AGARFA ATVET COLLEGE

Unit of Competence: Develop and Manage

Information System
Module Title: Developing and
Managing Information System
LG Code: NRC NCU 407 03 11

LO 1: utilize Natural Resource Information Systems

LO 2: Collect, Analyze and Review Natural Resource Information
Systems
LO 3: Manage the Natural Resource Information Systems
LO 4: Develop Business Plans/Budgets
LO5: Manage Resource Planning

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 Introduction Learning Guide 1
This learning guide is developed to provide you the necessary information regarding the
following content coverage and topics –.
 Utilizing Natural Resource Information Systems
 Collecting, Analyzing and Reviewing Natural Resource Information Systems
 Managing the Natural Resource Information Systems
 Developing Business Plans/Budgets
This guide will also assist you to attain the learning outcome stated in the cover page.
Specifically, upon completion of this Learning Guide, you will be able to –
 utilize Natural Resource Information Systems
 Collect, Analyze and Review Natural Resource Information Systems
 Manage the Natural Resource Information Systems
 Develop Business Plans/Budgets

Information Sheet-1 Utilize Natural Resource Information Systems

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1.1. Developing Strategies to Ensure Effective Use of Organizational Information
Systems
Definition of Information system:
Information: is data that have been converted into a meaningful and useful context for
specific end users.
System: is defined as a set of interrelated components, with a clearly defined boundary,
working together to achieve a common set of objectives by accepting inputs and producing
outputs in an organized transformation process.
Systems have three basic functions:
 Input: involves capturing and assembling elements that enter the system to be l
 processed. For example, raw materials, energy, data, and human effort must be
secured and organized for processing.
 Process: involves transformation processes that convert input into output. Examples
are a manufacturing process, the human breathing process, or mathematical
calculations.
 Output: involves transferring elements that have been produced by a transformation
process to their ultimate destination.
Thus an information system (IS) can be any organized combination of people, hard-ware,
software, communications networks, data resources, and policies and procedures that
stores, retrieves, transforms, and disseminates information in an organization.

Components of an information system

Figure 1.6 Components of an information system

Basic activities of information Systems:
1. Input of Data Resources: Data about business transactions and other events must be captured

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 and prepared for processing by the input activity. Input typically takes the form of data
entry activities such as recording and editing. End users typically enter data directly into
a computer system or record data about transactions on some type of physical medium
such as a paper form.
2. Processing of Data into information: Data are typically subjected to processing
activities such as calculating, comparing, sorting, classifying, and summarizing. These
activities organize, analyze, and manipulate data, thus converting them into information
for end users. The quality of any data stored in an information system must also be
maintained by a continual process of correcting and updating activities.
3. Output of Information Products: Information in various forms is transmitted to end
users and made available to them in the output activity. The goal of information systems
is the production of appropriate information products for end users. Common
information products include messages, reports, forms, and graphic images, which may
be provided by video displays, audio responses, paper products, and multimedia.
4. Storage of Data Resources: Storage is a basic system component of information
systems. Storage is the information system activity in which data are retained in an
organized manner for later use. For example, just as written text material is
organized into words, sentences, paragraphs, and documents, stored data are
commonly organized into a variety of data elements and databases. This facilitates
their later use in processing or retrieval as output when needed by users of a system.
5. Control of system performance: An important information system activity is the
control of system performance. An information system should produce feedback
about its input, processing, output, and storage activities. The feedback needs
monitoring and evaluation to determine if the system is meeting established performance
standards. Based on the result then appropriate system activities must be adjusted so
that proper information products are produced for end users.

Roles of Information System: in the three vital roles that information systems can perform
for an organization business enterprise.
• Support of its business processes and operations.
• Support of decision making by its employees and managers.
 Support of its strategies for competitive advantage.

1.2. Accessing and Reviewing Information Held by an Organization

Information can be either physical or electronic and needs efficient management.

Information management is the organization’s responsibility where it is gathered, managed,
stored, shared, preserved, retrieved and delivered.
Storing information is the process where information is deposited or stored in a storehouse
(cabinets, HDD, memory stick, etc) and retrieving information is the process of obtaining
the stored information resources relevant to the needs.
The main purpose of storing any information is for easy retrieval in the future when it is
required. It is also part of a company’s business practice. Storing documents have to be done

