Unit 3 - Information Systems (P3,P4,P5,P6,P7,M1,M2,M3,D2)

Unit 3 - Information Systems

Task A - How a Business Works (P4,P5,M1)

P4: What are the features and functions of information systems?

Information systems are built to a point where their purpose is to perform specific functions such as gathering input data, storing and processing in, and finally producing output information for the overall outcome.​

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Not only do information systems such as computers carry out the gathering, processing and producing in order to gain relevant and useful information, but they also help control the feedback they may receive on certain information being produced.

What is data?

Computer data is essentially the raw facts and figures of information before it actually gets processed and given a meaning. This information can be in the form of text, audio, or other types of data, and is usually processed by a computer itself; it is processed in the computer's CPU.​

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Computer data is basically a bunch of ones and zeros as it is made up of binary code, and because of this it means that all computers are able to create, process, save and store this information without losing any quality overtime no matter how often it is used. This is useful as it allows an organisation to transfer this information between computers and employees.

Who uses information systems?

When it comes to using information systems such as computers it is likely than everyone in an organisation who is involved in collecting and obtaining data to process it will be somehow involved in using an information system, usually in the form of a computer itself.​

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However it is not always just as simple as using a computer, as the staff within the company will need the correct training in order to gain the skills needed to use the necessary equipment and software that is relevant to the purpose of the company; they will need specific training in order to successfully and effectively collect and process data for their job.​

Hardware & Software

Hardware - The hardware used inside information systems needs to ensure the user that it can handle and is capable of running the software which they need the computer system for; it is no good having a computer that cannot handle software used in the business, and that cannot handle large amounts of data and information that the company might need to process on a daily basis. The hardware must also be kept up to date in order to meet high demands put onto the internals of a system in the modern day of technology.​

Software - In order for a business to use a specific software it must grant them the features and functionality that they will need in order to produce and process data and information on a daily basis created by the company itself. This software must also enable the staff within the organisation to efficiently carry out analysis of information also in order to undergo their job efficiently on a day to day basis.​

Telecommunications

Within a business, any output information produced may need to be shared with other people within the company itself, which may be vital if the company has multiple offices around the world for example. ​

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Telecommunications helps the company to share processed information between different people in the organisation, whether they be in the same office or located elsewhere. Different types of telecommunication devices could include the likes of computers to send emails, fax machines and telephones to call people either in the same location or at another location elsewhere.​

Input, Output, Processing

Input - Input is essentially the data being entered into any information system, and comes in two sections; detailed data and analysis. Detailed data is when the data is entered into a system in order for it to be stored and processed to form an outcome. Analysis is the second half of the input process, which is when a user chooses how to read and make use of this information they have input through analysis.​

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Storage - All data and information should be stored as detailed as possible. Regular backups of any information and data you have should also be kept to avoid any chance of losing any of it due to the likes of errors and faults. It would be wise to not only have backups, but to keep these backups located elsewhere geographically, so there is no chance to lose the backups due to fault also.​

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Processing - Processing is essentially the function of turning data into information. A simple example of processing data could be the likes of adding up the number of items sold by a business by variable such as store location, which can be done by a person. However, an example of complex processing could be the likes of a computer performing many calculations and making assumptions about missing data.​

Output, Control/Feedback Loops, Closed & Open Systems

Output - The output of data and information usually comes in one of two forms, being either graphical or textual. A graphical output is usually used to present information on a large scale, for example the information of large numbers may be put into a chart of some sort, a diagram or even pictures themselves. A textual output is usually used when the information is presented on smaller scale, and is viewed as charts, numbers or text.​

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Control/Feedback Loops - Control/feedback loops are used to determine how future inputs into a system will be affected by the output that is currently being processed by the system at the present time; the feedback loop will usually analyse the output and if required it will alter the system's performance to produce the necessary results.​

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Closed & Open Systems - Information systems are usually defined as being open or closed systems. Closed systems usually refer to when there is a set output, which only a few formats of output can be chosen from; this system is usually easy to use and aims at presenting information to management. Open systems however give the user a more open and wider variety of format options for the information to be outputted and presented as. This form of system usually requires some expertise to be used effectively.​

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P5: Real world example - Tesco Store

Tesco is a well known retail store who use many types of information systems on a daily basis. Most of the equipment and systems they use help with the likes of management of the information systems, marketing and financial/human resources.​

