The Information Strategy - Assignment Example

"Information Strategy is a synchronized plan for using all available and appropriate methods of communication to achieve specific goals of informing target audiences" (Fransman M, 1994). The Information Strategy is concerned with all forms of information, independent of the medium. If implemented fully, it usually yields the following benefits: information will be easier to access duplication of information will be reduced time and cost will be saved competitive intelligence will be improved quality and reliability of information will be improved The Information Strategy is a dynamic framework within which more detailed policies relating to information creation, use and management can be developed. General principles of an Information Strategy Key to the Information Strategy is an understanding of the information needs of the organisation and the way information flows throughout the entire organisation. Stakeholders include employees, ranging from the heads of the organization to individual contract staff, senior officers and those engaged in corporate planning; administrative and support service staff and managers; and the organisations' external partners, customers and community. All heads or the department managers should be supported in identifying and understanding the flows of information involving their staff (Gachet, 2004). At an organisational level usually the IT staffs assists this process by mapping the principal information flows. Major components of an Information Strategy: The following are the Major Components which form the basis of an Information Strategy. 1. Set up The scope, terms of reference, approach and leading individuals for the development of the Information Strategy. 2. Context A clear understanding of the intended overall direction of the organisation and its challenges, The opportunities presented by the up-and-coming information technologies; The environmental background within which the organisation will be working. 3. Information needs The collection of information within scope of the strategy, An analysis of the information following the standards required for each, Requirements for an information infrastructure, Any gaps and problems. 4. Roles and responsibilities Identification of individuals with any direct responsibilities for the creation or use of information An understanding and acceptance as to what are their roles and responsibilities 5. Implementation A priority list of projects to be undertaken Project management plans against which to check progress Programmes of change management to promulgate the strategy and gain acceptance and understanding of it. 6. Monitoring and review monitoring the effectiveness of the strategy, monitoring the scope within which the strategy needs to operate, Review and update the strategy as necessary. Benefits of an Information Strategy to Brumshire Bank: Strategically a well-defined information strategy would ensure a smooth flow of information throughout the Brumshire organisational structure. Information will be easier to access by all the employees. As the processes will be outsourced also a comprehensive information strategy would ensure timely availability of information as and when required. Second major benefit that the Brumshire bank would have is that the duplication of information will be reduced to minimal. As some of the operations will be set up in India as a result of outsourcing, which include operations such as BB support centre, the Phone Bank centre, the Regional Administration offices and the Enquiry Centre, there will be no need to maintain separate data centres at both the countries. A centralized data centre would minimalize redundancy as well as the overhead of maintaining and updating data at both the centres. Thirdly the competitive intelligence will improve a lot. The information strategy would ensure timely information readily available which will serve as a key to take key decision about the changing competitor's behaviour as well as to improve Brumshire internal procedures. Defined procedure to handle data and information would certainly affect the quality and reliability of information which will be improved significantly. Advantages of outsourcing: By outsourcing Brumshire Bank ensure that the company that is outsourced will always be sure to reach their targets, deliver on time, ensure stringent security and maintain a level of productivity which will help the Brumshire Bank to stick to their core objective rather than being concerned about such things. Some of the other advantages that Brumshire bank would be having are (Acs Z. J., Audretsch, 1993): Reduction in Expenses: Outsourcing will reduce Brumshire's fixed and the variable costs. This means that no payments such as health insurance, taxes, sometimes even the incentives given to the employees and general employees' administrative costs. Acquiring Expert services: Brumshire will not have to ponder upon hiring the right personnel for the IS department which is not their core business. They will have an easy access to the required skills that match the company needs; outsourcing services usually will bring required experience. Able to choose to most recent and required technology: Brumshire will be able to access to the most required technology for the company without the whole costs of developing it in-house. expand to other new markets: It is possible for Brumshire to use outsourcing services as local agent in new markets. This will help in launching their business in India. Flexibility: In many cases that the workload of a company has ups and downs, human resources and machinery/equipment flexibility is necessary (Fransman, 1994). By outsourcing its IT operation Brumshire can enjoy this flexibility when hiring the outsourcing services only when needed. Focus on the Core Business: Outsourcing will enable Brumshire to stay focused on their core business other than to deviate from their core interest. Outsourcing Disadvantages Lesser control of processes: Many times the outsourcing services are a black box which leads to a situation that as a company that provides the complete service/product you do not have control of all parts but you have the responsibility of the complete service/products (Fransman, 1994). This can also be the case with Brumshire Bank. Outsourcing on one side my seems all the more attractive but it actually can Infringement of sensitive information: One of the major risks due to outsourcing services is that it opens the door through which sensitive information of Brumshire can leak outside. Brumshire's competitors can have this information and can use this information in their own interest. Increased and unwanted Dependency on outsourcing provider: The more functions that outsourcing is doing in your business the bigger dependency you have in the outsourcing provider (Volpato, Stocchetti, 2000). Brumshire also faces a similar situation, this unwanted dependency is a risk for them as if for some reason the outsourcing provider will decide to change the rules of the game, Brumshire will have to follow them. No direct connections with clients: By outsourcing their customer service Brumshire's customer will receives the service from the outsourcing, therefore Brumshire would lose the intensive direct communication with the customer and this might lead to a decline of commitment level and losing feedback from their clients. The management while outsourcing their operations to India will have to take special care that the head office itself