CMI Unit 7004 Assignment

Learning Outcome 1:
Overview: Managers and leaders must be able to understand the impact of management information on decision-making. 1.1. Using examples identify the primary features of good data and information, showing their interrelationship with Knowledge used by managers to make decisions. 1.2. Describe the criteria to be applied in selecting useful data and information necessary to support management decisions at each levels of management within an organisation you are familiar with. 1.3. Assess the impact of the management information system to the organisation described in the accompanying case study.

The Case Study:

True Pack PLC is a multinational company with several subsidiaries around the world. It primary business is into the shipping of consignments around the world by air, land and sea. The companys new directors have adopted a strategic decision to implement a live tracking system across their divisions so that staffs work in an integrated manner. Information to customers will be provided via a dedicated website and data is accessible from the website at about the same time as a staff using the intranet within the company. The company relies heavily on a software known as Track-IT, developed in-house by an employee James Baker who is only 25 years of age. James is ambitious and has a plan to sell the programme codes to Microsoft in the near future. True Pack PLC knows that James may leave their employment anytime after his contract of employment lapses, which is due in 6 months. The company has noticed a significant increase in customers use of the tracking facility and surveys have indicated that they are very happy with the opportunity to track their consignments from the comfort of their homes, offices and mobile phones. James lives with his Mother - Juliet, who has seven (7) children of between 2 years of age and 30 years of age. James works from the home garage and his younger brother John, has access to the garage. While James was taking an international call, John played an online game on Jamess computer and accidentally shuts down the computer. James was working on a live version of the programme when this happened and the effect of the shutdown was that almost all the data and information stored in the database were wiped out. True Pack PLC was just about becoming a big player in the industry with this new piece of technology. They just lost most of their customers data due to Jamess negligence. Their website used by customers to track orders online has to be shut down immediately and there was no other back up stored anywhere!

Required:
1.3a 1.3b Assess the impact of management information system to this organisation. Determine if information systems are a Critical Success Factor (CSF) to the organisation and how they will impact on the financial and operational activities of the organisation. Recommend a short-term solution to this dilemma

1.3c

Useful Websites
1. 2. 3. http://www.chris-kimble.com/Research/Impact-of-Information-Systems.html http://www.iseing.org/emcis/EMCIS2007/emcis07cd/EMCIS07-PDFs/619.pdf http://orgsci.journal.informs.org/cgi/content/abstract/6/6/645

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Learning Outcome 2:
Overview: Managers and leaders must be able to understand the importance of information sharing within the organisation. 2.1 Referring to relevant local legislation(s) and a department within an organisation you are familiar with, identify and explain the legal responsibilities for sourcing (obtaining), sharing (disseminating), and storing information within the organisation. Using the Case Study accompanying this assignment brief, comment on the followings:

2.2

The Case Study:

Access Limited is a privately owned company formed in 2002 by two (2) entrepreneurs - Miss Linda Savage and Bruce Bush. The company has since grown into a medium sized company with offices across the South East of London. The company is involved in providing call centre services to major multi-national companies operating in the South East of London and beyond. The company also provides data and information to the Metropolitan Police operating in London. Telephone companies have always sought information about the nature, timing, destination and length of calls from the call centre to no avail. BT has been the only company to obtain caller information from Access Limited, through Alex. When callers register with Access Limited, Alex passes on the callers personal details to BT and BT pays Alex directly if the caller is not a BT customer. Linda and Bruce married two years ago and have continued to operate the company as the only Directors, making operational and strategic decisions on a daily basis. Linda has been informally informed by one of her cousins Patricia, who works in the company that Bruce, her husband is having an affair with a lady employee named Kate Price. Kate works weekends only and Linda does not work weekends. Patricia has been snooping into the Human Resources files of Kate for a while, unauthorised. The files are stored in the Human Resources department, where Patricias son Alex works as the manager. Suppliers of capital items to the company bid for contracts by way of tenders. The process is confidential and decisions to award contracts are generally made by Bruce. All electronic and paperbased tender documents are stored with Alex and Patricia has obtained informal information that Bruce awards contracts to favoured firms linked to Kate. She has informally notified Linda about this with copies of evidences of favoured tenders and rejected tenders. The information was obtained from Alex, who asked Patricia not to inform anyone. Linda is furious and has confronted Bruce with copies of the tenders and correspondence with favoured suppliers. She also wishes to cease to work for the company and start her own company, independent of Access Limited. She has instructed Alex to provide her with all data and information held on the companys database and not to provide access to any information to Bruce anymore. Access to all information must now come from Linda and Bruce has consulted his legal representatives to seek an urgent injunction, restraining Linda from preventing him from gaining access to company data and information. The order is likely to succeed. Suppliers have been notified by Linda in a signed letter that they will not be paid due to the flawed tender process even though contracts have been signed by Bruce on behalf of Access Limited. a. b. c. d. If Alex was right to provide information about Kate to Patricia. When information should be offered by Alex to third parties like BT Procedures BT should follow to gain access to stored information within the company (please refer to the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 etc.). If Linda is right to prevent Bruce from access to company data and information under the Data Protection Act 1998.

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2.3

Using the Case Study in 2.2 above, evaluate and suggest the formats in which information can be offered/presented to:

a.

The Metropolitan Police (focus on issues relating to crime, telephone calls made through the companys systems, patterns of phone calls, timing of calls etc.), and;

b.

BT (focus here on call statistics like frequency of calls, length of calls, destination of calls, demographics of callers etc.).

Learning Outcome 3:
Overview: Managers must be able to use information to inform and support strategic decision-making.

3.1

Referring to the Case Study in 2.2, explain how the Metropolitan Police can apply analysis to the information obtained from Access Limited to identify patterns and trends so as to better allocate their resources to best use.

3.2

Assess and describe a range of decision making tools and techniques available to organisations to support their strategic decision making process.

3.3

Determine the sources available to assist users in analysing data and information useful for strategic decision making within organisations.

Learning Outcome 4:
Overview: Managers must be able to monitor and review management information.

4.1

Identify methods of evaluating management information within organisations

4.2

Discuss processes for analysing impact of information on strategic decisions made by the management of an organisation.

4.3

Using Microsoft power point application package, present methods of developing information capture systems that support strategic decision-making.

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