Unit X Evaluation and Control of

Data Processing
Evaluation and Control of Data Processing
• Anthony’s Framework
• Simon’s Framework
• Some Implications of Anthony’s and Simon’s
Frameworks
 Evaluation and Control of Data Processing

• After MIS has been operating smoothly for a short time, an

evaluation of each step in the design and of the final system
performance should be made.
• Evaluation should not be delayed beyond the time when the
systems analysts have completed most of the debugging.
• The longer the delay the more difficult it will be for the
designer to remember important details.
Evaluation and Control of Data Processing

Evaluation should be done both by customers as well as

designers.
• The question which the designer should ask themselves is:
• “If we were to start all over again, knowing what we know
now, what would we do differently?
• The question which the customers should ask themselves is:
• “How the system now performs and how would we like it
to perform”?
Evaluation and Control of Data Processing

The Financial Analysts should consider the following points:

• Planned cost Vs actual cost of design
• Implementation and operation
• Identify cost savings and increased profits directly
attributable to the MIS
• Cost-Benefit Analysis for computerized MIS is difficult since
any benefits are intangible and moreover, do not show
results immediately.
The structure given below, however, when adapted will permit partial evaluation
Evaluation and Control of Data Processing

• The measurement of costs or benefits of an MIS is the

measurement of change or difference between the old and
the new.
• The measurement of change must be related to the basic goals of
MIS, the principal activities that further these goals, or the many
minor activities that further these goals.
• Measure change in total output or better many changes
accomplished throughout the system.
 Evaluation and Control of Data Processing

At systems level, judgment of broad concepts might be employed.

1. Systems Integrity: How well are the subsystems integrated into the total
system without redundancy? How flexible is the system? How easily may
the system be expanded?
2. Operating Integrity: How skilled are the people operating the system? What
backup is there to prevent system breakdown in the event of loss of key
personnel or equipment failure?
3. Internal Integrity: How well does the system do what it is supposed to do?
How valid are system outputs? How secure is the system against human
error, manipulations, sabotage, or theft?
4. Procedural Integrity: How good is the documentation of the system and
procedures? Are procedures such that employees are motivated to follow
them? How well are procedures followed in practice? What controls ensure
that procedures are followed?
 Anthony’s Framework
• Robert N. Anthony’s has delineated a framework which distinguishes
between different types of planning and control processes that
typically occur in organizations.
• His thesis is that thinking of planning and control as two separate and
homogeneous activities in an organization is not only meaningless but
positively dysfunctional.
• Anthony suggested that the area of management planning and
control should be divided into three categories, resisting the “natural
temptation for two main divisions: planning (roughly, deciding what
to do), and control (roughly assuring that desired results are
obtained)”.
Anthony’s Framework

The three categories suggested by Anthony are:

1. Strategic Planning
2. Management Control
3. Operational Control
Anthony’s Framework

• Essentially, according to Anthony, planning and control

activities are so closely interlinked that they make the
separation of these activities undesirable and meaningless.
• According to Anthony, it makes much more conceptual and
practical sense to link together planning and control
activities which are similar and intertwined.
 Anthony’s Framework
Anthony’s definitions of strategic planning, management control and
operational control are as follows:
• Strategic Planning: is the process of deciding on the objectives of
the organization, the resources used to obtain these objectives,
and the policies that are to govern the acquisition, use and
disposition of these resources.
• Management Control: is the process by which managers assure
that these resources are obtained and used effectively and
efficiently in the accomplishment of the organization’s objectives.
• Operational Control: is the process of assuring that specific tasks
are carried out effectively and efficiently. Anthony’s departure from
the traditional concept of separate planning systems and control
system is illustrated in the next figure.
Anthony’s Framework

• It is useful to illustrate the foregoing definitions with some

examples.
• Table 1 gives instances of planning and control activities in
different functional areas classified according to these definitions.
• Anthony’s framework enables us to understand the
characteristics of information needed to support the three
types of planning and control processes.
• Table 2 enumerates these characteristics and highlights the
substantial differences in information required for strategic
planning, management control, and operational control.
 Table 1 Planning and Control Activities

Functional Strategic Planning Management Control Operational Control

Areas
1. Location of a new factory Determining the product mix for Scheduling specific jobs
a monthly production program on specific machines in a
shift

2. Entering the export market Media planning for advertising Planning sales contracts
expenditures to be made by a sales
man in the next week
3. Raising capital by issuing new Determining maximum levels of Determining what action
shares credit for customers to take against non-
payment by a specific
customer
4. Deciding about changes to be Determining who will be Determining who among
made to organizational promoted to fill a vacant post at the workers will be on
structure middle and lower levels in the each shift
organization
 Table 2 Information Characteristics
Information Strategic Planning Management Control Operational Control
Characteristics
1. Volume Low Intermediate High
2. Level of aggregation High Intermediate Low
3. Frequency of use of a Low Intermediate High
particular type of data
4. Currency requirements Low Intermediate High
5. Accuracy Low Intermediate High
6. Scope Wide Intermediate High
7. Source Significant amount from Mostly internal Entirely internal
external source
8. Predictability of use * Low Fairly high Very high
9. Validity with use** High Intermediate Low
10 Distance of user(in Far Fairly close Close
organizational terms) from
sources within organization
Anthony’s Framework
* How far in advance can the information requirements for a decision
be stipulated?
** For given decision, how much is the information considered
necessary likely to vary from an individual to another?
 Simon’s Framework

