What is Information?

Introduction
Before going any further, it is very necessary to have an in-depth view of the Management Information System (MIS). The Management Information System can be defined as the system, from which the management gets all its information about a particular topic or activity. Information is very critical in the Management Information System as with the help of the information, one gets a great help for setting up, running, survival and the prosperity of a business organization.

With the help of the Information, the organization is able to gain and also then retain the competitive edge and ultimately emerge as the winner.

Definition and the Meaning of Information
Davis and Olson define the Information as “the data that has been processed in to a form that is meaningful to the recipient and is of real or the perceived value in the current or the prospective actions or the decisions”.

Information is obtained from the data and now here one should be clear about the meaning of the data. The data is referred to as the random, un-organized collection of the indications or the measurements of certain qualities relating to an entity, recorded either in an alphabetical, numerical, alphanumerical, voice, image, text or any other form. Data is actually the collection of the raw facts, observations or the unevaluated messages in the isolation that are in the un-structured form.

But the data in such a form is not useful for the organization as the knowledge provided by it is in a very vague form. The un-structured data is generally referred to as the material which is present in the un-finished form and needs to be worked upon for making the proper use of it as like this the data is able to only provide the various facts and the figures that are currently not being used in the decision process.
But different from the data, the information acts as the finished material and hence is defined as the collected, collated, processed, logically organized and also the analyzed data. The correct and the upto date information that is not vague in the nature is very much necessary and it makes a lot of difference in carrying out any type of the activity as with the help of the information, one gets great clarity.

What are the Characteristics of the Information?
The Characteristics of the Information
1. Helps in improving the representation of an entity.
2. Makes updating of the level of the knowledge possible.
3. Also helps in reducing the uncertainty.
4. Offers a surprise value.
5. Helps a lot in the process of the Decision Making.

Features of the Information
1. Cost Effectiveness
2. Accuracy
3. Reliability
4. Timely Availability
5. Periodicity
6. Verifiability
7. Pertinent/relevant
8. Completeness
9. Comprehensibility
10. Clarity
11. Brevity
12. Consistency