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In terms of marketing and sales within Tesco the use of electronic point of sale stands (EPOS) comes in very handy. The reason for this is that the EPOS stands are essentially the electronic checkout, however when the items are scanned it will link back to the main database within the store, being able to count how many of what products are being sold which will be used for both stock replenishment and trends in purchases. By being able to spot these trends means that the store will know what to try and advertise within the store itself, knowing that it will sell well, making more money.​

The previously mentioned EPOS not only benefit in the discussed topic, but can also help in monitoring employee's work, such as how many items they have scanned to be sold etc. ​

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Another piece of equipment that could help monitor the workplace could be the likes of the PDCU's that they have as Tesco; a PDCU (Portable Data Capture Unit) is a handheld mobile unit which connects to the mainframe and back office - the mainframe is a specialist software used for stock management, and the back office essentially helps with the store layout. As part of human resources this device will help employees on the move around the store, monitoring their activity and feeding back how active they are in their role.​

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The likes of PDCU's could also help in the financial side of the retail store, along with the EPOS', as they can both help monitor the workplace, and especially the goods sold. From the data gathered the store could create and produce reports to represent the findings; they could for example see whether they are making profit or not thanks to the information systems.​

Some other pieces of equipment/information systems that they use within the Tesco retail store are the likes of CCTV and THAF – Tesco's own payroll and management tool. ​

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CCTV is used within the stores as it keeps an eye out on the entire store, watching over all of the staff and customers. CCTV cameras are installed with the idea of helping to prevent shrinkage (theft) within the store by detecting crime when it happens. It can also make sure that the staff are doing their job as they should. THAF on the other hand is Tesco's own tool which helps keep track of employees also, but by communicating with other stores and the head office, exchanging employee data such as sickness, overtime etc.​

M1: Information flow between different functional areas

Information within a business will get passed along and flow between the different areas/departments within the company, either up, down or across. ​

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Downward information flow is when the higher departments are providing the lower ones with the required information, such as Administrators passing employees working procedure manuals for example. ​

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Information flow that goes across is when the information is being passed within the same department, which could be the likes of ideas to help boost work efficiency within the same department. ​

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Upward information on the other hand is when those in the lower end departments provide relevant information to those in a hierarchical department level.​

Within a business – especially in those who specialise in trading goods and services – they will have several information flows including an external body. (Refer to the previous slide for a visual representation).​

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As you can see the highest level of department usually is the administration department, which gathers useful information flowing up from the lower departments such as sales, distribution etc. You can also see how information flows between these lower departments, and how they share information. From the diagram you can also see which departments may need to exchange information with an external source also; the supplier.​

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Such information that may be flowing through the company could be strategic plans, tactical plans or operational plans for the business, all of which help out the company for the better. A strategic plan is when the company decide to focus on long term plan, a tactical plan is a short term plan, and an operational plan is when the company take immediate action to help try and benefit the business.​

Task B - Issues with Information (P3,M2)

P3: Legal Issues

• Data Protection Act of 1998

The Data Protection Act (DPA) of 1998 was created in order for one's own personal information and data to be kept confidential and private, whilst being handled correctly by the employer that the person may be working for. This Act has been put into place in order to stop any distribution and misuse of any person's data and information, which is done by ensuring that all of the companies who follow the DPA stick to strict rules put into place to ensure the safety and privacy of the employees in the workplace. The rules and guidelines that need to be stuck to are as follows: 

• All information kept by an organisation must be fairly lawfully processed 

• The information kept can only be processed for the purpose it is being used for 

• Only a limited amount of information can be stored, and therefore cannot be excessive and must be relevant 

• The information about the person has to be accurate and up to date; must have been recently collected in order to store it 

• The information about a person can only be kept for a limited amount of time 

• It can only be processed in accordance with the person's legal rights 

• The information must be stored away securely so that only the company has access to it, in order to keep it safe 

• The information must not be distributed to any other country without the correct amount of protection 

(These guidelines ensure that any piece of data or information stored on a person working for a company is kept safe and protected, but also entitles them to request to know what information about themselves is actually stored for the company's use). 

The use of information within a large banking company may well be affected because of the Data Protection Act in the sense that any information kept from the customers of the bank must be kept confidential, otherwise the bank would get into serious trouble and issues would arise if the information was to be released and breached the terms of the Data Protection Act. This information could include the likes of names and addresses, along with any information regarding their bank account itself. 

