Functional Management Information System (MIS)
Management information systems provide decision-makers information and feedback on daily operations. Additionally, management information systems can be used strategically, often incorporating Web technology.
Marketing MIS: Marketing Management Information System (MIS) supports managerial activities in product development, distribution, pricing decisions, promotional effectiveness and sales forecasting.
Overview of Marketing Management Information System (MIS)
Inputs to Marketing MIS
- Strategic plan and corporate policies
- The TPS (Transaction Processing Systems)
- External sources:
- The competition
- The market
Marketing MIS Subsystems and Outputs
- Marketing research
- Web based market research
- Product development
- Promotion and advertising
- Product pricing
Human Resources MIS: Human Resource Management Information System (MIS) is concerned with all of the activities related to employees and potential employees of the organization.
Overview of Human Resource MIS
Inputs to the Human Resource MIS
- Strategic plan or corporate policies
- The TPS:
- Payroll data
- Order processing data
- Personnel data
- External sources
Human Resource MIS Subsystems and Outputs
- Human resource planning
- Personnel selection and recruiting
- Training and skills inventory
- Scheduling and job placement
- Wage and salary administration
Other MISs
- Accounting MISs
- Provides aggregated information on accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, and other applications.
- Geographic information systems (GISs)
- Enables managers to pair pre-drawn maps or map outlines with tabular data to describe aspects of a particular geographic region.
Posted on April 26th, 2008 by Navneet Mehta
Filed under: Business Intelligence
Thank you to provide very good knowledge on Functional MIS.
I need good note of MIS in marketing+Hospital+HR+Manufacturing
@Zayed, Please refer the following article: http://blog.maia-intelligence.com/2008/12/08/mis-for-manufacturing-industry/ for MIS for Manufacturing.
Its very nice to understand the concepts of Functional MIS (Management Information Systems).
Thank you sir. It is very helpful for my exmination i got notes for Functional MIS for unit 1 here.
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Very good blog on Business Intelligence (BI) & also an interesting post on Functional MIS (management Information Systems).
Explain TPS
@ Vivek, TPS is an acronym describing Transaction Processing Systems. It is a type of Information System. TPS systems are exactly what the name implies – a system that processes transactions that occur within an organization or business. TPS systems tend to perform routine operations and serve as a foundation for other systems. Transactions are business operations such as customer orders, purchase orders, receipts, time cards, invoices, payroll checks and, yes, college registrations. TPSs collect, store, modify, and retrieve the transactions of an organization. A transaction is an event that generates or modifies data that is eventually stored in an information system.
Thanx a lot for providing this much easy concept to understand MIS.
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How would you answer the below case study
Too many Information Systems!
X University of late expanded very rapidly introducing a number of programmes and increasing student intake capacity. It has recently computerized its examination process based on some off-the shelf software. The library had already been computerized a couple of years back using freely distributed library automation System. Daily cash transactions are also handled by computer in the Finance and Accounting Division, using accounting software. For further improvement of efficiency, the new governing body of the University have entrusted the task of developing an MIS for the University to Software Company. All these developments were welcomed by a cross-section of the University Community except a few. One of them is a faculty member at the Management Science Department who commented that the University is burdening itself with too many independent information systems. He strongly favored an integrated information system on the lines of an ERP for a business organization.
2.1 Do you agree with the faculty member? Give reasons.
2.1.1. Introduction
2.2. What do you understand by Integrated Information System, the faculty member is talking about? Elaborate in the context of the University.
2.3. Visualize that the University governing Body decides to drop the MIS plan and agrees to the idea of developing an integrated IS. What problems are likely to creep in?
2.4. Assess the role of Information System specialist and consultants in situations as described in the above case.
Fitflop
F O O T W E A R T M
Fitflop is stepping up its game
The Fitflop footwear brand (whose tagline is “Get a workout while you walk”) set on an ambitious mission when it launched in 2007 to provide a stylish shoe that would both tone and perhaps also alleviate common foot issues. Since its initials offering in the summer sandal category, Fitflop has succefully expanded into opulent occasions.
