Organisations, Goals and Information Systems

ORGANISATION A group of people, supported by a collection of physical resources and procedures, who work together toward a common goal; for example. A sporting club, business, government department, professional body. The function of the organisation relates to its core business. i.e. to sell goods or to provide a particular service to a group of people.

PROFIT-BASED ORGANISATIONS These are commonly referred to as businesses. Although they have a range of goals, their prime purpose is to make a profit. A business that cannot achieve this goal will eventually cease operating. $

NOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANISATIONS The prime purpose for a not-for –profit organisation is non-financial. They often deal with consumer products, usually in the form of services rather than goods. Examples of this type of organisation include government departments, schools, hospitals, charities, political parties, churches, unions and sporting clubs.

Mission Statement The mission statement defines the organisation’s purpose or what it is trying to achieve. TASK Check out St Columba’s Mission Staewment on the website.

ORGANISATIONAL GOAL Organizations exist to achieve a goal or a set of goals. Most organizations share common goals which include: The desire to maximize profits And emphasis on effectiveness and efficiency of a product The attainment of growth The provision of service cont…

ORGANISATIONAL GOAL cont… Examples of goals an organisation may identify include: Increase market share Improved customer service Reduced amount of time it takes to complete a task Reduce wastage of resources, both material and human. Increase profits Provide the most extensive range of products within the industry.

Objectives These goals are achieved by breaking them down into more achievable smaller tasks. These are known as objectives. For example… To increase growth of book sales by targeting the appropriate market segment in the local suburb.

Organisational Structure Senior management CEO or president Middle management Director or manager Operational management Supervisor, team leader, area coordinator Operational workers Computer operators, receptionists, technical support, clerks Levels of management Types of decisions Strategic decisions Tactical decisions Operational decisions Day-to-day decisions Strategic decisions involve: studying market trend Choosing new products to manufacture or market Analysing social, legal and environmental concerns Determining site locations adjusting management structure Tactical decisions involve: decisions in running of their own departments e.g. human resources, sales… Ensuring strategic decisions made by senior management are successfully carried out Operational decisions involve: Directing customer complaints Replacing a worker who calls in sick Ordering more stock Changing the placement of cetain products to eye level for quicker sales Day-to day decisions involve decisions that help efficiently run a business. They usually involve direct contact with the customer. For example Who is next in queue? Should a complaint go to mangement? Where can I direct this customer query? What software will I use for this task?

INFORMATION SYSTEM Information systems are implemented in order to help organisations achieve their organisational goals. An IS is the combination of people, procedures, equipment (hardware and software), and data that process data and information. TASK – Create a mindmap using inspiration with IS as the centre point. Give examples of each element and break hardware and software into its components. See Powerpoint Hardware and software.

Different types of information systems Transaction processing systems Office automation systems Management information systems Decision support systems Expert (knowledge based) systems TASK Look at handout TypesIS_Organisations convert into graphic.

SYSTEM GOALS Systems goals explain the specific role of the information system in achieving the organisational goal. (Role-the task that an IS or componenets of the IS set out to do) Lets assume that the information system did store the necessary raw data. A goal of the information system (system goal) would to be to produce the required information in a timely, accurate, relevant and appropriate format.

Characteristics of data and information Data-raw, unorganised facts fed to a computer during the input process. Information – is obtained when data is manipulated (or processed) by the computer into a meaningful and useful form Question- Give some examples of data and information. TASK Define characteristics of data and information. See pages 7-11 of text.

Information Flow Types of decisions Strategic decisions Tactical decisions Operational decisions Day-to-day decisions Structure of information Detail reports Summary reports Aggregate reports Sample reports Excpetion reports

From data to information Information system goals relate therefore to the phases of information processing  Data collection or acquisition  Data validation  Data input  Data storage  Data retrieval  Data processing or manipulatiion  Information output  Information communication TASK Ensure each of these stages have been clearly defined in your glossary. See page 11 of text.

Improving Efficiency Expressed in terms of cost, time and effort. Information systems can improve efficiency by: saving time in communicating output Reducing the effort in completing tedious tasks Decreasing the cost in producing the output

Improving effectiveness Is defined as the quality of the output: accuracy, completeness, reliabilty, clarity and relevance. Information systems can improve effectiveness by: Making the output look more professional Making the solution more accurate(e.g. data validation, vlookup, formulae….

Bibliography Textbook: Potts et. al. (2006). IT Applications VCE Information Technology Units 3 and 4, Thomson Nelson. Chapters 1and 3