Operational Services
Information Systems
A key component of your internal processes are the information systems used by the company to generate financial and operational reporting. Information generated by your systems requires the following characteristics in order to maximize the performance of your business:
-
Relevance. If managers review a report as soon as it's provided to them (rather than read at the end of the day or week when they have time), you know it is an important report. It will contain information the manager requires in order to assess a situation and make a decision.
- Timeliness. Even if it is relevant, the report must be provided in a timely manner in order to affect management decision making.
- Feedback on your performance in relation to your Critical Success Factors. Ultimately, the success or failure of your company is dependent on how well you perform in relation to your critical success factors. All reports should contain some information in this regard. For example, if your company claims to have the best quality product in your industry, a report containing returns information from your customers would be directly related to your critical success factor. On the surface, an employee absenteeism report may appear to not have anything to do with product quality. However, increased employee absenteeism may imply an overworked or disgruntled workforce. If this is the case, product quality is sure to suffer.
Quite often reports are generated that are no longer reviewed because circumstances have changed and the report is no longer relevant. Or the frequency of the report is suboptimal in relation to when it contains the most relevance to the user. The standard reason of "because that's the way it's always been done" is usually the culprit.
Aries can help you avoid "information overload". Click here to find out how.