MIS and Management Decisions

This research examines the contributions to business operations, management decision-making, and the creation of strategic advantage made by the application of information systems (IS) technology through the development of management information systems (MISs). The general focus of this examination is on relevant activities in the automobile manufacturing industry in the United States, while a more specific focus is on the use of MIS by the Chrysler Corporation.

Information-processing requirements are defined by the volume of data about organizational activities that is gathered and interpreted by organization participants (Murphy, 1992, p. 27). Organizations process information to produce the knowledge necessary for them to operate successfully. An absence of reliable information compromises this process. Information reliability is compromised by both equivocality and uncertainty.

Uncertainty refers to a lack of specific information required to accomplish a task (Murphy, 1992, p. 27). Uncertainty implies that the necessary information is available somewhere. The level of uncertainty is reduced through the location and making usable the necessary information. The perception of information uncertainty increases as organizations become either or both more complex and dynamic. Both characteristics occur freq

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e more than $60 per vehicle for a typical assembly plant. Adding the additional savings from electronic document preparation and transmission, the total benefits of EDI per vehicle amounts to more than $100. Across the entire Chrysler assembly system, annual savings amount to $220 million at current production levels. Creation of Strategic Advantage and IS Reducing cycle time is a significant strategic advantage created by MISs through the application of IS technology (O'Connor & Zack, 1992, p. 90). Cycle time is the period from product design to customer delivery (Campbell, 1995, pp. 34-35). Another significant strategic advantage created involves the added flexibility and speed with which a company can respond to change in diverse markets simultaneously. The EDI program at Chrysler Corporation was implemented in 1984 with the introduction of the Supplier Delivery Schedule transaction system that provides the precise shipping quantities to suppliers electronically (Mukhopadhyay, Kekre, & Kalathur, 1995, p. 138). The impetus for the program came from management directives to implement JIT (Just-in-Time) practices in assembly centers using EDI. In 1990, "the ANSI X12 standard was mandated by Chrysler and adopted almost univ
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2490
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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