Most organisations today aren't short on data — they're short on a system that turns that data into decisions. Every department, from top management down to the smallest unit, needs its own share of information, and the amount each level needs is never quite the same. A management information system is essentially the working combination of people, data records, and manual and automated processes that collects, processes, stores and distributes the information an organisation runs on. Put together well, it supports decision-making, strengthens control and analysis, and helps build a clear picture of where things stand today and where they're headed.

Companies that adopt these systems properly tend to move away from paper-based administrative work altogether, shifting instead toward remote and what's often called "smart" management. This course is built around that shift: giving participants the practical knowledge of information technology, its application inside companies, and the expertise needed to manage it well.

Knowledge and Benefits

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Employ information systems in making faster, better-supported decisions, and recognise the role these programs play at the management level.
• Build and operate information systems programs within their own companies, and apply the basics needed to implement and activate an information technology system.
• Work confidently with the main information systems software used in international companies, alongside the electronic devices and communication networks that support them.
• Identify the sources, types and objectives of information, and judge the right timing for making it available.
• Organise information clearly and flexibly, measure it quantitatively, and identify which information holds real value for the organisation's operations and decisions.
• Apply the administrative, leadership and executive skills needed to solve problems, and spot the strengths and weaknesses within a management information system to avoid common mistakes.

Who Should Attend?

• Managers of institutions and commercial companies, heads of administrative departments, and employees working within decision-making departments.
• Managers and staff of information systems offices, administrative computing offices, and decision-support departments.
• Employees working on modernising information systems programs, along with information technology professionals generally.
• Business school students and anyone looking to learn the information systems software used inside international companies.

Module 1: Why Information Matters More Than Ever in Management

• Administration: its definition and its role in developing the work of institutions.
• The importance of decision-making within management.
• Information sources, the objectives of information systems, and the value of information.

Module 2: Foundations of Management Information Systems

• Definition of information systems and information systems strategies.
• The information systems revolution and its strategic role within organisations.
• Information systems and business organisations; management information systems across administrative levels; types of computer-based management information systems.

Module 3: Data, Resources and Organisational Redesign

• Managing organisations' data resources.
• Redesigning organisations using information systems.

Module 4: Specialised Information Systems in Practice

• The concept and types of information systems programs, and the specialisation of each.
• Automated office processing systems, decision support systems and expert systems, along with the advantages and disadvantages of expert systems.
• Database management systems, information retrieval systems and bibliographic information systems.

Module 5: Systems Across Organisational Levels

• Transaction processing systems for the company's operational level.
• Management information systems for the knowledge level of employee development.
• Office systems that support simple office work, accounts, and building rules for information; executive support systems.

Module 6: Decision-Making and Creative Problem-Solving

• The stages of decision-making and the role information systems play within them.
• The areas of administrative work that information systems programs can contribute to managing.
• The well-known Scamper technique in the arts of creativity and innovation within management.

Module 7: Functional Systems Across the Business

• Sales and marketing systems, and sales management systems.
• Manufacturing and production systems, and control and automation systems for manufacturing machines.
• Finance and accounting systems, the administrative general ledger system, and human resources systems.