Cost effective
The cost of collecting and making the data should be very much less than the value of the decisions made on that data. It is said that the cost to business government laws to capture data is often more than the benefit from the laws.
Example
Newham Sports club should not excess money on collecting basic data. For example if they want to know how many people in the London borough of Newham are joined to sports centres, a lot of money will be spent collecting the information may be costly. So in order to spend less and effectively get good information then it is advisable they employ specialists who carry out surveys. But in order to get more good quality information, the sports club will need look through expensive solutions such as government organisations, or other businesses that deal with collecting all sorts of information.
Sufficiently accurate
Information needs to be accurate enough but not necessarily completely exact. It will be up to you if you want to use the information or not. For example if a company like the sport club wanted to know the estimate on their yearly budget, accurate estimates should be used and the data does not need to be 100% accurate.
Example
Newham Sports club will use information which is nearly accurate. E.g. if a governmental organisation wanted to know how much they spend on refurbishing the building, the sports centre will need to give an accurate estimate on how much they spend.
Relevant
The idea of relevance in information is relatively easy to understand. The data that you are capturing should be related to a specific topic and also the information is accurate. Relevant data can be a series of questionnaires answered by people or checking recent financial information.
Example
If the sports club wanted check the sales information for the first quarter of this year they would need to check April to June 2007 information. Looking at December 2006 would be no use because that information will be irrelevant and would be no use in finding sales information.
Having the right level of detail
When gathering data, you need to ensure that you have enough information for whatever the purpose may be. For example how much money is there when keeping a note of the amount of money you are spending within a month, you will not keep a record of everything you have spent money on in a day, but you may keep a record of how much in total you have spent in a day.
Example
If Newham sports club collects enough detail for the purpose that is required. You manage your household accounts. It is not likely that you will trace every postage stamp purchased or each item in your shopping basket. You are just expected to record just the totals.
How the characteristics relate to each department
I will be going through how each characteristic is related to the membership application, reception procedure, in the club and in the office.
Valid
- Reception procedure – when filling an application form, it should be done by the someone within the organisation because he/she will know what to do and the organisation will know that it is done by a valid source
- Office procedure – This is the information that will be sent to the office. The information will need validation, so in order to confirm that it is valid, information of a members address or the surname must be displayed with the information
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Procedures in the shop – this is when a new members fills out an application form so when the company takes the form, they will know it is valid because it has all the necessary information such as surname or when buying a product the EPOS system will prove that the price of it is correct and then will show it on a receipt, this basically shows that what they are saying is true and build customer confidence
- Membership application – A member has to fill in the application form so the organisation knows the information is valid
Reliable
- Reception procedure- the staff in the organisation should ensure that the data they are gathering are from reliable sources. They may need to check the sources multiple times confirm it is a valid source
- Office procedure – when a members card expires, he/she renews the membership and choose to pay through direct debit they would have to give their bank details in order to prove that the information is reliable and valid
- Membership application – an application form must be filled by the member in order to prove that it has come from a reliable source because all the information about the member will be there. So the organisation knows more about their members if any problems arise in the club
- Procedures in the shop – when a member wants to buy a company product, they will need to know the price, so in order to see the price, a member of staff will check the EPOS system. This is because EPOS has all the information about company products
Timely
- Reception Procedure – The staff at the reception should have information about all the classes and what time it starts, so members in the club can know when a class starts
- Office Procedure – Member’s bank details should be accessed if they have signed the contract for automatic monthly payments. This can be done so members would not lose track of their monthly payments
- Procedures in the shop – if a customer wanted to know when the product expires, the information should be displayed on the product so the customer knows about the product.
- Membership application – confidential information about members should be stored in a place that it can be used by employees in the organisation for specific reasons. These reasons may be: if the organisation wants to find out when a members membership expires so they can notify their members
Fit for purpose
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Reception procedure - details should be fit for purpose, for example when a receptionist asks whether they have any health conditions so they are given the right training and advise
- Office procedure – when a member is asked by a staff to give their full address, they should give the right address so letters from the organisation will be sent to the address for any specific reasons, such as membership expiry date
- Procedures in the shop – when a member in the club wants to buy a product, he/she have to write the pin numbers down so the transaction can be completed
- Membership application - All the information must be valid and used for any purposes, such as emergency telephone numbers or different bank details encase of fraud
Cost effectiveness
- Reception Procedure – in order to be cost effective, the receptionist must order products from reliable sources where products are good quality and also cheap
- Office procedure – to make new changes to the system they are using, they have to make sure that they buy the right system with the right labelled price
- Procedures in the shop – if the product in the organisation over prices, it is up to the staff and manager to lower the price to match customers satisfaction
- Membership application – people doing membership online, will save alot of time for them and also the organisation will not need to spend much money on buying paper
Sufficiently accurate
- Reception procedure – The information customers receive from the staff at the reception must be accurate, so members know a lot about the sports club. E.g. the difference between monthly and pay as you go payments
- Office Procedure – The information collected must be detailed and accurate otherwise it will be no benefit if the information is false. E.g. members bank details
- Membership Application – The organisation has to make sure members fully fill in the application form. So all the important information is gathered, such as address, bank details, gender, age etc.
Relevant
- Reception procedure – appropriate information should be given to members who want to know about class time and different activates that are going on in the organisation.
