Information Use Essay Example for Free

Information Use Essay Information can be used in an assortment of ways in today’s business world. Companies can use it to track profits and losses while others use it to forecast future industry trends so they can make informed decisions about what markets they should focus on. According to Opara (2003) â€Å"Information is the life blood of modern organizations. † Without this information, organizations would be making uninformed decisions. Information flows in a circular motion in today’s organizations. An example would be how a car dealership uses the information it gathers. A customer that is in the market for a new vehicle enters a car dealership unsure of what kind of vehicle he or she is interested in. An associate greets the potential customer and asks a few questions to ascertain what the customer is looking for. This information would be what the associate would enter into an information system (IS). From this system the associate can give the customer a listing of vehicles to choose from. The selection of vehicles is presented to the customer and after looking at all the information the customer chooses the vehicle he or she potentially wants to purchase. The associate inputs the customer’s personal information into an IS to qualify them for financing for the vehicle. The personal information is then used by the finance department to set up the financial terms that the customer will have to abide by. Once the financial terms are determined, the information is cycled back to the customer for his or her input. After the sale of the vehicle, the customer information is stored into a database so that the customer can be contacted their experience and also used for future sales. When the vehicle is sold it will need to be removed from the dealerships inventory using another IS program. This program will generate a report for inventory control and future ordering. The data that was collected through the sales process is extremely important to the sale of new vehicles. Not having this data would make it impossible to forecast future sales and inventory requirements. Larger businesses need to keep this type of information on hand for future data mining where â€Å"customer databases are unnecessary for small business. Most small businesses keep track on order-by-order basis† (Types of Information Systems in a Business Organization, 2012). An IS that enables the dealership to maintain correct inventory counts for its customers is a vital part in a profitable business. Maintaining an unobstructed flow of information is crucial to the life of a company. Without this flow of information companies could not maintain profits, and without profits there would be no business. If this data is not controlled a business could find itself in a crisis. If the IS fails in the finance department, the business would not be able to complete a transaction. The same holds true for the inventory control systems. If any of the systems in the cycle were to fail it would put every other system in the cycle in danger. Decision making processes are dependent on the systems working and communicating properly and the information flowing correctly throughout the system. With the collecting of information, organizations have to be aware of the sensitive nature of certain customer information that is inputted. Personal information (PII) has to be protected and stored in a manner that it cannot be accessed by individuals who do not have the authority to view it. Keeping this information secure can be a huge undertaking for any IT department when establishments are faced with situations like car dealerships. There are many individuals who need access to the information in the system at different times. Some information need only be viewable by one department while other departments will need full access to the entire file. This makes creating a secure environment challenging. Securing PII is probably one of the most vital tasks when dealing with data storage. If data is corrupted it is useless to the establishment, and if it is ever misused or stolen it then becomes a potential legal hazard. I am self employed and don’t see the correlation to my work, but I am familiar with Bi-Lo. Customers who sign up for the Bi-Lo Bonus Card fill out the application with their personal information. This includes their name, address, email, and phone numbers. This information is stored in Bi-Lo’s database system. Bi-Lo uses this data to track customer purchases. The store’s system also uses the card data to issue discounts on sale items and email coupons to customer emails. Bi-Lo keeps track of customer orders, types of items ordered, customer spending, and use this information to issue coupons after transactions. Observing the different ways information flows through an enterprise will give incite to how to control and protect it. Every organization has a unique circumstance nd with those circumstances come different ways of controlling the flow of information and its security. No matter which method is chosen, there are a few things that do not change and those things are system reliability and security. If companies do not have a reliable IS, their data becomes useless and if those ISs are not secured from unauthorized access or use, organizations are opening the door to potential lawsuits and stiff fines. Either situations could be costly and end their businesses.