Cybernetic Filters and Management Information Systems

Abstract

Examines two types of cybernetic filters which can be incorporated in a management information system (MIS). The design of these filters is dependent on the type of uncertainties which an organization experiences in its environment and also on the response time of the organization to environmental disturbances. The response time is in turn determined by Ashby's law of requisite variety. Incorporating these cybernetic filters into an MIS has three effects on the organization. First, it eliminates managerial activity in any organizational level which is not conducive to equilibrium and, consequently, consenes managerial resources Secondly, it blocks the conveyance of noise — in the customary heaps of computer printouts manufactured by the MIS — to management. Thirdly, it ensures that information is conveyed to the level of regulation which can most aptly deal with a particular disturbance.