How Information Can Be Used Efficiently in Golden Fleece Hotels - Case Study Example

 Managing Information Diploma in Business and Management Table of Contents Executive Summery Quality is definitely one of the main business characteristics of the 20th century organizations. It has added a superior standard to the business through focused concentration on clients, as well as paying more attention towards business handling. Additionally, the considerable changes exist in internal and external environments that are driven frequently by growing business dependence on reliable and more accurate business information. In addition, the management has been responding to such changes through increased emphasis on quality of information that is efficiently used for decision making and financial reporting purposes. This paper gives answer of questions “how information can be used efficiently in our organization”. In this scenario, I will assess the vital needs and implementations of business information at Golden Fleece Hotels. This research will assess type of information required, sources of information, ways of gathering information, analysis of information, ways to store information and also dissemination channels of business information in the scenario of the Golden Fleece Hotels. 1. Introduction Salmela (1999) stated that destitute, defective, not in time or missing information is supposed to be a major quality business crisis. It is emphasized that business information should not be handled in the same manner as a plain by-product due to a variety of actions. However, there is an essential need for offering similar significance to products. Quality of information although appears to be a subtle theory. Quality of information is an expression to illustrate the worth of the main elements of organizational information systems. It is frequently described as: “the strength to utilize business information” (Salmela, 1999; Needham et al., 1999). According to Kannan (2009) majority of organizational structures is greatly depending upon the effective business information handling (Kannan, 2009). The Golden Fleece business is about hotels. This business had been established in 1999 and presently it is turning out to be a huge business. When business goes toward some advancement, some business problems also come out. Currently Golden Fleece hotel is a 100-­room resort hotel located in South Yorkshire. Golden Fleece hotel business is mainly aimed to target the business people as well as pleasure travelers. The business owner is Hugh Johnson who wants to provide its customers the best and unique hotel experience and enjoyment. For present situation of the business, we are intended to solve business crisis which are generally created due to some non-effective business handling tactics. In this scenario, one of the best solutions that are proposed is the establishment of some effective business management system. For the implementation of this system, we need to analyze the main aspects of the business information. For this purpose, this research and analysis based report is going to define and present a detailed overview of the main aspects of the business informational needs, sources, collection of data, handling and utilization. In this report each section will present and consider main aspects of the Golden Fleece hotel’s business information aspects. 2. Business Overview and Problem Situation Golden Fleece is a hotel based business. Currently Golden Fleece business has emerged as a huge business setup. For prospective business enhancement of Golden Fleece, some problems come out regarding the overall business operations and tasks handling. All these issues can be about the effective business management, customers and resources handling. The main problems have come out due to the conventional use of business management methods and techniques. For a small level business arrangement, these tools and techniques are performing well. However, for considering potential evolution in the business these arrangements are now becoming insufficient and inefficient at Golden Fleece's business management. At Golden Fleece hotel, the business is being done through old paper system that often leads to some critical errors in bookings and resource handling. These are some of the main factors that are leading towards the less effective handling of the business operations. Below are some technological problems that business is facing: No data sharing Traditional business practices Complex data handling Less effective information dealing Complex resource allocation to each room More time required for searching Improper customer database No effective data for business decision More duplication of business data Hard management of the business operations Complex Room reservation process Time consuming process for reports generation 3. Recommended Solution For the better solution of present business problems, the basic business recommendation is about the establishment of an effective business management technology. In this scenario, we can implement a modern business information management technological solution. After defining these technological solutions, these systems can be able to gather, process and controls the business operations effectively. For better business process handling and information management we can implement the following business solutions: Business Supply chain management system Management Decision support system Business process management system Resource and inventory management system 4. Types of Information For above stated business solutions, we need to assess the types of information that we will require for an enhanced business and operational management. The basic purpose of assessing the types of business information can offer us a clear understanding of how we can control overall business process and how well the new systems will support business arrangements. 4.1. Objective Considering the main objectives of the new technology implementation at Golden Fleece hotel business, we are aimed to define main areas which require possible improvements. The Golden Fleece is hotel business having a lot of business processes. These processes require lots of improvements. These areas of the business can be improved effectively through new technology based arrangements. Here are the main objectives that are aimed to enhance the business through an effective business information management: Making automated reservation facility Offering rapid handling of business resources Making better Staff management Implementing new electronic supply chain automation Developing database for Rooms record keeping Implementing individual rooms management Making better customer record management Implementing facility of back-office information management Incorporating business data security Electronic finance management Enabling business data sharing among all departments (room service, reservation, catering, cooking, party management) Electric and automated inventory management Fast and in-time business reporting Rapid, accurate and quick business decision support Enhanced business human resource management 4.2. Types of Business Information For making Golden Fleece hotel business better we will require some types of the business information. These information types will be further assessed and manipulated for an effective business management and handling. 