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 in proper procedure so that it is easier to find. Depending on the type of information,
information can be stored in either fireproof cabinets for hard copies or hard disks or other
electronic storage devices for soft copies.
Depending on the nature of the company or organization or business, different types of
information will have to be stored. It can be secrets related to the company, highly
confidential files related to the company or employees or customers / clients. So files have
to be stored following all the confidentiality procedures and protected according to data
protection act, as these are information necessary for providing quality service and for the
smooth running of the company.
The purpose of information retrieval is to provide quality service for the right person at the
right time, with all the required information in hand. Only if data is stored in a procedural
manner it can be easily retrieved. Information might be retrieved for marketing purposes, for
communications, for monitoring purposes, for surveys and other research that an
organization or business might conduct. Information will also be retrieved in situations
where information might have to be shared with partner companies and with the police or
 legal and organizational requirements for the security and confidentiality of
information
Any information stored in an organization has to follow the security and confidentiality
procedures. Information security and confidentiality is the process where data is kept away
from unauthorized access, disclosure, destruction, use or modification. It applies to both
physical and electronic data. All organizations store a large amount of confidential
information about their employees, customers, company’s status, products, surveys,
finances, etc. So while handling this information, care has to be taken to follow the security
and confidentiality procedures, because if information goes into wrong hands it could lead
to serious negative consequences. It will also affect the ethics and running of the
organization and will lead to legal actions being taken.
Also while passing information to other organizations or individuals, the confidentiality and
data protection procedures have to be followed. Confidential information like date of birth,
credit and debit card details, religion, ethnicity, financial status etc., can be passed to only
people who have authority or for whom the owner has given consent to and it also has to
follow the confidentiality laws and regulations.
 purpose of confirming information /review/to be stored and retrieved
Organizations, businesses and companies store a large amount of information, but storing
the wrong information is of no use. So before storing information, one has to be careful at
the stage where data is collected or gathered. Care has to be taken to make sure that the data
is correct and up to date. It also applies to retrieval of data. As previously discussed, data
retrieval is for a purpose and there is no use retrieving data that is out of date. So the
systems have to be kept updated all the times by checking for out-dated records periodically
in a given span of time.
Thus the purpose of confirming information that are to be stored or retrieved are, to avoid
inaccurate information, to avoid wrong information, to prevent mistakes, and also to avoid
unnecessary costs and issues that might arise as a result of wrong information. Wrong
information can lead to serious outcomes. For example, an out-dated address of a customer,

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 can lead to any communications sent to the customer ending up in the hands of a wrong or
dangerous person, which can have disastrous effects on the company and the customer
 ways of checking information for accuracy
Information always needs to be checked for accuracy, because inaccurate information can
lead to serious outcomes. Information can be relative to anything with regard to an
organization. When it comes to customers, it can be either address, telephone number or
outstanding payments, when it comes to employees, it can be their appraisals, salaries, again
their address and telephone numbers, and for the business, it can be the business’s finances,
profits, employee and customer details, and various other information.
Alerts can be set on customer and employee information to make sure they are contacted to
keep the system updated. Using good software for database purposes will help with
maintaining information accurately.
All businesses and organizations have to check to see that the information they have stored
is accurate. Incorrect information can have serious negative effects and can affect a
company’s financial status and values. Accuracy of information will help executives plan
ahead for the future and lay goals. They will also be able to plan for the shortcomings in
advance.
1.7 Explain the purpose of providing information to agreed format and timescales
Information when requested have to be in the agreed format and have to be presented or
provided at the agreed timescales. Every organisation will have a standard business format
for all documents that they deal with. Alsowhen dealing with other companies, there will be
agreed formats on which information will need to be presented. If information is not
provided in the agreed format, it will require reformatting, which will utilise extra time and
also will bring in a bad reputation to the organisation.
Very similar to this, information if not provided in correct format, can take time for
reformatting thereby preventing the business from keeping up with the timescales. If
information is not provided in the agreed timescales and arrives after the deadline, there will
not be any use of the information after that because the time has already passed, or there will
not be time to interpret information if it was required to do so. It will not help with the
smooth running of the organisation. So as part of the organisations policies and procedures,
information have to be provided on time in the agreed format.
1.8 Describe the types of information that may be deleted
A company can keep on gathering /collecting information as the business runs. For example,
if a company has records of clients orcustomers, new customers will be coming in all the
time and the database will have more and more information as the company grows and in
the end will have old, unused data, irrelevant data, out-dated data etc., which willonly take
up unwanted storage space. Every company will have a policy that tells for how long data
need to be retainedon their database, or for how long physical files need to be stored in the
office cabinets. After this time, the unwanted information can be deleted, and unwanted
physical files can be destroyed following security and confidentiality procedures. Deletion
(electronicfiles) and shredding(physical files) are the processes used to delete information.
There should be periodic review of recorded information and automated systemsshould be
in place to flag records for review and then deleted where appropriate.

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 When data is shared between partner companies or organisations, agreements have to be
made as to how long the data will be retained on their database and then deleted after that
period of time.All out-dated and inaccurate information have to be securely deleted in order
to avoid errors and detrimental effects.
Describe problems that may occur with information systems and how todeal with them,
when necessary
Information systems are the important assets to an organization. There are many issues that
can create problems with information systems. Electronic information can be attacked by
viruses or by hackers. Physical file information can be damaged due to fire or flood.
Confidentiality can be breached by people who do not have authority to access information.
Lack of communication also can lead to misuse or wrong storage of information.
A computer virus can infect programsand all information in the computer or the network. To
prevent virus attacks and from hackers, proper security (antivirus) software and firewalls
need to beused and the systems need to be monitored at all times. Information sharing
should be avoided as much aspossible over the internet, and if needed, secure emails and
communication procedures need to be followed. Emails from unknown, suspicious or not
trustworthy sources should be deleted. Email attachments that are suspicious should never
be opened. Care has tobe taken while downloading files from the internet, download only
from trustworthy sources. Keep antivirus software updated, so that it recognises and deals
with new viruses.
Information should also be password protected so that wrong / non-authoritative people do
not have access to this information. In cases where data need to be copied on to external
portable devices, it is best to encrypt the data. Care should be taken notto share information
with people who do not have authority to access information. It is always best to have a
backup of alldata, so in case of any problems with systems the company will have a backup
to work with and not lose all valuable information. In case of physical information, it is best
to store them in fire proof cabinets and in safeplaces which are less prone to natural
disasters.
Information have to be protected from corruption and access to it has to be controlled. Care
has to be taken to protect information against unauthorised retrieval by putting in authorised
retrieval procedures.