The Fitflop phenomenon began in May 2007, when founder Marcia Kilgore, the Canadian entrepreneur who founded the Bliss Spa chain and the Soap and Glory bath, body, and cosmetics company, was wondering what place exercise had in a busy woman’s lifestyle.
“Marcia was at a cellulite conference in New York in 2005 and realized that women feel better when they’re proactive,” says Fitflop publicist Katie Nieman. “She wanted to create a great-looking sandal that double-task as a lower-body toner-the aim was to make it easier for the time-starved female population to squeeze workout in when their normal daily schedules wouldn’t otherwise allow it. Furthermore, a pain-free, affordable option to keeping in shape was on the agenda-and Fitflop was the answer.”
Making strides in toning footwear
The toning and shaping footwear category is marketed as way to tone and shape muscle and/or burn calories while engaged in everyday activity, according to market research company NPD Group. NPD’s analysis of the segment shows its phenomenon growth: Sales in the department store, national chain, shoe chain, and athletic special/sporting goods channels rose from $17 million in 2008 to a staggering $145 million in 2009.
It’s no surprise, then, that FitFlop-branded footwear has hit a nerve with consumers (through it’s unclear whether consumer interest drove the category or the category provoked such obsessive consumer interest). And FitFlop isn’t the only company that’s ventured into toning territory: MBT, Trim Treads, Reebok, and Skechers have all flooded the market with sandals, sneakers, and trainers that promise to lift your buns, give you better posture, and improve circulation.
Those who pony up their hard-earned cash for this type of footwear have particular requirements of the brand they ultimately rely on to tone their tootsie. NPD also recently released its “Toning/Shaping Footwear-Benchmark Study.” This examined the attitudes and behaviour of both owners and non-owners of toning and shaping footwear. When asked what would have the greatest impact on their decision to purchase a pair, 65% of respondents stated that “a scientific substantiation of the fitness claims” was number one.
And FitFlop makes quite a fitness claim (as do many of its competitors). According to its own marketing collateral, the brand’s footwear is “biomechanical engineered to help tone and tighten your leg muscles while you walk in them.” In a study attributed to the Human Performance Centre at London South Bank University (LSBU), walking in FitFLop sandals is said to increase leg, calf, and gluteal muscle activity; improve muscle tone; and simulate aspects of barefoot walking but with more muscle load, among other benefits.
These podiatric perks can be partly attributed to the FitFlop manufacturing process. “The FitFlop is made out of unique, global, patent-pending Microwobbleboard technolog,”says Nieman. “It’s triple-density EVA midsole that increases the time your muscles are engaged every single time you take a step,” Some members of the medical and fitness community aren’t so sure about the effectiveness of such toning shoes overall-from any brand. When one Minnesota podiatrist experimented with wearing a pair of toning shoes all day, according to a 2009 article on CCN. Com that looked into the legitimacy of this type of footwear, he proclaimed at the end of the experiment, “…my legs feel tired and the shoe feel heavy … I would never propose that these shoes would replace a conventional fitness routine.” In the same article, Dr. Bruce Williams, a podiatrist and a past president of the American Academy of podiatric sport Medicine, Said, “there are lots of claims made by manufactures of these shoes. Everyone has to take this with a grain of salt.”
But FitFlop stands by its claims-and how it arrived at them. “We don’t have just one study of eight people in Malibu, “says Kilgore herself, who now lives near FitFlop headquarter in London. “We have ongoing studies with two different universities (Salford University, Manchester, and LSBU); we have an incredible technologist and we’ve just been placed on the American podiatric Medical Association’s list of approved flip flop for the summer.”
The brand has also entered a two-year partnership with the U.K government-Funded Knowledge Transfer partnership “to better understand how our footwear can alleviate so many musculoskeletal complaints such as arthritis, scoliosis, plantar fasciitis, back pain, etc.” says Nieman. “FitFlop footwear has been proven to significantly reduce pressure hot spots in the forefoot, as well as absorbing up 22 percent more shock than regular footwear.”