4.2.1 HR Information For an effective management, controlling and handling of business human resource is one of key issues. In the following scenario, the human resource information recording and handling is really essential. In this regard we need to gather HR information like employees’ personal records, qualification, expertise, job and working position. 4.2.2 Customer Information Customer record keeping is presently turning out to be a major business trend. Recording customer information and developing business strategy according to the customer needs is really essential. In scenario of our hotel business we need to record customer’s personal information, habits, orders, and stay history. This information will certainly lead to an effective customer handling and better assessment of customer’s behaviour. 4.2.3 Resources Information Business resources record keeping is also a main business area requiring effective business information handling. For recording business resources details, we can effectively deploy and control the flow of business recourses. In our business scenario, we can collect information about the hotel rooms, rooms’ facilities, food products, and other hotel facilities which are offered to the customers. 4.2.4 Transactions Information In our hotel business, recording daily customer reservations, facilities and overall customer handling information is really necessary. In this scenario, we need to record daily working timings, customer processes and dealing records. These are extremely necessary to run hotel and keeping track of the business working and customer handling. 4.2.5 Financial Information Golden Fleece Hotel business is running on an effective handling of business financial records. In this regard we need to record business financial information. This business information will be further processed and manipulated to assess business working positions and then making new plans for getting better business position. 5. Sources of Information According to (Laudon & Laudon, 1999) organizational business information sources can significantly be classified in conditions of the degree to which they represent expected insight. There are a few information sources in the organization. Open consideration for the organizational information foundations is suitable to move out the organization's inner activity. In any organization the decision making process starts from the sources like that connections, organization information arrangements, as well as business reports are inferred through involved parties (Laudon & Laudon, 1999; Hutchinson & Sawyer, 2000; Turban et al., 2005). In this section I will highlight some of the main sources of business information for the Golden Fleece hotel business. In this scenario, I will present a deep insight into the information sources and main contributions of these information sources for an effective corporate handling. Following are the business information sources: 5.1. Customers A customer is a prime source of information for any business. For Golden Fleece hotel business the customer personal information is the main source of information for recording and tracking business activities and maintaining customer database. 5.2. Management Business management is also a main business information source. In this Golden Fleece hotel business the hotel management develops and deploys business policies, implements new decisions and establishes new working criteria. All these information needs to be recorded and implemented to make effective business decisions. 5.3. Daily Reservation service Operations Golden Fleece hotel business daily reservation service operations are also a main source of business information. It involves the customers, rooms, and some funds transfer based information. For handling and managing purposes this information is really necessary to control and handle the business overall working and dealing. 5.4. Services Services offered by the Golden Fleece hotel business is also a main source of business information. These services can be daily serving, room facilities or some HR based services. Recording these services is really necessary for an effective business handling and financial processing. 5.5. Business Departments Golden Fleece hotel business department for instance HR management, food control, resource handlers, management, staff control, etc. are producing information and data all the time. The recording and handling of this business information is quite necessary. 5.6. Staff Staff personal information and working information is also a main source of the business information arrangement. We need to keep track of business setup through recording and controlling the business staff information. This information is recorded and well documented to manage the everyday working and business handlings. 5.7. Old Business Records Old business records are also a main source of the business information. These records will be scrutinized and recorded for the development of new system. 6. Gathering Information In this section I will highlight some of the important ways that will be used by our team for the collection of above stated business information. Below are some techniques and methods which will be used to gather business information: 6.1. Interview To gather business information we will use the technique of interview. We will interview the management, staff and customers for gathering main business information. This business information will be further processed and used for business systems development. 6.2. Survey In case of Golden Fleece hotel business we will use the technique of survey to assess and gather the main business information and working details. This survey can use some type of questionnaire. These questionnaires will be distributed to customer, staff and management in order to take the possible response. 6.3. Analysis The analysis technique at Golden Fleece hotel business will be used for the assessment of business information by means of traditional business practices. The information gathered through the analysis is recorded and then analyzed for formulating business response in main business areas for new system development. 6.4. Meetings For gating business information about Golden Fleece hotel business we will conduct some meetings with business staff and management to evaluate possible business information working and enhancement. Prototype Systems For gathering information about the Golden Fleece hotel business we can deploy some of the newly developed prototype system. The business staff will momentarily work on these systems to offer us possible business information sample for the new information management systems development. 