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1.3. Developing Strategies to Source and Obtain Information

Collect, Analyze and Review Natural Resource

Information Sheet-2
Information Systems

2.1. Developing a System to Ensure that Collection of Information is Timely, Adequate,

and Relevant
2.2. Analyzing Information to Identify and Report Relevant Trends and Developments

Information Sheet-3
Manage the Natural Resource Information Systems

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3.1. Developing Strategies to ensure and use Management Information Systems
effectively
Improving information management practices is a key focus for many organizations,
across both the public and private sectors.
This is a result of a range of factors, including a need to improve the efficiency of business
processes, the demands of compliance regulations and the desire to deliver new services.
This article introduces ten key principles to ensure that information management activities
are effective and successful:
Principle 1: Recognise (and manage) complexity
Organizations are very complex environments in which to deliver concrete solutions. As
outlined above, there are many challenges that need to be overcome when planning and
implementing information management projects.
Principle 2: focus on adoption
Information management systems are only successful if they are actually used by staff,
and it is not sufficient to simply focus on installing the software centrally.
In practice, most information management systems need the active participation of staff
throughout the organization.

In many cases, ‘information management’ has meant deploying new technology solutions,
such as content or document management systems, data warehousing or portal
applications.
These projects have a poor track record of success, and most organizations are still
struggling to deliver an integrated information management environment.
Effective information management is not easy. There are many systems to integrate, a
huge range of business needs to meet, and complex organizational (and cultural) issues to
address.
This article draws together a number of ‘critical success factors’ for information
management projects. These do not provide an exhaustive list, but do offer a series of
principles that can be used to guide the planning and implementation of information
management activities.
In terms of technology ,information management encompasses systems such as:
*. web content management (CM)
*. document management (DM)
*. records management (RM)
*. digital asset management (DAM)
Information management is, however, much more than just technology. Equally importantly, it
is about the business processes and practicesthat underpin the creation and use of
information.

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It is also about the information itself, including the structure of information (‘information
architecture’), metadata, content quality, and more.
Information management therefore encompasses:
*. people
*. process
*. technology
*. content
Each of these must be addressed if information management projects are to succeed.
Information management challenges
Organizations are confronted with many information management problems and issues. In many
ways, the growth of electronic information (rather than paper) has only worsened these
issues over the last decade or two.
Common information management problemsinclude:
*. Large number of disparate information management systems.
*. Little integration or coordination between information systems.
*. Range of legacy systems requiring upgrading or replacement.
*. Direct competition between information management systems.
*. No clear strategic direction for the overall technology environment.
*. Limited and patchy adoption of existing information systems by staff.
*. Poor quality of information, including lack of consistency, duplication, and out-of-date
information.
*. Little recognition andsupport of information management by senior management.
*. Limited resources for deploying, managing or improving information systems.
*. Lack of enterprise-wide definitions for information types and values (no corporate-wide
taxonomy).
*. Large number of diverse business needs and issues to be addressed.
*. Lack of clarity aroundbroader organisational strategies and directions.
*. Difficulties in changing working practices and processes of staff.
*. Internal politics impacting on the ability to coordinate activities enterprise-wide.
While this can be an overwhelming list, there are practical ways of delivering solutions that
work within these limitations and issues.
Information management issues can be overwhelming
Ten principles
This article introduces ten key principles to ensure that information management activities are
effective and successful:
1. recognise (and manage) complexity
2. focus on adoption
3. deliver tangible & visible benefits
4. prioritise according to business needs
5. take a journey of a thousand steps
6. provide strong leadership
7. mitigate risks
8. communicate extensively

