Introduction
Overview
The world is fast entering the Information Age. Transactions and commodities may be packaged through data. There is a disintegration of the concrete to give way to what is abstract and digital. The digital and information for that matter are equally shaping and determining the contemporary world.
Jackson, Harris & Eckerseley (2003) believed that any business in the world today cannot survive without information systems. Information systems are essential for its role in making communication convenient and cheap significantly. It allows information transfer in an efficient and fast rate. Cost is reduced and communication is even improved and disseminated better. Information systems made it possible for people in great distance to be closely linked together and allow them to truly convene with each other. Transactions and agreements can be arranged swiftly without having to spend much. What information systems bring is a new way of operating and managing a business, and that is through data transfer.
Basically, information systems (IS) are often related to e-based business or e-business. E-Business is often described as the use of electronic data and gadgets in the transmission of information used in business (Jackson, Harris & Eckerseley 2003). This includes the usage of devices and databases. It is more centered on man’s usage of the many machine and data benefits and advantages in the operation of a business. Meaning to say, e-based processes in businesses can also be applied to any industry, e.g. marine shipping companies in Hong Kong.
The adoption of a digitalised approach in business procedures however has its own pitfalls. Communications arranged in a digital environment would certainly lessen personal relationships and reduce the participation of human elements. Internet communication is complex and will not be comfortable to the inexperience. It calls for a new approach to communication that relies on computer languages instead of the basic telephone alternative.
On the other hand, the Internet is an open environment that may be used by anyone with a computer and a modem. Therefore transactions must be made secure from outside interventions. Security is very fragile as users capable of data manipulation in the Internet may just as easily do so unless steps are undertaken against fraud among other threats. An open environment would also mean that it would cater to all computer users in the world allowing the electronic medium to be the universal means of communication. Internet allowed the bridging of the gaps that has been limiting individuals to gain access to a larger network of market and opportunities. The Internet continues to expand daily as web sites are continuous in their composition. The biggest issue of e-based transaction and communication is trust. This is a necessary ingredient in the completion of business agreements. They are the medium and the connection of which two parties arrange bargains and settlements. With this regard, there are many small and medium size marine shipping companies in Hong Kong. However the system availability is low. This research will be focusing on the system availability and how it affects the business.
Context
From the previous discussion, this paper will be discussing the system availability management for small to medium-sized marine shipping companies in Hong Kong. Basically, the research is set in two companies in Hong Kong, i.e. Transfield ER Resources Limited (TER) and Clarksons Asia Limited (CAL). Actaully, the word “small” and “medium” means the business and operation size in Hong Kong, not for the whole company. TER is a medium size marine shipping company with over 70 full time staffs. The headquarters of CAL is in the United Kingdom, It has a representation office in Hong Kong with 15 full time staffs. Both companies are well known in marine shipping industry in Hong Kong. As previously stated, the research will focus on the system availability and how it affects the business.
Currently, Internet and other network systems connect people in the world, system breakdown means loss of business and loss of company reputation. Companies cannot survive without computer system. The vessels are running in different countries and different time zone. Staffs are required to work at anytime, anywhere. The demanding of the computer system is increasing and they don’t expect any down time. However, small and medium sized marine shipping companies in Hong Kong are still having low system availability issue. How can we improve the system availability and reduce the down time?
From the drawbacks of implementing an IS, it is unpredicted, frustrating, inconvenient, and the whole business will be shut down because everyone is relying on computer system. Actually, system unavailability can suddenly strike without warning. System downtime can be caused by natural disasters, system failure, user error or illegal intrusion and routine; however, every system requires off-line maintenance such as software and hardware upgrades and checking. Only prepared companies can continuously conduct business after system downtime as if nothing happened or with minimal outage; this is due to the reason that prepared companies have acquired technology that ensures continuous business operation even at system downtime and have taken well-planned steps in securing valuable company data and mission-critical applications are properly backed-up and continuously available anywhere in real-time.
