Management Information System Report: Volkswagen Case Study Analysis

This report provides a detailed analysis of Management Information Systems (MIS), emphasizing the development and importance of information security policies within organizations. It examines the significance of these policies in addressing potential threats, ensuring business continuity, and navigating technological changes, using Volkswagen as a case study. The report explores ethical and legal frameworks related to information security, highlighting how MIS supports compliance and decision-making. It covers key aspects such as confidentiality, integrity, and accountability, and details the governance mechanisms required for effective policy implementation. The document outlines the structure of an information security policy, including its purpose, scope, and relationship to existing policies, and defines responsibilities for various stakeholders, from the board to individual employees. Furthermore, it delves into the application of MIS in data management, performance evaluation, and customer service, while also discussing how companies can implement MIS effectively. The report underscores the crucial role of information security in maintaining a competitive edge, ensuring legal and ethical compliance, and safeguarding an organization's reputation.

MANAGEMENT
INFORMATION
SYSTEM

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Development of information security policies............................................................................2
Analysis of information security with ethical and legal frameworks.........................................6
Impact of technological changes on management of information system..................................8
Management information system has helped to understand strength and limitation of
company. ..................................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Management information system is a computerised database that has the informations
that is collected from day to day operations of the company. This is a important functional unit of
an organisation and helps every other functional units in their performance. This helps to provide
feedback to the managers about the companies products and policies in the market. For every
organisation there is threat of data being stolen and vulnerability about issues that company faces
in future. MIS has helped company in safeguarding against its legal, ethical, cultural and political
issues. Policy development needs to be very clear in terms of assigning responsibilities of each
and every stakeholders.
INTRODUCTION
Management information system is a database generally computer based that has data and
financial information organised in such a manner that it produces reports on operations and
functionality of management at every levels (Laudon and et. al., 2012). It helps to give feedback
to managers on the performance of various organisational units. It is used to monitor whole
company's operations. These data are collected from day to day activities of the organisational
functional units. These are very big database that can be used for making future plans and goals
of an organisation. With the increasing use of technological databases, it is easy to sort and
manage data and take out necessary informations as an when required. Preventing these
information by applying different approaches to security is essential so as to have competitive
edge over others. Companies like Volkswagen use this management system. This report
highlights the development of information security policies and its importance in addressing
potential threats and vulnerabilities so as to ensure business continuity especially in the process
of technological change (Van De Walle, Turoff and Hiltz, 2014). It also showcases the ways in
which this system has fulfilled the queries of various stake holder and helped company in
making its business plans according to legal, cultural and ethical issues.
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Development of information security policies.
Information security policy is the prime requirement of every organisation. These policies
provides the framework for addressing potential threats that can be encountered by the company
in the future business processes (Lee and Yu, 2012). These controls are effective in safeguarding
against vulnerabilities that occur in day to day business operations. In the era of technological
changes companies are going through rigorous processes so as to implement these.
Importance of information security can be understood by these points:
 Confidentiality: It helps organisation to protect all the necessary data by providing
access only to those people who are authorised stake holders.
 Integrity: This security helps to safeguard accuracy of information as well as its
processing methods are also enhanced.
 Accountability: It helps in accounting of the actions by individuals. This can be done by
monitoring there activities.
Information security needs a governance mechanism to ensure the ways in which security
policies will be implemented within an organisation. It also ensures the constant monitoring and
improvement for the used security systems. It will be governed by senior management team lead
by information security manager. Main task of this group is to access and address security related
issues on regular intervals, stating strategic guidance, checking of information security threats
and taking decisions to safeguard against these vulnerabilities (Romney and Steinbart, 2012).
Information security policy for a company:
Purpose and scope:
Purpose of this policy is to set aims for management information system throughout the
company. This policy ensures safe guarding against the vulnerabilities and threat that can hamper
companies future growth and business continuity. It is defined for the preservation of
confidentiality, availability and integrity of information.
Scope of this policy is to storing, transmitting and destruction of information in the
business process of the company. Hence it is applied to the conduct of employees, top
management, customers and other stake holders with access to that data. It can be located
anywhere as well as systems, applications equipments and premises that creates, transmits,
processes, stores or hosts information (it can be in house, can be personally owned or can be
given by external suppliers).
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Relationship of existing policies:
This policy gives the approach in management of security of information in the company
and is the master policy document of information security framework.
Policy statement:
Company is committed to preserve the integrity, confidentiality and availability of all its
information assets so as to maintain its competitive edge, contractual and legal compliances and
reputation. Information security framework (consisting of policy, process, tools, supporting
policies and requisite management as well as structure for decision making) shall be a supporting
mechanism for reducing information related risk and information sharing to acceptable levels
(Bélanger and Crossler, 2011).