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9. aim to deliver a seamless user experience
10. choose the first project very carefully
Each of these is discussed in the sections below.
Future articles will explore additional principles and guidelines, as well as providing a concrete
approach to developing an overarching information management strategy.
There are no simple answers to complex issues and needs
Principle 1: recognise (and manage) complexity
Organisations are very complex environments in which to deliver concrete solutions. As
outlined above, there are many challenges that need to be overcome when planning and
implementing information management projects.
When confronted with this complexity, projectteams often fall back upon approaches such as:
*. Focusing on deploying just one technology in isolation.
*. Purchasing a very large suite of applications from a single vendor, in the hope that this can be
used to solve all information management problems at once.
*. Rolling out rigid, standardised solutions across a whole organisation, even though individual
business areas may have different needs.
*. Forcing the use of a single technology system in all cases, regardless of whether it is an
appropriate solution.
*. Purchasing a product ‘for life’, even thoughbusiness requirements will change over time.
*. Fully centralising information management activities, to ensure that every activity is tightly
controlled.
All of these approaches will fail, as they are attempting to convert a complex set of needs and
problems into simple (even simplistic) solutions. The hope is that the complexity can be limited
or avoided when planning and deploying solutions.
In practice, however, there is no way of avoiding the inherent complexities within
organizations. New approaches to information management must therefore be found that
recognise (and manage) this complexity.
Organisations must stop looking for simpleapproaches, and must stop believing vendors when
they offer ‘silver bullet’ technology solutions.
Instead, successful information management is underpinned by strong leadership that definesa
clear direction (principle 6). Many small activities should then be planned to address in
parallel the many needs and issues (principle 5).
Risks must then be identified and mitigated throughout the project (principle 7), to ensure that
organisational complexities do not prevent the delivery of effective solutions.
Information systems are only successful if they are used
Principle 2: focus onadoption
Information management systems are only successful if they are actually used by staff, and it is
not sufficient to simply focus on installing the software centrally.
In practice, most information management systems need the active participation of staff
throughout the organisation.
For example:
*. Staff must save all key files into the document/records management system.

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*. Decentralised authorsmust use the content management system to regularly update the
intranet.
*. Lecturers must use the learning content management system to deliver e-learning packages to
their students.
*. Front-line staff must capture call details in the customer relationship management system.
In all these cases, the challenge is to gain sufficient adoption to ensure that required information
is captured in the system.Without a critical mass of usage, corporate repositories will not
contain enough information to be useful.
This presents a considerable change management challenge for information management
projects. In practice, it means that projects must be carefully designed from the outset to
ensure that sufficient adoption is gained.
This may include:
*. Identifying the ‘what’s in it for me’ factors for end users of the system.
*. Communicating clearly to all staff the purpose and benefits of the project.
*. Carefully targeting initial projects to build momentum for the project (see principle 10).
*. Conducting extensivechange management and cultural change activities throughout the
project.
*. Ensuring that the systems that are deployed are useful and usable for staff.
These are just a few of the possible approaches, and they demonstrate the wide implications of
needing to gain adoption by staff.
It is not enough to deliver ‘behind the scenes’ fixes
Principle 3: deliver tangible & visible benefits
It is not enough to simply improve the management of information ‘behind the scenes’. While
this will deliver real benefits, it will not drive the required cultural changes, or assist with
gaining adoption by staff (principle 2).
In many cases, information management projects initially focus on improving the productivity
of publishers or information managers.
While these are valuable projects, they are invisible to the restof the organisation. When
challenged, it can be hard to demonstrate the returnon investment of theseprojects, and
they do little to assist project teams to gain further funding.
Instead, information management projects must always be designed so that they deliver tangible
and visible benefits.
Delivering tangible benefits involves identifying concrete business needs that must be met
(principle 4). This allows meaningful measurement of the impact of the projects on the
operation of theorganisation.
The projects should also target issues or needs that are very visible within the organisation.
When solutions are delivered,the improvement should be obvious, and widely promoted
throughout the organisation.
For example, improving the information available to call centre staff can have a very visible and
tangible impact on customer service.
In contrast, creating a standard taxonomy for classifying informationacross systems is hard to
quantify and rarely visible to general staff.

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This is not to say that ‘behind the scenes’ improvements are not required, but rather that they
should always be partnered with changes that deliver more visible benefits.
This also has a major impact on the choice ofthe initial activities conducted (principle 10).
Tackle the most urgent business needsfirst
Principle 4: prioritise accordingto business needs
It can be difficult to know where to start when planning information management projects.
While some organisations attempt to prioritise projects according to the ‘simplicity’ of the
technology to be deployed, this is not a meaningful approach. In particular, this
oftendoesn’t deliver short-term benefits that are tangible and visible (principle 3).
Instead of this technology-driven approach, the planningprocess should be turned around
entirely,to drive projects based on their ability to address business needs.
In this way, information management projects are targeted at the most urgent business needs or
issues. These in turn are derived from the overall business strategy and direction for the
organisation as a whole.
For example, the rate of errors in home loan applications might be identified as a strategic issue
for the organisation. A new system might therefore be put in place (along with
otheractivities) to better manage the information that supports the processing of these
applications.
Alternatively, a new call centre might be in the process of being planned. Information
management activitiescan be put in place to support the establishment of the new call
centre, and the training of new staff.
Avoid ‘silver bullet’ solutions that promiseto fix everything
Principle 5: take a journey of a thousand steps
There is no single application or project that will address and resolve all the information
management problemsof an organisation.
Where organisations look for such solutions,large and costly strategic plans are developed.
Assuming the results of this strategic planning are actually delivered (which they often
aren’t), they usually describe a long-term vision but give few clear directions for
immediate actions.
In practice, anyone looking to design the complete information management solution will be
trapped by ‘analysis paralysis’: the inability to escape the planning process.
Organisations are simply too complex to consider all the factors when developing strategies or
planning activities.
The answer is to let go of the desire for a perfectly planned approach. Instead, project teams
should take a ‘journey of a thousand steps’.
This approach recognises that there are hundreds (or thousands) of often small changes that are
needed to improve the information management practices across an organisation.These
changes will often be implemented in parallel.
While some of these changes are organisation-wide, most are actually implemented at business
unit (or even team) level. When added up over time, these numerous small changes have a
major impact on the organisation.
This is a very different approach to that typically taken in organisations, and it replaces a single
large (centralised) project with many individual initiatives conducted by multiple teams.

