Management information systems in practice: An exploratory study on banking sector of Bangladesh

Abstract

This research is an endeavor to understand and identify the existing practices of Management Information Systems (MIS) in the Banking sector of Bangladesh. This thesis argues that improved practices of MIS depend on the close alignment of the support of corporate executives, Information Technology (IT) infrastructures, and employee participation in the Information Systems (IS) of the organization. It attempts to uncover why and how these factors of internal organizational environment interactions is very important for better MIS practices and how this interaction influences the level of MIS practices in the banking organization. This interfacing theme is missing in previous research. This study argues that when there is an association among the commitment of corporate executives, status of IT infrastructure, and employees participation in IS, there is the likelihood that practices of MIS in the business organization will be improved. A comparative case study provides empirical evidence to support this argument. Current practices of MIS in the banking sector are partial and relatively weak. Literature of MIS is examined to enhance theoretical foundation of this research and it shows the gap in existing literature because of which practices of MIS not improved according to the expectations. Objectives can act as a criterion to evaluate the outcome of the study. Data were collected from two banks, one is Agrani Bank Ltd. (ABL) representative bank of nationalized commercial banks and another is Mercantile Bank Ltd. (MBL) representative bank of private commercial banks, in both cases same techniques were used. A research model was developed and multiple techniques were deployed to collect data from several sources. All the collected data were organized and analyzed systematically. All the relevant theories were applied to explain the findings. Then the inter relationship between factors of organizational environment and level of MIS practicing was examined and analyzed. The main findings are: there are three MIS issues that are critical in improving practices of MIS and these are support of corporate executives, status of IT infrastructure, and level of employee participation in IS and also interactions of them; these issues were analyzed under different dimensions; again outcome also different based on two cases. There are four types outcome are: Unsatisfactory or not sufficeint, Natural or Usual, Reasonable, Satisfactory or up to the mark. On the basis of this analysis, an interfacing model of MIS practices was developed and two hypotheses are put forward. The implications of the study on the relevant theories and also on practice are considered. The model and the hypothesis are the general conclusions of this study and issues for future research are identified and presented.