Information Needs of an

Organization
Need is the mother of Invention

Information
Information

is data that has been processed

into a form that is meaningful to the recipient
and is of real or perceived value in current or
prospective actions or decisions.

Nature and Types of Information in

Organizations
Land and Kennedy-McGregor (1981) propose taxonomy of five
organizational information types
a.

Descriptive information

b.

Probabilistic information

c.

Explanatory and evaluative information

d.

Unexpected information

Overview

Information needs at different levels

People at different levels within an organization have different information

needs. Information should be made available to all as needed, in a
standardized manner, and as a matter of routine.

At the lower level, first line supervision needs to know what is expected to
be accomplished and when, and how many workers will be required to
carry out the scheduled work.

Middle management must have total visibility and control of the

turnaround, which means that they must have access to all of the available
information and reports. These include schedules, critical path analysis,
critical mass detection, schedule summary, manpower staffing, progress
(detailed and summary), backlog, remaining manpower and cost, etc.

Upper management usually requires a minimum of information, such as

the summary progress report, a schedule summary and critical path
analysis.

Three main levels of managerial decision

making in organizations

Strategic decision making most activities in strategic management are

dedicated for whole organization and preparation of long-range plans for attaining
those objectives (e.g. decision where to build a new subsidiary).

Tactical decision making most activities are concerned with implementation of

decisions made at strategic organizational level.

Operational decision making main concern is to execute specific tasks in most

efficiency and effectively manner.

Information characteristics

Timely and up-to date, outdated information are useless for decision
making.

Correct and accurate information

Concise/limited.

Relevant, because in a given situation only a small portion of given data is

useful information.

Complete information.

 Every

modern business, from small sole proprietorships

to the world's largest conglomerates, has informationtechnology needs. Although the information systems
needed by a small business differ in scope from the
needs of larger companies and may even pale in
comparison, some essential functions of doing business
require information-management technology. Building
the right technological infrastructure for your business
can help you get started.

Accounting Systems
keep

track of your business finances

keep

track of your income, expenses, tax liabilities,

receivables and other pertinent financial information.

create

reports and calculate financial ratios at any given

time provides immediate access to all of the information
needed to make informed financial decisions.

Inventory Management and Security

Information

inventory

systems are also vital in managing

to

track shipments and ensure the security of stored

goods

your

customers require you to integrate with their

automatic order-processing systems.

Payment Processing
Accepting

credit and debit card payments, which have

become more common than cash or check transactions
in a number of industries.

Businesses

accepting cards in person, such as retail

shops, must also have card-reading technology attached
to their point-of-sale systems.

great deal of sensitive information is captured,

transmitted and stored by payment gateways, and it is
imperative to have secure systems in place to ensure
data privacy.

Communication technology
access

to telephone and internet services will allow you

to communicate with customers, suppliers, government
agencies, employees, contractors and any other
relevant stakeholder

Internet

access can make life simpler for small-business

owners, expediting numerous tasks, such as seeking job
applicants, researching suppliers, performing marketing
activities and building relationships with suppliers and
strategic partners.

Questions & Discussion