Information security aims and objectives:
 This framework will deliver an enabling environment and compliant that provides
balance to information security with appropriate accessibility. This also provides risk
management to optimum level in support of achieving company's future goals.
 Information security is involved in wider activities of data and information management.
Company organises management of its assets under following domains:
1) Data Domains
2) End user devices
3) People
4) IT systems
Under this framework each above mentioned category has a specified responsible owner and
security controls are applied in all four.
The company protects security of its information assets so as to:
1) Maintain the information quality and integrity so that it is up to date, accurate and fit for
use(Weske, 2012).
2) Availability of information to persons in need and ensuring that there is no disruption in the
business procedures of the organisation.
3) No breaching of confidentiality is ensured, so that only authorised persons can access the
documents. Hence ensuring legal and regulatory obligations with respect to handling of
information so that business is efficiently conducted, company's intellectual property is
safeguarded and hence reputation of the firm is ensured.
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It has an objective of:
1) Organisation will handle the risk it faces in context of information security, putting its risk
exposures to levels that can be accepted and are defined in Company's risk appetite. Government
structure include information assets to provide accountability and allocation of ownership (Wang
and et. al., 2012)
2) Risk management method shall provide a systematic and consistent approach in order to
estimate risk magnitude. It provides process to compare estimated risk against the accepted risk
criteria so as to determine risk's significance and any changes to them in due course of time.
3) It will create approach consistency and clarity by checking that roles and responsibilities of IS
are defined clearly and are articulated through contracts, policy document and job description
and that understanding is reinstated via documented procedures, probation, monitored training
performance reviews so that they understand their responsibilities clearly.
4) Company checks that information security knowledge is provided and necessary information
security controls are applied in most economical, efficient and effective manner. This can be
done by maintaining high level supervision via management team by applying IS considerations
into transition and by designing appropriate tool and advice available throughout the company,
such that every stake holder can have reach to relevant advice, procedures, tools, training, policy
in a timely manner(Mithas, Ramasubbu and Sambamurthy, 2011).
5) In process to reduce severity and number of IS incidents and to check that correct measures
are taken in order to reporting to relevant external authority, proper recording, reporting with
results informing risk assessment of future.
6) A culture that is supportive for IS will be created within the company via proper management
directions. Demonstrate stake holders management commitment to IS framework including
acknowledgement, documented assignment of IS responsibilities and security incidents
reporting.
7) It serve for the purpose it was designed to address potential threats for business continuity that
too in the process of change in technology.
Responsibilities
1) Board or council: It protects reputation of institution by assuring that clear policies,
procedures and regulations that sticks to regulatory and legislative needs are ethical in nature ,in
place and are followed (Ifinedo, 2012).
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This body ensures that there is proper management system relating to risk management and
checking that processes and structures are suitable for the purpose by matching them against
known good practices standards. It is also responsible for:
 Fostering and leading that protects, values and uses these informations for company's
success.
 Providing definition to organisation's IS risk appetite with references to political,
technological, legal, socio economic environment prevailing in the industry.
 It has a role in ensuring appropriateness of policy and information security frame work.
2) Senior information risk owner: they have following responsibilities:
 Checking the compatibility of policy and IS objectives with company's strategic
direction.
 Checking that information assets are clearly identified, governance roles are stated and
stakeholders are briefed about there roles in IS (Feng, and et. al., 2011).
 Ensuring that owners of control actions are identified.
 Ensuring mitigation of IS risks that are deviated from agreed standards.
 Identifying that by whom and when security breaches shall be reported.
 Promote continual improvement by effective management support.
 CEO and Company heads are briefed adequately.
3) Managers of each department: They are responsible for taking care that staffs are aware about
IS risk.
4) Employee: They are responsible for understanding the IS risk and take Ownership in reporting
to any security breaches.
Breaches of Policy:
IS policy breaches is treated as disciplinary matter that will be dealt with the staff
disciplinary policies that company has. Any breaches from the higher officials will be treated
under Management disciplinary code as suited for that situation.
DEFINITIONS
Availability: Having access to appropriate persons as an when required.
Confidentiality: Restriction of information only to those persons who are eligible to access it.
Information: Processes data that has some meaning
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Information assets: Company's required information that is required by them in order to achieve
its business objectives.
Quality: State of validity, accuracy, completeness that makes data appropriate for operational and
strategic use.
Analysis of information security with ethical and legal frameworks
Information and its security is very important for any organisation. Information can be
used in the Volkswagen company for compliances with legal and ethical framework (Hu and et.
al., 2012) . With the changes in industries technical requirements these data can be used in
various ways which can be understood by following points:
 It can be used to make future products.