• Computer Misuse Act of 1990

The Computer Misuse Act (CMA) of 1990 was introduced in an attempt to stop people committing crimes and offences when using a computer system. This act essentially creates a protective barrier for securing computer material against unauthorised and/or modification. It is vital that workplaces follow the guidelines of the Computer Misuse Act in order for data and information to be kept safe in the right hands, but also to ensure that the employees do not access material that they should not be accessing. The Computer Misuse Act recognises and helps to protect against the following offences: 

• Unauthorised access to computer material 

• Unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate a crime 

• Unauthorised modification of computer material 

• Making, supplying or obtaining anything to use under any of the sections of the act 

The use of information within a large banking company may be affected in a good way due to the fact that it helps to stop other companies attempting to breach through security barriers to gain access to your company's computer files, perhaps in order to analyse data trends in collected data to gain a competitive advantage with regards to their customers, or the likes of hackers may use prohibited material and sources in order to try and gain unauthorised access to the bank's systems; by having the legislation in place helps to try and prevent these crimes and punishes those who are believed to be breaching the terms of the Computer Misuse Act.

• Freedom of Information Act of 2000

The Freedom of Information Act (FOI) of 2000 was a legislation brought into play to essentially create a public "right of access" to information held by the public authorities; any person making a request for information to a public authority is entitled to be informed on whether it holds information on the description specified. This basically means that people are able to request to know and gain access to the information a business may have about that individual, in which the business would need to respond within twenty days on whether they accept or deny their request. The legislation is essentially made up of the following two points: 

• Public authorities are obliged to publish certain information about their activities 

• Members of the public are entitled to request information from public authorities 

Within a large banking company this legislation would play a big part of work as it entitles the employees to request to know what information their company holds about them, and the same would be put in place for the customers of the bank also. Although they have the rights to request and access information held about themselves, it does not mean they have the rights to request to be informed about the information of other people however.

Ethical Issues

It is not only legal issues that companies have to deal with on a daily basis, but also ethical issues is something that can arise when it comes to the topic of information. The following guidelines are not enforced by anyone as such, but companies usually tend to follow the following rules:

• Staff use of emails

Within a company there is usually a policy when it comes to sending emails, as using them incorrectly or abusing their use can lead to implications for the company itself. Examples of this would be the likes of sending inappropriate content within an email to another user outside of the company using the company email. By doing this is representing the business in a negative way and puts a bad name to the company; using the business email will display the name of the company and the end user will see this and think negatively of the business. Another example with emails is the use of the emails to spam another user, whether this be with malicious emails, or just purely down to sending a large number of irrelevant emails, as this can be seen as harassment. To try and prevent this companies might put a limit onto the number of emails an employee can send for private purposes.

• Internet usage

Like with the use of emails in a company there is usually a policy put in place when it comes to internet usage. Misuse of the internet can sometimes lead to punishment such as losing a job – depending on how far you go to misusing it. However, to avoid this there is usually the likes of website blockers and a filtration system put into play to stop employees accessing these prohibited sites, which could include the likes of pirating sites, gambling sites and pornography websites. The internet is also usually limited for personal use also so that the likes of social media and news pages cannot be accessed, as these sites have nothing to do with the workplace. 

• Whistle blowing

Whistle blowing is essentially the act of reporting certain types of wrongdoing that may be coming from a fellow colleague or someone of higher power than you in the company, ie. A manager. If you spot yourself – or hear about – someone in the wrong it can only refer to the user to be a whistle blower if the act they are reporting is in public interest meaning it affects others. As a whistle blower you are protected by law to stop any unfair treatment within the workplace, which includes the likes of not losing a job if you are whistle blowing against a manager or boss for example. You are protected by the law from whistle blowing if you are a worker, which is working as one of the following: 

• An employee, such as police officer, NHS employee, office worker, factory worker etc. 

• A trainee, such as a student nurse, apprentice etc. 

• An agency worker 

• A member of a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) 

You can raise a concern at any time with regards to an incident you may have seen within the workplace, whether it be in the past, happening in the present day now, or even if it has not happened but you believe there is a chance it may happen in the future. This could be reporting the likes of criminal offences, someone's health and safety being at risk or even if you believe someone is covering up someone else's wrongdoing. However, personal grievances such as bullying, harassment or discrimination are not classed as whistle blowing, unless it is in the case of public interest and other's are affected also.

