Bus4-188 - EIS

Executive Information System (EIS) and Digital Dashboard

One of the major challenges to any information system is to make it easy to use. This process is complicated because the decisions need to be provided to upperlevel managers who have little time to learn complex applications, yet deal with huge amounts of diverse data. One approach is to build a portal that displays key data and graphs on one page. The page retrieves data from a data warehouse, the Internet, or even machines within a factory and displays graphs and warnings. Toolkits exist to help build this digital dashboard. Another term for this approach is an executive information system (EIS).

Much like the dashboard on a car, the purpose of the main screen is to provide an overall picture of the status of the firm or a division or production plant. Managers can select the specific division and make comparisons to yesterday, last week, last month, or other locations. If there is a problem or a decision to be made, the executive can drill down to get more detailed data by pointing to another object. For example, if the main screen shows that current sales in the west region are low, the executive can focus on the west region and bring up the last few quarters of sales data. The EIS will graph the data to highlight trends. The manager can then dig deeper and bring up sales by departments or check the sales performance of each employee, highlighting unusually high or low sales figures.

By pointing to customers, executives can get current profiles on the main customers and examine their recent purchases.

For an EIS to work, it must be connected to the transaction-processing system or data warehouse, since it is the source of the data. Many of these systems are created with special software that simply grabs data from the corporate databases. In one sense, the EIS is a complex model of the firm.

As a model, the EIS display has inputs of raw materials and people. Outputs are typically measured by traditional accounting standards of profits, costs, and growth rates. The EIS maintains budgets and forecasts and can compare them to actual values. The functions and processes are determined from the individual departments. For instance, there could be a production model that describes the manufacturing output. An EIS at McDonnell Douglas has a graphics screen that displays portions of airplanes as they are being built. As a wing is completed, it is drawn onto the computer model.

The primary goal of an EIS is to provide easy access to corporate data for the executives. Instead of waiting for a report, the top executives can retrieve the data as soon as it is available. Also, because all the data is accessible from the same system, it is easier to examine data from different departments to produce a better view of the big picture. Another useful feature is that the executive’s use of the data is nonintrusive.

The EIS minimizes these problems by providing instant access to the corporate data. The executives can produce reports and examine departments without interfering with the operations of the company. Graphs can be created automatically. The executives can set up different scenarios or simulations.