 It can be used to develop new plans for the company.
 It is used for evaluating the feedbacks from the company product users.
 Marketing managers use this data for making market plans.
 Monitoring of product success by analysing pattern of sale of specific goods and services.
 For evaluating competitors position in the market.
 In finding new target markets and potential customers.
 In monitoring of individual performance of each and every employee.
 In providing customer care services (Singh, 2013).
 Financial accounting systems are assisted by MIS.
 In evaluation of efficiency of each and every unit of an organisation.
 In solving queries of customers without any human interventions.
Applications of MIS:
 Companies like Volkswagen can use MIS to sort, tally any data.
 For storing and manipulating data.
 This company has its operations in many countries, so top management can have access
to any information about any unit in the world by just making use of this data.
 In trouble shooting of company's operations.
Ways in which company can implement MIS:
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 Company can develop its own database by the use of its IT department. This is an
appropriate way of Implementing MIS as there will be less threat to security of
informations. It will be much harder to make security breaches (Gordon, Loeb and Zhou,
2011)
 This is highly centralised and help company in accessing of only required data from
large chunk of data. This can be highly user friendly and requires less human
interventions in manipulation and storage of data. Volkswagen use computer based
systems for its various operations.
 Use of cloud storage is also helpful. Very large amount of data that is created in day to
day operations at various units of company throughout the world. Cloud provides easy
solutions to data storage problem as accessing of these data is easy. There is a limitation
with this, is sorting out informations from these data is not possible. Various tools like
Google drive, Dropbox, Mega etc. can be used in this regards.
 Small business enterprise which is not as big as cited organisation can use database
software and Data Base Management system for the storing, managing and manipulating
information as per the requirement (D'Arcy, Herath and Shoss, 2014).
 These are excellently powerful tool and are safe in use. Operating systems like window
provides such tools. Demerit of these is that more human interventions required in order
to process data.
Processes that are used to analyse strategic issues: There are various strategic issues that
comes in the organisation's day to day operations. MIS plays an important role in this context.
Political, ecological, legal, social, economical factors are important in determining strategies that
will be made according to the company's environment. Informations regarding all these factors
are stored in Management information system and can be used to make necessary changes in the
organisations goals and business planes. SWOT analysis used for internal assessment of the
company can be done by making use of the information system if managed properly (Cox,
2012). Competitors tries to make breaches to Volkswagen database and hence it is necessity of
the company to provide essential security protections to the informations.
Ethical and social issues related to system
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In the past few decades business processes have seen a great deal of changes. In past 10
years global business have witnessed one of the most ethically challenging periods. New legal
environments have subjected more pressure on the managers. Violation of law these days can
lead to imprisonment. Its difficult to manage ethics in today's business behaviour throughout the
world. Scandal of Volkswagen related to environment and use of illegal software has caused a
considerable losses to company in term of monetary value and reputation. Responsibility,
accountability, due process (features of law governed society are known and understood) and
liability are some of ethical issues that needs to encountered in the information systems and
society. These are safe guarded by implementing information system security policies.
Information security protects all ethical issues that occurs in business operations.
Right to informations, data protection rights, privacy to informations of the stake holders,
trade secrets, copy right, patents, system quality are some of the social issues that are related to
information systems. These all can be safe guarded using information security. All these
informations can be used in the growth of business of the Volkswagen and its stake holders
(Chai,Kim and Rao, 2011). Hence use of information security and making of the policies are
necessary for company.
Impact of technological changes on management of information system.
As organisations begins to investigate opportunities so as to innovate new technology
into their business operations. Business community are making these changes with the question
of ability to manage risk posed to the informations of the company. They are testing their limits
and ability to manage the inherent risk. Use of mobile phones, tablets, real and virtual desktops
are changing the ways how IT services especially handling and manipulation of information are
managed in a company. Stakeholders exploit these technologies so as to get necessary
information from this management system.
Some of the points that MIS have taken into consideration in responding to technological
changes:
 Organisations needs to respond to large set of data manipulations like holding and
managing them. Increasing data volumes by giving data management systems to third
parties. These outsourcing helps company in saving there time and resources yet there is
control of Volkswagen on how much data manipulation can be exercised by the these
third parties.
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 As companies now a days are committed to more and more partnerships and joint
ventures, sharing of commercially sensitive data is also increasing (Fuchs, Pernul and
Sandhu, 2011).
 It has become important for the Volkswagen company to identify and manage these data
still making it available for the other partners.
 Large amount of security breaches by the process of hacking of companies websites in a
last decade by competitors or other illegal groups. This needs to safeguarded by use of
data protection software.