From these issues, this research is hopeful to formulate set of guidelines for IS implementation. The guidelines will provide the system evaluation and recommendations. It consists of three parts, they are Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability. The research will focus on of Business Continuity Planning, Computer & Operations Management. The set of guidelines is important to show business owner of marine shipping companies what the problem is and how can they improve the system availability
Literature Review
The computer is one of the most widely used modern information technology devices in the world today. Companies and organisations need computers in order to manage data into an organised manner for the success of the business. According to Mohsen (2003), information technology or information systems has become one of the main assets in information era. He also added that the efficient use of information is significant in determining the success of a certain organisation. Making awareness of information value and the ability to manage information organisation-wide will have great impact on organisation progress results. Since information is used in every feature of business and generated in every process, a centralised supervision function is needed to structure, combine and distribute it effectively and efficiently. As discussed, information technology development has become a standard practice in business and educational settings in industrialised countries and they have realised the potential of IT to yield tangible benefits for them.
Different countries are beginning to see the advantages of having suitable information system (IS) in business, government and commercial enterprises. One example is Hong Kong shipping businesses, which is the focus of the study. Its current economic condition and readiness to the implementation information technology development have caused problems in terms of communication progress which is important in any kind of society.
According to Checkland and Holwell (1998), Hong Kong is keen on taking advantage of the rewards of having a competent information system established in its government and commercial organisations. The said information system (IS) is expected to have positive implication to the development process of Small to Medium-sized Marine Shipping Companies in Hong Kong.
Management Support
The rapid development of IS has become the driving force for the innovation of every industry (Atakan et al., 2000). The belief is that the increased levels of information system (IS) usage and diffusion provide enhanced economic benefits and opportunities for economic growth (Nawawy & Ismail, 1999). The advances in information and communication systems are quickly transforming the industry through redefinition of products, services and markets. The underlying technologies provide a suitable environment for the creation of electronic markets, digital economies and new organisations within the enterprises. In this regard, it is very vital to consider the support of management of an organisation regarding IS implementation. To measure this variable, the researcher will conduct a survey and interview pertaining to this issue. The respondents and survey details will be described in methodology chapter. Actually, reliable subjects or respondents will also be considered to ensure the quality of responses.
During the turn of the century, the world experiences more drastic changes than before, which include changes in the environment, culture, education, knowledge, the society, and technology. The world has evolved into a massive ball of information and technology that led to the expansion and the development of the society in several aspects. However, despite the improvement of the performance of many companies, these changes also contributed to the distress of some, which are not apt for these changes. From this, it can be understood that, existing and persisting in the business industry is not as easy as it seems. Because of these, many business organisations and companies are encountering a variety of problems and issues that determine their success or failure in the business arena and in the industry. These problems and issues arise from the external and internal changes that the company encounters.
The business danger for an organisation engaged in technologically dependent business is normally greater than for one that is not. Business operations present a unique set of danger, including an increased reliance on technology and increased vulnerability to the rapid changes in technology. To deal with such challenges, an organisation needs to develop an efficient strategy. An effective strategy requires operational efficiency; within organisation’s information systems, this means an emphasis on information security and controls.
Apparently, Bailey (1998) stated that IS is always present to almost all areas of business, industry, education and government. Increasingly far-reaching information networks linking computers and databases provide important benefits, including greater staff productivity and a sharper competitive edge. The more that we expand the reach of our information networks, the more important network security becomes.
During the early days of computer systems, software development consisted of a programmer writing code to solve a problem or automate a procedure (Kay 2002). This type of system development is said to be poorly planned, leading to inadequately designed systems, which are not user-friendly and not meeting the requirements of the organisation. Due to this problem, a myriad of changes have already taken place to accommodate the transformations being experienced by business organisations. In the current era, there are systems in the cyber world that need teams of architects, analysts, programmers, testers, and users in order to create millions of lines of custom-written code that helps the enterprises. And from these changes, Kay 2002 stated that a number of system development life cycle (SDLC) should be created. These models comprise the fountain, waterfall, spiral, rapid prototyping, build and fix, incremental, and synchronise and stabilise (Kay 2002).
