The Role of Management Information System on Strategic Decision-Making

A decision is a choice between two or more alternatives. If you only have one alternative, you do not have a decision.  Webster’s 9th Dictionary adds some richness to the idea of choice by introducing the idea of uncertainty. It has this to say about the word “decide”; the root of “decision”.  Decision-making is the hallmark of management in any business or public enterprise; whether big or small. It is an important aspect of the managerial task and takes place at all levels of an organisation. Decision making is the resolution made against every other consideration by the managers to enable or ensure effective implementation of organisational goals and objectives. Management on daily basis is beset with challenges of what to do, how to do it, where to do it, when to do it, and for whom to do it. Strategic decision-making is an ongoing process that involves creating strategies to achieve goals and objectives, and altering strategies based on observed outcomes through management information system. Management information system is basically concerned with the process of collecting, processing, storing and transmitting relevant information to support the management operations in an organisation. Thus, the success of decision-making, which is the heart of administrative process, is highly dependent partly on available information, and partly on the functions that are the components of the process. In spite of many studies carried out by scholars and practitioners in the area of strategic decision-making over the years, much still need to be done about strategic decision-making process and factors affecting it. This paper is builds on previous theoretical and empirical studies to determine the extent to which contextual factors and management information system impact the strategic decision-making processes. The author concludes that sound management information system aids proactive strategic decision-making process and a considerable and competitive edge on the overall business performance.