Chapter 9 Managers and Their Information Needs

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Chapter 9Managers and Their Information Needs
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Learning Objectives

• When you finish this chapter, you will
• See the link between an organizations structure
  and information flow.
• Be able to list the main functions and
  information needs at different managerial levels.
• Recognize the characteristics of information
  needed by different managerial levels.
• Recognize the influence of politics on the design
  of, and accessibility to, information systems.

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Managers and Information

• Generally, managers at different levels of an
  organizational hierarchy
• Make different types of decisions
• Control different types of processes
• Therefore, they have different information needs

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Managers and Information
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The Traditional Organizational Pyramid

• Many organizations follow pyramid model
• CEO at top
• Small group of senior managers, one level down
• Larger number of middle managers, reporting to
  senior managers
• Many more lower-level managers who report to
  middle managers
• Clerical and Shop Floor Workers
• Bottom of organizational pyramid
• Operational Management
• In charge of small groups of front-line workers

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The Traditional Organizational Pyramid

• Tactical Management
• Also called middle managers
• Make decisions for subordinates, affecting the
  near and somewhat more distant future
• Strategic Management
• Decisions affect entire or large parts of the
  organization what to do decisions

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Characteristics of Information at Different
Managerial Levels

• Different management levels have different
  information needs
• Information needed by different managerial and
  operational levels varies in the time span
  covered, level of detail, source, and other
  characteristics over a broad spectrum

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Characteristics of Information at Different
Managerial Levels

• Data Range
• Amount of data from which information is
  extracted
• Time Span
• How long a period the data covers
• Level of Detail
• Degree to which information is specific

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Characteristics of Information at Different
Managerial Levels

• Source Internal versus External
• Internal data collected within the organization
• External data collected from outside sources
• Media, newsletters, government agencies, Internet

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Characteristics of Information at Different
Managerial Levels

• Structured and Unstructured Data
• Structured data numbers and facts easily stored
  and retrieved
• Unstructured data drawn from meetings,
  conversations, documents, presentations, etc.
• Valuable in managerial decision making

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The Web The Great Equalizer

• Outside information now easier to get
• More free information
• Information available in easy-to-manipulate
  format
• Data shoppers allowed to download data they can
  further process to fit their needs
• Subscriptions to online message services on
  highly focused topics
• Results of research and reports of trends and
  forecasts offered for a fee

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The Nature of Managerial Work

• Planning
• Planning at different levels
• Long-term mission and vision
• Strategic goals
• Tactical objectives
• Most important planning activities
• Scheduling
• Budgeting
• Resource allocation

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The Nature of Managerial Work
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The Nature of Managerial Work
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The Nature of Managerial Work

• Controlling
• Managers control activities by comparing plans to
  results.

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The Nature of Managerial Work

• Decision Making
• Both planning and control call for decision
  making
• The higher the level of management
• The less routine the managers activities
• The more open the options
• The more decision-making involved

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The Nature of Managerial Work

• Management by Exception
• Managers review only exceptions from expected
  results that are of a certain size or type to
  save time.

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The Nature of Managerial Work

• Leading
• Managers expected to lead, which requires
• Having a vision and creating confidence in others
• Initiating activities to make work efficient and
  effective
• Creating new techniques to achieve corporate
  goals
• Encouraging and inspiring subordinates
• Presenting a role model for desired behavior
• Taking responsibility for undesired consequences
• Motivating employees and delegating authority

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Trends in Organizational Structure

• IT Flattens the Organization
• Eliminates several layers of middle managers

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Trends in Organizational Structure

• The Matrix Structure
• People report to different supervisors, depending
  on project, product, or location of work
• More successful for smaller, entrepreneurial
  firms
• IT supports matrix structure
• Easier access to cross-functional information

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Trends in Organizational Structure
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Characteristics of Effective Information

• Tabular and Graphical Representation
• Certain information better presented graphically
• Trends as lines
• Distributions as pie charts
• Performance comparisons as bar charts
• Many people prefer tabular data for complex
  problem solving

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Characteristics of Effective Information
Figure 9.9 Tabular and graphical presentations
the information in the two presentations is
identical, but the trend is detected faster with
the line graph.
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Characteristics of Effective Information

• On-line Analytical Processing (OLAP)
• Cube of tables showing relationships among
  related variables
• Operates on specially organized data or on
  relational database data
• Easily answers questions like What products are
  selling well? or Where are the
  weakest-performing sales offices?
• Faster than relational applications

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Characteristics of Effective Information
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Characteristics of Effective Information

• Dynamic Representation
• Data presented in real time
• Includes moving images representing speed or
  direction
• Changing colors represent rate of change
• Use expected to grow

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Managers and Their Information Systems
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Managers and Their Information Systems

• Transaction-Processing Systems (TPS)
• Capture and process raw materials for information
• Interfaced with applications to provide
  up-to-date information
• Clerical workers use TPS for routine
  responsibilities
• Operation managers use TPS for ad-hoc reports

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Managers and Their Information Systems

• Decision Support Systems (DSS) and Expert Systems
  (ES)
• DSS and ES support more complex and nonroutine
  decision-making and problem-solving activities
• Used by middle managers as well as senior managers

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Managers and Their Information Systems

• Executive Information Systems (EIS)
• Provide timely, concise information about
  organization to top managers
• Provide internal as well as external information
• Economic indices
• Stock and commodity prices
• Industry trends

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Managers and Their Information Systems

• Customer Relationship management Systems (CRM)
• Help collect data about customers
• Analyze the data into useful information to help
  serve customers better
• Help managers find effective and efficient
  marketing strategies
• Challenge
• Address the right customer at the right time with
  the right offer

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Information, Politics, and Power

• Politics
• Development and control of ISs often involves
  problematic politics
• Power
• Information affords power which can be
  problematic.
• Who owns the system?
• Who pays for developing the system?
• Who accesses what information?
• Who has update privileges?
• The Not-Invented-Here Phenomenon

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Ethical and Societal IssuesElectronic Monitoring
of Employees

• Monitoring on the Rise
• 73.6 of major U.S. firms reported recording and
  reviewing employees communications and
  activities on the job (AMA published survey,
  April 2001)
• The Microchips Are Watching
• Video cameras
• Software to count keystrokes
• Artificial intelligence to monitor cash
  disbursement and detect fraud
• Monitoring e-mail and Web access

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Ethical and Societal IssuesElectronic Monitoring
of Employees

• The Employers Position
• Entitled to know how employees spend time
• Believe monitoring is an objective,
  nondiscriminatory method to gauge output
• The Employees Position
• Deprives them of autonomy and dignity
• Increases stress and stress-related illness and
  injury