- Office procedure – when staffs ask an employee to give their correct bank details, the information should be appropriate so the office staff may create automatic monthly payments.
- Procedures in the shop – when a customer’s wants to know more about a product, it is up to the organisation to provide this information. Only valid information should be given so customers know the basics about the specific product they want.
- Membership application – appropriate information should be written on the application form, such as past medical information
Right level of detail
- Reception procedure – when a third party organisation like the police ask the organisation the surname of a specific member, then the receptionist should provide that information
- Office procedure – If a member has been asked to collect information on how much the club is spending on a detailed product then only details for that should be given, it would not be needed to give information on all the money being spent
- Procedures in the shop – when a customer wants to find out about product specifications, such as price and actual size of the product. Only that information should be provided. An EPOS system may be used to get the information required
- Membership application – members should provide bank statements to show proof of address with the application, so the organisation knows that the information provided is from a reliable source
Sources of information
Internal
Internal information is collected from the normal day to day activities of an organisation. This information likely to be generated by a specific functional area but is used for other business uses. All the internal information collected will benefit the organisation because it will proved the basis for changing the organisational structure and finding SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunities and strength).
List of internal information
- Marketing
- Sales
- Administrating
- Purchasing
- Personnel
- Financial
- manufacturing
Marketing
Marketing has 2 functions, marketing and advertising.
Marketing and advertising
The marketing team may possibly present information concerning the members of the organisation, individually or grouped. They are also responsible for the classification and explanation of the manufactured goods. The marketing task of the organisation has the responsibility for developing a scheme to make consumers aware of about the product.
Newham Sports Club will need the marketing area to research on their business. They will need to ask the public by doing a survey on how they can change the sports club so it can become a better place. And also ask members, if they want any specific products available in the club.
Advertising is about promotion and how they can make their products more aware to customers. The sports club may advertise their products, such as gym equipments, on leaflets, posters, TV or the internet. This is done customers recognise their product and their business.
Sales
The Sales Team is responsible for keeping records on how many products have been sold. And also they monitor the price of the products. The sales function will need experienced individual who have clear understanding of products and customers satisfaction.
Newham sports centre will be selling products, such as energy drinks and Newham wrist bands. It is responsible for the sales team to collect all the information about products being sold.
Administration
All the production data is stored in central administration departments, in some organisations. Sometimes the administrating department hold the responsibility for the company estate. Newham sports centre will use the production data to monitor function in the administration. And also monitor how it is run.
Purchasing
Keeping records of the suppliers is the job of the purchasing department. All the financial product information will come from the purchasing department. Newham sports centre will have their suppliers supplying them with products and also the purchasing department will keep records of products that have been delivered by the supplier.
Personnel
Providing information to employers in the organisation is the job of the personnel department information that will be sent to them are, contact details, qualifications, health conditions, and experience etc. The personal department will assist managers to organisation interviews, promotion of employees, as well as keeping records of staff in the organisation.
Newham sport club Personnel department will collect all the information about newly recruited employees and also those who are retiring from the organisation, so they can see what type of employee they need for the job.
Financial
Information about the revenue or income is provided b the financial administration. The administration is split into 2 different departments, which are management accounting and financial accounting. Management accounting manages all the financial information while the financial accounting is used for financial data.
In Newham sports club, the financial administration will monitor the financial information such as money coming in and out of the club, purchasing and sales invoices, who owes money to the organisation. VAT payments, Tax payments and Inland Revenue returns.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing means when raw material that are collected, are made into products for customers and organisation. Manufacturing department is used to see the timescales in which input products are turned into output products. This is recorded.
Suppliers of the sports club will supply the manufactured goods to the organisation, and by doing this, the manufacturing department will see what facilities have been can be used by the sports club.
External sources
When organisations interact with agencies that are outside the company, this is process of external sources. When interacting with external sources, they will need information about Newham sports club. It is up to the organisation to provide this information.
List of external sources
- Research
- Government
- Commercially provided
- Databases
- Trade grouping
Research
Specialists with knowledge of specific industries know exactly where to look and who to contact to find the information that they want. External research can be used by the organisation to collect information about other industries and consumers in order to improve the organisation by making reliable decisions.
Newham sports club can give other organisations their information for them to conduct research. If this is done, then other organisation would find information about the business that affects the sports club, such as financial details.
Government
Sometimes government organisations will need to collect information about organisations in order to fully understand the business. When the information has been collected and reviewed by the government, the sports club can use the information for their own benefit.
Newham sports centre will need to send all the information about the business to the government if they need it. This is done so the government is aware what the company is up to, such as obeying laws like treating staff properly and health and safety regulations.
Commercially provided
Data which is available to the wider public is collected by organisations. The information is used by the organisation so they can process it and then the organisation sells it to anyone who wants to buy it. Commercial information is purely done for profit.
Newham does not need commercially provided data because they only get replies from members, such as complaints about the sports centre and why they not satisfied with the club.
Databases
Many organisation store information for many reasons. On order to store this information, organisation will need to obey the government regulations, such as the data protection 1998 and freedom of information act 2000.
Trade Grouping
Nearly every trade organisations have formed grouping of business in so as to trade, to persuade others for profit of their trade. This in general takes place inside the matching segment.
Newham Sports Club may want to group together with other local sports club, so they can find any gap on how to improve sales and also how to improve the facilities by looking at other sports clubs.
