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͞MIS is the systematic study of the information system. An information system is set of
components (Hardware, software, data, customers & procedures) that operate together to
produce information which supports the operations and the management functions in an
organizations.͟ Says Ahithuv and Newman in 1986 (Newman, 1986).

Defining MIS is a herculean mission. Studies over this term had carried out several times but no
journals, societies and departments are not in alliance whether MIS is an appropriate term in
the business environment. For an instance this report deals with Argos retailing chain in UK
(Carey.J, 1991).

Argos intends to synchronize its organization and communication between top level
management to the bottom level management and able to achieve their goal and mission very
effectively through the implementation of the management information system (Carey.J, 1991).

9


History

Argos was founded in 1973 with 1000 staffs and first catalogue containing 4700 products (250
pages).From the beginning its self company utilized the scope of management information
system in their three levels of management to establish advanced marketing strategies .Soon
after the start , company developed exponentially and increased number of shops. In 1975
company covered almost 1.3 million customers ,and in 1984 implemented DTS-comart system
(which is one of the advanced IT retailing system at that time).After that in 1993 company
started using COBOL system in stores called AURA (Argos Unix Retail Application) computer
system. In 2000 company launched ASIST supply chain website for suppliers and all together
contributed to an annual sales of £18 million. In 2009 the annual sales of the company raised
to£ 4.282 billion, with the backup of modern information system.

Company highlights

¬V Delivering world class services to the customers with top level architecture, and
executing advanced business strategies to reduce to operating costs.
¬V Highly efficient stock management systems: Regulating the stock in daily basis, rather
than monthly or weekly.
¬V Replacement of traditional systems, for more effective multiple stock balance without
compromising customer friendly approach.
¬V Business strategies focused on the supplier co ordination and flexibility
management.(oracle,n.d.)
Company views and values.

Corporate responsibility: Keeping the environment green and clean is the first factor company
emphasis. Regulating the energy consumption, ethical business strategies and healthy
competition with neighbors. All this factors enables company socially, environmentally and
ethically responsible.

Customer friendly and caring approach: Easily accessible stores and services, internet shopping,
customer care units, various information access facilities inside store for customers.

Recycling and social responsibility: Argos using papers and catalogues are 100% recyclable.
Company has a number of local and central recycling points. Effective waste management
system

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MIS can be generally expressed as a collection of procedures like processing the information or
data ,which may be some figures, invoice values, rates, items received or delivered ,money etc,
And communicating this information to required users or managers. This information can be
used for the further comparison, analysis, storage for the proper operation of the
company.(Lucey,2005,p.4) Figure shows the flow of information in various management levels
with the effective implementation of MIS. The heart of all these operations is a central server
which is normally internet , through which the up and down flow of information take place. All
operations are controlled and coordinated on the basis of accurate information gathered
through MIS on the respective database system. This benefits top level, middle level and low
level managers to enhance their managing power to increase the profitability without
decrementing the quality of service.

From the above figure we can point out three basic levels of operation they are,

¬V 
 ll   : Product out letting is done through Point Of Sales(POS)
terminal.POS system contains all information about products, stock details, accessories
etc. In Argos customers can check details of products like price, availability, stock status,
etc by themselves using various another information delivering terminals. This makes
the working of POS terminal more easy and flexible. Store level operations also include a
manager controlling station with the backup of a storage level data base. Day today
information about sales ,products ,feedbacks and stocks are stored and communicated
with higher level of management for marketing and decision making purposes.

¬V 
  
   : This is the next level of management which
uses the information from the store level management system and releases stocks
according to the requirement in the stores. Warehouse managing section maintains the
stock in such way that, they meet any immediate requirement of products. Inventory
dada terminals takes the information of stock in and out .This information is
communicated to the higher level of management for decision making. Some heavy
goods are stored in warehouse instead of stores for the convenience and moved to the
store as per the customer booking. For this processes continues information transfer is
taking place between the first two levels of operation. Inventor management level
includes a number of employees and an inventory control Manager. Manager takes the
required decision to satisfy the needs of stores in specified area. A highly efficient
transport system is also under the control of inventory control manager. In spite of the
ware house to store transportation, home delivery of products is also under the
responsibility of this transport system. Separate employees are posted ,to take care of
internet and home delivery booking of products with respect to the information
 available from the store level management. Here data base is used saving and
manipulation of data.
¬V d 


