Question

1. Identify and discuss four types of input the organisation can use to achieve its output/s.

2. Fully discuss how the inputs are transformed into the final products or services of the organisation.

3. Critically analyse the nature of the outputs and their significance for the organisation and society at large.

4. Make recommendations on what the organisation can do to increase its outputs.

Answer 1

1.

Input systems in management are created and acquired to deal with particular information which is required in specific tasks and problems. The classification of information systems into different types is a useful technique for  simplifying a complex problem through identifying areas of commonality between different things. One such technique is the pyramid model which lists down four types of inputs that an organisation can use to guarantee achievement of the necessary outputs based on the category of people who use the information system. These include:

Transactional inputs:

They represent the bottom most level of the information systems and include basic on the ground communications which are directly operated by shop floor workers or front line staff. Such inputs are provide the primary and key data required to support the management of operations. They produce information for other systems such as in payroll, stock control information, order-processing,merging systems, etc.

Management Information Systems:

These are used by middle managers to help ensure the smooth running of the organization. These inputs are highly structured pieces of information which allow managers to evaluate an organization's current level of performancein relation to the outputs gained in the past. These inputs include internal files, reports, etc.which are applied to generate relatively structured decisions. Such inputs are however, Inflexible and have little analytical capacity.

Decision Support Inputs:

These inputs are used by senior managers to analyze existing structured information and to analyse the potential effects of their decisions into the future. These inputs are aimed at creating knowledge that can be used to resolve the structural problems within the organisation and are thus kept interactive and oriented towards the future.

Executive Information Inputs:

Executive Information Systems are found at the top of the Pyramid. They are applied by executives and senior managers in order to analyze the internal and external environment in which the organization functions, and to plan appropriate courses of action accordingly. The information in such systems comes from both internal and external sources and is structured in a flexible manner so that it can be used directly by executives without the need for intermediaries and easily tailored to the preferences of the individual using them. The executive inputs focus on long term trends in the organisation and to this end, the6 generate outputs in the form of forecasts and summary reports about the organisation.

These four types of inputs based on the position of the people in the management hierarchy guarantee an efficient attainment of outputs by an organisation.