M2: Operational Issues

When working as part of any business it is essential that all of the information contained within the company – no matter how big or small – is kept safe and secure. In order for this to happen the business needs to follow a few procedures.

• Backups

Every business should aim at creating backups of the information they have hold on, for security reasons. If information is not backed up and becomes lost or corrupted then it will be very hard to recover it all, hence why this procedure of backing up the information the company might have needs to be abided by. For example, if the company was to come under fire from a natural disaster, it is likely that they may lose physical equipment such as computers depending on how big the disaster may be; if the computers were to be lost in either a natural disaster for example or just due to unfortunate corruption, then any information held on the systems will be lost. If a backup is taken however, it would be wise to store a copy of this backup at another geographical location, in case there was in fact a natural disaster or any other form of disaster to lose the information, so that the backups do not get lost or destroyed also. In terms of working in a bank it is essential that they backup their files and information very regularly, as they are dealing with information of many people, containing important personal information.

• Organisational Policies

Within any organisation it is likely that they will have policies put into place on their own terms to help protect information they have held within their company, which all members of staff would need to abide by. By having these policies put into place helps to keep any and all information confidential from external sources such as other companies who may want to get their hands on said information. Another aspect of the organisational policies is that the business should amend any information that they know is incorrect, if they know the correction to resolve the false information.

• Health and Safety

Health and safety within a business is essentially a set of guidelines put into place in order to ensure the employees are working in a safe environment, and in no way are working alongside any dangers. Health and safety plays a part in keeping information secure in the sense that if the employees are in no harm and working in a good working environment then they are going to work more effectively and efficiently at their work space, and are able to work to their best ability. Examples of health and safety guidelines could be as follows: 

• Having a neatly organised working desk, including tied up cables 

• Having suitable equipment to work with, including the right adjusted height of a computer monitor and chair 

• Staff are given health and safety talks when they begin work, so that they are aware of the procedures etc.

• Impact of Increasing Sophistication of Systems

With technology becoming more and more advanced in the modern day means that not everyone will know how to use the latest technology, or perhaps some people may not have even had experience to use the basics in computer and information system technology. Due to this, it is vital that all employees are taught both the basics and the necessary skills in order to carry out every work tasks effectively, resulting in ensuring that all information processed and handled by a business is kept in safe hands; if the employees did not know how to use the necessary material and equipment then there is a chance the information could become lost or unusable. For working in a bank the staff will need to have a good amount of knowledge in using computer systems in order to handle the data and information of many people/customers - if the staff are not skilled enough or do not know what they are doing then consequences could arise, for both the company and the customers if information is lost or altered in a bad way.

Task C - Using Information (P6,P7,M3,D2)

P6: Notes

For this section of the unit I have been asked to find suitable target locations for a roadshow that aims to target their opportunities towards young professionals. In order to find these locations I visited the Nomis website (http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/) as they are an organisation who house an extensive range of government statistical information on UK employment, earnings etc., making it a trusted source for the information I require. This source of information is fit for the purpose as it runs on behalf of the Office of National statistics, making it quite reliable for my purpose of needing the data and information.  

To find the right locations for the roadshow I checked the Nomis website in order to see what data they had in regards to the population of young people in each location who were in employment with professional occupations. By narrowing down the search results meant that I was only shown the relevant data that I needed for my search, without the needing to worry about sorting and removing unnecessary data.

The above screenshot is of the data I was left with after sorting the data found on the Nomis website with the necessary search filters in order to give me the results I would require in order to fulfil my findings for a location. As you can see I have singled out the top six locations with the highest population in terms of young people in a professional occupation at the time, the highest being Westminster with over eight thousand, and the lowest of the six being four and a half thousand people. By deciding to choose the highest populated locations means that there are more people to try and aim the opportunities at if we were to take the roadshow to that specific location.

P7: Gathering the Data set

In order to gather the data I required to get an outcome/decision on what locations the roadshow is best visiting I had to search the Nomis website for the necessary data. In order to do this I had to filter the search results, which consisted of me going through multiple menu options to find the right set of data. At the top of the page was the Data Downloads option, which I proceeded to choose the Query Data option. From here I had to search and think about what data I wanted, and where it would fit in terms of the options presented to me; I found the data required under Census 2011 > Workplace Population > WP6112EW – Occupation by Age (Workplace Population). Now that I was in the right area to gather the data I required I had to narrow the data down a little, which included changing the geographic location of the data, the age of the people it would present data for and the occupations it would show data for – the geographic location was set to 'All' in the Local Authorities: District option, the age (because we are looking at offering opportunities to young people) was set to 16-24, and the occupation was set to the option for 'Professional Occupations'. Now that the data for 'Occupation by Age' had been refined down a little further by myself I just now had to download this data in an Excel Document format.  