Basically, from these models, the most popular is the waterfall model in which comprises of sequences of stages. The output of each stage develops into the input for the next, and can be typified and turn down in to different ways (Kay 2002). With regards to the IS implementation management and other models in software development, it very important to evaluate the methods since it reflects to the possible output of the IS implementation. Software developers frequently confront the task of IS implementation and interface evaluation. Aside from these models and methods in software development, the interface in which the IS implementation is to be placed should be in good condition. The interface is a medium through which users communicate with a computer system. Specifically, it is a combination of hardware (e.g., visual display medium, input devices), software for controlling user-system interaction tasks, and information presented via the display medium (Kay 2002). Effective interface evaluation is critical to the eventual success of any system software because it provides a means of identifying both existing and potential deficiencies in the interface. Once interface weaknesses are correctly identified, a developer can focus efforts on improving the existing design.
According to Cleland and Gareis (1994), IS implementations should transform an unsatisfactory (existing or future) state to a better state within a certain time, using a limited effort. In a more pragmatic terms, a IS implementation means that there is someone who always has the unique needs for something new tangible outcomes (the creation) of it, and requires knowledge and resources to conduct the realisation of the concept within the specific constraints of time, money and specifications (Cicmil, 1997). Furthermore, required expertise and resources are needed, either in-house or from the market, need to be pooled together to create the change – the transition from the idea to the creation, according to the client’s expectations, which are provided by professionals, consultants, contractors and sub-contractors (Cicmil, 1997).
In the study conducted by Davis (1998), he stated that “a study group of researchers was formed to discuss the software crises which happened in year 1967”. At the end of 1 year, the group concluded that building software is similar to other engineering tasks and software development should be viewed as an engineering like activity (Davis 1998). Thus, the phrase software engineering was born, along with the belief that programming was simply the application of certain scientific and engineering principles. As a result, texts were written and metrics established for the purpose of identifying the scientific principles of software engineering. The fact that programs still contain bugs, are delivered late, and are over budgeted should tell that many of the basic scientific principles of programming remain undiscovered. Yet the goal remains that software engineering is a discipline whose aim is the production of quality software, software that is delivered on time, within budget, and that satisfies its requirements. As a result, most software engineers interpret technology assessment as the set of procedures that are used to determine how well the software meets its initial specifications.
On the other hand, most software users maintain that technology assessment should be a measure of how well the software meets the user’s needs. In order to meet each of these goals, the scope of software engineering has become extremely broad, encompassing every phase of the software life cycle, from requirements to decommissioning. It also includes different aspects of human knowledge such as economics, social science, and psychology. To this end, a variety of techniques have been developed for performing and evaluating various software production tasks, from requirements and specifications to maintenance. In addition to measuring the quality of software, there are numerous studies that compare different techniques and methodologies used to write, comprehend, and debug software. As a result, the relatively new challenge for software engineers is to develop assessment techniques that work and possibly reflect the more human aspects of software development, those that acknowledge the importance of both the programmer and the user (Davis 1998).
User Involvement
User involvement is very vital in determining the system availability management for small to medium-sized marine shipping companies in Hong Kong. Actually, the involvement of user is helpful since it defines their insights regarding IS. By examining the risks and other factors involved in IS implementation to public and private manufacturing businesses will be able to design measures to minimise the risks. Further, through the understanding of the needs of their customers in terms of security and satisfaction, this study will help manufacturers in the process of implementing IS. This variable will be measured using survey questionnaires and interviews to be discussed in methodology section.
IS maturity
IS maturity are issues in the modern world. With this devastating opportunity several manufacturing businesses tends adopt to these changes. Basically, there are some shipping companies that are very applicable for this system and others are laggards (Ghanem, 2001). In lieu to this, the IS maturity verification of a certain business should be considered in order to adjust the needs of development.
Basically, IS maturity is shorthand for the degree to which a business surroundings is favourable to information-based commercial opportunities. According to the website entry of Jurgens Pieterse, maturity level will determine the readiness or level of adaptation of a certain process regarding new technology solution.[1] It is an idea that spans a wide range of factors, from telephone dissemination to online security to intellectual property protection.