In Brand we trust
In the NPD study that asked what impacted consumer’s toning shoe purchases, 64 percent of respondents indicated “a brand name I know and trust.” Killgore asserts that FitFlop has successfully proven itself to its customers and will continue to do so. “First, we not as small a company as people may think we are, “she says. “We were also first in the (toning) sandals category and got a really good leg in there. And we have a hugely loyal following. While there’s always going to be some competition, we just plan on doing it better and continuing to listen to our customer.”
To retain that cult following (and attract new customers), FitFlop uses an integrated marketing and advertising campaign that include bus wraparounds, subway cards, outdoor billboards, phone kiosks, and print advertising in both the U.K. and the United States. There’s cross-promotion via Kilgore’s other empires as well: Visitors can purchase FitFlop directly on the Bliss website, and moisturizer shoppers can read news about the footwear brand on the soap and Glory site.
Then, of course, there’s social media, which the brand mainly employs through Facebook and Twitter. “We use social media quite extensively,” says Nieman. “We’ll have product name competitions, spot the FitFlop bus, ask ‘where have your FitFlop been this weekend? and so forth.”
Kilgore is the driving force behind the FitFlop Twitter page, though she often has to send her pictures and tweets to staff members to place online. “I travel a lot and don’t have all my passwords with me at all times, so often i’ii send the info to someone who will put it online for me,” she laughs. “I tell them what to write.”
More than, 7,800 people are fans of the main FitFlop Facebook page, though the brand also sponsors individual FitFlop pages all over the world. “Our Philipines Facebook page has more than 37,500 fans (as of June 2010) and counting,” Kilgore says. “They’ve shown us how it’s done!” The only odd international challenge they’ve come across in their FitFLop brand evangelism occurred in Scandinavia: “Fit’ is a swear word in Swedish.” Laughs Nieman. “Ironically, that just made FitFlop a more interesting and intriguing concept.”
FitFlop uses Facebook and Twitter to keep the conversation going with its mainly female audience. “We try to involve people and ask them what they want- for example, which shoe they like the best or which color,” Kilgore says. “We also use social media to find it out whether we can convince them to like something by showing it to them over a period of time, which is a great social experiment I like to do on Facebook: Show them a product that’s maybe a little radical, and a first everyone hates it. Then show it again in a month, and half of them want it. Finally, show it one more month later, and 90 percent of them say, ‘Where can I get it now?”
Expanding the brand
While women are FitFlop’s core demographic, the brand started branching out to include men’s footwear in 2008 and children’s footwear in 2010, according to Nieman. Consumers can head over to the “Our Range section on the FitFlop site and select the “Gender” tab for appropriate selection.
Even though the NPD study found that awareness about toning footwear is higher among women (62% to men’s 37%), and that women were twice as likely as men to own a pair of toning shoe (6% to 3%), there’s been an upswing in men purchasing this type of footwear. “The men’s market could spell an interesting opportunity for shaping and toning footwear,” says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for NPD, in the study. “The men’s category shows the least penetration overall, but a particularly interesting finding is that once men are aware of this type of footwear, they own them at almost the same rate as women.” To Kilgore, this makes perfect sense. “Very early in our life cycle, men started writing to us saying, ‘My wife loves her FitFlop-what about mine?” she says. “Women are often the decision makers in the family, and they’d tell their husbands, ‘You really need to get a pair of these. We realized it wasn’t just women who had issues with knee and heel and lower back pain. We tested a few men’s sandals a couple of years ago, and it’s been growing ever since.”
Her own son was the impetus behind the kids’ line of FitFlop footwear. “My son, who’s 5-1/2, has really wide feet,” Kilgore says. “He was walking to school in a pair of trainers from a well-respected, global footwear brand, but I could tell with each step that he sole was so stiff that he’d step onto hi heel and just smack down with his little foot. He was actually walking differently because his shoe weren’t flexible enough.”
