1. 1 Information Flows Tracey Murray

2. 2 THE PURPOSE OF INFORMATION The function of information in an organisation is to serve the needs of each department, allowing them to undertake their day to day tasks and provide a source of information from which they may: Plan Make decisions Monitor progress Analyse issues within the department Identify trends Provide feedback and evaluate a course of action taken. Ultimately it enables an organisation to remain competitive

3. 3 Information is used to support users do their daily tasks It will allow them or their supervisors to make short term decisions (More materials need ordering, supplier x hasn’t paid his bills and needs reminding etc) It can also be used higher up the organisation by management to plan strategies to increase market share, diversify into other areas of production, merge or takeover other companies etc.

4. 4 In order for these decisions to be made information must flow into the company from various external sources (customers, suppliers etc) It must flow up and down the levels of the organisation (vertically) and across the different departments (horizontally) It may flow out of the company to various government bodies, suppliers, customers etc.

5. 5 Basic information flow required to get a product to a customer 7 4 2 6 1 Warehouse Despatch Sales Finance 3 5 Customer 1 Request or order from customer 2 Customer details re order (credit checked) 3 Picking list 4 Order and customer details 5 Order delivered to customer with delivery note 6 Invoice sent to customer 7 Payment received from customer

6. 6 Activity Warehouse have sent an item to despatch which has brought the number of that item left in stock to below the re-order level. More must be ordered from purchasing department from the usual suppliers. Replicate the diagram on the last slide and add on the flows of information between: warehouse and purchasing department purchasing department and supplier purchasing department and finance department supplier and warehouse warehouse and finance supplier and finance department

7. 7 Information used at operational level (day to day) Call centre operatives use information on their computer to advise callers on products or services such as insurance, balances of accounts etc. It allows staff to make structured decisions such as which insurance is suitable for them etc Finance clerks use information to keep the accounts up to date by inputting invoices received, payments received onto the system

8. 8 Information used at tactical level Team leaders use information to make decisions and set targets on whether call centre operatives are meeting their targets daily or weekly Finance Officers can monitor budgets/cash flows

9. 9 Information used at strategic level Managers use MIS to identify and analyse trends within the market. For example at the month end or certain times of the year are purchases made. If management can see a certain service or product is not being sold then they can put measures in place to either offer similar products or stop selling this particular altogether. If overheads have increased year on year decisions may be taken to relocate to cheaper premises (or vice versa if profits are increasing)

10. 10 Overall, information is used in order to gain commercial advantage. It maintains the organisation’s competitiveness within the market by allowing the organisation to be more efficient Historical data stored in corporate databases can be used to show trends, and make informed decisions quickly Information can be used to see what competitors are doing (eg on the Internet) Having an IS allows operations/transactions to be completed without duplication and with accuracy

11. 11 IS can allow fewer, but more skilled staff to be employed An IS can monitor what is happening at tactical level (are staff meeting targets, which stock is selling/not selling) and decisions can be taken before things get out of hand By data mining, trends can be shown and action taken based upon these trends By data modelling, managers can try out different scenarios (if x happens what would happen to y) in safety, before trying out in reality All of these tools can be used on information gathered and stored, to make an organisation more competitive.