PROPOSED ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS

Master of Business Administration

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM MIS600
NOVEMBER 2021

Individual Assignment (50%)

A Management Information System (MIS) is a software program that gives managers the tools
they need to successfully organize, evaluate, and manage departments within a company. It is
used in an organization for decision-making, information coordination, control, analysis, and
visualization.

In a corporate setting, a management information system (MIS) is used to boost a company's

value and earnings by giving managers with the relevant and timely information they need to
make key decisions fast. When properly implemented, a management information system (MIS)
aids in achieving high levels of efficiency in a company's management processes.

A MIS system is typically made up of four (4) major components, namely (1) Information system,
(2) Database management system (3 Intelligence system and (4) Research system.

(1) Information system: a mix of software and hardware, talent and infrastructure that assists in
collection of data. The information system is the system that allows employees to interact
with the system for collection of information.
(2) Database management system: A type of software that handles the storage, retrieval and
updating data in a computer system.
(3) Intelligence system: Handles the processing of collected data and presenting it in a way that
can be interpreted properly by employees. It also aids in making a more information decision.
(4) Research system: Identifies the organization's primary management issues and proposes
alternative solutions, ensuring that all choices are considered and the best decision is taken.

The management of an organization is responsible to utilize its MIS to its fullest potential in order
to steer the organization in the right direction. This is particularly becoming more important in a
world that is becoming more Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA).

At the end of 2019, residents in a city in China began falling sick due to a virus outbreak. The virus,
then known as Coronavirus, did not garner much global attention. However, the situation began to
change rapidly in the 1st quarter of 2020 where many countries around the world began reporting
increasing number of case in people getting infected with the virus. World Health Organization
(WHO) named the virus as Covid-19 as the virus spread uncontrollably with high death rates in
certain parts of the world.
In order to control the spread, many governments began implementing lockdowns where people are
not allowed to leave their homes except under strict circumstances. This meant that employees are
no longer permitted to work in offices and be required to work from home (WFH) as business
operations still need to be continued. This WFH arrangement would mean that MIS play an even
bigger role in order for the organizations to carry on their operations without disturbances.

Sectors such as financial institutions rely heavily on office operations due to the nature of its business
that requires physical contact, confidentiality, speed etc. With the implementation of lockdowns, this
meant that employees are not allowed to be in the office, or the institutions are only allowed to
operate at minimal capacity. The operation of the business must be seamless regardless of the
working location of their employees. Elements such as productivity and response time to customers
are some obligations that employees must still meet.

Students’ tasks:

As mentioned above, the pandemic has changed how organizations and employees operate.
Challenges and issues such as maintaining the same level of professionalism, deliverable, deadlines
etc. are only some that are experienced. As the world begin to recover from the pandemic, many
governments and companies are implementing the new way of work. A good management
information system plays a crucial part to ensure seamless integration.

In this assignment, you are to select an organization of your choice and address the following issues.
You are required to critically analyze, evaluate, assess and critique the organization’s management
information system.

1. Analyze and evaluate the organization’s current management information system and how it
supports the new work arrangements.
2. Develop a plan on how the organization can address the security of its information when
being used outside of the office.
3. Determine new technologies that might support the management information system and/or
new work arrangements.
4. Discuss some of the management information system ethical considerations when allowing
employees working offsite.
Students are required to submit a report with the followings:
General Form and Style
This report must be words processed. The recommended length of a complete report should be
between 3,500 to 4,500 words in length, excluding your bibliography/references. The number
of words does not include references, appendices, and information on the titling/preliminary
pages. You may use direct quotations from your reading but only where it supports your
discussion and each quotation should be correctly referenced in the text. Please avoid merely
narrating your reading; where possible provide some criticism and evaluation of the reading
materials discussed.

Typeface and Font Size

The entire text of the report, including headings and page numbers, must be produced using Times
New Roman. The font size should be 12 point and should not be scripted or italicized except for
scientific names and terms in a different language. Text in tables should not be less than 10 point.
Bold print may be used for headings. All headings and sub-headings should be consistent
throughout this report.

Margin
For plastic comb-binding purposes, the left margin should be 4.0 cm (or 1.5 inch) and the right,
top and bottom margins should be 2.5cm (1 inch). Margin specifications are meant to facilitate
binding and trimming. All information (text headings, footnotes and figures), including page
number, must be within the text area.

The alignment of body text and References should be justified.

