Information refers to a hierarchy of knowledge that starts with data (raw facts), develops into knowledge (presumed understanding drawn from data), and reaches its peaks at insight (Jenkinson, 2006). Insight is high-level understanding that accomplishes breakthroughs in understanding the ways to create or apply an organizational strategy (Jenkinson, 2006).The current state of the organizational world is that of globalization. Majority of business operations are on a global scale now-competition, sales and marketing, recruitment and selection, and so forth. Information has never been as important to organizations as it is in the contemporary organizational sphere.
Organizations need information to understand the current trends; trends related to consumer preferences and tastes. As such, they can develop appropriate marketing strategies to attract and retain consumers. Information is important in successful project management. It is through project management that an organization is able to establish or re-establish itself according to its needs at a given time. Information is the foundation of business success in terms of effective business operations, smooth internal processes through communication among employees, and interaction with stakeholders.
The role of information management and data analysis in effective decision-making in organizations
Decision making is an essential part of all organizations. Almost all organizational operations revolve around decision-making processes by management and stakeholders. Organizational decisions are made based on the quality, relevance, and quantity of information available. Therefore, based on the important role that information plays in the types of decisions made, organizations have to make sure that their information management systems are good.
Information management provides a stable platform for decision making. Without information management systems, it would be challenging for organizations to make decisions (Nowduri, 2010). Information management usually forms a concrete base for the instituting substantial decisions through its methodical tools, well-timed information and sufficient managerial policies and directives (Nowduri, 2010). Information management statutes that govern business operations provide the guidelines to management when making critical decisions about the business of the organization. As such, key organizational decision makers are prevented from going beyond their business mandate (Nowduri, 2010). Having a control mechanism is crucial because it keeps the organization checked and balanced where information that has been thoroughly analyzed and confirmed to be useful are taken into consideration while the untried decisions are done away with or analyzed further to test their potential value to the organization.
Basic procedures that modern organizations have developed to manage risk
The present operating environment requires integrated risk management methods (Berg, 2010). A comprehensive approach to handling risks is more effectual than dealing with risks individually as they come. Organizations deal with many kinds of risks, for example, financial, technological, and operational, project risks, human resources, health and safety, and political risk (Berg, 2010). High-level and high-impact risks call for a systematic, coordinated, and corporate response. Integrated risk management is a constant, proactive, and organized process to recognize, control, and communicate risk in organizations (Berg, 2010).
Integrated risk management demands a continuous evaluation of possible risks in an organization at all levels and then combining the results at the communal level to allow for priority setting and better decision making (Berg, 2010). Then main procedure to mitigating risk in organizations is the recognition, assessment, and control of risk across the organization. It helps to make known the whole, the total risk, and the interdependent components. Integrated risk management does not only concentrate on the reduction of risks, but it also supports the activities that promote modernization so that the most beneficial returns can be achieved with agreeable results, cost and risk (Berg, 2010).
Select and apply appropriate statistical methodology to a variety of problems relating to social, organizational and business settings
Statistics is the body of investigative and computational methods through which the characteristics of a population are deduced from observations made on a representative sample from the population being studied (Delorme, n.d). Statistical methodology is simply the statistical method used to conduct research or an experiment. Statistics have a number of applications in business, for example, the role of the manager in performance management. A manager can gather data about an employee’s output, for example, the number of assignments completed. The manager must analyze the data to come up with ways which an employee can achieve maximum productivity. In this case, the analysis of variance can be used to compare the current output with maximum output.
A business can use statistics in research and product development by using various surveys, for example, random samples from the consumers to test the market for a suggested product or service. A manager can conduct surveys to find out if there is adequate demand among the targeted consumers (Delorme, n.d). The results of the survey may give good reason for incurring expenses on developing the product. A decision to launch a product may include a break-even analysis, for example, determining what percentage of consumers should sample a new product for it to have maximum sales (Delorme, n.d). Descriptive statistics can be used to gauge trends in social settings, where qualitative methods are used to collect data on factors such as behavior. Descriptive statistics entail graphical and numerical methods through which important features of a sample can be described.
Select and use appropriate software tools to calculate descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, and forecasting
The most widely used software used to calculate statistics is Microsoft Excel (Delorme, n.d). For example, the holidays are coming up soon. Forecasting the cold season can be beneficial. Seasonal forecasting is a method that allows people to foresee future values of a data set that has a recurring characteristic (Delorme, n.d). Microsoft excel can be used to calculate forecasts provided there is a data set available. Microsoft Excel is usually readily installed in computers. It has extra statistical functions if one chooses the “Analysis Tool pack.” However, for more complicated statistical processes, professional statistical software is available on the market by privately owned companies.
- Berg, H. (2010). Risk management: procedures, methods and experiences. Retrieved from http://ww.gnedenko-forum.org/Journal/2010/022010/RTA_2_2010-09.pdf
- Delorme, A. (n.d). Statistical Methods. Retrieved from http://sccn.ucsd.edu/~arno/mypapers/statistics.pdf
- Jenkinson, A. (2006). Do organizations now understand the importance of information in providing excellent customer experience? Retrieved from http://www.centreforintegratedmarketing.com/gfx/documents/_17a28ea8d01.pdf
- Nowduri, S. (2010). Management information systems and business decision making: review, analysis, and recommendations. Retrieved from http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/10736.pdf
