corporate MIS. As a result, their function is crucial and their design must include how they will interact with the corporate MIS.

Implementation of the MIS:

A management procedure is the system’s implementation. It alters work styles and impacts people, resulting in organizational change. The procedure elicits a behavioral reaction that, depending on the system deployment method, may be advantageous or unfavorable.

The system designer facilitates change or works as a catalyst during the implementation phase. He must carefully manage the human factors for the implementation to be successful. The system user has a certain kind of anxiety whenever there is a shift in the work culture. The person’s security is their top concern if the transition from the old to the new is not seamless.
It is important to reassure users that their concerns are unfounded, and the designer should do so. The second concern is regarding the individual’s position within the company and how the change would impact him. Frequently, he may feel less important in the organization in his new capacity, his new job may be more impersonal due to the work design, and he may develop a worry complex about how his career prospects may be impacted. For the system to be implemented successfully, the systems designer must adhere to a set of rules. The user’s desire for knowledge should not be questioned by the system designer in excess.

• Remember that his job is to provide a service, not to dictate terms.
• Keep in mind that the system is designed with the user in mind and that the designer does not have the authority to impose their will on the features of the design. To put it briefly, the designer needs to honor the user’s requests.
• To keep information needs and technical needs separate. To address the information needs, he should make an effort to produce appropriate designs using the right technologies. The designer need not suggest alterations to the requirements unless it is not technically viable.
• Make sure the user understands how the system is designed globally to fulfill both present and future information needs.
• To refrain from objecting to how the data was used to make decisions. The user has the exclusive right to use the data however he sees fit.
• Make it clear to the user that the caliber of input determines the caliber of the information.
• Make it clear to the user that you are a member of the organization’s user community, that the data is a corporate resource, and that he is expected to contribute to the MIS’s development.
• Verify that the user agrees to all of the system design standards’ criteria. Make sure he understands how important his contributions are to the accuracy of the data and the system’s proper execution.
• Verify that management has approved of the system’s overall effort.
• Involve the user emotionally in the development process by occasionally asking for his participation.
• Acknowledge that the user is your finest guide on the convoluted route of progress by helping him.
• Since the user can be utilizing a non-computerized system, it is not reasonable to expect complete comprehension and expertise from him. As a result, throughout the development process, the designer should be ready to modify the system specs or even the design.
• Make it clear to the user that making changes to a computer system is more difficult than it is in a manual system since it requires paying for program modifications.
• Make it clear to the user that there is never complete information, and that despite this, he still plays a crucial role in the organization.
• Make sure that before the MIS is taken for development, the other organizational issues are fixed.
• Hold regular user meetings on systems so you can learn about the users’ ongoing challenges.
• Since the user’s impression of the computerized information system would not live up to the designer’s expectations, teach him systems analysis and computer appreciation. Organizational transformation occurs during the MIS implementation phase in a company. There are several ways that this transformation could take place.

Three steps are suggested in this process by Lewin’s model.

• Unfreezing the organization is the first step towards increasing people’s openness to and interest in the change.
• Selecting a course of action is the second stage, where the process starts and reaches the required level of stability.
• Refreezing is the third step, where the change is solidified and equilibrium is strengthened.

This procedure is frequently carried out with the help of an outside change agent, such as a consultant acting as a catalyst.