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While this can be challenging to coordinate and manage, this ‘thousandsteps’ approach
recognises the inherent complexity of organisations (principle 1) and is a very effective
way of mitigating risks (principle 7).
It also ensures that ‘quick wins’ can be delivered early on (principle 3), and allows solutions to
be targeted to individual business needs (principle 4).
Successful projects require strong leadership
Principle 6: provide strong leadership
Successful information management is about organisational and cultural change, and this can
only be achieved through strong leadership.
The starting point is to create a clear vision of the desired outcomes of the information
management strategy. This will describe how the organisation will operate, more than just
describing how the information systems themselves will work.
Effort must then be putinto generating a sufficient sense of urgency to drive the deployment and
adoption of new systems and processes.
Stakeholders must alsobe engaged and involved in the project,to ensure that there is support at
all levels in the organisation.
This focus on leadership then underpins a range of communications activities (principle 8) that
ensure that the organisation has a clear understanding of the projects and the benefits they
will deliver.
When projects are solely driven by the acquisition and deployment of new technology solutions,
this leadership is often lacking. Without the engagement and support of key stakeholder
outside the IT area, these projects often have little impact.
Apply good risk management to ensure success
Principle 7: mitigate risks
Due to the inherent complexity of the environment within organisations (principle 1), there are
many risks in implementing information management solutions. These risks include:
*. selecting an inappropriate technology solution
*. time and budget overruns
*. changing business requirements
*. technical issues, particularly relating to integrating systems
*. failure to gain adoption by staff
At the outset of planning an information management strategy, the risks should be clearly
identified. An approach must then beidentified for each risk,either avoiding or mitigating
the risk.
Risk management approaches should then be used to plan allaspects of the project, including the
activities conducted and the budget spent.
For example, a simple but effective way of mitigating risks is to spend less money. This might
involve conducting pilot projects to identifying issues and potential solutions, rather than
starting with enterprise-wide deployments.
Principle 8: communicate extensively
Extensive communication from the project team (and project sponsors) is critical for a
successful information management initiative.

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This communication ensures that staff have a clear understanding of the project, and the
benefits it will deliver. This is a pre-requisite for achieving the required level of adoption.
With many projects happening simultaneously (principle 5), coordination becomes paramount.
All project teams should devote time to work closely with each other, to ensure that
activities and outcomes are aligned.
In a complex environment, it is not possible to enforce a strict command-and-control approach
to management (principle 1).
Instead, a clear end point (‘vision’) must becreated for the information management project, and
communicated widely. This allows each project team to align themselves to theeventual
goal, and to make informed decisions about the best approaches.
For all these reasons, the first step in an information management project should be to develop a
clear communications ‘message’. This should then be supported by acommunications plan
that describes target audiences, and methods of communication.
Project teams should also consider establishing a ‘project site’ on the intranet as the outset, to
provide alocation for planning documents, news releases, and other updates.
Staff do not understand the distinction between systems
Principle 9: aim to deliver a seamless user experience
Users don’t understandsystems. When presented with six different information systems, each
containing one-sixth ofwhat they want, they generally rely on a piece of paper instead (or
ask the person next to them).
Educating staff in the purpose and use of a disparate set of information systems is difficult, and
generally fruitless. The underlying goal should therefore be to deliver a seamless user
experience , one that hides the systems that the information is coming from.
This is not to say that there should be one enterprise-wide system that contains all information.
There will always be a need to have multiple information systems, but the information
contained within them should be presented in a human-friendly way.
In practice, this means:
*. Delivering a single intranet (or equivalent) that gives access to all information and tools.
*. Ensuring a consistent look-and-feel across all applications, including standard navigation and
page layouts.
*. Providing ‘single sign-on’ to all applications.
Ultimately, it also means breaking down the distinctions between applications, and delivering
tools and information along task and subject lines.
For example, many organisations store HR procedures on the intranet, but require staff to log a
separate ‘HR self-service’ application that provides a completely different menu structure
and appearance.
Improving on this, leave details should be located alongside the leave form itself. In this model,
the HR application becomes a background system, invisible to the user.
Care should also be taken, however, when looking to a silver-bullet solution for providing a
seamless user experience. Despite the promises, portal applications do not automatically
deliver this.

