2. What is an MIS

An organisation's management information system is one that takes in both internal and external data and then converts that data into useful information that allows management to make decisions.

All organisations need information with which to make decisions. The type of information they need will depend on the purpose and role of the organisation.

Some companies are vast, for instance a supermarket chain has millions of customers and consequently the data they hold is also vast.

To handle this deluge of information it needs to be summarised, collated, graphed and charted, Trends need to be noted, competitor actions need to be understood, opportunities and threats need to be discussed.

All this is handled by a management information system.

The MIS usually consists of two parts