Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Management of Business
Information Systems
In this study unit
The information
creating process
The characteristics
of information
1 Introduction
The most obvious reason for processing data is to reduce uncertainty and therefore most
organisations value information as a strategic asset (Booyse, NJ et al. 2017). In this
study unit, we look at information, the characteristics of information as well as the uses
and users of information.
2 What is information?
Information is derived from data or raw facts that represent real-world elements. To
understand information, it is important to first look at the term ‘‘data’’.
Data are the raw materiaI available for processing into information. Data consists of
numbers, letters, symbols, raw facts, events and transactions, which have been
recorded but not yet processed into a form that is suitable for making decisions (ACC-
ACCAKP_BT, 2021:77).
• Quantitative data is that which is capable of being measured numerically, e.g. the
standard labour hours required to produce one unit of output.
• Qualitative data is not capable of being measured numerically but may reflect
distinguishing characteristics, e.g. the grade of labour used to produce the unit of
output.
• Data is said to be discrete when it can only take on specific fixed values, e.g. the
actual number of vehicles through a car wash per day could be 35 but not 35.3.
• Continuous data takes on any numerical value and we could, in an eight hour day,
measure the throughput of cars as 4.375 per hour, i.e. 35 cars/8 hours.
• Primary data is collected for a particular enquiry, for example by observation,
employees would be observed performing a ‘value adding’ activity when
establishing a standard time for the activity.
Therefore, Information is a set of facts or data organised and processed in such a way
that it provides additional value beyond that of the facts themselves. In other words,
information is data that have been processed in such a way as to be meaningful to the
person who receives it. This information provides knowledge that leads the user to make
decisions.
IS produces information to satisfy the needs of both the management and operating
subsystems, as well as the need of parties external to the organisation. This information
reflects the internal actions, environmental and sociological interests as well as political
and financial trends. It must represent what has happened, what is happening and most
importantly what will happen.
Characteristics Explanation
Accurate Information should be sufficiently accurate for its intended purpose
and the decision-maker should be able to rely on the information.
Complete The more complete information is, the more reliable it will be.
Cost The information should not cost more to obtain than the benefit
derived from it
Understandable User friendly information is much more readily acted upon.
Relevance The information provided should concentrate on the essentials and
ignore trivia.
Adaptable Information should be tailored to the needs and level of understanding
of its intended recipients.
Reliability Information is reliable if one can depend on it. Reliability depends on
the source of information. A rumour is not reliable.
Timely Information should be delivered when it is needed. Information that is
out-of-date is a waste of time, effort and money.
Easy to use Information should be clearly presented and sent using the right
medium and communication channel. Information should not be
overly complex and should be supplied in the required format. Too
much information or information in the wrong format leads to difficulty
in determining what is important.
3 The uses and users of information
The users of information can be both internal and external users. These users of
information, both internal and external, first need to be identified before decisions on
information needs can be made. Such users need information in order to perform a
specific task or make specific decisions.
Internal users may need information for future planning and forecasting, for measuring
performance or for control in the organisation or about specific processes. External
users, such as investors or financiers, may need information on the performance of the
organisation for possible future investment, while clients may need information on
products and services.
Users of information
Internal users use information to assist them in performing their daily tasks. This
information can be from an internal or an external source. Internal users and the
information needed by them are the following:
Users outside the organisation may also need information from internal and external
sources for various reasons. Financial statements form one of the most important
sources of information in this regard. According to ACC-ACCAKP_BT (2021:78)
information will be used by various third parties, including:
• the shareholders or owners – who will want to know how their investment is
performing
• customers and suppliers – who will want to know how stable the business is and
therefore whether it will be a reliable trading partner
• Government agencies – The most important need for information by the government
is for use by the South African Revenue Services (SARS). SARS needs internal
financial information to determine the tax liability of the organisations
4 Structure of organisation IS
• Support of knowledge work: forms the middle layer and contains subsystems for
sharing information within an organisation.
While MIS can be used by any and every level of management, the decision of which
system to implement generally falls upon the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief
Technology Officer (CTO) These Officers are generally responsible for the overall
technology strategy of an organisation including evaluating how well technology can
help their organisation. They act as decision makers in the implementation process of
new MIS. This means that once decisions have been made, the IT director including
MIS director oversee the technical implementation of the system. They are also in
charge of implementing policies affecting MIS. These are either new specific policies
passed down by the CIO and CTO or policies that align the new systems with the overall
IT Policy. It is also their role to ensure the availability of data and network services as
well as security of the data involved by coordinating IT activities.
On implementation the assigned users, will have the appropriate access to relevant
information. Notwithstanding, not everyone is inputting data into MIS necessarily need
to be at management level and it is common practice that inputs to MIS are done by
non-managerial employees. However, they rarely have access to the reports and
decision-making support platforms offered by these systems.
7 Objectives of MIS
d. To identify the need for information in the day-to-day operations of the organisation.
8 Advantages of using MIS
The following are some of the benefits that can be attained using MIS:
b. Companies can identify their strengths and weaknesses due to the presence of
revenue reports, employee performance records amongst others. Identifying these
aspects can help a company improve its business processes and operations.
e. The availability of customer data and feedback can help the company t align its
business processes according to the needs of its customers. The effective
management of customer data can help the company to perform direct marketing
and promotion activities.
g. MIS reports can help with decision making as well as reduce downtime for
actionable items.
Activity 3.1
12 19 8 21 32
25 34 22 30 20
43 21 16 45 32
27 38 39 21 18
33 11 28 26 27
At the moment, this data is simply not useful.
To give it meaning, you are required process it and turn it into information.
Application - SPCE
As the management accountant of SPCE, you are required to advise the board on what
internal and external information it needs in order to solve the problem that SPCE is
facing.
Go to the Discussion forum for study unit 3 and discuss this with your fellow
students.
10 Summary
Information is a key resource within the organisation and forms the basis of decisions
made by internal users such as management and external users such as customers and
suppliers. It is essential to keep the characteristics of information in mind when collecting
information and to ensure that the information obtained is useful.