Management Informatioin Systems and Information Overload - Book Report/Review Example

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: MANAGEMENT INFORMATIOIN SYSTEMS In 1970, Alvin Toffler a futurologist gave a prediction that the rapid increase in amount of knowledge produced would cause problems to people eventually. This was the first time the phrase “information overload” ever appeared in recorded form. A while ago with the invention of the Printing Press information it was possible to disseminate information to many people but it was not until the invention of the computers that vast amounts of information was disseminated that created the Information Overload to the entire population. The problem of Information Overload is being witnessed in working places and in education. In the work place, Information Overload results from very many causes. One of the main causes of this is the unlimited and widespread Web access. It is a common feature to find a worker when idle reading information that they want to know rather than what they need to know. This problem is further pronounced since it is very easy to send the same e-mail to multiple people at once hence filling people with information that may be irrelevant to them. Information sources especially those which are found online are poorly created containing a lot of filler information. In an organization this information is presented to all workers with no simplification or filtration to make it relevant to a person’s line of duty {Lucey 27). Moreover, the work may contain inconsistencies and errors requiring further reading and research. The problem of Information Overload spreads very quickly in an office setting as I have witnessed in our office. It begins with one person who when suffering from this avoids processing the information they are handling efficiently. For instance, instead of making a summary of the document or report they are working on, they will pass the entire thing around for everyone. This will require every worker to go through the entire document to trace out the relevant pieces of information as per their jobs. This similar situation is witnessed in education. The causes of information workload in education are almost similar to the causes described above. Above that, lack of clarity in class requires that a student do further research on a topic to gain full understanding. Whether the student uses the library or the internet, information will be more than what is relevant hence loading the student with excess information. Semantic distortions are very common with students. While you may know the meaning of a word, the context in which it is used may require you to do further reading to understand its perceived meaning in a certain topic that you are studying. Overall, social sites which are very famous with students contribute the most to information overload. Lots of information is collected from these sites regardless of its relevance filling the student with so much ‘knowledge’ considering the information that we find on these social sites. Information Overload has been shown to be a contributing factor to several health problems and hence solutions have to be sought to deal with this problem. While there are solutions that can be employed to help organizations, the ultimate solution to the problem begins with you. You have the capacity to filter out the information to only what you need to know rather than what is nice to know. This can require you to kill communication, maybe by switching off your phone, with others if only for a short time everyday. When making any communication, ensure that you are specific and brief (known as Info engineering) so that you get precise and accurate answers (Lucey 124). When doing researches limit yourself to brief and concise sources of information relevant to your area of research. Where information is received through e-mails always do a quick overview of all received messages and delete all those that are irrelevant especially from marketers. As an organization the best way to avoid Information Overload is by using a Management Information System such as Personal Management System. This system facilitates information sharing in an organization eliminating all irrelevant and redundant work hence reducing the information received to individual workers. It also requires that every worker filter their work before sharing it out to the other workers. This improves decision making and is quite efficient in small organizations. As the business grows bigger sub-units can be formed which distribute the information throughout the organization. Telecommuting is one of the best options for workers in organizations that offer it and if I were working in such an organization, I would prefer to work from home. First of all telecommuting ensures that one remains in an environment whose distraction is very minimal. This translates to greater concentration and hence increased efficiency in work output. Telecommuting also allows the employee to work when they prefer since they have a flexible schedule hence improving their level of productivity. Absenteeism and sick days is a very common occurrence with employees who have to travel to work everyday while telecommuters can comfortably work from home any time. Space costs can result to very high operational costs for the business and hence a smaller package for the employees. Telecommuting can cut down these costs as was the case with IBM which just the other day saved $75 million in a year after adopting telecommuting. Of course, one of the best advantages of telecommuting is the savings one makes on travelling expenses by cutting on car maintenance and fuel costs. The aspect of time wasted in traffic should also be considered as this is avoided when one works from home. The stress associated with traffic jams can also be avoided if one shifts to working at home. Overall, one may be required to move location to gain proximity to the work location but telecommuting saves one all these expenses and the stress associated with such a relocation. By working from home one is able to keep away from office politics and unnecessary expenses for dressing up while going to work. For disabled individuals telecommuting saves them the everyday hustle associated with commuting to and from the place of work. While telecommuting may not have the perfect answer, since it comes with some challenges such as organization, teamwork and control it still remains a viable choice for many individuals over working in the office. And with the increase in information resulting in Information Overload telecommuting becomes even a more viable option since one avoids all the irrelevant information that one could have collected in the office. With Management Information Systems one can receive only the relevant information that one requires to fully operate in the serene environment of the home hence increasing productivity and avoiding Information Overload. Work Cited Lucey, Terence. Management Information Systems. New York: Cengage Learning EMEA, 2004. Print. Read More