Management Information System: An Emerging Professionalism

-Ashish Baniya Chhetri

                                                           Management Information Systems (MIS) is the study of people, technology, organizations and the relationships among them. MIS professionals help firms realize maximum benefit from investment in personnel, equipment, and business processes. MIS is a people-oriented field with an emphasis on service through technology. If you have an interest in technology and have the desire to use technology to improve people’s lives, a degree in MIS may be important.

Businesses use information systems at all levels of operation to collect, process and store data. Management aggregates and disseminates this data in the form of information needed to carry out the daily operations of business. Everyone who works in business, from someone who pays the bills to the person who makes employment decisions, uses information systems. A car dealership could use a computer database to keep track of which products sell best. A retail store might use a computer-based information system to sell products over the Internet. In fact, many (if not most) businesses concentrate on the alignment of MIS with business goals to achieve competitive advantage over other businesses.

MIS professionals create information systems for data management (i.e., storing, searching and analyzing data). In addition, they manage various information systems to meet the needs of managers, staff and customers. By working collaboratively with various members of their work group, as well as with their customers and clients, MIS professionals are able to play a key role in areas such as information security, integration and exchange. As an MIS major, we will learn to design, implement and use business information systems in innovative ways to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the company.

A common misconception that MIS only concerns programming. However, programming is just a small part of the MIS. While programming concepts represent some of the founding concepts and information systems development, implementation and use, many jobs in MIS do not utilize programming at all. A large portion of the MIS degree focuses on data analysis, teamwork, leadership, project management, customer service and underlying business theories. These aspects of the degree are what set the MIS professional apart from a computer science specialist.

·         Do you enjoy working with people?

·         Would you enjoy the chance to work on global problems with people from all over the world?

·         Do you enjoy analyzing and solving problems?

·         Do you want to create innovative, cutting-edge technology solutions?

·         Do you want to learn how to make businesses more efficient, effective and competitive?

Then you should consider as your major the field that is experiencing a critical shortage of professionally trained individuals. A field where demand is skyrocketing with projected growth rates of 38 percent – the fastest of any business discipline (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

MIS professionals make business better

Below are some frequently asked questions regarding careers in MIS. This information will help one learn more about a career in MIS and to better understand the opportunities such a career may have in store for one.

What kinds of people pursue MIS degrees?

The profiles of MIS professionals are varied, but in general, such individuals possess many of the following traits:

1. ·         good problem solving skills
2. ·         ability to effectively manage time and resources
3. ·         a clear vision of “the big picture” as well as the “small details”
4. ·         a desire to work closely with other people
5. ·         excellent communication skills
6. ·         ability to think strategically about technology
7. ·         a desire to take responsibility for developing and implementing their own ideas

What are typical career options for MIS professionals?

1. ·         IT Consultant
2. ·         Web Developer
3. ·         Information Systems Manager
4. ·         Business Intelligence Analyst
5. ·         Network Administrator
6. ·         Business Application Developer
7. ·         Systems Analyst
8. ·         Technical Support Specialist
9. ·         Business/Financial Analyst
10. ·         Systems Developer

Why should one choose to major in MIS?

1. ·         Job satisfaction
2. ·         High placement rate
3. ·         High salaries
4. ·         Exciting field
5. ·         Challenging field
6. ·         Hands-on problem solving
7. ·         Innovation and creativity
8. ·         Global opportunities
9. ·         Great chance for advancement

What is an average salary for an MIS professional?

From 2002 to 2009, MIS undergraduate starting average salaries rose from $42,165 - $56,000 per year. Though the economy has taken a downturn, In 2011 MIS graduates received average starting salaries of $55,990 per year with some students receiving salaries as high as $70,000 per year.

In conclusion, as I have mentioned in my last article Knowledge Management: An Organizational Need, Knowledge Management is one of the most requirement in our organization for recovery of various different aspects and perspectives to be learned from our previous colleagues. Similarly, MIS is also one of the most important and need of the organization as it is requirement for Accounting and Finance, Human Resource, Supply Chain Management, Marketing Research as well as many various part and department of an organization. So, MIS professional are to be develop in our recent future so that an organization can itself globalize its way of doing thing in better ways and in effective and efficiently.  So, it is one of our requirements that any university in Nepal also should keep MIS as electives or major subject so that not only engineering or Information management graduates will have knowledge of MIS but management graduates must have knowledge as Management graduates are decision maker in any organization. So, MIS professional is one of the emerging brand of employment opportunity in market in recent future.