 Stake holders and normal people interactions with technology. Like staffing personnels
which can leak informations through social networking sites such as twitter or Facebook.
These security breaches can be done from both inside and outside of the workplace.
 Advanced technologies have reached to every section of the society this has helped
company in making there business processes easier as well as it has posed a need to be
more concerned about the security threats arise.
 Advancement in technology has been in many dimensions. It has made business
processes easier but vulnerabilities in terms of data stealing have also increased
(Hedström and et. al., 2011).
Organisations which are ignoring the needs of the use of technology will be suffering in the
coming future than organisations whose business entablement is managed by effective
technology management.
Management information system has helped to understand strength and limitation of company.
Management information system is an important functional unit of an organisation. It
does not only concerns with the limited scope of accounting rather it has helped company in
many dimensions and every other organisational department in operating their functionalities.
Volkswagen being a large firm has lot of operations, manual manipulation of data is a difficult
task. MIS has helped Volkswagen in understanding customer needs throughout the world. So
many informations generated through various processes around the world can be accessed
through single click. This has made the work of decision makers easier as they can evaluate
larger set of data from single position and develop there plans accordingly. Volkswagen and
many other companies have certain limitations and it cant be understood without doing various
internal and external analysis and for this management information system plays a great role.
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CONCLUSION
Management information system is essential in today's business environment. There are
various security threats that arises to information and data that is collected by day to day
operations of organisations. Companies develop there information security policies and controls
it helps them in addressing potential threats and vulnerabilities. Business communities are
implementing more use of technology in there processes. It has lead to data threats of an
organisation as they can be stolen using these technologies. These systems has helped companies
to understand strengths and weakness of the Volkswagen and other companies. There are various
ethical, legal, political and social issues these can be safeguarded by implementing information
systems.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Laudon, K.C. and et. al., 2012. Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm,
Seventh Canadian Edition (7th. Pearson).
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Van De Walle, B., Turoff, M. and Hiltz, S. R., 2014. Information systems for emergency
management. Routledge.
Romney, M. B. and Steinbart, P. J., 2012. Accounting information systems. Boston: Pearson.
Lee, S. K. and Yu, J. H., 2012. Success model of project management information system in
construction. Automation in construction.25.pp.82-93.
Bélanger, F. and Crossler, R. E., 2011. Privacy in the digital age: a review of information
privacy research in information systems. MIS quarterly. 35(4). pp.1017-1042.
Weske, M., 2012. Business process management architectures. In Business Process Management
(pp. 333-371). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Wang, Q. and et. al., 2012. Using the Facebook group as a learning management system: An
exploratory study. British Journal of Educational Technology. 43(3).pp.428-438.
Mithas, S., Ramasubbu, N. and Sambamurthy, V., 2011. How information management
capability influences firm performance. MIS quarterly. pp.237-256.
Ifinedo, P., 2012. Understanding information systems security policy compliance: An integration
of the theory of planned behavior and the protection motivation theory. Computers &
Security. 31(1). pp.83-95.
Feng, D.G. And et. al., 2011. Study on cloud computing security. Journal of software. 22(1).
pp.71-83.
Hu, Q. and et. al., 2012. Managing employee compliance with information security policies: The
critical role of top management and organizational culture. Decision Sciences. 43(4),
pp.615-660.
Singh, G., 2013. A study of encryption algorithms (RSA, DES, 3DES and AES) for information
security. International Journal of Computer Applications. 67(19).
Gordon, L. A., Loeb, M. P. and Zhou, L., 2011. The impact of information security breaches:
Has there been a downward shift in costs?. Journal of Computer Security. 19(1). pp.33-
56.
D'Arcy, J., Herath, T. and Shoss, M. K., 2014. Understanding employee responses to stressful
information security requirements: a coping perspective. Journal of Management
Information Systems.31(2). pp.285-318.
Cox, J., 2012. Information systems user security: A structured model of the knowing–doing gap.
Computers in Human Behavior. 28(5). pp.1849-1858.
Chai, S., Kim, M. and Rao, H. R., 2011. Firms' information security investment decisions: Stock
market evidence of investors' behavior. Decision Support Systems. 50(4).pp.651-661.
Fuchs, L., Pernul, G. and Sandhu, R., 2011. Roles in information security–A survey and
classification of the research area. computers & security. 30(8). pp.748-769.
Hedström, K. and et. al., 2011. Value conflicts for information security management. The
Journal of Strategic Information Systems. 20(4). pp.373-384.
Online
SECURITY AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS. 2017. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.uk.leonardocompany.com/uk-activities/security-and-information-systems>.
Accessed on 19th August 2017.
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