IT in Action
Information technology (IT), also commonly referred to as information and communication technology (ICT) has been applied in various forms within different business industries (McCue, S, 2006). In the shipping sector for example, IT has played a significant role in business process. A number of information technologies had been made available to owners of business organisations for this purpose, from less-sophisticated to more advanced systems (Reynolds, J, 2004).
Basically, internet technology also led to the development of different companies. Through this innovation, product and service customisation, information searches and online deliveries are some common services that are now available to the customers. Manufacturers, suppliers and distributors on the other hand, benefit from internet utilisation through well-coordinated information sharing. Online auctions are even made possible with this technological development (Emiliani 2000).
In addition to internet technology, specific programs and systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) also became one of the most well-known strategies for applying IT within manufacturing enterprises, which helps in facilitating information exchange (Evans et al 1995 and Tesone, D, 2005). In addition to this, ERP also helps the business sector by improving various activities such as the monitoring of orders, materials, schedules and inventories as well as business process engineering. The Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is yet another IT strategy that is applied by business organisations, particularly in improving their SCM operations. Private wide-area networks or value-added networks (VAN) were conventionally used to implement EDI. This however made EDI too costly for small and medium sized companies. With the introduction of the internet-based EDI, these enterprises are now able to acquire the benefits of EDI application (Johnston & Mark 2000).
The retailing industry is also one of the business sectors that utilise various information technology strategies so as to enhance its operations. One of these strategies was the application of Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS), which was first introduced during the late 1980s. With this strategy, retail companies are able to acquire virtual online information about their respective customers, particularly their demands. These data are derived from the scanned purchases at the checkout counters of retail stores (McCall & Stone 2004).
As retailers operate for several years, especially the food retailers, they were able to acquire a large customer database that can more or less give a good representation of their total demand. Customer data basically include information such as consumer sales in terms of brand, product, outlet and region. Information about the customers such as names, frequency of their visit to a particular outlet and payment method can also be obtained and stored in the database. With these data, retail companies are able to develop and make successful television campaigns based on the product sales obtained from a specific region (McCall & Stone 2004).
The information that is stored on the database is mainly derived from the bar code reader. With this system, the reader, which is an electronic data input device, collects information and transmit it to the central computer. Aside from stock control, this data-gathering technique is also used to conduct market basket analysis, which is mainly used for developing profiles of individual shoppers (Czerniawska & Potter 1998).
The introduction of information technology to business application even made the development of a customer database even easier and more effective. The incorporation of IT to customer data then led to the construction of the EPOS strategy. With this added feature, businesses now can make the most of the data derived from their customers. In addition, the development of results from analysing these data is now easier and faster than before. Data storage and classification are no longer a problem either.
In organisations that observe regular office settings, IT application strategies had also been used. One of which is the use of information technologies in developing virtual teams. Business organisations have long been searching for mechanisms or systems that will make their operations work more efficiently (Bielski, L 2004). In the past, industries had recognised the efficacy of creating teams from their workforce in achieving this objective (Bielski, L 2004). Based on corporate experience, organisations have witnessed that team-based working environment is capable of drawing productivity and creativity out of their employees. Moreover, a dynamic business environment exemplified by work teams enables the member to overcome challenges better (Bielski, L 2004).
However, as teams are integrated into an organisation’s work operation, management had started to encounter several problems and dilemmas. For instance, some work assignments require frequent relocations. This then would call for expensive travel expenses to transfer a particular work team. Due to this, organisations are not able to maximise the use of team-based workforce as work teams tend to be constricted on small projects only. Furthermore, traveling causes much delay on work actions and decisions. Without the full and complete presence of the teams’ members in a common work site or location, no work progress is achieved. This has been the case until information technology was introduced.
