Name: Ruth Ann S. Basnillo                                                                                                                      06/23/08

Section: O0A

Book: Systems Analysis and Design Third Edition

Reference No: QA 76.9 S88 K45 1995

Chapter: Two

Quote: Each of the three management levels holds different implications for developing  

            management information systems.

Review:

Levels of Management

            Management in Organizations is divided into three levels; operational control, (2) managerial planning and control and (3) strategic management each level carries its own responsibilities to achieve organizational goals and objectives.

            Operations management, also called operational control, is located at the very bottom of the three leveled pyramid of the organizational management. This level, while it is at the very bottom, carries out the most work made by the operations manager. Operation managers are those needing high degree of certainty in decision making scheduling, inventory control shipping, receiving, and control of processes such as production. They are the ones who monitor the operating details of the organization to ensure that the basic tasks are accomplished on time.

            Middle management, carried out by the middle managers, is located at the second or intermediate level of the three leveled management system. Activities such as short term planning and control decisions of resources allocation are done by middle managers where they would meddle on very little certainty in their decision making environment.

Their Decisions range from forecasting future resource requirements to solving employee problems. Their decision making is basically characterized as partly-operational and partly strategic.

            Strategic management meanwhile composes the third level and the most crucial part of the management system wherein strategic managers’ decision would involve long-term goals. Managers involved here look onward from the organization to the future and guide middle and operational managers. They work in a highly uncertain decision-making environment defining the organization as a whole and looking at the broader picture. They are also faced with semi-structured problems unlike those at the lower level. While operations manager tend to be mainly analytic, strategic managers toward the heuristic.

            Each of the three management levels holds different implications for developing management information systems. Operations manager require internal information that is of a low-level nature and that captures current performance. Information systems are designed for them to have value if they can provide information to help in controlling operations. On the other hand, middle managers need information highly in their troubleshooting nature of job. They have a higher need for historical information than the operations manager. Lastly, strategic managers are highly dependent on external sources information. They have a high need for information of a predictive nature and information tat allows creation of many different “what-if scenarios. They also need general, summarized information rather than highly detailed, raw data required by low-level managers.