• Another framework which is useful in structuring our

understanding of an MIS is provided by H. Simon.
• Anthony’s framework is concerned with the objective of
the decision-maker, i.e., what the manager is going to
decide.
• Simon’s framework examines the process of decision-
making, i.e., how the manager makes decisions.
Simon’s Framework

Simon breaks down the process of making a decision

into three stages, these stages are shown below
Stage 1: Intelligence: Here the decision-maker recognizes the problem.
Stage 2: Design: The decision-maker identifies alternative courses of
action to solve the problem.
Stage 3: Choice: At this stage, the decision-maker is concerned with the
process by which one of the alternatives generated at stage 2 is chosen
and pursued.

INTELLIGENCE DESIGN CHOICE

Simon’s Framework
With this framework we can distinguish between three major classes of
decisions:
1. Programmed Decisions are decisions in which all stages are
handled by following a pre-set well-defined procedure.
• These are repetitive and routine decisions which arise often and are
capable of being modeled mathematically in their entirety.
• The classic example would be billing.
2. Non-Programmed Decisions are those where none of the stages is
amenable to handling by well-defined, pre-specified procedure.
• (These decisions are novel and difficult to structure in logical
mathematical terms. They have to be treated de novo whenever they
arise.)
• An example would be the decision to set up a new factory or launch a new
line of products.
Simon’s Framework

4. Semi-programmed Decisions are those in which at least one and no

more than two of the above stages can be handled by a well-defined
pre-set procedure.
• An example of a well-structured intelligence phase would be the diverse kinds
of variance-analysis. Thus, comparison with a budget or standard is
undertaken in a well-defined way to signal the need for a decision.
• Subsequent stages of design and choice, however, are not handled by a set of
procedures.
• Programmed and Non-Programmed Decisions are also called
structured and semi-structured decision situations.
• Combining Anthony’s and Simon’s frameworks provides an illustration
of different kinds of decision-making situations, as shown in Table 3
 Table 3 Degree of structure in Different types of Decisions
Degree of Operations Operational Management Strategic
Structure Control Control Control

Structured Payroll Accounts Budget analysis,

receivable short-term
forecast

Semi-Structured Stock accounting Inventory control Product mix Site location

Dispatching Production planning Merger;
scheduling Long-term acquisitions
forecast

Structured Crime detection Cash Budget Product planning

management formulation
 Some Implications of Anthony’s and Simon’s Framework

The foregoing discussion on Anthony’s and Simon’s framework

suggests the following guidelines pertaining to two key
aspects of information systems developments:
1. The type of application that should be emphasized
2. The process of designing these systems
Some Implications of Anthony’s and Simon’s Framework

The guidelines are discussed below:

1) Need for Building Decision Support Systems:
• Traditionally, MIS has catered to applications which are
structured.
• It can be argued that it is the semi-structured and ill-
structured decisions that take up greater amount of
managerial time.
• Computer applications should therefore be designed to support
semi-structured decision areas.
• (Now, Decision Support system (DSS) with the help of model
and data takes care of semi-structured and ill-structured
situations)
Some Implications of Anthony’s and Simon’s Framework

2) Matching Technology and Application:

• Anthony’s framework suggests that an MIS designer should
ensure synchronization between available technology and
information needs for supporting different types of planning
and control decision.
• For example, it is evident that operational control applications will
require technology which can provide query facilities with
reasonable response times.
• On the other hand, strategic planning applications will require
technology which can access a variety of external sources, can run
optimizing and simulation models, and can be used with friendly
software.
Some Implications of Anthony’s and Simon’s Framework

3) Tight Coupling Between Applications for Strategic Planning

and Operational Control:
• Since the information characteristics required to support
strategic planning decision are quite different from
operational control, it is not always necessary to wait to
build all operational systems before applications for
management and strategic level can be developed.
• In fact, many of the transaction processing systems are large and complex,
requiring many years of effort for development and implementation.
Some Implications of Anthony’s and Simon’s Framework
4) Different Roles Of Models in Strategic Vs Operational Systems:
• In developing systems to support strategic planning, an analyst needs
to elicit the model from an executive and, therefore, needs knowledge
and experience of a wide variety of functional areas and models.
• Prototyping, as a methodology of designing such systems is most appropriate
as all the specifications of an application system cannot be identified in
advance.
• In operational control, the problem is usually generic, several
researchers may have built general models to solve such problems.
What is required is an adaptation of generalized models to a specific
situation.
• The analyst works largely with technical personnel in a specific function.
• System design has to be developed through a formal methodology, and
technical aspects and efficiency are the important concerns.