Transcript Relevant - GLLM Moodle 2

Data,
Information
& Communication
Part 2
Characteristics of good information
Relevant for its purpose
Sufficiently accurate for its purpose
Complete enough for the problem
From a source in which the user has confidence
Communicated to the right person
Communicated in time for its purpose
That which contains the right level of detail
Communicated by an appropriate channel of communication
That which is understandable by the user
Relevant
Has a defined over riding quality.
Information must be relevant to problem being
considered.
Far too often reports, messages etc contain
irrelevant parts thus making understanding
difficult for the user.
Relevance can be affected by many of the
following qualities.
Accuracy
Information must be sufficiently accurate to be relied upon by
the manager and for its purpose of intent.
There is no such thing as absolute accuracy
Raising the level of accuracy is costly but does not necessarily
increase the value of the information.
The level of accuracy must be related to the decision level
involved.
At operational levels information may need to be accurate to
the nearest penny, pound, kilogram or minute. A sales invoice,
as an example, will be accurate to the penny. On the other
hand, a sales manager at the tactical level will be happy to
receive information rounded to the nearest £100, whilst at
strategic level rounding to the nearest thousand would be
acceptable.
Accuracy cont….
Accuracy should not be confused with
precision.
Information may be inaccurate but precise or
vice versa.
The following diagram displays this:
Precise
but
inaccurate
Accurate
but
Imprecise
Precise and
Accurate
The distinction between accuracy and precision
Completeness
All the information required for a decision must be available;
this does not always happen in the real world.
What is required is that the information is complete in
respect of the main elements of the problem.
A close relationship between the users and the information
suppliers is then required to ensure the main factors are
identified for this to be effective.
An example would be a supermarket chain making a strategic
decision to develop a store on the outskirts of a town, the key
elements required would be population data, road access,
competitors etc not every detail about the town in their initial
analysis.
Confidence in the source
For information to have value, it must be used.
For managerial use, confidence in that source is important.
Confidence is enhanced when:
The source has been reliable in the past
Good communication between manager and the
information provider
Good communication and frank discussion about the
content, format and timing of reports with possible
uncertainties or inaccuracies within will aid that confidence.
Within strategic levels, management will cross check information
from various sources to increase confidence in the message.
Communication to the right person
Each manager has a defined remit and responsibility
level and should receive appropriate information to
carry out such activities.
This is not always the case as superiors may not pass
on the relevant information or a subordinate may hold
on to information in order to make them seem
indispensable.
Providers of information need to ascertain the key
decision points within an organisation in order to
direct the information to exactly where it is required.
Timing
Good information is that which is communicated in time to be
used.
The use of speed in processing time can conflict with accuracy
but modern processing methods can provide both as an outcome.
Delays in gathering data, processing or communication can turn
potentially valuable information into worthless paper.
The timing of regularly produced information is also important.
Information should be produced at a frequency which is related
to the type of decision associated.
Detail
Information should contain the least amount of detail
required for effective decision making.
Excessive detail and extra characters mean extra storage,
processing power and possibly poorer decisions.
The level of detail should vary to reflect on the organisation
levels with higher the level the greater degree of
compression and summarisation.
Sometimes the level of detail for the lower levels needs to
be in detail but the rule of thumb is as little as possible to
be consistent with effective use.