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Instead, a better approach may be to leverage the inherent benefits of the web platform. As long
as the applications all look the same, the userwill be unaware that they are accessing
multiple systems and servers behind the scenes.
Of course, achieving a truly seamless user experience is not a short-term goal. Plan to
incrementally move towards this goal, delivering one improvement at a time.
The first project must build momentum for further work
Principle 10: choosethe first project very carefully
The choice of the first project conducted as part of a broader information management strategy
is critical. This project must be selected carefully, to ensure that it:
*. demonstrates the value of the information management strategy
*. builds momentum forfuture activities
*. generates interest and enthusiasm fromboth end-users and stakeholders
*. delivers tangible and visible benefits (principle 3)
*. addresses an important or urgent business need (principle 4)
*. can be clearly communicated to staff and stakeholders (principle 8)
*. assists the project team in gaining further resources andsupport
Actions speak louder than words. The first project is the single best (and perhaps
only)opportunity to set the organisation on the right path towards better information
management practices and technologies.
The first project must therefore be chosen according to its ability to act as a ‘catalyst’ for further
organisational and cultural changes.
In practice, this often involves starting with one problem or one area of the business that the
organisation as a whole would be interested in, and caresabout.
For example, starting by restructuring the corporate policies and procedures will generate little
interest or enthusiasm. In contrast, delivering a system that greatly assists salespeople in
the field would be something that could be widely promoted throughout the organisation.
Conclusion
Implementing information technology solutions ina complex and ever-changing organisational
environment is never easy.
The challenges inherent in information management projects mean that new approaches need to
be taken, if they are to succeed.
This article has outlined ten key principles of effective information management. These focus
on the organisational and cultural changes required to drive forward improvements.
The also outline a pragmatic, step-by-step approach to implementing solutions that starts with
addressing key needs and building support for further initiatives. A focus on adoption then
ensures that staff actually use the solutions that are deployed.
Of course, much more can be written on how to tackle information management projects.
3.2. Developing and Implementing Strategies to ensure that the Available Technology is
used to Manage Information effectively
3.3. Developing and Implementing Strategies to Improve the Information System
Improving information management practices is a key focus for many organizations, across
both the public and private sectors.

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This is being driven by a range of factors, including a need to improve the efficiency of business
processes, the demands of compliance regulations and the desire to deliver new services.
In many cases, ‘information management’ has meant deploying new technology solutions, such
as content or document management systems, data warehousing or portal applications.
These projects have a poor track record of success, and most organizations are still struggling to
deliver an integrated information management environment.
Effective information management is not easy. There are many systems to integrate, a huge
range of business needs to meet, and complex organizational (and cultural) issues to address.

Information Sheet-4 Develop Business Plans/Budgets

4.1. Developing Strategies to Maximize Team Involvement in Business Plans and/or

Budget Preparation
4.2. Business Plans and/or Budget Preparation
In the broadest sense, a budget is an allocation of money for some purpose. Budgeting as an
activity ranges in extent from managing household finances on up to the preparation of the
Budget of a country yearly. This article will focus principally on "formal budgeting" as
practiced in corporations, sometimes called the "budget process."
Budgeting has always been part of the activities of any business organization of any size, but
formal budgeting in its present form, using modern budgeting disciplines, emerged in the
1950s as the numerical underpinning of corporate planning. Modern corporate planning owes
much to operations research and systems theory.
Modern formal budgets not only limit expenditures; they also predict income, profits, and
returns on investment a year ahead. They have evolved into tools of control and are also used
as a means of determining such rewards as profit-sharing and bonuses. Unless the budgetary
process is managed with extreme skill and care, the very virtues of budgeting can turn into
negatives—and have, of late, emerged into a movement actively working to change this
process.
4.2.1. Budgeting as a Process
In large corporations, budgeting is a collective process in which operating units prepare
their plans in conformity with corporate goals published by top management. Each unit
plan is intended to contribute to the achievement of the corporate goals. Unit managers
prepare projections of sales, operating costs, overhead costs, and capital requirements.

