Information Systems Supporting the Department of Human Services - Term Paper Example

? Information Systems Supporting the Department of Human Services & Section Number of EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This report discusses the importance of Information System and its significance in supporting various other services through a variety of applications. We live in the era of modern technology where everything works on “clicks”. This technology has enabled man to develop a faster pace in the race of modernization and compete with its fellow men for his better future. We know that Information System has played a unique role in designing the technological infrastructure of an organization. Basically, organizations are segmented into different departments. Further, these departments are specified according to their roles and functions as well as these functions on a broader dimension are further supported by other business processes that shape overall structure of an organization. Now, it is very important for us to understand the role of Information System as a basic component in an organization as it enhances the abilities and adds value not only to an organization but also to its customers. The use of Information System mainly depends on the nature and the needs that are required to be addressed in meeting the objectives within an organization. It is worth mentioning that an organization is comprised of different systems which are inter-related with each other as well as the role of effective information and its usage among these systems is directly associated with the process of quick decision making. It is highly imperative for the organizations around the world to establish an effective and more comprehensive Information System that would help them in achieving their goals with increased work efficiency. TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents: Introduction: 3 Business Process of the Functional Area: 4 Creating Financial Statements: 5 Financial Operations: 6 Financial operations work on the basis of these statements as these statements show the performance and the financial needs of the organization. This also helps the organization to evaluate the potential of their operations and their financial capability that would further assist them in generating more funds and fulfilling its needs and other requirements. Financial operations estimate the potential or other possible resources through which they can generate funds. -Investing cash: 6 INFORMATION SYSTEMS: 6 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems: 7 Management Information Systems: 9 List of References: 11 4-Samuel, M. (2010), “The Direct Link between Business Results and Organizational Culture”, viewed on 17 July 2011, < http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Direct-Link-Between-Business-Results-and-Organizational-Culture&id=4723304> 11 6-Kehinde, T. (2010), “Effective Information System” viewed on 17 July 2011, 12 8-Business Local Listing, (2009), “Advantages of Business Process Outsourcing” viewed on 17 July 2011, < http://www.articlesbase.com/outsourcing-articles/advantages-of-business-process-outsourcing-994655.html> 12 APPENDICES 12 Introduction: To understand the importance and functioning of an Information System, it is very important for one to understand the structure of an organization. An organization consists of different groups and departments working together for achieving an organization’s goals and objectives. Organizations can be classified on the basis of their goals and structure. However, we cannot deny the fact that a balanced synchronization within the different departments and systems leads to smoother operations which results in overall success of the organization in the long-run. Functional Area: Basically, organizations are consisted of the functional areas which are inter-lined with each other as well as they are also responsible for achieving the goals of an organization (Jiang 2009, p.156). In large organizations, it is easy to differentiate between functional areas as they operate in departments and share their work accordingly. Here we are analyzing the functional area of Accounting and Finance for assessment. Accounting and finance hold a significant position in any organization because all the businesses need regular flow of income and expenditures on the basis of which management can make decisions and plans for future projects. The culture of an organization answers "how" each function operates and how they can achieve their goals. (Samuel, 2010). This helps the management to make an accurate and a quick decision on the basis of the available but authentic financial information. Therefore, it becomes highly mandatory for the organizations to set up a well-organized and well-defined function for its accounts and finance department which would enable them to maximize profits and reduce their costs or other expenses. Business Process of the Functional Area: A business process is a set of different activities and operations which lead to a specific end within the organization (Tatum, 2011). Business process is specifically related to the functional area which consists of different activities and tasks to meet the specific objectives. The business process for the department of accounts and finance can be defined as: Performing financial transactions: In an organization every transaction is recorded by the accounts and finance department that enables them to analyze their profits and losses. This also helps an organization to develop an efficient fund management and allocation system. It is important to keep a well-updated and an accurate record of all the transactions. All the annual reports and the financial statements are dependent on the accuracy of the transactions. Creating Financial Statements: From the financial transactions, financial statements are created that indicates the performance of the organization either periodically or annually. This enables the upper level management to strategize their policies or revise their plans through which they can improve the efficiency of their organization. With business process outsourcing, a corporation does not have to endow in pricey assets or set up exclusive work structures that will have fixed costs (Business Local Listings, 2009). Financial Operations: Financial operations work on the basis of these statements as these statements show the performance and the financial needs of the organization. This also helps the organization to evaluate the potential of their operations and their financial capability that would further assist them in generating more funds and fulfilling its needs and other requirements. Financial operations estimate the potential or other possible resources through which they can generate funds. -Investing cash: Finance functional areas help the organizations to invest and allocate their funds in such areas where they could yield more profits. Time of investment, area where the organization is investing and analyzing the future possibilities; are the required elements that are well-analyzed by the finance functional areas. -Paying Taxes: Organizations also have some liabilities and governmental obligations to consider for keeping the flow of their operations smooth. For this purpose, taxes are being paid by the organizations and this area of the business process also supports the finance function. Tax is the major liability without which the profits are not pure. INFORMATION SYSTEMS: A system is a combination of tasks coordinating to accomplish goals and objectives. Its main aim is to process the given inputs to the meaningful outputs. Information system is combination of collection, manipulation and distribution of data and information for feedback to meet the objectives. In an updated information system, it is important to have strong relation between the data and the information because this relation helps in defining the accuracy of the gathered material that be utilized well by the