44095: IT for Management

1. 44095: IT for Management Introduction to Module By: Ian Perry Room: C48 E-mail: i.p.perry@hull.ac.uk Tel: 01723 35 7287 http://itsy.co.uk/ac/0607/Sem2/44095_IT4M/

2. Why IT for Management? • Understanding the application of Information Technology (IT) is vital to Business Management students; • as all business organisations rely upon the ability of their IT-based systems to provide and support the knowledge required for all levels of management decision-making, i.e.: • Strategic • Tactical • Operational

3. Learning Outcomes? • By the end of the module you will be able to: • Understand the distinction between data, information & knowledge. • Relate theoretical information technology models to business organisations, in order to understand business needs. • Assess an organisation, to identify the role of IT-based support systems in a given business context. • Use software tools to produce a working example of an IT-based support system which addresses specific business needs.

4. Assessment Method • A single assignment, in two-parts, based upon a common Case Study scenario. • Part 1 • Analyse the current information system, as presented by the Case Study, using appropriate systems diagrams. (30 Marks) • Where, and how, might Information Technology (IT) be used to improve the efficiency and/or effectiveness of Case Study organisation’s information system? (20 Marks) • Part 2 • Build a software tool that can help improve a specific aspect of the information system for the Case Study organisation. (50 Marks) • Assignment Deadline • Monday, the 14th of May, 2007

5. GIC – Case Study • The General Insurance Company (GIC), is based in Manchester, and was originally set-up in 1996 by David and Jane Cowper, who had just completed their undergraduate degrees. • Since then the company has experienced modest growth, and they now employ a staff of 6 Insurance Clerks (based at the Head Office in Manchester) and 12 Insurance Advisors who deal directly with Customers in one of 4 Regions of the UK. • GIC offer a range of general insurance products, including Motor, Home, Travel and Life Insurance, which are sold to Customers by one of the Insurance Advisors for the Region in which they live.

6. GIC – Case Study (continued) • The 4 Regions of the UK, and the number of Insurance Advisors operating in each Region, are as follows: • The South-East 4 • The South-West 2 • The Midlands 3 • The North 3 • All of the Insurance Products offered by GIC are sourced (from major Insurance providers) by the Head Office, who; • let the Insurance Advisors know which products can be sold to their Customers, and provide a range of • Brochures (which describe the products) • Forms (to be completed and signed by the Customers).

7. GIC – Case Study (continued) • It is the job of the Insurance Advisors to; • visit Customers in their homes in order to ascertain their insurance requirements, • and to help them fill in the Insurance Forms (some of which are quite complex) that must be completed in order to provide an accurate Insurance Quotation. • Two ‘types’ of Customer: • Existing Customers (i.e. those who have already bought insurance products from GIC) often contact one of the Insurance Advisors for the Region in which they live to arrange such a visit when they need advice on other insurance products. Insurance Advisors might also instigate a visit (usually on an annual basis) to review the insurance products already held by the Customer. • New Customers might be visited by invitation (i.e. having been introduced to friends/family of existing Customers) or as a result of advertisements in local/regional newspapers, or even by cold calling (which the Insurance Advisors do not like doing). • First thing every morning, each Insurance Advisor sends any Insurance Forms that they helped their Customers to complete the previous day back to the Head Office in Manchester.

8. GIC – Case Study (continued) • When the Insurance Forms arrive at the Head Office, the Insurance Clerks set about the task of interpreting the data on the forms in order to calculate Insurance Quotations. • GIC deal with a wide variety of Insurance Providers, and will ‘shop-around’ on behalf of their Customers in order to find the best deal on offer. • Once an Insurance Quotation has been calculated it is sent by post directly to the Customer. • Upon receipt of an Insurance Quotation, the Customer must then decide if they wish to go ahead with the insurance, in which case they must sign an Acceptance Form and send this, together with a cheque for the full amount of the premium back to GIC’s Head Office. If they do not want to go ahead, then they simply do nothing. • Upon receipt of a signed Acceptance Form, and accompanying payment, the Insurance Clerks send out the relevant Insurance Certificate to the Customer.

