Information Systems for Management
ICT- OUTCOME 1
Strategic management is the management at the up such as managing directors like John and Ian McIver from Ice queen who are responsible for making the unstructured decisions like goals and objective that the company strives to reach. To make long term decisions based on their own judgement of the situation such as making future projection on how the company will perform. This well be done by looking at how profitable the business has been by looking at accounts for last year to see what the profits so they can make decisions on how to move forward with the business. Sales figures from other areas can also determine how well a product is selling and what products are popular on the market.
Tactical management is a semi-structured level of management known as middle level management like Sharon Tang and Veronika they will monitor and analyse the existing systems used in the cold stores, shop and offices for 15 weeks then a presentation will be given on how effective these systems and four meetings for preparation will be taken prior to the project beginning and notes will be taken by Chelsea to record every key point at the meetings.
Operational management is the structured level of management known as low level management Whitney and peter who will be by helping to analyse the system by gathering information from the staff by performing interviews and surveys at each of the four regional sites ready for Sharon to analysis.
Three different types of information systems include the use of human information systems within Ice queen used by strategic management, tactical and operational levels because the need for decisions made at all these levels are important because machinery will never replace human decision making as the use of instincts and the use of the human eyes is sometimes the one of the way to observe and make the right decisions through all the levels of management within Ice Queen.
Paper based system is another means of collating information on all three levels of management within Ice Queen because the use of paper information in an organisation is traceable when it comes to doing audits on the company at the end of the financial year.
Strategic management may use this paper systems to illustrate policies and procedures within Ice Queen which would be the responsibility of John and Ian McIver to have these policies on paper so that they can be placed somewhere for all the employees so they can refer to them and adhere to them in the workplace. Strategic management may also user paper information systems to draw up plans for the business or to evaluate aims and objectives as computer systems can sometimes fail and Ice Queen may need back up documents.
Tactical management like Sharon Tang and Veronika might use paper systems to record comprehensive minutes for meetings that Chelsea is responsible for so they know what has been discussed at each of the meetings and to keep hard copies of the analysis being carried out on Ice Queen for them to be able to report to other staff at meetings.
Operational management like Whitney and Peter so they can record how well the cold storage facilities are performing in each of the different depots within Ice Queen and the need for copies of how the machinery is designed and operated so they can evaluate how well their cold storage facility is operating.
Computerised systems would be needed at all levels as well because at strategic levels plans that have been made within Ice Queen would have to be researched by checking where their competitions are in the market by being able to view figures from sites like company house so they can make plans to reach goals and objectives set by Ice Queen.
Tactical Management such as Sharon Tang and Veronika in Ice Queen as they would have to use the project management software to plan the project step by step and making sure that all the timings and allocations of task to be performed are allocated to the right staff at the right time and to make sure that all the right holidays and time off are allocated but the project is still running to schedule.
Operational Management such as Whitney and Peter as they need to use this system to analyse productivity within the work force and the machinery within the cold storage in Ice Queen by using the software that is available to them to complete their analysis.
In the decision making there is information that govern management one of these is the Data Protection Act 1998 this pieces of legislation is paramount for Ice Queen as customers, supplier and staff as this data must be kept secure and is not just available to anybody as information could be miss used in an unlawful way such as people trying to defraud other companies or customer by using bank details or credit card details. This data always must be accurate and up to date and measures must be taken to protect this data. If this data is not protected and there is a breach, then the company can be fined up to 500,000 pounds.
Health and safety legislation 2002 is also important in running a business as it could directly affect the employees’ health and safety as they should have a safe clean environment to work in which is free of potential hazards and dangers within the workplace. By law there should always be first aiders on sight who are fully trained and certificated to deal with any medical assistance needed within the workplace.
Customers are also at risk if these piece of legislation is not followed this could affect their health as cleanliness is a big issue in the workplace because if a company is not following hygiene rules which affect customers if machinery is not cleaned correctly or if machinery is not functioning properly could cause health issue for the customer, which would need to be rectified by calling in environmental health officers which could affect the company and could result in the company been fined or worst case scenario being closed down.
Outcome 2
WAN (wide area network) is distributed geographically for a private communication network this connects lots of different LAN (local area network).
Wan can be connected to company headquarters or branch offices and a router is used to connect LAN and WAN.
WAN shares access to application s services and other centrally located resources. This means that the same application server and firewall does not have to be installed in lots of locations by use of VPN (virtual private network) which connects between WAN sites.
LAN (local area network) is used when a group of computers and devices can share communications by a wireless link to a server
LAN is computers and devices connected to a server in different areas such as an office or a commercial establishment. Mobile phones also use LAN as it shares resources.
LAN can be used a small number of users if used in a small office but can be used in a larger area if used in a larger office.
The Internet is used to research information usually used direct from a router or modem devices this is used to check everything possible such as train times to news stories. Internet is also used for transporting information by using the cloud, emails and using systems like skype to talk to people all over the world.
The benefits for the use of WAN in Ice Queen is that they can sent the same information through memos to staff at the click of a button about anything concerning the company that employees might need to know which will save time for the company. Another benefit of this is all the computer systems are linked so any information that Ice Queen may require during the up and coming project can be accessed through computer systems in different geographical areas which saves time and money for the company so the project runs to plan.
The benefits of LAN for Ice Queen are information that Sharon may require can be accessed by using any other equipment available to her such as a company laptop that may have access to this information. Another benefit is the use of a wireless devices such as a printer as this is wireless as is easy to connect to if needed to record minutes for meeting on paper copy.
The benefits of the internet are Ice queen can contact anybody in a geographical location using email or even easier using skype or even the use of the cloud if they wanted to share certain documents with different employees within the business. Which keeps these documents safe and secure?