MIS is more talked about than accomplished. There is also confusion regarding what constitutes MIS and even whether we mean computer based or something broader. Systems claiming to be MIS range from a classical invoicing system which follows well charted directions to $65m development efforts. This paper describes, therefore, past and current thinking on MIS rather than status of individual systems.

It is instructive to follow its history, since although there has been considerable development of theory concerning information during the past few years, efforts at MIS constitute, for better for worse, the main attempts at practical development.