9. GIC – Case Study (continued) • GIC are having particular problems with the following areas of their business activity: • Building up their customer base – they want more people who require general insurance to know they exist and what they have to offer. • Supporting new and existing customers with information – to help them decide on the right type of insurance to match their requirements. Insurance Advisors often spend a great deal of their time, travelling to visit customers, and answering the same, predictable, questions. • Capturing the data for insurance calculations – some of the data that needs to be gathered before an Insurance Quotation can be calculated is quite extensive, and often involves filling in quite complex Insurance Forms. The completed forms then have to be sent by post back to the head office, which delays things by up to 3 days. • Calculating accurate insurance quotations – which often requires a number of quite time-consuming, and hence error prone, manual calculations to be performed. The forms are often difficult for the Insurance Clerks to read/interpret, as some of the Customers do not fill them in very legibly.

10. Lectures & Workshops (all in IT4) • Mon / 29 Jan (6:00pm to 9:30pm) • Introduction to Module / Information for All? • Mon / 19 Feb (6:00pm to 9:30pm) • Systems Concepts 1 / Drawing Systems Diagrams 1 • Mon / 05 Mar (6:00pm to 9:30pm) • Systems Concepts 2 / Drawing Systems Diagrams 2 • Sat / 10 Mar (1:30pm to 4:30pm) • Review of Module & Part 1 Requirements / Part 1 - Assignment Support • Mon / 19 Mar (6:00pm to 9:30pm) • Useful Spreadsheet Functions / a ‘simple’ Spreadsheet Model Easter Break – 24 Mar 2007 to 15 Apr 2007 • Mon / 23 Apr (6:00pm to 9:30pm) • Worksheets, Named Ranges, and Macros / a ‘complex’ Spreadsheet Model • Mon / 07 May (6:00pm to 9:30pm) • Review of Module & Part 2 Requirements / Part 2 - Assignment Support Assignment Deadline = Monday, the 14th of May, 2007.

11. Data, Information & Knowledge • A clear understanding of difference between Data,Information & Knowledge is crucial; • if you wish to be able to understand/develop an IT-based System for any organisation. • What is Data? • A series of observations, measurements, or facts (transactions/events). • Collins Concise English Dictionary • E.g. • 12 • Ian • Sunny

12. Data Information Process (perhaps!) Data  Information • What is Information? • ‘data that have been transformed into a meaningful and useful form for people’. • ‘data placed in a context and given value by specific end-users’.

13. Information Attributes • Information (or do I mean data?) can be thought of as having three dimensions: • Time • Timeliness, Currency, Frequency, etc. • Content • Accuracy, Relevance, Completeness, etc. • Form • Clarity, Detail, Order, Presentation, etc. • Information is often affected by more than one of the above.

14. What is this? - 120507 • Why did you say that? • People tend to look for a familiarstructure & place data in a familiarcontext, e.g.: • 120507 => DD/MM/YY => 12/05/07 => 12 May 2007 • We use structure & context to transform the data we receive into information. • However: • Different people see different structures and/or might apply different contexts to the data they receive: • What if you were from the USA? • What if you were me?

15. So? • Information = Data + Structure + Context • The same data can give different information if a different structure and/or a different context is applied. • Try these: SSMTW_ what letter is next? SDLMM_ what letter is next?

16. Knowledge • What is Knowledge? • That which is gained by the possession of information. • Enabling people to: • have a ‘better’ understanding of a situation • And/Or: • make ‘better’ decisions.

17. Summary • Data  Information: • Data are simply facts relating to ‘things’ like events, transactions, etc. • Information: • is a people thing, because only they can determine the structure & context with which data might become information. • Knowledge: • is gained by the possession of information that enables people to have a ‘better’ understanding of a situation and/or make ‘better’ decisions.

18. Always Remember This! “Data is only potential information; information is potential knowledge; and knowledge is potential competitive advantage if it is used in a creative, flexible, and above all, accurate way.” Adrian M (1990) Let’s Get Serious. Focus News. Winter.