Still Nepal: Going On And On

Still Nepal: Going On And On

                    -Ashish Baniya Chhetri

Nepal is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People’s Republic of China, and to the south, east and west by the Republic of India. With an area of 147,181 square kilometers (56,827 sq. ml) and a population approximately 30 million, Nepal is the world’s 93^rd largest country by land mass and the 41^st most populous country. Kathmandu is the capital of nation and a treasure house of ancient art and culture. Nepal is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of biodiversity due to its unique geographical position and altitude variation. The elevation of the country ranges from 60 meters above sea level to the highest point on the earth, Mt. Everest at 8,848 m, all within a distance of 150 kilometers resulting in climatic conditions from sub-tropical to arctic.

The mountainous north has eight of the world’s ten tallest mountains, including the highest point on earth; Mount Everest called Sagarmatha in Nepali. It contains more than 240 peaks over 20,000 feet (6069 meters) above the sea level. The country is a potpourri of the ethnic groups and sub-groups who speaks over 93 languages and dialects. Nepal offers an astonishing diversity of sightseeing attractions and adventures opportunities found nowhere else on earth. Nepal is the most beautiful and stunning Himalayan country in the world. Though small in size, it is known in the world as a nation of color and contrasts- a hidden Shangri-La of nature, culture and adventures.

In the countryside the way of life is still traditional, nature is at its best, high mountains and lush valleys are ideal places for trekking and mountaineering, flora and fauna invites a nature lover for a rendezvous with them. Nepal and Himalayas- the two names go side by side. Nepal, in political maps, is one of the smallest countries in the world but has amazingly diverse geography, landscapes, culture and traditions. Nepal, situated in the lapse of might Himalayas, is regarded as Dev Bhumi, the land of gods and world’s two major religions Hinduism and Buddhism co-exist in perfect religion tolerance. Nepal is rich with traditions of art and culture. Nepal, a birth place of Gautam Buddha, a birth place Devi Sita, a country full of resources and infrastructure. We are proud that we are the citizens of that country where Bhrikuti a great political minded lady took birth, a great sculpture Araniko took birth. Nepal, a regiment of great Gorkhali and a place where each and every people are equally given chance to act as per their wish.

Starting from Nepal’s past evidences when there was Rana regime, we are familiar about the behavior of rulers in those days and the way the general public are being treated, as animals.  Mostly Ladies were treated as the servants to serve in their bed at any time by any one. Still Nepal was going on and on.

Similarly coming to the regime of Panchayat Rule, we finds the strict rules and regulations were being implemented for the welfare of the country and many were punished till death in that time. Still Nepal was going on and on.

Now let us not go far behind the history, 2050 B.S. CPN Maoist get through the internal conflict and we all are familiar with various incidences of bomb blasting, human trafficking and rapes, and many more. Although the government of King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev was doing its best to solve the problem and searching for the long term solution. Meanwhile there was such a huge Royal Massacre, a huge loss to the country and many people who want to earn money for years and years came to the government but the country was not able to succeed but still Nepal is going on and on.

Similarly, talking about the recent incident, huge destructive earthquake came to Nepal and many Nepalese are still under the tent house. People have got through hand to mouth problem. There were shortages of many things including daily requirement, hospital usage, medicines and many more. The inflation rate increases by two digits within four months period. And black marketing was in the increasing trend. Meanwhile the Madhesi morcha got blockade in India-Nepal border. Then what public will do, as they were pressurized by the quakes. In addition to that there was a blockade tension because of which inflation and black marketing got the peak. This is what all Nepalese are bearing. The price of petrol rises five time to ten times more than government rate which could be easily purchased in black market. The tense people got a blast with that. Similarly, the industries got closed for more than 150 days because of which the country got loses of fifty to sixty Arab in those 150 days. Still Nepal is going on and on.

Again when we talked about the destruction of world heritage in Kathmandu and many places around Kathmandu and its re-construction plans. We can hear that different countries have given dollars and dollars of foreign aid to the victims and re-construction plans of these areas but the government personnel are doing what? Can we understand? The victims are still under the tents and still they are suffering from hand to mouth problems. We can see that the re-construction of the world heritage is still pending from Nepal Government side although the local people are doing somewhat they could do. But still Nepal is going on and on.

Now enough is enough. Although Nepal is going on and on despite these all things. Now it’s time to learn more and do more. Like Japan after such devastating blast learned more and now they are at No.1 position in each and every sector. Likewise we also need to learn more from this very incident and despite to increase and give tension to public the government need to think of what will be best solution to develop long term plans to develop wealthy Nepal. So it is the duty of all we, Nepalese to build a prosperous and healthy Nepal with our feeling of “Gratitude is an Attitude”. So, we must welcome any of the Foreign Investment in our country so we can increase our country’s wealth so that we can increase our economy by going hand in hand with other developing countries.