controls its decisional support systems. This decisional role will provide the enhanced ability to explore "what if" questions which are essential for analyzing the likely results of possible decisions and choosing those most likely to shape the future as desired. Another responsibility if the management will be to use an MBO (Management by objectives) tool. This tool will help Brumshire to: to establish relevant and measurable objectives to monitor results and performances (reach ratios) to send alerts, in some cases daily, to managers at each level of the organization and to India as well, on all deviations between results and pre-established objectives and budgets Knowledge Management: "Knowledge Management (KM) refers to a range of practices and techniques used by organizations to identify, represent and distribute knowledge, know-how, expertise, intellectual capital and other forms of knowledge for leverage, reuse and transfer of knowledge and learning across the organization" (Garvin, 2000). "Knowledge Management programs are typically claimed to be tied to specific organizational objectives and are intended to lead to the achievement of specific targeted results such as improved performance, competitive advantage, or higher levels of innovation" (Garvin, 2000). There are varying views as far as knowledge management is concerned, following are some: Techno-centric: According to this view the main focus is on technologies. These technologies are ideally those that enhance knowledge and provide useful information. Theoretical: According to theoretical view of knowledge management the focus is on the underlying concepts of knowledge. People view: The basic focus is on bringing people together and helping them to exchange knowledge amongst each other. Process view: The focus is on the processes of knowledge creation, transmission, transformation, and others. Organizational: How does the organization need to be designed to facilitate knowledge processes Which organizations work best with what processes All these questions are answered in this view of knowledge management. Benefits of Knowledge Management to Brumshire: It offers legitimacy Although Knowledge management suffers a lack of business recognition, its principle as very well defined and standardised. It is seen that those organisations that area able to produce leading frameworks usually have a competitive advantage within the industry. Having a knowledge management framework associated with their name provides considerable prestige and recognition (Suresh, Mahesh, 2006). Brumshire by using this framework can also build this credibility. This would enable Brumshire Bank to standardise its knowledge management activities an in many cases using a framework will provide a starting point for meaningful discussions with management. Outline processes All major KM frameworks offer a high level procedure to follow for knowledge management projects (Garvin, 2000). This will provide a direction to Brumshire's knowledge activities, and will form the basis for project management and project planning. In this way, the overall process of project development and planning is formalised, thereby simplifying the decision-making. Provides a checklist The knowledge management framework serves as a checklist for knowledge management projects. This framework document will serve as a template to the Brumshire's management, which will provide a guideline to the project manager through which he can be confident that all key aspects have been addressed. This will ensure a more improved level of consistency, quality and repeatability of knowledge management projects, and will help Brumshire to ensure that all the business goals are met. Provides a consistent language This framework defines a standard language which will provide a consistent set of knowledge management terms and concepts. This helps to bring together all the stakeholders in a knowledge management project, including (Powell and Swart, 2005): business management end users implementers vendors external consultants This reduces any confusion on part of the Project manager, and all the efforts can then be directed towards the project itself and not on dialogues about the nature of knowledge management. Offers a source of ideas Knowledge management framework does no intend to guarantee solutions, instead this framework is used to list a number of practical processes and approaches which can be used and are effective in the real world knowledge management projects (Powell and Swart, 2005). Addresses non-technical aspects All flourishing knowledge management projects focus upon the following areas: analysis and planning knowledge sharing and acquisition culture processes This framework will provide a justification for Brumshire to include all the above aspects in a project, thereby enhancing the final outcome and also eliminating time wasting arguments about knowledge management terms. Serves as a Framework for building other frameworks Large organisations don't just need a KM project; they need a framework of their own. This framework builds an approach to knowledge management that is specifically tailored to the organisation's environment, processes and goals (Powell, J and Swart, J, 2005). This framework can be also very useful to Brumshire as now its processes will be geographically-dispersed. With the difficulties of arranging face-to-face meetings, a documented strategy can resolve confusion, and facilitate communication. Conclusion: In order to be successful in their new venture, Brumshire will have to keep a close look at their performance indicators. Outsourcing their operations to India will require an in depth knowledge of the local market in India. This information will be facilitated from the Decision Support systems and Strategic management systems, maintained by Brumshire bank, to the top management. The VPN maintained by a third party supplier will serve as a bridge between the two geographically dispersed Business centres and will facilitate in giving real-time information to the top management. Therefore in order to implement the new strategy successfully Brumshire should first develop/ maintain its Strategic Management and Support systems which will give key insight toward the implementation of the new strategy. References: Acs Z. J., Audretsch D. B. (eds.) (1993), Small Firms and Entrepreneurships: an East-West Perspective, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. DeCanio S., Watkins W. (1998), 'Information Processing and Organisational Structure', Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organisation, 36, 275-294. Fransman M. (1994), 'Information, Knowledge, Vision and Theories of the Firm', Industrial andCorporate Change, 3, 713-738. Gachet, A. (2004). Building Model-Driven Decision Support Systems with Dicodess. Zurich, VDF Garvin, D. A. (2000), Learning in Action: A Guide to Putting the Learning Organization to Work, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA. Powell, J and Swart, J (2005) "This is what the fuss is about"- a systemic modeling for organizational knowing , Journal of Knowledge Management Vol . 9 no. 2 pp 45-58 Suresh, J. K. and Mahesh, K. (2006), Ten Steps to Maturity in Knowledge Management: Lessons in Economy, Chandos, Oxford, UK. Volpato G., Stocchetti A. (2000), Managing Information Flows in Supplier-Customer relationships: Issues, Methods and Emerging Problems, IMVP Working Papers, MIT's Centre for Technology, Policy and Industrial Development. 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