Referencing Styles : Harvard The manager of a company complains that the management information systems (MIS) continually fails to produce the appropriate information at the right time. The person responsible for MIS responds by blaming the ‘inadequate data and information flow’ within the company and request a review of ‘data and information flow’ 1- Describe the distinction between information, information systems and ICT management. P2.2 2- Describe some of the main activity systems to be found in a typical business. P2.2 3- State six factors which influence the flow of information and data within an organisation. P2.2 4- With the aid of appropriate examples, explain the difference between formal and informal information flow. P2.2 5- Explain why human decision-making is satisficing rather than rational and discuss the consequences of this for MIS, DSS and EIS. P2.1 6- Explain what is meant by a transaction and why it is important in the context of an information system. P2.1 7- With the aid of examples, describe three techniques which could be used to review the current information flows. P2.1 Task 2: A manager uses a bespoke application which cannot produce reports in the exact format required but does allow the export of information to a spreadsheet. The manager uses this facility to export the information, improves the layout of the information and produces several graphs. This takes her several days. On presenting the reports to colleagues she is questioned over the accuracy of the information as many figures appear to be out of date. 1- What is the purpose of a management information system? P4.1 2- Why is such a system required by managers of an organisation? P4.1 3- Give examples of the use of a MIS within and state its purpose. P4.1 4- Describe how this problem may be overcome by using MIS. M3.1 Task 3: Information systems are capable of producing strategic, tactical and operational level information. With the aid of examples, explain the difference between these three levels of information, clearly stating the level of personnel involved in using each one. P1.2 Task 4: Case study TESCO PLC Learning Objectives The objective of this activity is to explore some aspects associated with organisations and their structure. The key aim is to gain a better understanding of organisational perspectives, business process modelling and business process re-engineering (BPR). Key Feature Information and information systems are critical to internal as well as external activity. Effective performance of every human activity system in organisations will be reliant upon effective information systems. Information systems are needed for recording transactions between an organisation and its environment as well as in the management of relationships with external stakeholders. The traditional role for ICT has been to automate or supplant all or part of existing activity systems. More recently the emphasis has been to view ICT as an agency to innovate new forms of activity system. Tesco PLC is an international grocery and general merchandising retail organisation with over 510,000 employees and 3,146 stores in the UK alone1. It operates six different store formats ranging from Tesco Express (occupying up to 3,000 sq ft) to Tesco Extra (over 60,000 sq ft). The predicted fast lane expansion into the emerging market and US has been hindered by the global economic slowdown and fierce competition2. Tesco is in the middle of a much-publicised effort to turnaround its fortunes. The change in the revenue landscape has been reflected in the Tesco expansion. While in 2008 about 80% of group sales and profits came from the UK business1, it now accounts for 65% and another major source of profits has shifted to Asia. In addition to streamlining its existing stores, one aspect of the ‘Building a Better Tesco’ plan is cutting expenditure on very large new stores. Expansion of Tesco's operations comes from: . New space • Reaching over to non-food retail services • Extensions to existing stores • A multi-format approach. Tesco operates in 12 markets worldwide and heavily relies heavily on its ICT infrastructure to deliver consistent and profitable business operations in markets worldwide. In order to successfully ‘export’ a proven set of business processes to new markets it has introduced ‘Tesco in a box’ – a standard IT package providing key systems, including supply chain and replenishment applications. A complete set of business processes has been enabled through a standard IT package expressing the retailer’s operations. According to the operating model covers innovation in the key processes, including: • Planning and building stores • Deciding on markets • Selecting products • Getting product through the supply chain • Selling to customers in Tesco stores Tesco operates a number of information systems which contribute both to operational and to strategic control. For instance, sales of products within their stores are recorded at checkouts. The information gathered at the checkouts automatically feeds through to the information about stock levels in the service area of the store. In turn, the stock level information triggers replenishment of products from stock held in store inventory. This is an example of operational control. In contrast, sales to loyalty card holders provide valuable information to the company which is used for determining which products to sell at which stores at which times of the year. This is an example of strategic control. Tesco is expanding its loyalty card operations into the new markets, with the latest addition of Turkey where the new Clubcard was recently launched. Task 1: compare the organisational structure and culture at Tesco with at least three of its competitors (such as Sainsbury’s, ASDA, Morrison’s, Waitrose). Outline and explain the differences you identify, paying special attention to the emerging market expansion trends. P1.1