management for future purposes. The basic components of a well organized information system are accuracy; reliability, flexibility, timely as well as the information should be simple, concise, economical, secure and verifiable in nature. The information system can be categorized on the following basis: -System developed for all the e-trading and e-business planning. -Enterprise system that involves all the e-transactions related to e-businesses. These include the ERP system and Transactional Processing System. -This also includes the DSS(Decision Support System) for decision making process. - Specialized systems. These systems are comprised of Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality and other Expert Systems for more enhances and efficient performance generation. Apart from all the defined IS types, it has been observed that ERP and MIS are the essential tools that would enable any organization to meet their business deals. The role of both the essential components can be further described as follows with respect to their role in the business organization as well as how they can be implemented to carry-out the basic business process in a given function area: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems: Enterprise resource planning (ERP) incorporates internal and external management information globally and within the organization that also includes other business processes in the functional areas.  ERP is implemented to incorporate all functions and departments across a company onto a single computer system so they can serve as a basic tool for providing or generating information to any particular department according to need and other requirements (Koch& Wailgum, 2008). ROLE OF ERP IN A BUSINESS PROCESS OF A FUNCTION AREA: a. ERP information system gathers data from the entire organization at a minimum cost which makes it cost-effective for its implementation and application. It can be used for recording transactions of the accounting data. It is used to record transactions and creating statements for financial operations and investments. It also gives data for the tax liabilities to be paid ( Karasev, 2006). b. It adds a great value to both the organization and customers by providing clear reports and data to the management. As finance function is the most important of all the functions and the entire organization depends on it, therefore this adds value to IS and provides the complete analysis on an organization’s performance and gives a comprehensive statement of its earnings to the management and customers. c. Recording of expenses, payroll, sales etc are the examples of key inputs in the ERP Information systems and income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements are the key examples of the output information of ERP. This information system requires a proper system of computers and inter-linked networks within an organization that could help in storing the recorded data. And for recording such information on the databases, we can use financial softwares for keeping the information updated and accurate. It is imperative to build a strong network for effective communication for exchange of the stored information. Management Information Systems: MIS supports the management in the process of decision making. It supports the management within the specified functional area for performing different tasks of planning, organizing and controlling operations. Management information systems are such systems that assist the management with the availability of the accurate information in the process of decision making (Mcbride, 2011) In MIS basically three sources are involved: people, technology and information. It can be termed as the internal control based on the set of procedures used by the management. MIS makes it easy for management for decision making after reviewing the accounting data stored. For making decisions related to investments and operations, it highlights the weaknesses and strengths of the organization from the revenue reports and the employee’s performance reports etc to overcome the weak areas. With the help of these highlights, management can improve their operations as well as the performances of their employees. Managing an effective information system may be a complex procedure as well as tedious task for managers (Kehinde, 2010). ROLE OF MIS IN BUSINESS PROCESS OF A FUNTION AREA: a. It also gives value to the customers so that they can get information regarding their balances with the company and payment schedules and other queries related to their finances. This helps in developing sound relations with the customers and maintaining good-will in the market. b. People, materials, equipments or data may be received from different sources to the management are the examples of input and sales reports, revenue statements, information to shareholders etc are examples of output whereas on the other hand, the way of recording inventory and costing errors of production to be corrected are examples of feedback. c. For managing a smooth MIS, it is important to have efficient network of computer systems and effective database for storing data along with high speed internet connectivity. For effective communication with the people, it is also required to have telephone lines. Conclusion: We cannot deny the importance and the role of Information System in easing the operations and keeping the flow of other business related processes within an organization as well as the contributions shared by such advanced Information Systems which have helped greatly in minimizing the hurdles of managing and storing the data for management at all levels within an organization. The utilization of the stored information depends on the nature of an organization. It is highly important for the organizations to understand the value of having an effective but developed information system which would help them to grow and excel in the world of modern technology and high competition. What ever we are working in our functional areas and develop business processes are to set to achieve the organization’s goal. We have discussed the finance function of the organization which supports the organization to fulfill the financial needs and shows the overall performance. Information systems support these functional areas for effective working and yielding the best results for future growth. Among different information systems ERP and MIS are the best which support the entire organization but on the other hand, the other systems are highly dependent on the purpose of their application and usage within an organization. These systems are categorized on the basis of their usage, purpose and ease that help the users to gain an expert control for various business operations as well as in a specified function area. List of References: 1-Koch, C and Wailgum, T. (2008), “ERP Definition and Solutions”, viewed 17 July 2011, 2-Tatum, M. (2011), “what is business process?”, conjecture corporation, viewed on 17 july 2011, 3-Jiang, X. (2009), “Strategic Management for Main Functional Areas in an Organization”, Vol 6, International journal of business and management. 4-Samuel, M. (2010), “The Direct Link between Business Results and Organizational Culture”, viewed on 17 July 2011, < http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Direct-Link-Between-Business-Results-and-Organizational-Culture&id=4723304> 5-Mcbride, L. (2011), “Management Information Systems and change management models” viewed on 17 July 2011, 6-Kehinde, T. (2010), “Effective Information System” viewed on 17 July 2011, 7-Karasev, A. (2006), “Corporate ERP: Microsoft Dynamics GP, AX, NAV, CRM – which one to select” viewed on 17 July 2011, 8-Business Local Listing, (2009), “Advantages of Business Process Outsourcing” viewed on 17 July 2011, < http://www.articlesbase.com/outsourcing-articles/advantages-of-business-process-outsourcing-994655.html> APPENDICES Balance sheets Computer Income statements Information systems Management Profits. Read More