Management Information Systems

Crosby manufacturing company has established itself among other industrial players as effective, reliable and cost effective in electronics component manufacturing industry. To achieve the above mentioned qualities, the company has recently dedicated itself to production, supply, and servicing of electronics in the shortest lead time possible, focusing on the long term sustainability and wellbeing of the industry and its customers. The major corporate huddle that the corporation seeks to streamline is the management of costs and its control systems.

With the several departments in the corporation, the reporting procedures have been complicated making the firm lose out on major government contracts. To streamline those procedures for reporting and to be responsive to customer financial reporting requirements, the firm has therefore, adopted a computerized reporting procedure. This research looks at the various management cost and control systems that have been updated and how they should be updated to meet customer needs and flexibility. The control systems especially focus on project management, cost accounting, planning, data processing and management information systems.  

Literature Review

Rational Unified Process (RUP) is computer software that is essential in project management. For a firm in the business of manufacturing of electronic components, the RUP is especially very useful. The software is designed and documented using a language that is simple to customize to meet various differing project management requirements as per client needs (Gibbs, 2007). Crosby Manufacturing Corporation has been in the forefront in the adoption of the system for improved lead time in manufacture and supply of electronic equipment needed in various projects. The RUP has been supplemented with the computerized project management by use of Prince2, also designed for management and control of projects.

Those projects utilizing the management method are strictly defined by an explicit start, its middle and completion. The projects are especially shaped by the objective of the project coupled by the organization structure in the project. The appointment of Tim Emary as the project leader by Livingstone especially favored the applicability of these two computerized approached to streamlining of a computerized project management (Kruchten, 2004).

In project management, the specialized packages help in specifying the nature of the project, the specific needed training and qualifications for the stakeholders, the information they need and even the wage requirements for each member. Such clarity is what has improved the lead time for this organization putting it back to the limelight. In business, the cliché that ‘time is money’ especially makes a lot of sense when it come to cost accounting. The expenses and incomes of the business should not only be documented and anticipated, but also have to be recognized and organized in the shortest time possible (Kerzner, 2009).

The computerized cost accounting offers the following facilities that have been key in the improvement of the firm and the business community at large; automatic updating of accounts on suppliers on the purchases ledger, on-screen printout and input of invoices on sales, the automatic updating of customer accounts contained in sales ledgers, adjustment of levels of stock in the business and the much needed automatic computation of payroll and other associated entries among other important cost accounting procedures in the firm (Chen, Gaurav, & Ramayya, 2011). The main advantages offered by the computerized accounting systems could be summarized to; a relatively high speed and mobility when it comes to reporting, elimination of routine paper work, reliability of the data and information, the internal control; systems depict an increased productivity, highly improved accuracy of arithmetic figures and easy backing up of business records and possible restoration of transaction records.

Management Information systems (MIS) are important in the provision of the information relating to business that the managers need to make effective and efficient decisions relating to a particular business organization. MIS integrates the computer systems to the business world objectives. The MIS are a vital tool to both the workforce and the management in collection and analysis of data and information that is vital to the management in decision making (Nowduri, 2011). As a general observation, through the numerous department and avenues that the MIS can be applied in firms for the attainment of business objective ranging from refining the core competencies of the business organization, quick reflexes and enhancement of supply chain management.

In the management of firm’s objectives, this organization has especially singled out lead time as a very important management objective to focus on. This is because many contracts whether awarded by the government or by private investors are timely scheduled. Focusing on time is one of the core categories in the SMART ratio. In that business objectives have to be Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic and Time-framed. To beat competitors, the time taken by the firm from the time that customers order goods and the time they are delivered has considerably been shorted. The MIS is important in the judging and tracking of the performance so far achieved by the firm on the time lead time objective (Wafa & Akram, 2011).

Any business organization involved in the sale of electronic products requires a quick reflex in the addressing of customers concerns on innovation and also monitoring of their innovation’s diffusion in the market. The improved supply chain provides the organization with the needed ability to quickly react to market changes. The adopted MIS systems that the organization has adopted have enabled it to effectively react to environmental concerns, making it outsmart its competitors and controlling a larger market share.

Analysis

Crosby manufacturing company as a result of adoption of computerization of its management information systems has tremendously improved its performance in the recent years. As the research has unveiled, the computerization of project plans, cost accounting concepts and information systems help firms in attaining efficiency and control of its costs and resources. The management of the procedures of the business organization is essential in helping the management in the making of informed decisions that are crucial in the short run and the long run business objectives.

The ability to project into the future with a relatively high degree of accuracy has seen the organization turn around to its former positions of glory as a result. It is evident that although computers cannot create business on their own, they are very important management tools in the laying of strategies and the understanding of the effects of those strategies to the business organization (Wafa & Akram, 2011). The ability to plan into the future and the ability to forecast the effects of those decisions in the business is essential in the decision making process by the firm’s management.

 That information comes from the ability of the computers to transform data into important information. Data is converted into information that interprets the business performance through financial statements reports that monitor, plan and implement business strategies. Patterns and trends in the industry that would have otherwise remained irrelevant to the policy makers are unveiled because computers can handle enormous amounts of data volumes.

Due to the needed flexibility and responsiveness to customers concerns, the MIS has emerged out to be very critical in running simulations. Before the management can adopt a new strategy, it is important to look at the course of events hypothetically before actually directing the overall business into the new strategy. For example, the computerized systems in the business can predict the effects that a change in the sale price of a product will have on the volume of sales in the short term and in the long term. Such is the impact that decision support systems have on the firms.

Plan of Action

As a result of the adoption of MIS in the Crosby electronic manufacturing company, the various decisions arrived have shortened the lead time from two months to only three weeks. As already discussed, in the electronic industry, lead time is especially important because electronic technological innovation becomes out-phased fast too much time is supply of ordered electronic goods risks rendering the products obsolete or even imitation by rival competitors in the market. Coupled by the loose mechanisms for protection of innovation in the electronic industry, in the form of trademarks and patents, only secret arrangements between a few firms control the imitation of designs in the market. The MIS has helped the management and the sales department to supply the new innovation products in the market in the shortest lead time possible thereby eliminating the risks associated with long lead times in the electronic industry (Nowduri, 2011). Such marketing decisions have witnessed the turn-around of the firm to profitability, efficiency and effectiveness.

Anticipated Consequences and Conclusion

The adopted strategy will see the company emerge as a market leader in the electronics industry in the next one year. The efficiency so far witnessed can only grow to be more effective and lead to reinvestment of the resulting profits back to the company further strengthening its market position. With the attainment of the funds requested and the awarding of the several coming government contracts, the business will be able to attain more flexibility to customer needs and quick responsiveness to market dynamics.

However, technological innovation protection remains the most potential business threat that the business faces. Even after the different regulations and rules on product standardization, the small firms in the industry continue to market imitation substitute products and complimentary electronic components that have seen the firm lose some of its market share. The much anticipated funding will be dedicated to research in technology that will ensure production and supply of electronic components that are prominent among customers and also difficult to imitate.

The computerized manufacturing and other mechanisms will ensure that the efficiency attained so far in the market are maintained by adoption of sound decisions focused on the long term good of the organization. The adoption of the IMS will improve resource allocation, communication and project coordination in the firm, crucial for the success of the overall business organization as has been witnessed recently.