Higher Administration ITFM

1
Higher AdministrationITFM

• Outcome 1
• Information Decision Making

2
The nature of information

• Data raw facts and figures which have been
  collected and organised but have not been
  processed.
• Information data which has been processed into
  a form which assists the person who received the
  information to arrive at a decision.

3
Types of information

• Quantitative information is
• easily counted or measured
• factual and often in number format
• eg sales figures, salary costs, production rates,
  number of people employed, etc

4
Types of information

• Qualitative
• descriptive information
• opinions, attitudes and value judgements
• eg rating the service as good, satisfactory or
  unsatisfactory

5
Types of information

• Primary
• information gathered first hand
• for a specific purpose
• new information
• can be collected through observation, opinion
  polls, interviews, telephone surveys,
  questionnaires, etc.

6
Types of information

• Secondary
• information which already exists
• gathered for one purpose in the past but
  available for other users
• organisations should check whether secondary
  information is already available before arranging
  for the collection of primary information
• egs government statistics, the Internet,
  teletext, trade journals, consumer surveys, etc

7
Types of information

• External
• information obtained from out with the
  organisation
• eg government reports, trade journals, newspaper
  articles, CD-ROMs, the Internet, etc

8
Types of information

• Internal
• information gathered from the organisations own
  internal records.
• concerned with what is happening within the
  organisation
• eg sales figures, salary information, production
  rates, etc

9
Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

• Collecting, processing and transmitting
  information by electronic means.

10
Collecting/Transmitting

• Email
• The Internet
• Fax
• Mobile phone
• Voicemail
• Telephone
• Telephone answering machine
• Electronic diary

11
Processing

• Using software packages such as
• Word processing
• Spreadsheets
• Databases
• Desktop publishing (DTP)
• etc

12
Increased use of ICT - Advantages

• Increases in
• Volume, speed and ease which info can be
  accessed, processed and transmitted
• Employees productivity
• Quality of output of info (accuracy and
  appearance)
• Employees motivation (repetition reduced)
• Opportunities to standardise the collection,
  processing and transmission of info
• Flexibility in the use of equipment

13
Sources of Information - Electronic

• Information held in electronic form
• on computer files (databases, wp docs, etc)
• on CD-ROM
• the Internet
• viewdata
• teletext

14
Sources of Information Paper-based

• Information in printed form the information may
  be internal or external to the organisation
• Phone Book/Yellow Pages
• Dictionaries/encyclopaedias, gazetteers
• Road maps
• AA/RAC handbooks
• Whitakers Almanac
• Postal leaflets, etc

15
Sources of Information - Oral

• Information is passed on by word of mouth.
• In order for this to be of value as a reliable
  source of information al full and accurate record
  should be kept of what was said
• Meetings
• Interviews
• Visits
• Telephone/Mobile calls
• Videophone/Videoconferencing
• etc

16
Sources of Information - Internal

• Information which is obtained from organisations
  own internal records.
• The value will depend on the accuracy, relevance
  and quality of the information.
• Personnel records
• Payroll records
• Company handbooks
• Minutes of meetings
• Stock records, etc

17
Sources of Information - External

• Information which is obtained from outwith the
  organisation.
• May be required when comparing the organisations
  performance against other similar businesses.
• Government reports/publications
• Internet
• Newspaper articles
• Reference books, etc

18
Sources of Information

• See pages 80-84 of your notes for more detailed
  descriptions of many different examples of
  sources of information.
• The basic requirement of information is that it
  must be meaningful and useful to its user.

19
Features of Good Information

• Accurate
• Having inaccurate information may be worse than
  having no information at all.
• Users of information must be certain that the
  information does not contain errors (it must
  provide a sound basis upon which to make
  decisions)

20
Features of Good Information

• Up-to-date
• The latest information should be available
• For example on recent sales trends and stock
  levels when determining production targets for
  the next year.

21
Features of Good Information

• Relevant
• The information should be relevant to the area
  being looked at and the decisions which has to be
  taken.
• Irrelevant information may delay or confuse
  decision taking

22
Features of Good Information

• Sufficient
• The information should be
• Comprehensive
• Complete
• Concise

23
Features of Good Information

• Appropriate
• The information should be presented in a format
  which is comprehensible and can be readily used
  by the people required to make decisions.
• The information must not be ambiguous or
  misleading.

24
Features of Good Information

• Available
• The information should be available at the time
  it is required.
• If there is a delay in accessing the required
  information then decisions will be delayed and
  opportunities may be missed or wrong decisions
  may be taken.

25
Features of Good Information

• Cost effective
• The information should not be costly to obtain.
• What is acceptable as far as cost is concerned
  will, of course, depend on the type and level of
  decision to be taken.

26
Effects of Poor Communication

• work is not productive - tasks are not completed
  on time
• important tasks are overlooked
• poor quality work is produced which can impact
  upon customers
• individuals may feel demotivated if they are not
  kept informed
• individuals work rate may suffer through no fault
  of their own and they may face disciplinary action

27
Decisions, decisions

• Whatever a manager does, he does through making
  decisions. management is always a
  decision-making process.
• The Practice of Management by Peter F Drucker

28
Strategic Decisions

• Set the aims and objectives of the organisation.
• Concerned with the production of policies which
  give the organisation its overall direction,
  purpose and competitive edge.
• Not concerned with the detail of how such
  policies are put into action.

29
Strategic Decisions

• Long-term affecting the organisation over a
  number of years
• High-risk once taken, difficult and costly to
  reverse if something goes wrong
• Taken by top levels of management (BOD, Chief
  Executives, Heads of Depts, etc)
• Example whether to take over a rival firm

30
Tactical Decisions

• Concerned with putting the strategic decisions
  into action.
• Concerned with bringing together and using the
  resources of a business to achieve the aims and
  objectives of the organisation.

31
Tactical Decisions

• Medium term 6 months to one year
• Medium-risk it will take some time to put right
  if the wrong decision is taken
• Taken by middle levels of management (senior
  staff, factory managers, etc)
• Example whether to introduce new working
  arrangements in the factory

32
Operational Decisions

• Concerned with the detail of tactical decisions.
• Day-to-day decisions to ensure standards and
  targets are met and adjustments are made in line
  with changing circumstances.

33
Operational decisions

• Short-term a few days to a few months
• Taken on a daily basis
• Usually low risk rectified quickly at little
  cost if the wrong decision taken
• Taken by lower levels of management (supervisors,
  managerial assistants, etc)
• Example when to schedule meetings of staff in
  the sales department