At present, organizations are increasingly complex, every day they incorporate new technologies into their way of working with what they manage to compete in the globalized market that the world currently handles.
For this reason, it is important that computerized or systematized information systems are implemented in each company, thus allowing them to improve their way of working, making them more competitive.
As we can see in the following work, we are in a time of change, the generation of executives who are leading companies must have a very open mind to support the advances in technology and apply them to their organization, thanks to the low costs of the computerized systems and the competition in them, it is easier to demand and implement means that facilitate us to make correct decisions.
Some experts compare the era of the Industrial Revolution with the era that technology is currently experiencing, with which I share my idea because every day we see new software, new equipment, new ways of doing things and the organization that is not prepared for these changes, that it does not have information capacity or that it is very weak simply cannot compete against the rest of the organizations.
Here's how executives of this new generation find support to help them be more efficient.
INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR EXECUTIVES
(EXECUTIVE INFORMATION SYSTEM, EIS)
An SIE (EIS) is an information system for managers that allows automating the work of obtaining the most important data of an organization, summarizing and presenting them in the most understandable way possible, provides the executive with easy access to internal information and external to the business in order to track critical success factors.
SIEs (EIS) are primarily focused on providing information on the current situation of the company and leave the visualization or projection of this information in future scenarios on a secondary level.
In a typical information systems environment, the system consolidates and manages many of the daily information functions in relation to the office, administrative, financial and any other nature that the executive requires.
SIEs are generally built by integrating software designed to operate in conjunction with the institution's existing information infrastructure and applications.
The system should offer reports and analysis of information in real time to the entire organization, it should include easy-to-read charts, graphs and reports, especially intuitive information that allows administrators to track critical indicators.
SIEs should provide management access to key categories of relevant data, such as internal data created by the organization, global institution data, external data (including information about competitors), and global data (with the use of sources like the Internet).
The use of SIE has allowed many organizations to compare key data with that of their competitors.
It is recommended that SIEs include a variety of built-in routine reports, and the system tools should allow administration users to create specially designed reports that can be sent to another workstation or directly to a printer.
Characteristics of an EIS:
A good executive information system presents information in the form of graphs, columns, and text.
Charting ability is needed to facilitate rapid analysis of current conditions and trends; the tables present greater detail and allow the analysis of variations; Text information adds interpretations and details of the data.
The main characteristics of executive information systems (EIS) are the following:
- They are designed to meet the specific and particular needs of the top management of the company. They extract, filter, compress and monitor critical business information. It means that executives can interact directly with the system without the support or assistance of intermediaries It is a system developed with high standards in its man-machine interfaces, characterized by high-quality graphics, tabular information and in the form of text. They can access information found online, being extracted directly from the databases of The system is supported by specialized hardware items such as high-resolution, touch-sensitive monitors or video, mouse, and state-of-the-art printers.
There are a number of software products available to everyone for strategic planning, designed to train and assist managers with strategic planning.
Factors for the success of an EIS:
Talking about the implementation of an EIS, most of the time, means talking about a long process against barriers of the technological, organizational, psychological, educational, etc. Coupled with this, many times there is only one chance for success or failure.
EISs are supposed to be tailor-made for use by high-level executives; however, few are those who use them.
Decision support systems are often difficult to justify using standard economic evaluation methods. An EIS is commonly developed with high expectations of success, however they end up failing, and the main reasons are, according to some researchers, based on the following evaluation criteria:
- It is obvious that if a system is available it means that users will have access to it, in an uncomplicated way and from key points. If this does not happen, the system will be of no use. An important indicator is its frequency of use. If a system is not used, or is simply not used by potential users, this will be reflected in the success of the system. Satisfaction. If the system cannot satisfy its users, they will not use the system. Positive Impact. A system is successful if it has a beneficial impact on executives and the organization. By making the first, better decisions the organization receives more benefits. Diffusion.Another point that indicates success is the spread of the system. The number of people using the system increases after initial users have tried it.
In the past, the lack of suitable applications to support the concept was another major limitation, but today the solutions on the market have the ability to easily integrate with other applications.
New solutions are more flexible to user needs and generally revolve around fact-based structures.
For an EIS to be successful, it needs to meet the following factors:
Make it look good.
- Make it relevant Make it fast Make the information available and up-to-date
The above four factors ensure that an EIS is used in a business and that it is as successful as expected.
Many researchers such as Rockart and DeLong, Paller and Laska, Bird, Watson, and Turban have delved into this field, managing to define ten key Critical Success Factors (CSF):
- Top management commitment and support: Most studies recognize the importance of an executive-level sponsor who is committed enough to the system to invest the time and effort necessary to guide its development while understanding its limitations. Operational Support: In order to strengthen the support from the previous executive, it is necessary to have the help of the user.
