Difference Between TPS and MIS

Information systems have become vital for organizations today and in some industries, even survival is difficult without extensive use of information technology. To become more efficient and competitive, companies are making use of these information systems such as MIS and TPS. Though there is considerable overlapping between the two, there are a lot of differences between TPS and MIS that will be discussed in this article.

MIS

MIS, which stands for Management Information System, helps middle level management in monitoring, controlling, decision making and administrative activities. MIS provides managers with current performance of the organization. Managers make use of this information to monitor and control business and also to devise strategies to better the performance in future.

The data which is available through MIS is summarized and presented in concise reports on a regular basis. MIS serves the interests of managers on weekly, monthly and yearly results though some MIS can produce results on a daily basis to be used by managers. A manager can get answers to predefined set of questions through MIS regularly. MIS is not very flexible and also does not have analytical capability. A vast majority of MIS systems make use of simple routines and stay away from complex mathematical models.

TPS

Another type of information system that has become very popular is TPS. It stands for Transaction Processing System and collects, stores, modifies and retrieves all information about transactions in an organization. A transaction here is referred to any event that generates or modifies the already stored information.

If an organization is using both MIS and TPS, there is regular exchange of data among these systems. TPS becomes a major source of data for MIS. The data that is generated through TPS is on the level of operations such as payroll or order processing. TPS tracks daily routine transactions that are essential to conduct business. MIS makes heavy use of data from TPS though it also utilizes data from other sources.

In brief:

• Information systems have become very necessary for systems to remain competitive and more productive today

• MIS stands for Management Information System and helps in controlling, monitoring and decision making at the middle level management.

• TPS generates data at the operational level and makes available information that is used heavily my MIS.