With new software programs, faster communication systems and more efficient processors, business sectors now have access to a useful technology known as virtual connectivity (Slack, N, Chambers, S & Johnston, R 2004). The access to these new technologies and innovations has allowed people all over the world to communicate even at great distances. This transition has given organisations the idea of creating virtual teams. Virtual teams are made up of organisational members whose main form of interaction is made via electronic communication means. Through the use of the telephone, fax machines, the internet or other computer-based media (Townsend, DeMarie & Hendrickson 1996), team members are able to communicate without actually seeing one another and even without being in one work location.
By means of these virtual communication systems, team members can easily decide or select which information system is appropriate for particular work tasks. For instance, in a work assignment that needs the exchange of information, lean technologies, such as electronic mailing or instant messaging, are used. Complicated work duties on the other hand, like conflict resolution or brainstorming, require more advance technologies such as video conferencing. Leonard (1998) noted that as the members of the virtual team are aware of the resources available to them for specific tasks, they are able to develop a refined sense of efficiency in communicating and conducting business operations as a team.
The application of information technology has also been used as a strategy for improving the businesses’ marketing efforts. For instance, internet technology may be integrated to other marketing tools in order to develop a strategy known as Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC). IMC is the strategic coordination of multiple communication voices. Its aim is to optimise the impact of persuasive communication on both consumer and non-consumer such as trade and professional audiences by coordinating such elements of the marketing mix as advertising, public relations, promotions, direct marketing, and package design (Moore & Thorson 1996). From these examples, it is clear that various strategies in applying information technology have been developed to address the different needs of business companies.
IS Implementation Process
Information has become one of the main assets in information era. The efficient use of information is significant in determining the success of a certain organisation. Making awareness of information value and the ability to manage information organisation-wide will have great impact on organisation progress results. Since information is used in every feature of business and generated in every process, a centralised supervision function is needed to structure, combine and distribute it effectively and efficiently. Where the finance department monitors and manages the financial aspects of organisation and the legal department handles all legal affairs, the Information Organisation should manage this important business asset.
With regards to the contents and quality of the new IS, one of the most vital and difficult tasks is determining important information and the proper way of using it. Where legal concerns and financial matters tend to identify themselves automatically, although often too late, with information this is not always simple. Data is engendered in all processes in and outside the organisation. Determining the possible information value of these processes and creating a system to effectively use it requires specialised skills. Meaning to say, we need to combine in-depth business knowledge with in-depth system/process knowledge. Eventually, when the information value is close to the procedure, e.g. obtaining direct process competence, this link can often be made by the organisation. This can be very difficult when information value is business-logically separated from the information source. Information is an asset that needs processing and care. Handling it wrongly can render valuable information useless where money can be transformed and traced easily. On the other hand, information can be copied and used on different locations multiplying its value. Like money the optimal use of information requires strict procedures for handling it. As for money this depends on the specific organisation.
From the discussion, this paper aims to evaluate the system availability management for small to medium-sized marine shipping Companies in Hong Kong. Basically, an organisation may plan to have a complete of IS to suffice the needs of their employees and patients. Some of the activities needed to get the system started are:
Ø Negotiation with the IS company
Ø Shipping the equipment
Ø Recruitment of IT and Staff
Ø Installation of the system
Ø Pilot operation
Making computer and IS more secure is both a technological challenge and a managerial problem. The technology exists to incorporate adequate safeguards within these systems, but the managerial demand for secure systems is virtually nonexistent outside of the defence and financial industries. That so many of commercial systems provide marginal security at best is a reflection of the lack of managerial awareness and understanding of the need to protect the information stored in, and transmitted between, computers.
From this, it is essential to determine the technical and non-technical concerns of the possible e-project management system requirements of the company. Basically, the technical problems that may arise in this project include the suitability of the software and hardware to the type of information to be protected.
In addition, employees/members of an organisation should be aware on how this systems works. Apparently, issues such as system design, system capacity, system control, system maintenance, and system response to requests for information should also be considered. The systems to be used by the organisation must be appropriate, to capably meet the needs of both employees and customers.