7. Analysis Information After collecting the Golden Fleece hotel business information we need to apply some analytical techniques which will help to ensure levels of precision, consistency, importance, sufficiency and reliability in outcomes. The analysis of the business information is really necessary because quality business information is insurance for the enhanced business working, dealing and complexity handling. After gathering the above stated information for Golden Fleece hotel business through the above stated methods we need to analyze the business information for maximum quality. For this purpose we need to apply some of the quality business information parameters that can be used later on to find out main business information that will certainly be helpful in an effective corporate decision making process (Arif et al., 2005; Baker & Wallace, 2007). 7.1. Quality Business Information Lillrank (2003) stated that for the purpose of analyzing business information we check quality of the business data and information according to the intrinsic quality parameters. In this scenario, the quality of the data and information contains four main features that are accuracy, objectivity, believability and reputation. In case of Golden Fleece hotel business information analysis we will use these four information analysis quality parameters for an effective information and data extraction (Lillrank, 2003; Smith & Spafford, 2004; Williams, 2007): Accuracy: the information should be accurate and proper in use Objectivity: The information retrieved should have some objective Believability: The information should contain the facts that are believable for the user Reputation: the source of information should definitely be well reputed 7.2. Contextual quality parameters For analysis of business information we can also use some contextual quality parameters. These contextual quality parameters offer the quality of the data and information used for decision making process. This dimensions for the quality of the data and information contains five main characteristics (Lillrank, 2003; Smith & Spafford, 2004; Ruiu, 2006). For the business of Golden Fleece hotel we will utilize these contextual quality parameters for better business information extraction. In this way the decision making and activities done through this data at Golden Fleece hotel business will be quality based: Relevancy: retrieved business data and information should have solid relevance to the business tasks Value-added: data and information should have the capability to add value to business processes. Timeliness; Business data and information retrieved should have the quality of appropriateness Completeness; the business data and information should not contain redundant data Amount of business data and information: the amount of data and information should be according to the requirements of business working and processes 8. Record and Store Information This step provides a basis for database building for the business. In this step we will build the overall data storage arrangement. This will be based on some integrated software packages that will offer the capability to get different formats of information. Subsequent to collecting the business information, we will store business information in a relational format. The relational format is based on tables. A table comprises set of rows and columns. The main advantage of storing business information in this format is the viability and a clear understating of relations among different business entities (Hoffer et al., 2007). For storing and recording the business information for the Golden Fleece hotel business we can use a lot of integrated software packages. We can avail these integrated software packages options to best suit the storage of business information for our corporate. In this scenario, I have decided to use the Microsoft Access that is extensively available integrated software packages for handling and storing business data. We will use this software package for building our business database. This integrated software packages is easy to use, handle and mange. 9. Dissemination channels In this section I will outline the information requirements of different audiences who will use the information that we have collected. It will also outline the most effective means to disseminate the information that we have gathered to fulfill our pre-defined business objectives. Golden Fleece hotel business deals with a lot of areas that require effective business information systems for an enhanced business handling and management. Below I have outlined some of the major business audiences who will better use the information that we have collected earlier. 9.1. Business Staff Business staff will require business information for the purpose of handling and managing hotel reservations. 9.2. HR management HR management will require business information to manage the overall staff, their working, duty plans, salary packages and other details. 9.3. Supply Chain Management The department of supply chain management will also require business information to manage and control the overall business resources through a centralized supply chain management system 9.4. Management The business management will require gathered business information for the management, enhanced controlling and for taking some effective business decisions based on effectively processed business data. 9.5. Disseminating information For the effective business information dissemination, we will use the organizational centralized network. This centralized network will support business data sharing all over the business departments and branches and will also maintain business data security and privacy. 10. Conclusion In this report, I have presented a detailed analysis of the main information needs, sources, processing, and quality and implementation factors. This research has presented a comprehensive overview of some of the main aspects of Golden Fleece hotel business information needs and implementation of information management structures for the better business handling and controlling. 11. References Arif, M., Kulonda, D., Jones, J. & Proctor, M., 2005. Enterprise information systems: technology first or process first? Business Process Management Journal, 11(1), pp.5-21. Baker, W.H. & Wallace, L., 2007. Is Information Security Under Control?: Investigating Quality in Information Security Management. IEEE Security and Privacy, 5(1), pp.36-44. Hoffer, J.A., Prescott, M.B. & McFadden, F.R., 2007. Modern Database Management, Eighth Edition. Pearson Education, Inc. Hutchinson, S.E. & Sawyer, S.C., 2000. Computers, Communications, Information A user's introduction, 7th Edition. New York: Irwin/McGraw-Hill. Kannan, K., 2009. Enterprise Information Management Issues to Consider in the Convergence of eDiscovery and eCompliance. 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