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The Sociaty for Managamant lnformatiun Systems (SIMS) bald its 11ph Annual Conference and Workshop in Phit&Hphir Vannrylvania), on September &-24, iW0. Under tha heading 'Putt& It All Togs* -MIS 4&napnmt In The EmcHgiirg Infofmtton Age", a numkr of distinguishad aparkers both from &mk and business envitonmants lectured on issue of high arrant Intarast. The Conf@rench was con&&ad by a Panel Discussion intanded as a capstone session to imata the material covered throuahout tha Confarence. finally, six workshop8 of 34 to 'I hours duration were held as post-conference events. Approximate4y 350 pople attended the meeting. From MIS towed CAM Qn the first day of the Conference, 3 Keynote Address was delivered by Robert M. Rice. Resident of Control Data Corporation. In this thought-provok. ing and challenging lecture, Mr. Price criticized the role of the Management Information System concept as an aid to produce useful buaineu information. Mare than one million computers in the USA produce more than 200 billlon pages of information every working day. But mana~ment needs more than fist* thick reports CUIed with endless statistical data and analyses. "Computer Aided Management" (CAM) should do better -because man (as opposed to management &@~Worr) can serve in much the same way as Compulor4idod Manufacturing help the engineer: Is sea&e his design objectives. A future Computer=Aided Management system should serve the manager to realize his objective -to manage his msources -resul#ng in optimal praduct-0378X206/8 1~CItXM-oaocl/$02.50 8 1981 North-Holland tivity . According to Mr. Price, the four basic characteristics of Computer-Aided Management should be the same as those of Computer-Aided Manufacturing: I. Data gathering and problem specification; 2. Data reduction by assigning priorities; 3. Use of algorithms dealing with data on properties of materials, skills, processes, etc., based on perceived laws of nature, human and economic laws, etc.; 4. Feedback and self-improvement (which means sdjQeaching in Computer-Aided Management).
Mr. Price illustrated his plea by the case of Control Data Business Advisors' skills system -a computerized "talent pool" using Plato, Control Data's Computer-Based Education system. He went on to argue that even a health system should be incorporated in a Computer-Aided Management system. Just as Computer-Aided Design must sense limits of stress,. so must a Computer-Aided Management system do. In the non-pathological domain, CDC's program Staywell helps to keep employees fit and conscious of good health habits.
Finally, Mr. Price argued that the solution of the management information problem is not a question of new technology -it is a question of imagination and re-assessing management's fundamental objectives.
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