CHAPTER ONE

1.1 INTRODUCTION

      In most organizations particularly business organizations, most of what goes on consists largely of transactions. A transaction is a recorded event having to do with routine business activities. This includes everything concerning the product or service in which the organization is engaged: production, distribution, sales, order and stock-taking. It also includes the materials purchased, employees hired, taxes paid and so on. Today in most organizations, the bulk of such transactions are recorded in a computer-based information system.

Computer-based information systems are systems that tend to have clearly defined inputs and outputs that enable and provide necessary facilities for accurately and efficiently managing an organizational process. It could be sales, order or record keeping of staff. Information system is a collection of people, procedures, software, hardware and data. Connectivity allows computers to connect and share information, thereby greatly expanding the capability and usefulness of an information system. Computer-based information systems are meant to reduce the stress in managing businesses or organizational procedures.

Management Information System (MIS) is one of the major types of computer-based information systems. It uses the database of an organization in producing well structured forms of reports.