DECA Competitive Events: Information Management

Explain how to conduct an environmental scan to obtain business information.

An environmental scan is an analysis of outside influences that may have an impact on an organization. It is a methodical look at the world that includes political, economic, socio- cultural, and technological areas. It is important to understand how each of these areas may be changing in order to determine the potential for opportunity or threat to a business. Political factors include the stability of a government and its laws and regulations that affect business. Economic factors include infrastructure, quality and cost of labor, employee wages and benefits, taxes, the standard of living, and possibly foreign exchange rates. In international business, socio-cultural factors include understanding another country's language, values, traditions, and social/business etiquette. Keeping up to date with technology and using it properly are other factors of an environmental scan.

Explain the role of information systems.

An information system is a set of procedures and methods that generate, store, analyze, and distribute information for use in making business decisions. Such systems organize, collect, and store data for current use or future decisions. Most information systems rely on data about current customers, sales reports, and inventory levels. Businesses use this information to make decisions about advertising, product planning, and pricing. Information can be secured through the use of primary data, including company records or government data, or secondary data, such as customer surveys.

Describe current business trends.

Assessing current business trends is important to both business and professional growth. Business owners and entrepreneurs should keep up-to-date through a variety of means. Classes are offered at vocational/technical schools, two- and four-year colleges, and online. Joining a professional association or club is an excellent way to stay current with trends and knowledge relevant to an industry. Another way to stay up-to-date is by reading journals, professional trade publications, news sources, websites, and blogs. Attend professional conferences, meetings, seminars, and speakers. These activities also provide the opportunity for networking, wherein you can learn from colleagues by sharing insight and experience.

Discuss the importance of information management.

Businesses must be able to create, store, access, analyze, update, and compare information in order to use it to make sound decisions. Information management in a financial services corporation requires a specialized information system. Such a system must support decision making regarding cash and securities management, operations management, capital budgeting, financial forecasting and planning, and risk management. These categories closely match the information included in a company's financial statements.

Explain the role of ethics in information management.

Businesses that maintain databases of personal customer information have a responsibility to keep that information private. Many companies that collect information about their customers often sell that information to others. This exchange of customers' personal information among businesses has led to invasion of privacy complaints. Many businesses now also offer clients the choice of being added to mailing lists. Confidentiality must be maintained with regard to employees' and clients' personal information. Accountants must refrain from misrepresenting the facts to achieve short- term goals that are contrary to a business' long-term objectives.

Explain how to maintain customer records.

Data about customers and their buying habits is kept in a computer program called a database. Data can be about customers' contact or other personal information, or it can be about their purchase/account history. This data can be developed from face-to-face sales, direct mail responses, phone or e-mail purchases, service requests, website visits, customer comment cards, or they can be purchased from a third party. Database programs act like filing cabinets that allow you to sort, find, choose, and organize information.

Describe how to interpret statistical findings.

Statistics are used to describe and summarize data in order to make the date more meaningful and easier to understand. Commonly used statistics in business include distribution, central tendency, and dispersion. Distribution is a summary of the frequency of values for a variable. The central tendency is an estimate of the center of a distribution of values, including mean, median, and mode. Dispersion is the spread of values around the central tendency, measured with the range.

Identify ways that technology impacts business.

Technology allows the speed of business transactions to occur globally; financial transactions are becoming instantaneous. Customers have come to expect more choices and higher levels of customer service due to advances in technology. Furthermore, they are able to access more information on which to compare prices, research choices and features, and base their buying decisions.

Describe the nature of business records.

Technology has made it easier and more efficient to maintain business records through management information systems (MIS). The functions of an MIS are to gather, analyze, store, and report on data. Records are kept regarding financial information, production and inventory, marketing and sales, and human resources. Data sources may be external, such as from financial institutions or government agencies; or they may be internal, including data from accounting, inventory, and sales figures. Business record keeping requires one to: identify the information needs of the organization, obtain the data, process and analyze the data, organize the data in a useful manner, distribute information to those who need it to make decisions, and update the data and records as needed.

Describe how to monitor internal records for business information.

The functions of an information system are to gather, analyze, store, and report on data. Records are kept regarding financial information, production and inventory, marketing and sales, and human resources. Internal data includes accounting records, inventory information, company sales figures, and more. A company's balance sheet, cash flow statement, and income statement are records that are monitored during a specific period of time. They are used to calculate revenue, evaluate costs and expenses, and measure profit/loss.

Explain legal issues associated with information management.

The government has regulations regarding protecting the privacy of consumers. Businesses of all types offer detailed privacy policies to their customers that ensure the protection of their customers' personal information. Businesses must not share personal information they collect with anyone unless you give them permission to do so, according to law.

Evaluate quality and source of information.

To evaluate source data, consider the following: Is the subject matter consistent with the defined problem or issue? Do the data apply to the population and/or time period of interest? Do the data appear in the correct units of measurement? Do the data cover the subject in adequate detail? Is the data accurate and timely? Can the accuracy of the data be verified? Is/are the data source(s) reputable? Is the cost of data acquisition worth it? Is there a possibility of bias?