The Nature of Information

Higher AdministrationITFM

Outcome 1

Data and Information Data = raw facts and figures which

have been collected and organised but have not been processed ie it has not been manipulated in any way to make it meaningful

Information = data which has been processed into a form to help people make decisions

Types of InformationInformation may take the following forms:

Quantitative – This type of information is easily counted or measured. It is factual and is often in the form of numbers eg Sales Figures, Salary costs, Production rates, Number of people employed

Qualitative – this type of information is descriptive and is concerned with opinions, attitudes and value judgements eg where customers are required to rate the value of service offered by a firm as Very good, Good, Poor

Types of Information Primary – Information which is gathered first-

hand for a specific purpose. Primary Information is new information eg questionnaires, interviews, surveys, opinion polls

Secondary – Information that already exists. It has been gathered for one purpose in the past but is available for other uses. Eg Government statistics, the Internet (WWW), Teletext, Trade Journals, Consumer Surveys

Types of Information Internal – This is information which is gathered

from the organisation’s own internal records. It is concerned with what is happening within the organisation.

External – This is information that is obtained from outwith the organisation. External information may be available from a range of sources, e.g. government reports, trade journals, newspaper articles, CD-ROM and the financial press.

Role and Importance of Info Since the early 1980’s there has been a

huge growth in ICT This has lead to many changes in the

amount of information available and the ways in which it can accessed and communicated by individuals

ICT involves Collecting, Processing and Transmitting information by electronic means

Collecting, Processing and Transmitting Information

Collecting by electronic means – by computer (internal and external e-mail over computer networks), the Internet, fax, voicemail, electronic diary

Processing by electronic means – by computer (using software packages such as Word Processing, Spreadsheet, Database, DTP)

Transmitting by electronic means - by computer (e-mail), the Internet, fax, voicemail, electronic diary

Increased Use of ICT

Within business organisations managers increasingly look towards increased use and improvements in ICT to improve their own efficiency, the efficiency of other employees and the quality of decision making within the organisation.

Advantages of increased Use of ICT

increase in the volume of information which can be accessed, processed and transmitted

increase in the speed and ease with which information can be accessed, processed and transmitted

increase in employees’ productivity improvement in the quality of output of

information (accuracy and appearance)

Advantages of increased Use of ICT

increase in employees’ motivation (the time spent on routine, repetitive tasks is reduced)

increased opportunities to standardise the collection, processing and transmission of information within the organisation

flexibility in the use of equipment (computers can be used to operate a range of software packages).

FEATURES OF GOOD INFORMATION

Good Information must be:

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)

Up-to-date

The latest information should be available eg on recent sales trends and stock levels when determining production targets for the next year

Relevant

The Information should be relevant to the area being looked at and the decision which has to be taken – irrelevant information may delay or confuse decision taking

Sufficient

The information should be comprehensive and complete but concise

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

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

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