Once I had gathered the necessary data set I sorted it from highest to lowest total population, by first adding the two age gap totals together. After the data had been sorted I chose the top six populated locations with the filters I have previously chosen, as these places would probably give the roadshow the best opportunity to offer the individuals the opportunity for your professionals.  

Below you will see a more visual representation of the locations which were involved in my data gathering, along with the top six locations shown more clearly amongst the rest of the locations; if you compare the top six locations in the pie chart to the other locations it is clear that the dedicated space/each "slice of the pie" the top six have are larger than the other locations, which towards the bottom of the list becomes barely visible due to the sheer amount of locations, but also because of the small number of people there are in that location that fit the filtered aspects of the search. To really see a visual difference in the likes location population I have made a second pie chart of the top six and bottom six locations. From looking at the second pie chart you can see a huge difference in the young person population from the top six populated locations and the bottom six.

All in all, the locations that I believe we should take the roadshow to are the top six highest populated locations on our list of young people in professional occupations. My reason being is that by going to these locations we are more likely to gain a bigger audience to the roadshow than by going to those locations who have a smaller population of young people in professional employment, and by having a bigger audience gives us more chance to give those individuals opportunities for saving and investing purposes. 

(The charts below represents the many places listed in the research how only a small number stand out on top with regards to a higher population of people there that fit the criteria. In the first chart you can see the top six places listed, and how big they are compared to all of the places in the research, whereas the bottom chart shows how populated the top six places are compared to the following six places which follow in the list of the most populated areas that meet the criteria; the bottom charts just shows why the top six places would be a good place to have the roadshow, as the sizes of the chart pieces of the top six are considerably larger than those of the next six places).

M3: Front Sheet

The information you see in this unit is proven to be valid, accurate and useful by being from reliable source, whose data and information is relevant to our search. We can rely on this data as it is from a website that houses a lot of governmental statistics. 

By the information we have gathered being both valid and accurate means that it is more likely to be useful to us than information we may have gathered otherwise, which may not have been valid or accurate – this would be if we generated the information after receiving the data from another source. Using this information gathered can help lead to better business decisions, as the information used is valid, accurate and relevant. This information will be accurate as it comes from a trusted source, dealing with governmental statistics. In the case above, the business decisions that will need to be made from the gathered information would be where to take the roadshow tour in order to try and target to largest audience of young professionals. 

Another way in which the information will help out with the business by being valid, accurate and relevant is by helping to rule out any competitors that there may be in terms of gaining a wider audience on the roadshow. By having valid, accurate and relevant information to refer to means that we can have a lead over any competing businesses who may undergoing the same work as ourselves, however their findings may not be as useful as ours; although they may have gathered the same information as ourselves, theirs may not be as accurate or valid as ours depending on whether they spent time filtering through the full set of data, and it also depends on how they gathered their data – if they got their data from a secondary source there is a chance it may not be as reliable as the data set we gathered ourselves from a reliable source.  

Although the information we ended up with is useful to us in terms of it giving us a good outcome to our search for locations for the roadshows, this doesn't mean that there was no rejected information – in fact, there was a lot! The data set we gathered our information from included a lot of location options for our roadshow to visit based on the filters we put in to receive the data we would need, however this presented us with a lot of information on a list of places where there are many young professionals. For example, the data set we were presented with had a lot of locations which had a lower population of young professionals, which would not be very useful to us as we are trying to promote ourselves and give the opportunity to as many young professionals as we can see to – if we were to take our roadshow to the lower populated locations then we could not be as efficient in terms of seeing more people as we would be if we were to visit the more populated locations. In my case, I have chosen the top six populated locations presented to use by filtering the accurate and valid data set, which presented us with more a more accurate outcome, showing us locations which we are more likely to attract a wider audience of people which we are aiming to target our roadshow at.  

However, as mentioned above, although being valid and accurate the locations which were less populated with young professionals was not really relevant to our search, as we want to aim our roadshow to as many people as possible – by going to less populated area limits us to target smaller groups of people. This led to us rejecting some of the information we had gathered as it was not relevant to our search for locations. 

D2: Email