Abstract Science Construction’s business is in planning, developing and building road projects. The major of its clients are municipalities, city governments, and other public sector entities. While the bankruptcy rates for these clients is very low, when economic downturns happen, their ability to pay in a timely fashion also suffers. This leads to businesses such as Science Construction needing to take on additional debt and to find creative methods in order to stay afloat during times of recession. Methods such as selling accounts receivables at discounted rates and taking larger lines of credit through banks and other lending institutions are some of the ways organizations can remain viable when their cash inflows have turned into a trickle. Science Construction is asking the Turkish Courts to postpone their bankruptcy proceedings for a year while they attempt to restructure. Through this, suggestions such as forcing shareholders to pay their debt to the organization, gaining credi...
Define and differentiate between data, information, and knowledge: Along with the physical hardware and the software used by computers, "data" is the third component of an "information system". (Bourgeois. Information Systems for Business and Beyond. Page 39).
Data is raw, random, unorganised facts that need to be processed; and could be considered useless until such a time that it is organised. Once data is processed, organised or, structured in a given context it starts to become useful and relevant. At this stage, we can call it "information".
The information being shared or presented is often referred to as a "Database", and multiple databases can share information within networks and "Relational Databases", which are the most widely used form of databases.
Data management within organisations is important and can be a viewed as valuable. It become more valuable once the data is structured and presented as "business intelligence".
With tools such as data warehousing and data mining, businesses are learning how to use information to their advantage. The patterns, or groups of data must be interpreted to either support, or reject business decisions. This is where Business Analysts will interrogate data to understand "shifts in patters" and present the information as "trends" to inform or influence business decision making.
The information being shared or presented is often referred to as a "Database", and multiple databases can share information within networks and "Relational Databases", which are the most widely used form of databases.
The information itself could again be considered meaningless, as it remains static and one dimensional. Only once the information is presented in the right context or with parameters, can we understand it and relate to it. The information then becomes "knowledge", which can be used to make decisions.
As more data is collected, and structured, we can start to see patterns or groups of data that reinforce the information that is being presented. In turn, as we are presented with more information, we learn more knowledge.
As more knowledge is learnt, the facts can influence our decision making; depending on the patterns of data that we see. This type of knowledge is expanded exponentially when integrated with existing knowledge, or when shared and visualized.
Data management within organisations is important and can be a viewed as valuable. It become more valuable once the data is structured and presented as "business intelligence".
With tools such as data warehousing and data mining, businesses are learning how to use information to their advantage. The patterns, or groups of data must be interpreted to either support, or reject business decisions. This is where Business Analysts will interrogate data to understand "shifts in patters" and present the information as "trends" to inform or influence business decision making.
Having invested time and resources collecting data and structuring it for business intelligence to inform decisions; the data must be kept secure. Not only to protect the structure of the data, but also to stop competitors learning what you have gaining from the data.
The source of the data - essentially the facts - can influence the information being presented. Therefore, the data must be of good quality and trusted.
Employees within an organisation will use different sources of information and gather data from various departments, teams and external sources. It is vital that the data is managed, stored and shared across the organisation.
Good data management will make an organisation more productive. Equally, poor data management will lead to organisations being inefficient. The tools and systems leveraged for data management will not only drive productivity, but also deliver cost efficiencies and improve overall business performance. (Retrieved from Blue-Pencil.ca. 23rd November 2015).
As already mentioned above, the value of the information is only as good as the information source. The old adage of "garbage in - garbage out", remains true to databases and more importantly for the Business Analysts who are looking for the smallest of shifts in data to pinpoint an area of competitive advantage. The wrong data could prove catastrophic for the output of the information.
As the pool of data grows and information becomes the driver of business decisions; employees gain knowledge and start to interpret the information to "predict" what might happen next. There are many software tools that collate data, and using algorithmic formulae can provide predictive analysis to support the organisation in these decisions. However, the knowledge held by each employee becomes a valuable asset and organisations do not want to lose key staff to their competitors, which is why organisations encourage knowledge sharing and knowledge management.
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