With regards to non-technical issues of information management systems implementation, the inclusion of project constraints, such as money, time and staff must be analysed. The company must be able to evaluate the financial aspect needing to accomplish the project. As part of non-technical issues in the project, time in accomplishing the project should also be observed. This is important since time and the amount of money the company will be spending to accomplish its projects are intercorrelated. Every organisation wishes to lessen expenditures, so identifying the project’s specific time frame would enable the company to allocate enough resources for the project. Lastly, staff participation is also essential in the project since they are responsible for making the project move forward.
Typically, the function of an information management system in an organisation is to optimise decision-making by delivering the right information in the right format at the right time. Basically, the information needs changes continuously. They explained that to be useful the supplied information must keep matching the evolving information need of the individual users.
Conversely, an information management system should understand the organisation’s need to deliver the right information. Interaction with users is critical to determine the best content and format for new information. Furthermore, to be able to continuously deliver necessary information, the system in an organisation should anticipate the future information needed and gathered data beforehand. Actually, the relationships with the data sources are necessary to maintain a reliable source for information. The relationships with business and sources together with organisation wide information value awareness are the base of e-based project management system.
Lamentably, organisation is not immune to e-project management system failures precipitated by inadequate management capacities. Many systems failed to perform up to specifications and, hence, had to be scrapped. The report attributes the difficulties squarely to poor management, ineffective planning, and lack of user involvement in implementation.
In addition, a certain organisation needs to create a data bank that enhances the production function of an information management system. It is a tool supporting the e-project management system since it consists of a centralised historical database with data management and reporting functions. Normally, the data bank maintains data integrity and consistency and supports the administration of business rules and information definitions. Currently most e-project management system in other organisations are built as Data Storages, i.e. a significant database with reporting effectivity.
From the list of activities presented, the critical path analysis as part of Task Management Plan is important.
If an organisation wanted to reduce the completion time of the entire project, then they must reduce the completion times for some of the constituent activities. Such an action is called crashing of activities. If activity is to be crashed, it should be on critical path.
While every organisation seems to invest in technology, there are other aspects that should be considered in attaining a holistic performance of their respective organisation. One aspect that needs as much, if not more attention and investment than technology is human capital management. An organisation’s human capital management philosophy must value the workforce as a key asset that will define an organisation’s character and performance capacity (Lipiec J 2001). “In fact, human capital is a critical factor that would either lead the organisation to success or to failure,” as stated by Lipiec.
Furthermore, organisations must realise that in order for them to recruit, develop, and retain skill employees for future missions, they need to unleash their human resource employee relation’s imagination to create capability and flexibility to institutionalise a well-defined system to expedite the handling of disputes and grievances. Therefore, it is imperative that human resource departments adopt a modern day progressive employee relation’s paradigm that embraces and enhances the recruitment, development, and retention of employees in concert with human capital strategic management planning initiatives.
According to Ward, the coach and a mentor frequently perform their work using similar skills tests, such as strong interpersonal and communication skills. Actually, effective mentors, like supervisors, managers, and executives also use effective coaching skills (Ward, 2006). Although analogous, these two terms are actually different in each other. Basically, coaching is teaching someone certain skills, techniques and other things to allow them to reach their full potential in activities. On the other hand, mentoring has to do with knowledge and helping them developing their thinking skills.
In any business organisations, there are lots of things that the company, managers and staff can do in order to arrive at a successful implementation of e-project management systems. As part of coaching and mentoring capabilities of managers, they need to talk to people, inspire them and get them excited to the possible growth of the company. They may also use reward and recognition for good response. Apparently, team effect and inclusion of people from the union should not be neglected.
Crisis Management in Information Age
Information age provides a great impact in the current society. Technologies, mechanism, network, online services and internet are the primary issues in the information era. Basically, information age creates advancement and provides good communication that gives people a convenient lifestyle. However, these improvements possess some disadvantages or for worst a crisis. With the increase in usage of the Internet, certain concerns about security arise. Privacy violations, pornography, transaction security breaches, unsolicited e-mail (Koprowski, 1995) and other questionable or illegal activities being conducted on-line have become hotly debated issues. Some see regulation as the only answer to protection from unwelcome intrusion; but due to the universal nature of the Internet, regulation will be extremely difficult, if not impossible (Peeples, 2002).
