Use of Software Agent Technology in Management Information System: A Literature Review and Classification

Abstract

Technological innovations over the years have accentuated the workings in corporate- connected organizations and different application platforms. Hence, a unified management information system (MIS) that can utilize the Web and propel programming developments is required. Software agents, the latest developments in computer software technology, can be utilized to rapidly and effortlessly build integrated information systems. Consequently, 59 research papers on the use of software agents in MIS were identified from top 40 MIS journals published between 2007 and 2017. Then, we reviewed and classified all the research papers according to two categories: application fields and application categories. The application fields consisted of eight sub-groups: manufacturing, telecommunication systems, traffic and transportation management, information filtering and gathering, electronic commerce, business process management, entertainment, and medical care; whereas the application categories consisted of three sub-groups: multi-agent systems, personal assistants, and multi-agent simulation. The research papers were further divided into journal and year of publication, and journal and application field. The objective of our research was to understand the trend of the use software agent technology in MIS by examining the published research paper beside to add knowledge and content to the information system academic discipline.