Management Information Systems (MIS) has turned out to be much more encompassing than I initially expected it to be. Looking at the title now after taking the class this semester, I can see I have an entirely different perspective on what MIS means. Originally, I thought the course was primarily focused around Excel. This seems very silly now. At the time when I asked other students what the class was about, the number one answer always seemed to be Excel and spreadsheets. With this information, I looked forward to becoming extremely proficient at Excel.
Now I can see that MIS is way more expensive than only Excel. If a student asked me what MIS is all about I would tell them it is about learning to utilize technology to its fullest capability. Managing the tools that we have to leverage productivity, and to share knowledge and information that is already available. In this case, Information Systems are the tools that we can use. I would say to the student that there will be spreadsheets, but they will only be a tiny portion of the entire class.
Learning about the magic bullet logical fallacy will most likely stick with me for the rest of my career. The idea that there is no one solution to all problems can be applied to many other areas of life than just MIS. We are hardwired to believe there is a straight line to all solutions when in reality there are no straight lines to all solutions.
The concept of knowledge management has completely transformed my way of thinking. The research I conducted for the paper has opened my mind to a whole new world. I had never thought of integrating Information Systems into a shared culture before. Information Technology and Information Systems always seemed very disconnected in my mind. Now I can see it is just an external construct of the same thing. We are all interconnected, and there is so much knowledge just waiting for us to use efficiently. There is not one magic bullet that will allow us to do this. The efficient sharing of knowledge must be done on several different levels.
This idea is very exciting for me. I think it will be a continuing theme throughout my school career. What is even more interesting is the avenues of information that have manifested themselves since I have stumbled upon this idea. “The Order of Things” by Foucault was brought to my attention after I brought up the idea of combining Bourdieu’s Cultural Capital with Knowledge Management at a dinner party. There is so much knowledge to be shared, but we must voice that we are interested before it is shared with us.
