A Management Information System (MIS) professional, Mr. Onyedika Orakwue, has described MIS as a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system, designed to collect, process, store, and distribute information used for decision-making and for the coordination, control, analysis, and visualization of information in an organization.
He made this assertion at the recent Town and Gown interactive programme of the Department of Business Management, where he was the Guest Speaker on the topic, ‘The Role of Management Information System in Decision Making for Managers in Today’s Economy.’
Mr. Orakwue, who is also a Strategy, Enterprise Architecture, Business Analysis, and Project Management professional with Ecobank Nigeria, Lagos, elucidated that the blood on which Management Information Systems run was data and the quality of data available to an MIS system determined the quality of Information derived from an MIS system.
He clarified that data was an individual unit that contained raw materials, which did not carry any specific meaning. He defined information as a group of data that collectively carry a logical meaning; hence, information depended on data.
In his explanation, he stated that the reasons MIS is needed to make business decisions includes the fact that it makes for enhanced operational efficiency, aids innovation and new products development, gains and improves competitive advantage, provides a basis for informed decision-making on business strategy and direction as well as fast reaction to market changes. The goal, he said, was to turn data into information and information into insight.
Earlier in her opening remarks, the Head, Department of Business Management, Professor Anthonia Adeniji, appreciated God for the preservation of lives into a new year and thanked the Chancellor and Chairman, Board of Regents, and the management of Covenant University for providing this platform and the opportunity for interactive learning between Town and Gown.
She welcomed the Guest Speaker, Mr Onyedika Orakwue, and appreciated him for honouring the invitation, while praying that the relationship established today would grow. She reminded the speaker of the need to help the students on IT, job placement, and assisting them when they call.
Professor Adeniji, advised the students to stay engaged because life gave people what they asked for. She spoke on the need for the students to be IT-compliant because the world was now a global village. She pointed out the profitability of writing programmes since coding and programming were needed in industries.
She advised the students to forget about the fact that they were Business Management students and embrace the reality that they equally need IT knowledge, especially data analysis used in decision making.
She encouraged the students to listen attentively and ask questions, especially on the presentation and other areas they may need clarification.
Also at the event were other senior members of faculty and staff of the Department.