Spacing
The report should be typed with 1.5 spacing.
However, single spacing should be used for the followings:
a. Table of contents;
b. quotations longer than three lines set in a block;
c. references and Legend of tables and figures;
d. List of tables, figures, equations and abbreviations (where applicable);
e. appendices such as questionnaires, letters; and
f. headings or sub-headings;
g. references

Pagination
Each page in report, including those in the appendices must be numbered consecutively. All pages
should be numbered at the bottom of the page. Page numbers should appear by themselves and
should not be placed in brackets or accompanied by other decorative devices. Print text or figures
only on one side of each sheet. Pages should be numbered consecutively throughout the report,
including pages for tables, figures and appendices. Each should be identified separately using an
uppercase letter. The pages of the appendices should also be numbered accordingly.
 Referencing
Support your assignment with reliable and credible evidence and literature such as academic
books, journal articles, newspaper articles, and material from the internet. Recommended
source: https://scholar.google.com, www.cia.gov, www.geert- hofstede.com and
www.questia.com/visitor-home. 50% (fifty percent) of the references cited should be from the
latest Journals. At least 35 references/citations are expected for this assignment. Students are
advised to refer to the recent edition of Harvard Referencing Method (5th Edition, January 2015).
Wrong use of referencing method or exclusion of referencing / sources will result in the
deduction of marks. Plagiarism checker will be used with 15% as reference point set by IPE.

FORMAT OF REPORT
A report generally consists of three main parts:
a. Preface – including title page, table of contents, list of tables, list of figures, and abbreviation.
b. The text or main body – divided into sections.
c. Supplement – consist of tables, bibliography or references, and appendices.

The sequence of the report is as listed below:

a. Cover page (Subject code and title; Student’s full name; Student No; Date of
submission; Word count)
b. List of Tables
c. List of Figures
d. Table of contents
e. Introduction (can include purpose of assignment/issues/problem statement)
f. Literature Review
g. Discussion and Findings
h. Conclusion
i. References
j. Appendixes

Assignment Submission Deadline

Submission deadline: 20th December 2021 (Monday)
o Failure to meet deadline will be penalized according to the below penalties.
o Failure to meet deadline due to health and/or family reasons must be supported with relevant
documents to subject lecturer within one (1) working day.
o Students will need to submit their assignments to [email protected] for plagiarism
check before uploading the assignment to the MORE portal.
o Only assignments submitted via MORE portal will be accepted for marking. Keep a soft copy
of your work for reference.
o The following table defines the penalties that will be applied for late submission.

The following table defines the penalties that will be applied for late submission.
Lateness Penalties
By 1 day 10% of marks awarded
By 2 days 30% of marks awarded
By 3 days 50% of marks awarded
By 4 days No marks will be given

END OF ASSIGNMENT QUESTION

NOTE: The following requirements are to be noted:
• The article/ journal papers can be both academic and/ or from news/ magazine/ reading
articles which can be sourced from google scholar, questia, ebscohost, emerald,
www.ipmajournal.co.uk, etc. However, these articles must be from 2010 onwards
• All references must be quoted.
• Beginning August 2018, Urkund (a fully-automated system for handling plagiarism; see
http://www.urkund.com/en/about-urkund) has been adopted by PGSM/Mantissa to check
and determine whether plagiarism has occurred.
• The plagiarism limit is 15%. Any assignment which exceeds the plagiarism limit of 15%
will be rejected for marking. Students will be informed to improve their assignments if
the plagiarism limit exceeds 15%.
• Marks would be awarded for answers that show good level of knowledge, thoughtful
preparation, accurate application, critical analysis, elements of originality and flair, etc.

Marking Criteria
• Refer to next page.
 MARKING CRITERIA FOR MS600 REPORT
Poor Fair Good Excellent
Criteria % (9-10 marks)
(1-4 marks) (5-6 marks) (7-8 marks)
Marks
A Introduction A poor description of the An acceptable description of A good description of the An excellent description of the
10
organization. the organization. organization. organization.
B MIS Analysis and 15 Analysis and evaluation Analysis and evaluation Analysis and evaluation Analysis and evaluation
Evaluation presented are poor, not presented are acceptable, presented are good, well presented are complete, very
presented/articulated well. somehow presented/articulated, and well presented / articulated, and
presented/articulated well. turn into insights with turn into
other information. insights with other information
C MIS Security Poor understanding of the Lack of clear understanding Clear understanding of Very clear understanding of the
20 of the requirements of
Plan/Policy requirements of security requirements of security requirements of security policy,
security policy, some
policy, no recommendations recommendations provided. policy, good excellent recommendations
provided. recommendations provided. provided.

D Disruptive/New 20 Did not identify any Identified some relevant New/Disruptive technologies New/Disruptive technologies
Technologies new/disruptive technologies new/disruptive technologies are good and relevant to the are excellent/unique and
with some supporting organization highly relevant to the
evidence organization
E Ethical 15 A poor discussion on ethical An acceptable discussion on A good discussion on ethical An excellent discussion on
Considerations consideration. ethical consideration. consideration. ethical consideration.

F Literature Demonstrated poor Demonstrated acceptable Demonstrated excellent

understanding on theories and understanding on theories Demonstrated good understanding on theories and
Review
10 insufficient references. and some references understanding on theories and excellent supported with
good references references
G The paper was poorly The paper was extremely well
Organization, The organization of the The organization of the paper organized. Sentences were well
10 organized.
Structure, paper was weak. Sentences was good. Sentences were written and expressed.
Generalization was a
Language were somewhat correctly constructed and well-
problem. Writing lacks
inappropriate with minimal articulated.
sentence variety and
grammatical errors
few grammatical
errors.