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 They calculate operating profits and returns on the investment they intend to use. The
budget itself is the projection of these values for the next calendar or fiscal year.As part of
this process,each unit presents its plans and budget to a reviewing upper management panel
and may, thereafter, make whatever changes result from instructions from or negotiations
with the higher level. Texts presenting, documenting, and defending the rationales
underlying the numbers are usually part of the planning document. Approved budgets then
become the road-map for operations in the coming year. Ideally monthly or quarterly
budget reviews track performance against the budget. As part of such reviews, changesto
the budget may be approved. At year-end managers are judged by their performance
against the budget.
Many small businesses try to operate without a formal budget. Even some businesses that
have a budget seldom consult it, meaning they are not gaining the business advantages that
they could be through budgeting. For star up entrepreneurs, a budget is like a roadmap that
can help them set goals and assess the validity of their business concept. For established
small businesses, a budget can be used to take the pulse of the business, determining how
the business is performing through the years, and helping identify possible future
investments. By regularly consulting a budget, business leaders can compare actual figures
and catch potential business shortfalls or other problems early. Budgets can also be
instrumental in winning over investors, convincing banks your business is a good loan risk,
or bringing on new partners or customers.
While budgets are developed bottom up, managers must strive to meet top-down business
goals (e.g.,"Annual growth in after-tax profits of 39 percent."). Because performance is
measured based on meeting or exceeding positive projections (of sales, returns, and profits)
and meeting or coming in below negative projections (fixed and variable costs and capital
expenditures) managers have strong incentives for projecting the lowest possible "positive"
and the highest possible "negative" results. The more successful they are in understating
sales and profits and overestimating costs, the higher the likelihood of "meeting the
budget."Top management's incentives, by contrast, are to do the opposite. Therefore the
budgeting process is inherently marked by potential conflict.
Such difficulties can be, and usually are, mitigated by rational policies, good will on both
sides, and straight forward implementation. Projections should be as realistic and
quantifiable as possible. If projections are out of line with historical patterns, up or down,
management must question the planning.Thus, for instance, a sharply rising projection of
costs must have some real-world justification. Overly ambitious revenue projections must
also be questioned. Conversely, managers must resist pressures sharply to raise revenue
targets unless tangible changes in the marketor compensating raises in sales expenditures
are present. If the negotiating levels are honest and realistic, the right projections will
result. Ideally, operating units should not be measured on activities over which they lack
full control. An operation which does not operate its own debt collection, for example,
should not be measured on how rapidly invoices are collected. Since budgets are often at
least 50 percent guess-work, formal budgetary review at reasonable intervals and realistic
adjustments based on actual events must be part of a well-functioning process. All too
often, the spring budgeting event is rapidly forgotten.

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  Benefits and Costs
The single-most potential benefit of formal budgeting lies in ensuring that responsible
managers take time each year (and then at fixed intervals throughout the year) in thinking
about their operation by looking at all of its aspects. Budgeting creates a comprehensive
picture of the future and makes both opportunities and barriers conscious. This
foreknowledge then helps guide day-to-day activities.
The chief cost of the budget process is time. In some organizations the process takes on a
life of its own and becomes a convoluted exercise of excessive complexity which,
moreover, prevents unit managers from doing any thinking: their time is consumed in
efforts to comply with a vast array of requirements dictated from above. Much of the
negative attitude that has developed concerning this activity has its roots in unnecessary
bureaucratic impositions on the one hand and unreliability because of rapid change a few
months out.
4.2.1.1. TYPES OF BUDGETS
The two dominant forms of budgeting are traditional and zero-based. Business planning
is usually a combination of the two. Traditional budgeting is based on a review of historical
performance and then the projection of such findings to the future with modifications. If
inflation is high, for instance, cost trends of the last several years are projected forward but
with adjustments both for inflation and for projected growth or decline in business activity.
Historical sales patterns, using established trends in sales growth, are projected; new sales
from planned new product introductions are then added. Zero-based budgeting is the
creation of a completely new budget from the ground up—as if no history existed. When
using this method, the operation must justify and document every item of expenditure and
income anew. Brand-new operations will utilize zero-based methods.
In government planning, but only very rarely in business, performance budgeting is used as
a third alternative. Under this method, the budget is fixed at the outset. The planning
activity is to determine exactly what activities will be carried out using the allocated funds.
Performance budgeting is sometimes used in the corporate setting when the advertising
budget is arbitrarily set as such-and-such a percent to projected sales. The advertising
function then uses performance budgeting to allocate the budget to various products and
media.
For the small business, different types of budgets can be drafted to monitor various
financial aspects of the business.
• Operational budget -An operational budgetis the most common type of budget used. It
forecasts and tries to pretty closely predict yearly revenueand expenses for a business.
This budget can be updated with actual figures on a monthly basis and then you can
revise your figures for the year, if needed.
• Cash flow budget - A cash flow budget details the amount of cash you collect and pay
out. This is generally tallied on a monthly basis, but some businesses tabulate this
weekly. In this budget, you track your sales and other receivables from income sources
and contrast those against how much you pay to suppliers and in expenses. A positive
cash flow is essential to grow your business.

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 • Capital budget - The capital budget helps you figure out how much money you need to
put in place new equipment or procedures to launch new products or increase production
or services. This budget estimates the value of capital purchases you need for your
business to grow and increase revenues.

4.3. Developing Contingency Plans

What is contingency planning?

A contingency is a situation that is likely to occur, but may not. Contingency planning is
the preparatory process of identification of and planning for these situations. A contingency
plan may never need to be activated. However, if the anticipated situation does arise, the
plan will provide a basis for rapid and appropriate action.
The purpose of a contingency plan is to sustain the organization’s execution of mission critical
processes. The Contingency Plan will assess the needs and requirements so that may be
prepared to respond to the event in order to efficiently regain operation of the systems that are
made inoperable from the event.

