A Delphi Study On Management Information Systems (mis) Model For Decision-making In South-east Nigeria Universities

A DELPHI STUDY ON MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS (MIS) MODEL
FOR DECISION-MAKING IN SOUTH-EAST NIGERIA UNIVERSITIES

ABSTRACT
The purpose of the study was to model Management Information Systems (MIS) for
decision-making by administrators of Universities in South-East, Nigeria. Seven research
questions and seven hypotheses guided the study. The design of the study was survey
research. The specific design was panel study and the Delphi technique was used to elicit
responses from the administrators and the MIS experts in a two- round survey. The
instrument for data collection was questionnaire. Eighty-one items reflecting the components
of the MIS Model such as MIS objectives, data collection procedures, data processing and
analysis methods, data publication method, data dissemination methods, decision making
areas and feedback mechanisms were generated and included in the questionnaire. Three
experts from University of Nigeria, Nsukka validated the instrument. The final draft of the
instrument had a 4-point scale of Very Appropriate, Appropriate, Inappropriate, and Very
Inappropriate. The instrument was pre-tested on 17 respondents from a public university in
Kogi State, Nigeria. Internal consistency reliability estimate of the instrument was 0.98 using
Cronbach Alpha technique. The experts’ panel was made up of 30 experts consisting of 10
directors of Management Information Systems/Information Communication Technology, 10
academic staff and 10 administrative staff purposively selected from the 10 public
universities in South-East Nigeria. During the round one survey, the 81-item questionnaire
was administrated to the respondent. Sixty –nine items reached the panelists consensus while
12 items could not reach the consensus based on a mean cut-off point of 3.00 and standard
deviation of less than 1.00. In the round two survey, the 69 items were re-administered to the
respondents while the 12 items were discarded. Sixty-eight items that reached the panelist
consensus in the round two survey were retained for data analysis while the one item on
which consensus was not reached was discarded. The mean score was used to answer all the
research questions. t-test was used to test the hypotheses. The following were the major
results of the study. Twelve MIS objectives were accepted as appropriate for the MIS Model,
seven data collection procedures, 10 data processing and analysis methods, seven data
publication methods, nine data dissemination methods, 14 decision –making areas and nine
feedback mechanisms were identified and included in the MIS Model for decision- making.
There were no significant differences between the mean responses of administrators and MIS
experts regarding the MIS objectives, data collection procedures, data processing and
analysis methods, data dissemination methods, decision- making areas and feedback
mechanisms aspects of the model. There were significant differences between the mean
responses of administrators and MIS experts regarding data publication methods of the MIS
Model. Based on the findings of the study, one major educational implication was that the
MIS has a high potential for making relevant information available. It was recommended that
universities in South-East, Nigeria should adopt the MIS model to provide relevant
information for effective and efficient management of the institutions.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) consists of electronic systems
used for information collection, processing, storage and retrieval. ICT consists of hardware,
software, networks and media for collection, transmission and presentation of information
(Pulkinen, 2004). Information occurs in different forms such as voice, data, text and images.
ICT is used to communicate, create, manage and distribute information. It includes the newer
digital technologies of computers, internet, e-mail, World Wide Web (www), wireless and the
older technologies of print, radio and televisions (Pulkinen, 2004). ICT brings about new
opportunities as well as new risks for the goal of sustainable development. Over the last
years, the use of ICT in all sectors of education has increased dramatically and continues to
do so (Farrel and Wachholz, 2003). Digital technologies have fuelled exponential growth in
the society’s ability to generate, exchange and consume information. ICT comprises those
technologies that are used for accessing, gathering, processing, and presenting information
for decision-making.
Modern university education and administration now depend on robust programmes
of Management Information Systems (MIS) to support and facilitate teaching, learning,
research and management. MIS involves the collection, processing, analyzing and
dissemination of educational data and information and making them available to educational
administrators on a timely, routine, reliable and predictable basis for decision-making.MIS,
according to Lucey (1989), is a system using formalized procedures to provide the
management at all levels in all functions with appropriate information, based on data from
both internal and external sources to enable them to make timely and effective decisions for
planning, directing and controlling the activities for which they are responsible. Similarly,
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Boorne (2002) defined MIS as a structured, interacting complex of persons, machines and
procedures designed to generate an orderly flow of information for use as the basis for
decision-making in an organization. MIS, therefore, is a system that collects, processes,
analyses, stores and disseminates information for educational planning and decision-making
in the universities.
The growth of information systems services in Nigerian universities began about 1990
with the World Bank intervention to improve the institutional capacities of Nigerian
universities (National Universities Commission (NUC), 1991). The specific focus of the
intervention was on Management Information Systems (MIS), specially designed to meet the
information needs of the managerial staff as they make a variety of decisions for the effective
administration of the universities. In Nigerian universities, MIS is designed to achieve the
following objectives ׃ to standardize the system of obtaining reports and statistical
information , ensure that such information are accurate and timely , and organize such
information for planning and decision-making in order to improve utilization of resources
(Fadekemi &Ajayi (2007).The National Universities Management Information Systems
(NUMIS) developed by the National Universities Commission (NUC) focused only on three
major areas namely, student records, staff records and financial records (NUC, 1991).
NUMIS was originally implemented using Dbase as a single package running on one system.
The NUMIS main structure consists of five (5) phases; Data entry, Data update, Query,
Reports and File maintenance. These phases are linked up with modules like staff and
students’ entities, finance, reference tables, students and staff lists, student and staff
information. Despite the implementation of NUMIS in the universities, it has not been
adequately utilized in decision-making process in Nigerian universities (Ajayi, & Omirin,
2007). NUMIS has not been adequately utilized in decision- making in universities in South-
East, Nigeria.