The project leader must have both technical and operational knowledge depending on the business, as well as possess the necessary communication skills to interact with senior executives. Appropriate technology: The selection of both hardware and software is of great importance in the acceptance of the system.Data management: The system, through its users, must be able to add, extract and have reliable data accessible from internal and external media. Clearly link the EIS and the objectives of the company: There must be a clear link between the objectives of the company and the benefits of the system. Management of organizational resistance: Resistance in any organization is an ever-present cause of failure in the implementation of new projects. This matter must be handled with special attention, since the flow of data in an information system can alter data that does not reflect reality. Management of system evolution and propagation: Successful use of the system by a user or by the mentor executive translates into the spread of the system and new demands for access to it. Here it should be considered, as the system evolves, what is the profile of user needs requesting new accesses, taking it into account for future expansions. Evolution development methodology: The most common way to find the way that technology can give value to the user is through the Prototype method (show, criticize, improve). Carefully define the information requirements: Something very important in this process is the definition of user requirements. Success will only apply if these needs are well understood, which is not an easy task.
Failure factors of an EIS:
The following are the factors considered "failure factors" in Executive Information systems:
- Technological: The EIS is no better than the original system. The technology is not suitable or is inappropriate. The interfaces are complicated or the menus are extensive. Support: Information requests from users were ignored. The changes in the information needs of users were not carried out. There are no improvements in electronic reports. Inadequate knowledge of the business among members of the support team. It does not attack the significant problems of the company. Lack of data availability. Late delivery of operational data. User Related:
- Limiting the focus of the EIS to a user Lack of commitment from users Lack of clarity of the purpose of the EIS in the sponsoring executive Failure to provide the means for executives to communicate ideas Users not able to communicate decisions Organizational resistance
Benefits of an EIS:
Information systems for Executives have endless benefits that in the long run help the organization, the following are the main ones:
- Information on time: faster access, more accurate, relevant and concise information Sensitivity to the environment: Better access to information, even external data, better sensitivity to the environment, and more competitive information Effectiveness of executives: Improved communication, improved performance, savings in execution time, better presentation of data Fulfillment of strategic objectives: Increase in control radius, improved planning, better decision making, better understanding of problems, better development of alternatives Economy: Savings in costs, less paperwork, greater response to change in customer needs, reduction support in the organization
The EIS development process:
The EIS development process has characteristics that make it unique.
In the first instance, because it is the first system that is developed in the company aimed at the executive; who is the user of this system.
Second, the techniques used for the analysis and development of traditional Transactional Systems do not necessarily work 100% in a similar way during the development of an EIS.
It is important to take into account the three steps to plan to build an EIS system, which are:
- Data acquisition Modeling Presentation
Successful implementation of an EIS:
The person who is going to make a decision must have and develop the following skills:
- Ability to visualize and declare problems; Ability to generate solutions or open new possibilities; and Decision-making capacity.
Likewise, for an executive to use an EIS, it must be implemented considering the following important factors to ensure a successful implementation of the EIS:
- Committed and informed executive with the project Operational partner Appropriate personnel in the IT department Appropriate technology Data management Clear relationship with business objectives Managing resistance to change Adequate management of the evolution and expansion of the system.
Impact of the EIS on the planning and control process of the organization:
Executive information systems (EIS) have generally provided a higher level of consolidation and a multidimensional view of the data, as top-level executives need more of the ability to slice and dice that data than to drill down. to view the details of the data.
The EIS contribute in an important way to redesign and restructure the planning and control processes of an organization.
The main improvements that can be achieved when using this type of system are, among others, improvement in current corporate or divisional reporting systems, through:
- Changes in the information collection method, which allows the General Directorate not to get involved in obtaining the data in a specific way, but to direct its attention to the analysis of the information Improvements in the integrity of the data Accelerate the process of obtaining information Changes in the way of presenting information, using new presentation techniques such as graphs, histograms, drawings and animations Redesign of current reporting systems, through which attention is paid to critical factors to improve the business.
The factors that motivate the reconceptualization and redesign of the planning and control process are:
- Today's fast-paced business means that the traditional approach to quarterly period planning is changing; Although the monthly period is maintained in many cases, there is a growing need for weekly or daily information The availability of new methodologies, such as critical success factors Rapid advance in hardware and software capabilities Changes in planning and forecasting processes.
An EIS strengthens the planning and forecasting process as follows:
- Automating the company's planning process, creating strategic planning and competitive analysis applications, which are perfected through adequate communications and access to databases, ensuring that executives use the system for technical and long-term planning, with applications that were previously conceived for administrative control. Ability to perform specific analyzes using information that is in databases.
The EIS should be designed in such a way that they provide the upper management with the information that emerges from the databases, preferably relational.
Commercial software for EIS development:
There are a number of software products available to everyone for strategic planning, designed to train and assist managers with strategic planning, However, some strategic decision support systems are too complicated, expensive, or limited to be easily used by company managers. This is unfortunate because the strategic management process must be a “everyone's process” to be successful.
