 |
| Information Systems |
VU
Information
System (CS507)
LESSON
3
Organization
& Information Requirements
Organizations
have various attributes which distinguish
them from each other. No two
organizations are
similar
in all respects. There have to
have certain distinctive
lines keeping them unique from each
other.
Information
requirements keep varying in accordance
with
· Size
of organization
· Its
structure
· The
Culture it follows
· Decision
Making Structures
· Interested
parties both internal and
external
An organization
should consider the above mentioned
requirements while devising a
system which tailors
for
specific information
needs.
3.1
Size of the Organization and
Information Requirements
3.1.1
Small Organizations
Small
organizations usually have
simple management structure.
The need invariably grows
from the limited
scope
and operations of management. Since
tasks to be handled are usually
limited and manageable,
hence
need
for introducing more levels
is not required. Since operations can be
managed at the top level by one
or
two
members of the senior management,
officers from the lower level of
management are not
usually
involved
in decision making. Hence the final
decisions are centrally
taken.
Information
flows and formats are easy
to define and change. Since
information requirements are
not
extensive,
number of documents prepared and
generated will also be few in number.
Mostly the interested
party
itself is running the business,
hence the management is centralised to
few people.
Examples
of Information requirements of Small
Organizations
·
Day to
day transactions
·
Daily
Sale
·
Cash
management
·
Receivables
and Payables
3.1.2
Medium Sized Organizations
Medium
Sized organizations are
normally a family ownership run by
brothers, father-son. There are
many
organizations
existing these days which are being
run by the family members.
The prime concern may
be
the trust
already fostered among the
blood relations but this might give
rise to informal relationship
among
them.
Since all critical managerial positions
are usually controlled by the
family members, information
is
structured
only to the extent of external reporting.
The level of reporting that
could meet the
information
needs
of the clients is best suited
for such an organization.
Medium
sized organizations are run
under direct supervision of the family members
which rarely extends
to
segregation
of duties and delegation of
authority.
·
Centralized
decision making
·
Above
mentioned structure rarely changes
with complexity and dynamism
of environments.
7
VU
Information
System (CS507)
Information
Requirements of Medium Sized
Organizations
As
size of the organization increases, the importance of
planning for information
also increases. The
planning
on long-term basis also
helps in monitoring of information
against planning
3.1.3
Large Organizations
Usually
such organizations are
characterized by large scale of
operations. Various criteria can be
used for
this
purpose.
·
Number
of employees
·
Amount
of turnover
·
Number
of branches
·
Profit
size
·
Value
of assets
·
Number
of businesses the organization is working
in
With
such large size of
organizations, management structure
needs to be multi- tiered for
efficient and
strong
control. This leads to formulation of
many departments, management
levels, designations,
promotional
opportunities and salary
increments.
Example
Public
companies
Information
Requirements of Large Organizations
With
such a large structure, it is
inevitable that the detailed planning
should be made for
proper
management
control, for both short term
and long term.
Performance
measurement against plans /
targets
Nature
of the Business and Information
Requirements
·
Manufacturing
Sector
·
Service
Sector
·
Trading
Sector
1.
Manufacturing Sector
Manufacturing
process involves more than
one sub-processes, detailed information
is required before
transferring
materials for warehousing, manufacturing
and sale to final
consumer.
Information
Requirements of Manufacturing
Sector
Management
is concerned with the day to
day costs, production
targets, quality of the product,
delivery
schedules,
etc.
2.
Service Sector
Final
product is intangible, so information is critical at
various steps, e.g. preparation, delivery
and customer
8
VU
Information
System (CS507)
satisfaction.
Quality maintenance is an issue
which requires structured
reporting.
Information
requirements of Service
Sector
·
Quality
of service provided.
·
Mode
of delivery
·
Customer
Satisfaction
·
Time
Scheduling
·
Resource
Management
Trading
Sector
Monitoring
requires information for
each product, e.g.
·
Customer
profiles
·
Customer
Comments
·
Volume
of sales
·
Profitability
·
Stock
movements Manufacturing/Procurement
Cycle
·
Market
needs
3.2
Nature of Business & Information
Requirements
As the
size of organization and scale of
operations change, information
requirements need to be
adjusted
for
better monitoring to keeping things in
control.
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