l   : This is higher level of management where the
strategic decision making is taking place. This include board of directors, CEO and higher
level of managers. Top level of managers are diverted to different streams of
specialization like ,HR managers, Inventory managers, Financial ,public relation and IT
managers. All this governing and managing bodies together constitute the headquarter
management level of the company. Headquarter server database is a large database
which contains all information from all levels of management. Head office MIS has
direct link between other two levels of management, for proper control and guidance.
Managers in the headquarter level can access all information stored in head quarter
server which is continually updated with lower level databases. This information is then
analyzed and used for strategic decision making process. Bidirectional flow of
information through MIS regulates the business with top to bottom approach using
easier and fast IT communication technologies.

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MIS on the other side it is a dual information system consisting of both database and software
which is helpful for manager in their decision making. The main four major important elements
of MIS are actor, data, procedures and tools which in turn help the project to bring more
effectiveness and efficiency in the management of the overall business processes. MIS works on
the major elements as:

Actor: - Actor is one who operates or uses the Management information System for accessing
the information from the whole system and use in proper decision making. This may be the
board of directors, high level managers, various department managers, supervisors etc.

Data: - Data stored on the Management information system helps the managers to make
appropriate decisions on the business processes. The data stored in the MIS server will be used
by the managers or the persons who have the authority to take decisions in a company. They
collect those data from various point of the business and after various processes those data are
used to make proper decisions in the business processes

Procedures and Tools: - Procedures are the method in which the data is processed and analysed
by using the various analytical tools in the business. Managers use these analytical tools to
make proper decisions to bring effectiveness and efficiency in the business processes by
collecting and processing the information collected from the MIS system and use it in the
decision making process
Argos is a company having a wide range of products having different class of customers. They
effectively use the wide spread of information technology in the world as they use telephonic
orders and online shopping etc. Argos uses the technological advancement in the world as
using the electronic POS (Point Of Sale) system improves the accuracy in their financial
transitions. And the advanced barcode system helps to identify every single product by keeping
the records of the products by scanning using the POS system

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Managers are those who take decisions to increase the efficiency in managing business process.
These managers are divided in to three levels on the basis of their function

V Top level / Administrative level

In Argos the top level management consists of those with higher level of authority as
CEO, Board of directors, and higher level managers who formulate various strategic
decisions. They functions according to the information they collect from the MIS system
they have implemented in their business processes. They does the major functions like
executive coaching delegation and empowerment, change management and the most
important function providing leadership. The top level managers act as the actor in the
MIS system and they collects the data mostly related to the organisational goal and the
whole business from the system through the various procedures and analysis by using
various analytical tools and makes decisions like providing proper authority delegation
among the various department managers and other management personals. The main
important function of top level managers are change management as they manages
their change in the teams or individuals or organisation from a current state to a desired
future state, as various changes like strategic and technological changes are made by
analysing the data provided by the management information system. The one of the
major change can be the change in to the technologically advanced retail shops. They
also use these data to provide proper directions to the various levels to attain
organisational goals. Also these data helps in identifying the changes in the attitude of
the personals towards the organisation and its functions.

V Middle Level / Executory level

In Argos the middle level management consists of various branch managers and
department managers who formulate various tactical decisions. These are very important
decisions made in the management level as it have a risk factor in those decisions. In this level
the various department managers and branch managers does various functions like problem
solving, talent development, performance management, team building, etc. They use data from
the management information system as the various team records performance of the branch or
department etc. and analyse it by using various analytical tools to make appropriate decisions
on the basis of their authority delegated by the top level management. They makes decisions
on the problems faced by the business in various levels, they provide proper talent
development decisions for who is in need etc. They also use the information on the stock
management system assessing the danger level in stock and taking decisions to maintain the
appropriate stock level.

V Low level / Supervisory / Operative / First-line managers

According to ·
 , ͞Supervisory management refers to those executives

whose work has to be largely with personal oversight and direction of operative
employees͟. In other words, they are concerned with direction and controlling function
of management.