Therefore, software for strategic planning must be straightforward and simple. Simplicity allows the broad participation of all managers of a company and participation in essential for the proper implementation of the strategy.
The following table shows a list of the main products and their vendors:
| Software product | Seller |
| Commander EIS | Comshare |
| Command center | Pilot |
| Executive Decisions | IBM |
| Executive Edge | EXECUCOM |
Server operating systems such as Windows NT and Unix have brought critical stability and powerful features to the distributed computing environment.
Operating system software has become feature-rich and powerful as its price has been steadily falling.
With this combination, sophisticated operating system concepts such as virtual memory, multitasking, and symmetric multiprocessing are now available on inexpensive operating platforms.
The most important development in computing since the advent of the PC is the explosion of the Internet and web-based applications.
As soon as the event occurred, the business community quickly jumped to the fore.
One of the most exciting fields in the computer industry today is the development of Intranet applications.
Future trends:
In the past, the lack of suitable applications to support the concept was another major limitation, but today the solutions on the market have the ability to easily integrate with other applications. There are systems that can handle information both internal and external to the organization.
The new solutions are more flexible to the needs of users and generally revolve around structures based on facts and not just based on accounting books. Because these financial systems rely on the power of computing to handle individual elements of information and process transactions, they allow executives to play a more strategic role in the organization.
EIS technology is evolving very fast, and it is very likely that in the future the systems will be different from what is used today. Some points that can be anticipated are:
- Better integration with other applications Better commercial software for EIS development Better system-executive interfaces
It can be said that the EIS, in addition to tables and graphs, will include voice, video and images, that is, they will integrate multimedia technology in their development.
During decision-making and problem solving, sometimes it is not recognized that the point of view of the person who has detected the problem also intervenes, therefore there are situations in which something must be decided or solved, as long as the person "cares" and therefore makes judgments about it.
CONCLUSIONS
A system that helps to make correct decisions, or at a certain moment not to make them, is undoubtedly one of the best tools that new executives have.
As we can see, there are many ways to make life easier for us, so much so that there are systems that help us not risk everything for everything in our company.
Until a few years ago this type of decision was only possible if the person had real experience and knowledge in the area, however now these systems facilitate daily tasks in such a way that it is a matter of requesting data, analyzing it and acting.
However, it is to be expected that with the advances in technological tools, a development close to human behavior will be produced in many areas, with these advances in the field of business it could be more efficient and productive.
The conclusion that I can reach with the preparation of this research is that globalization and the competition that each company faces forces everyone to implement this type of technology, or in a few words "renew or die."
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Information Systems for Decision Making
McGraw-Hill 2nd Edition.
Daniel Cohen
- www.virtual.epm.br/material/healthcare/ spanish / B0105.pdf www.microsoft.com / spain / enterprise / casestudies / mssales.asp
GLOSSARY
- Secure: Guarantee the fulfillment of an obligation. Affirm, ensure promptly. Applications: Program or set of programs designed to carry out a specific task. Automate: Make an operation automatic. Automatic execution of industrial, administrative, or scientific tasks without intermediate human intervention. Competitors: Competing, action and effect of competing with respect to a company or business. Consolidates: Give or acquire firmness or solidity. It fully ensures the alliance. Directors: Who has the power and virtue of directing. Hardware: Set of physical organs of the computer. Implantation:Establish, establish, implement new practices or customs. Infrastructure: set of works related to the foundations of buildings. Physical base on which the economy of a country is based . Interact: exercise reciprocal action. Project Leader: Direct or spearhead a project. Methodologies: Study of the methods. Consistent application of a method. Sponsor: Entity that favors or protects a cause, company, candidacy. Fund a company or institution, generally for advertising purposes. Forecasts: Know or foresee by some signs or signals, the future . Predict what will happen. Prototype:First copy, model. Relevant: Outstanding, excellent. Important or significant. Software: Set of processed programs, possibly documentation, related to the operation of an information processing set. Support: Support, support. What is used to sustain something.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
To broaden the topic on what Information Systems for Executives are, the following pages were visited, which are recommended for their broad content on the subject.
Many of them fall in advertising of their products or systems, in the same way I consider it important to know them in order, in the future, to know what systems are existing in the market. Others, on the contrary, contain articles of interest.
- www.virtual.epm.br/material/healthcare/ spanish / B0105.pdf www.virtual.epm.br/material/healthcare/ spanish / parte_b.htm www.sistema.itesm.mx/va/Planes2000/ Sinteticos / sin00- yes.www.uca.es/empresariales/programas_03-04/ gap / pdf / 1302037.pdflsi.ugr.es / docencia / dcem / igii /
Andrea de Mazariegos
Computer Science and Business Administration Student
27 years
Guatemala, May 13, 2,004
Title: Information Systems for Executives, SIE
Category: Administration
INVESTIGATION:
INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR EXECUTIVES
Contributed by: Andrea de Mazariegos - [email protected]
JENIRA ANDREA SOTO
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