As our dependence on information technology (IT) grows, so does the importance of detailed
planning to restore operations in the event of an occurrence that might reduce our ability to use
those IT assets in support of organizational business requirements. Manual operations are an
operation of the past, as we have evolved to a dependence on IT resources. IT systems are
vulnerable to a variety of disruptions. These include occurrence threats, ranging from mild (for
example, short-term power outage, disk drive failure, software interruptions) to severe, which
might result in complete equipment destruction (for example, natural disaster, terrorist action,
and so on). Much vulnerability (technical and non-technical security weaknesses in our
operation) can be minimized or eliminated through technical, management, or operational
solutions as part of the organization's risk management effort; however, it is impossible to
eliminate all risks and still be able to use our critical IT assets.
Before developing a contingency plan, an organization needs to understand the types of threats
that might impact its operations. Often, a business impact analysis is performed, and a company
looks at its assets and potential survivable downtimes. IT security risk analyses that focus on
threats that might impact network or system operations provide a research basis for such impact
analyses. Weaknesses identified within these analyses and the threats that might exploit those
weaknesses should be focused on when considering contingency response scenarios during the
planning and future testing processes.

IT Contingency plans must include various important sections, including:

1. Data and Software Backups: For both short- and long-term losses, the ability to
restore software and data to the point when the detrimental event occurred is critical to
the organization's operational resumption. A company should strive to restore operations
as quickly as possible. Short- term loss necessitating back-up restoration might come
from replacement of corrupted files, an accidentally deleted and overwritten file, disk

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 crashes, or any other event that requires the installation of software or data files from the
most recent backup.
2. Short-Term and Long-Term Resumptions: When many people think of IT
Contingency Plans, they often think only of the long-term disruption portion exercised
due to high-magnitude event impacts. The probability of the occurrence of a detrimental
event is normally inversely related to the event's impact magnitude on the organization. Thus,
IT operations are disrupted more frequently with smaller impacts than with large, devastating events.
Power failures, communications failures, environmental equipment failures (HVAC), equipment
misconfigurations, drive crashes, loss of connection to power or data cables, and other easily
remedied occurrences cause short-term disruptions. These occurrences can require implementation of
a roll-back, trouble-shooting, or other procedure to quickly restore operations.

Contingency planning (CP): overall process of preparing for unexpected events

Its main goal is to restore normal modes of operation with minimal cost and disruption
to normal business activities after unexpected event. Ideally, should ensure continuous
information systems availability despite unexpected events.

It consists of four major components:

1. Business impact analysis (BIA): First phase in CP process and Provides data about
systems and threats faced. It also provides detailed scenarios/effects of attacks.
2. Incident response plan (IR plan): Document specifying actions an organization can
and perhaps should take while incident is in progress. Deals with identification,
classification, response, and recovery from an incident. Incident: any clearly
identified attack on information assets that threaten the assets’ confidentiality,
integrity, or availability
3. Disaster recovery plan (DR plan): Entails preparation for and recovery from
disaster, whether natural or human-made. Its key role is defining how to reestablish
operations at location where organization is usually located. Some incidents are
immediately classified as disasters (extensive fire, flood, earthquake, etc.)In general,
disaster has occurred when either: Organization is unable to contain or control the
impact of an incident or Level of damage/destruction from an incident is so severe
organization cannot quickly recover.
4. Business continuity plan (BC plan): Ensures that critical business functions can
continue if a disaster occurs. Activated/executed concurrently with DR plan when
disaster is major or long term and requires fuller and complex restoration of IT
resources. It establishes critical business functions at an alternate site while DR plan
team focuses on reestablishment of primary site. Not every business needs such a
plan or such facilities.

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 Information Sheet-5 Manage Resource Planning

5.1. Developing Resource Proposals by Consulting Relevant Stakeholders

A well-formed grant proposal is one that is carefully prepared, thoughtfully planned, and
concisely packaged. The potential applicant generally seeks first to become familiar with
all of the pertinent program criteria of the funding institution. Before developing a proposal,
the potential applicant may refer to the information contact listed in the agency or
foundation program description to learn whether funding is available, when applicable
deadlines occur, and the process used by the grantor agency or private foundation for
accepting applications.

Grant seekers should know that the basic requirements, application forms, information,
and procedures vary among grant-making agencies and foundations. Federal agencies and
large foundations may have formal application packets, strict guidelines, and fixed deadlines
with which applicants must comply, while smaller foundations may operate more
informally and even provide assistance to in experienced grantseekers. However,
the steps outlined in this report generally apply to any grant-seeking effort.

5.2. Estimation of Resource Needs and use according to the Organization’s Plan
5.3. Supporting Proposals with realistic options ,benefits and outcomes

Self-Check 1 Written Test

Name: _________________________ Date: ________________________

Time started: ___________________ time finished: __________________

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Directions: answer all the questions listed below.
1. What is the word customer? (3point)
2. How you can build trust in your customers? (3 point)
3. What is the word credibility? (3 point)
4. Explain and define customer base? (3 point)
Note: Satisfactory rating – 12points Unsatisfactory- below 12points
You can ask your teacher for the copy of the correct answers.

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