Kilgore started looking into the structure of children’s feet and was dismayed that they’d been overlooking a demographic that might need such a shoe more than any other segment. “When children’s feet aren’t put into the right positions as they’re growing and developing, it’s actually a more serious problem than in an adult’s foot,” she explains. “They insole of our kid’s Hyka sandals is multidensity, so it simulates as if the child is walking barefoot on soft ground-which is how humans walked for millions of years.”
FitFlop hasn’t forgotten about its main audience, however, stretching their women’s offering to include two new offerings: FitFlop SuperBoots and FitFlop SuperTone trainers. “We want to have something you can wear 365 days a year,” says Kilgore. “The only thing you won’t see us coming out with is high heels, since that’s not what we’re about. In the end, FitFlop is a lifestyle technology-not just an item.”
Source: adapted from: http://www.brandchannel.co.za
Question 1
Describe and explain the marketing mix decisions that Marcia Kilgore made to influence the trade channels as well as the final consumers. Use the suggestion of Robert Lauterborn that the seller’s 4P’s should correspond to the customers’ 4C’s in your explanation.
Question 2
Explain how FlipFlop divides a market into segment and how the firm chooses the most attractive target markets.
Question 3
Discuss how FlipFlop’s brand equity is managed and which branding strategies are used to develop FitFlop’s offering to various consumers.
Question 4
Explain why marketing research is so important for FlipFlop.
Question 5
Critically evaluate and analyze the way FlipFlop develops and manages its direct and interactive marketing communication programs to build brand equity.
Will appreciate a lot to know how the Functional MIS is used to answer and see the different views. This BI blog is very different from others.
Functional MIS – Very well explained.
Please i need sample answers on this case study
Too many Information Systems!
X University of late expanded very rapidly introducing a number of programmes and increasing student intake capacity. It has recently computerized its examination process based on some off-the shelf software. The library had already been computerized a couple of years back using freely distributed library automation System. Daily cash transactions are also handled by computer in the Finance and Accounting Division, using accounting software. For further improvement of efficiency, the new governing body of the University have entrusted the task of developing an MIS for the University to Software Company. All these developments were welcomed by a cross-section of the University Community except a few. One of them is a faculty member at the Management Science Department who commented that the University is burdening itself with too many independent information systems. He strongly favored an integrated information system on the lines of an ERP for a business organization.
2.1 Do you agree with the faculty member? Give reasons.
2.1.1. Introduction
2.2. What do you understand by Integrated Information System, the faculty member is talking about? Elaborate in the context of the University.
2.3. Visualize that the University governing Body decides to drop the MIS plan and agrees to the idea of developing an integrated IS. What problems are likely to creep in?
2.4. Assess the role of Information System specialist and consultants in situations as described in the above case.
Shall I ask for brief note on functional information system on business? Thank you.
Thanks sir. For this very informative article on Functional MIS …!!
Very good piece of information on Functional MIS on this BI blog.
This BI blog is a good resource on Business Intelligence technology. The article on Functional Management Information System (MIS) is excellent.
Can you please help, I need some sample answers for this case study.
Too many Information Systems!
X University of late expanded very rapidly introducing a number of programmes and increasing student intake capacity. It has recently computerized its examination process based on some off-the shelf software. The library had already been computerized a couple of years back using freely distributed library automation System. Daily cash transactions are also handled by computer in the Finance and Accounting Division, using accounting software. For further improvement of efficiency, the new governing body of the University have entrusted the task of developing an MIS for the University to Software Company. All these developments were welcomed by a cross-section of the University Community except a few. One of them is a faculty member at the Management Science Department who commented that the University is burdening itself with too many independent information systems. He strongly favored an integrated information system on the lines of an ERP for a business organization.
- Do you agree with the faculty member? Give reasons.
- What do you understand by Integrated Information System, the faculty member is talking about? Elaborate in the context of the University.
- Visualize that the University governing Body decides to drop the MIS plan and agrees to the idea of developing an integrated IS. What problems are likely to creep in?
- Assess the role of Information System specialist and consultants in situations as described in the above case