Information Systems - Essay Example

November 10, Information Systems Part High-level Systems Diagram Detailed Information Flow Diagram Part 2 Information Systems at Recruit 4 U According to Laudon and Laudon (2007, p. 529) a data flow diagram is the primary tool that is used in representing the component processes of a system. Information systems could be used in a variety of ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the head office of Recruit 4 U. The finance, human resources management and customer service departments located at the head office in Leeds could benefit tremendously from its implementation. An integrated information system could be set up for the finance department consisting of various modules to allow for the preparation of the financial statements of Recruit 4 U. The Finance Department The finance department deals with a wide range of payments and receipts. They include the payment of salaries to employees, payments to the government for taxes and payment to suppliers. They also deal with receipts from organisations for services provided. An information system would involve computerization of the process by putting in place a payroll system to deal with payment of salaries for employees at all locations, setting up payables and receivables accounts for suppliers and organisations respectively. Interaction with employees The payroll information system will have information on the name, monthly salaries and hourly rates of employees. Hourly rates will also be required to facilitate the payment of overtime wages. Additional information such as location, department, employee identification number, and the date of employment would also be added to the system. This system would be updated with information received from the human resources department relating to recruitment of staff at Recruit 4 U three locations as well as separation of staff due to retirement, resignation, redundancies and involuntary termination. The payroll system would be set up to calculate taxes for each employee and would be paid over to the government on their behalf. At the end of each pay period the necessary information would be collected from various locations and this along with the information from head office will be used to run the payroll. Pay slips will be generated for each employee, indicating their gross pay, deductions – statutory and otherwise, and their net pay at the end of each pay period. Cheques consisting of the net pay would either be drawn for each employee or sent to their respective bank accounts if feasible. Additionally, a cheque would be drawn for the government in relation to total tax deducted from the employees pay for the period. The relevant entry from this module of the accounting information system would be used to make an entry into the financial accounts of Recruit 4 U. Human resource department A human resource information system would also allow Recruit 4 U to maintain information on each member of staff at all three locations. It would provide information on the department in which the staff member serves, unique identification number, date of birth, date of employment, educational background, skills and experience. Information will also indicate the progression of the staff in the organisation in relation to promotion and salary increases. Recruit 4 U will be able to use this information to make plans for employee training and development. Interaction with suppliers The implementation of a supplier information system would allow Recruit 4 U to create accounts for each of the company’s suppliers. The accounts would be separated into three groups based on the location at which the service or goods were received. Both invoices and payments would be posted to the accounts. The system would be set up so that invoices (with the exception of credit notes) can only be credited to the accounts and payments debited. In this way Recruit 4 U would be able to obtain timely information on the amounts owed to suppliers and the length of time for which payments are due. The office clerk at various locations would receive the goods. The information – goods received note and invoices would be passed to the finance department from the administrative department – office clerk. This would be posted to the system by the assistants in the finance department who is responsible for payables. Interaction with organisations The implementation of a receivables system will allow Recruit 4 U to set up accounts for each organisation that it serves in order to keep track of the amounts owing by them at all times. This is what the company depends on to generate revenue and so the importance of monitoring the accounts and following up with client organisations cannot be overstated. The company will be able to generate information quickly on the amounts due to them. Information relating to organisations (clients) would be sent to the finance department from the customer service department when a candidate is placed. The relevant information would be posted to the organisation’s account by the assistant in the finance department who deals with receivables. Recruit 4 U would also maintain a database of the organisations it serves and the industry in which they operate and their location. This will allow them to place candidates easily based on the industry in which they prefer to work, the types of job they require and the location that is most suitable. An information system would allow for ease in finding information by industry and location. Interactions with candidates Recruit 4 U would maintain a database of all its candidates. These will be grouped into two main categories – temporary and permanent. In each category the candidates would be grouped according to the industry in which they fit best. These will be filed based on the location in which the candidate was registered. This will make it easier for the customer service staff at Recruit 4 U to place candidates. The information kept would include date of registration, organisation in which candidate was placed and date of placement. The database will also identify candidates based on whether they have already been placed or not. Reference Laudon, K.C and Laudon, J.P. (2007). Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm. 10th ed. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall Read More