Knowledge Management: An Organizational Need

                                                                                          -Ashish Baniya Chhetri

What if when any people in the organization leave the Job? Is there any loss to the company if any people who have dedicated his/her years to the company leave the job?  And question arise how the company have utilized person for the company success and how much the person have done to the company’s success? Is there any valid data, records or proofs that can be utilized by the company after the person leaves the job? I think, “No Company is there that keep such records”, so organization need proper management of Human Minds and absolutely the Knowledge Management.

Now question arise what Knowledge Management (KM) exactly is? Is it just managing knowledge and sharing experience of any staff to their colleagues. No, it is not just managing knowledge. Then what is it? Knowledge Management (KM) is a managing technique to efficiently manage knowledge in an organization that comprises of construction, compilation, collection, collation of knowledge generated within the organization (and external sources) in a Knowledge Repository (KR), organize the knowledge so constructed in the organization in such a way that it is easily accessible to all those in an organization, who need it, on time by setting a tools, including the computer system that facilitates ease of accessing the KR as well as building and maintaining it.

Knowledge Management helps in capturing, developing, sharing and effectively using organizational knowledge in multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary approached to achieve organizational objectives by making the best use of technology. Many large companies, public institution and non-profit organizations have resources dedicated to internal knowledge management efforts, often as a part of their business strategy, information technology or human resource management department. Several consulting companies provide strategy and advice regarding Knowledge Management to these organizations.

Knowledge Management efforts typically focus on organizational objectives such as improved performance, competitive advantage, innovation, the sharing of lesson learned, integration and continuous improvement of the organization. Knowledge Management efforts overlaps with organizational learning and may be distinguished from that by greater focus on the management of knowledge as a strategic assets and focus on encouraging the sharing of knowledge. It is an enabler of organizational learning.

Knowledge Management efforts have a long history, for instance on-the-job discussion, formal apprenticeship, discussion forum, corporate libraries, professional training and mentoring programs. Behind the second half of the 20^th century, when the use of computer system tremendously increased, specific adaptation of technologies such as Management Information System (MIS), Human Resource Information System (HRIS), Knowledge Bases, expert system, Knowledge repository, Group decision support system, intranets and computer supportive work have been introduced which added more values to the Knowledge Management.

In course of KM in 1999, the term Personal Knowledge Management was introduced which reflect that the management of knowledge in individual level. This reflect the key lesson that people and cultural norms which influence their behavior are the most crucial resources for successful knowledge creation, dissemination and application; cognitive social and organizational learning processes are essential to the success of Knowledge Management Strategy, and measurement benchmarking and incentives are essential to accelerate the learning process and to drive cultural change. Thus, Knowledge Management Program can yield impressive benefits to individuals and organizations if they are purposeful, concrete and action-oriented.

Now talking about pioneers in Knowledge Management back to 1982, General Electric (GE) has collected all customer complaints in a data base that supports telephone operators in answering customer calls. GE has programmed 1.5 million potential problems and their solutions into its system. Similarly, McKinsey and Bain & Co., two management consulting firms have development “Knowledge Databases” that contains experiences from every assignment including names of team member and client reaction. Every team must appoint a “historian” to document the work.

Giving a glance to benefits of Knowledge Management (KM), it is beneficial especially in both social and business segments. An effective KM program should help a company leveraging the assets and provides improving customer services by streamlining response time, boost revenues by getting products and services to market faster, enhancing employee retention rates by organizing and recognizing the value of employees’ Knowledge and rewarding them for it, streamlining operations and reducing costs by eliminating redundant or unnecessary process.

In conclusion, Knowledge Management (KM) role is to connect knowledge owner to the knowledge seekers. The knowledge of one is transferred to the mind of the other so that a new decision can be made or situation can be handled. KM provides a means to capture and store passing knowledge and broker it to the appropriate individuals. Thus, present day’s organizations, large or small, gather vast amount of knowledge during the course of their operation. This knowledge remains in the minds of organizational members conducting the operation-be it research, design, development, manufacturing or service. This wealth of organization knowledge disappears when these person leave the organization. The effects of losing organizational knowledge is especially noticeable and can have far reaching implications when people occupying important positions such as chief of Design or Chief of Marketing leave since all the knowledge they gathered over long years of experience is lost permanently to the organization , along with them. A significant amount of time must be invested in relearning and reinvesting the work processes. Most organization do have some manual system of compiling knowledge to create a corporate memory but they have not been effective mainly due to difficulties in careful organization and accessing of the compile knowledge. Computers have not played a significant role in this area, till recently, having mainly concentrate in the data processing field; obviously due to faster payback period for the money invested. However, things are changing and this field is receiving due attention from developers and organization.