In Argos the there are supervisory/operative management level which

consists of supervisors, section officers, foreman etc. this is the direction and controlling
function of the organisation they collect data from the MIS system implemented in their
particular section to analysis the workers and their day to day activities. They also uses the
quantity and quality of the products and the cost of the production etc. they collects various
data and analysis the actual day to day functions and position of the department or branch
and analyse it through various analytical tools to make proper decisions on the production
quality and quantity, jobs assigned to the workers, the human resource requirement,
maintenance and the proper functioning of the particular sections etc. they also uses the
employees data to take motivational decisions. They gives proper directions to the workers
to work to attain the organisational goals and they makes effective controlling of the actual
performance to the predefined targeted goals. They are the authority to make the work
done and make proper equipment and machinery decisions for making the work done in
the most effective and efficient way.

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The business analytical system especially MIS is useful in the collate of business data and on the
presentation and production of the reports to be used for the effective decision making process
in the managerial levels of an organization.

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Management information system is basically connected with the refining up of data to the
useful information after all it is used to communicated with the various department in an
organizations for appropriate decision making in the management level. The given diagram
gives clear cut information about the information system running between in Argos. The useful
data can be collected with the use of the information technology comprising computers and
telecommunication network. (BPC,2006).

In retailing chain like Argos the MIS is very useful since the main goal of the Argos is to deliver
world class services and products to the customers with its developed Information Technology
architecture. The MIS system has helped a lot for the managers in the different departments to
communicate and take effective decisions. From the above figure information are divided into
four mainly

1)V Descriptive Information.

2)V Diagnostic Information.
3)V Predictive Information.
4)V Prescriptive information.

Descriptive information: Descriptive information points out ͞what is͟ which mainly focuses on
towards the what is the condition of the business and it describes about the business at a
specified point of time. Descriptive information are very important to the managers without
any descriptive information many problems would not be identified. Descriptive information
which includes the financial results, product marketing, inventory and stock control report
which is highly in needed in the company like Argos retailing chain with this descriptive
information the chief decision are made. In Management decision making process there are
three types of decisions which are Strategic tactical and operational decisions. With the help of
descriptive information strategic decisions are made.
The second type of information is called as diagnostic information it says ͞What went wrong͟.
The diagnostic information measures the disparity between ͞what is͟ and ͞what ought to be͟
the diagnostic information can be used to define the problem that develop in the business like
Is the rate of earned on investment is too low or not? This type of information cannot be
answered with the descriptive type of information alone. Once a problem is detected in the
business, a manager may choose an appropriate steps or decision to deal with the problem
without any negative after effects. An appropriate decision made from the diagnostic
information can make managers strong enough to achieve the goals of Argos. The tactical
decisions can be made effectively with the help of diagnostic information.

Predictive Information is the one defines the problem or avoid the problem in advance.
Predictive information is needed by the managers to reduce the rate of present as well as
future risk in Argos. Here in Argos Predictive information is much important mainly two tiers of
the management especially in higher level of the management as well as the middle level
management. This information is vital in formulating the business strategies in the company
both for better present and future scenarios in the company and which are deeply related to
the financial impacts in an organization. Predictive information takes many forms which
includes what all are strategies which is needed to be changed in the next year. Here managers
use various budgeting techniques, business models and other business analytical tools to
evaluate expected changes in the business where as prescriptive is focusing towards the
answering the ͞what should be done?͟ provisions of this information requires the utilization of
predictive information as well.

In managerial decision making as we move up from the low level management to the top level
management the value of information is increased and the volume of information is decreased
thus as the one in the management level acquires the knowledge and wisdom the decision
making process is refined.

Conclusion

From all the above discussion we can point out Argos as an excellent example for the
companies become successful because of the efficient use of advanced Management
Information system. Company have wide range of strategic functions, which uses modern
information technology to coordinate their overall process to reach deep into the different
classes of customers .According to Terry Duddy, Argos is very careful about the rapidly changing
customer outlook, Peak seasonal period and offers which attracts customers to
Argos(BBCnews,2007).This enabled company to raise sales to £ 6.023billion current
year(BBCnews,2010).Performance of the company made a profit of 294 million, which exceeds
the expectations of the company even though the figure is 11% down from last year
profit(UKwirednews,2010).As per the performance levels of past years Argos can be considered
a high profile catalogue retailer company recognized for its brand name, value, quality and
convenience.


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