According to a survey conducted by Udo (2001), security concerns are a major reason that users give for not shopping online. Many consumer organisations and government agencies provide tips on how to transact safely on the Internet by providing key information such as its return policy and privacy practices (Udo, 2001). In theory, consumers could choose not to patronise sites that fail to provide key information, but in practice, consumers do not search for this information, if at all, until after they have spent considerable time investigating a site’s product offerings (Udo, 2001).
The purpose of Udo’s (2001) study was to investigate the privacy and security concerns of online IT users in order to establish a consensus among them. The survey data used in this study came from 158 participants. As indicated by the study findings, the majority of the online IT users today have serious concerns about their privacy and security while shopping on the Internet. They are also concerned about the safety and confidentiality of their e-mails. IT users do not only lose confidence in the technology but they also have very little hope that the government is capable of significantly reducing their concerns in the near future.
The majority of the online IT users who participated in Udo’s (2001) study believed that the advancements in such technology as encryption and other security features are not sufficient to reduce their privacy and security concerns. Based on the responses of those who took part in the study, an overwhelming majority of employees prefer the organisation to have policies for e-mail and Internet use and to also notify the employees of the policies.
Consumer privacy issues are not new (Rubin, 1995). Consumers have worried for years about how personal data are used by the government and, more recently, by businesses (Rubin, 1995). The consumer privacy issue is taking on greater magnitude, as the number of people accessing the Internet’s information resources grows exponentially and the public becomes more technologically savvy (Rubin, 1995). According to a 1999 report from the United States Department of Commerce (1998), information is gathered on the Internet both directly and indirectly. When a user enters a chat room discussion, leaves a message on a bulletin board, registers with a commercial site, enters a contest, or orders a product, he/she directly and knowingly sends information into cyberspace. The report further states that data can be gathered indirectly, without the user’s knowledge (Udo, 2001).
Synthesis
Based on the discussions above, it is found out that information is a key resource of the organisation, together with people, finances and material assets. Thus, it is accepted to state that information is a business issue. The discussion above revealed that through effective information management of the organisation’s resources and systems, organisation administrators can add value to the services delivered to customers, reduce risks in the organisation’s business, reduce the costs of business development and service delivery and encourage improvement in internal business processes and external service implementation. On the other had, it is recommended that when developing an information system just commence to make sure it produces important information and not data. It is better to build a report that is ideal for a specific need then to make a report based on a predefined concession between several users. The shaped information will have value and increases insight into information needs and the way the business is looked at. Adding more and more information to the system and solving the problems as they occur will eventually lead to a system as mentioned. In fact, that is the way any functional Information System is developed. Having an experienced team helping you take the first steps and educating your staff in the first period can make all the difference.
Apparently, the important role task managers play in information project management system design and implementation becomes clear. Due to the importance of their role in attaining project success, task managers must then be equipped with the right knowledge and skills, particularly in handling the different problems that could arise in the process. Task managers should not only be skilled when it comes to performing different tasks, but they must also be people-oriented, involved, committed, enthusiastic, creative and innovative. The different aspects of task management also indicated that while there are many methods or styles that a task manager may apply, no single method can be considered as the most effective or appropriate. Thus, it is recommended that task managers take an individualised approach in managing, leading, communicating, mentoring and coaching the project team. Through this, task managers will be able to employ the right project management practices as the situation requires it.
To completely evaluate the information management of the organisation, particularly in shipping business, it is advisable to adopt the devised decision making model. The model consists of the following steps:
Ø identify and define the problem;
Ø identify the desired goal or condition;
Ø consider obstacles to the goal or condition;
Ø identify alternatives;
Ø examine alternatives;
Ø rank alternatives;
Ø choose the best alternative ;
Ø evaluate the actions.
Finally, the use of the quantities in decision-making model helps us to minimise mistakes. Aside from the steps above, it is also recognised to list all the alternatives, identify future events that may occur, and construct a pay-off table in making effective decisions.
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[1] From: http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/eai/practices/archives/tracking-process-maturity-8879
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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