SYNOPSIS:

The Soviet command economy was supported by two pillars by the politicized science, which always had been ready to prove what the leaders wanted, and by the information system, which always had been ready to show what the leaders liked. It was typical for all levels of hierarchy, where the "big lie" at the top was supported with many "small lies" coming up from the bottom. That is why the transition from a command economy to a market-oriented economy should follow the changes in the political system, where the "big lie" was destroyed by GLASNOST (openness). But creation of a valid information system for destruction of all lies throughout the system is just now beginning.

In this paper, the Management Information System (MIS) of an enterprise in the new economics is considered as a combination of (1) the Control Data Base as a transformed Executive Information System of the past, (2) the Strategic Data Base founded on R&D activity, and (3) the Operational Data Base substituting for old-fashioned bookkeeping. The author has developed for the description of such transformations the Natural Icons Language (NIL) based on matrix models of information flows in the MIS.

Transition from a command to a market economy also involves large-scale structural changes. PERESTROIKA (restructuring) began both from above by destroying bureaucratic hierarchies and from below by allowing new kinds of entrepreneurship. Communist governments have tried to improve economic performance in the past by just changing the structure of an existing system. Using Natural Icons Language, the author gives a visual presentation of several attempts of structural changes in the Soviet economy during past decades and demonstrates simultaneous analysis of organizational structures and MIS using NIL. NIL uses computer-aided technology for creating graphs of information flows through economic structures. NIL also facilitates the quantitative analysis, mathematical optimization, and computer simulation of these graphs.

The MIS is described here as a system of specialized networks integrated into an organizational structure using specific units of measurement for each type of connection: material supply, documentation flows, communications, and economic transactions. The paper demonstrates the integration of manufacturing (servicing), administrative (managerial) and research (planning) activities into a valid information system as a necessary step for transition from a command to a market economy.