NGO Management Information System Today, the Effective

NGO Management Information System

Today, the effective management of any contemporary organization has largely become dependent on management information systems (MIS) in place. It is important to note that when it comes to the formalization and implementation of organization-wide procedures and systems, the relevance of information systems cannot be overstated. In this text, I will come up with a recommendation of an appropriate MIS for a Non-Governmental Organization undertaking its operations in a third world setting.

Management Information Systems: A Brief Overview

According to Lucey (2004), MIS does not have an assigned definition. In the author's opinion, the definition of MIS is largely dependent upon the emphasis of any given writer. However, one way of defining MIS according to Lecuit, et al. (1999, p. 2) "is as a tool to collect, analyze, store and disseminate information useful for decision-making in a project." Hence in basic terms, MIS can be viewed as a system (computer based) that avails the necessary information needed for the effective management of an organization. It can be noted that in any organization, whether profit marking or not, a MIS should be tailored to support both the direction and strategic goals of an organization.

Recommendation: Appropriate MIS for an NGO in a Third World Setting

To be able to recommend an appropriate MIS for an NGO in the above setting, it would be prudent to first take into consideration the nature of work most NGOs in the third world undertake. According to Pacione (2009), organizations operating in third world communities, more so in urban settings, mainly try to bridge the gap existing between the minimal services provided by the public sector and the various needs and requirements of groups in such settings.

In my opinion, the appropriate MIS for such NGOs would be founded on functional disciplines including but not in any way limited to human resource and finance. In the table (Table 1) below, I come up with submissions of appropriate systems which I feel would support strategic, tactical as well as operational management given the presented functional

Human Resource

Finance

Operational

Management

Leave Record

Salaries and Wages

Tactical

Management

Employee Evaluation

Analysis of Variance

Strategic

Management

Staff/Employee Welfare policy

Sustainability areas.

Table 1: Recommended MIS

When it comes to operational management, leave records are some of the main statutory records which should be kept for each and every individual who works for the organization. In the opinion of Joseph and Mohapatra (2009), leave records fall under the realm of operational information. In this case, the management information system should be designed to decrease the chores associated with record keeping where the same is done in large-scale. Key considerations in this case include accuracy and speed. For such a system, these considerations should be regarded primary performance measures. Further, the financial management's operational system in this case is represented by salaries and wages. Here, key considerations for the NGO would be speed and cost effectiveness. The system in this case should guarantee the accurate execution of data relating to all the employees in the organizational payroll on a regular basis (i.e. per month).

In regard to tactical management, employee evaluation, a human resource item, could mainly concern itself with policy conformance. In this case, accuracy is highly relevant as the impact of the various decisions founded on this system could either be long or medium-term. It can also be noted that regarding tactical management, the finance function's analysis of variance must have an underlying system keen in the identification of excesses in budget, overruns in cost as well as other deficiencies. The system can identify the above through a detailed comparison of target information or goals with the information (in a brief format) gleaned from operational data. It is important to note that accuracy in this case is also critical. However, in this case, for purposes of ensuring the system remains under control by initiating the appropriate actions, the decision maker may find pattern recognition to be particularly important. It can also be noted that owing to the fact that resetting the system could be considered a priority, timelines are a requirement.

When it comes to strategic management, some of the decisions in the realm of personnel management include the NGO staff/employee welfare policy decisions. Issues that may influence the decision in this case include internalized information of the NGO such as staff expertise and numbers as well as employee compensation. However, issues that could govern the strategic decisions in this case include where management sees the organization in say ten years as well as the prevailing conditions in the labor markets. It should also be noted that in this case, this particular strategic decision should and must indeed be anchored on an even blend of information from both the external and internal environment. This is especially the case given that this strategic decision by virtue of being long-term also has a significant impact on the NGO's corporate well-being. Further, as it has already been indicated, we could take sustainability as a strategic decision for the finance discipline. This is especially the case given the nature of the organization under consideration i.e. A Non-Governmental Organization. As Epstein (2008) notes, organizations including those in the profit making arena are increasingly developing an interest in the enhancement of their sustainability strategies so as to make them both proactive and sound. In the most basic terms, if an organization has sustainability, it means that it can be able to continue its operations/activities going forward. In this scenario, sustainability as a strategic decision could utilize various kinds of summarized information regarding the NGOs finances. This could include the analysis of variance, overruns, and budget as well as salaries and wages data. It should be noted that information support for strategic decisions in this case requires a significant amount of external information backed up by indicators about the internal financial well-being of the NGO.