DECA Information Management
Apply information to accomplish a task
info can be applied to brainstorm promotional strategies based on data, important for marketing (diff info gives you diff consumer preferences)
Describe the scope of the internet
-Internet: a large digital platform enabling businesses to market and sell products to a global audience (global scope)
Demonstrate basic work processing skills
-word processing applications (Microsoft Word, Pages-MAC OS-, Google Docs, etc) can be used to type, edit, and print documents
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.
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.
Demonstrate basic database applications
-Database applications allow companies to store info for future use -Microsoft Access and Excel: enter, sort, protect, store data
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 else unless you give them permission to do so, according to law.
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 (methodical look at world, includes political, economic, socio-cultural, and economic areas) -important to understand how each of these areas may be changing in order to determine potential opportunity or threat to business -political factors: stability of govt and its laws and regulations on business -economic: infastructure, quality and cost of labor, employee wages and benefits, taxes, standard of living, possibly foreign exchange rates -socio-cultural (for international business): understand other country's language, values, traditions, social/business etiquette -technology: keep up to date with tech and use it properly
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 -stay current with classes, journals, websites, blogs -slow growing -moderate inflation -relatively low unemployment levels -recovery period
Describe the nature of business records
-business records record business dealings to assist with operations
Translate business findings into actionable business recommendations
-by analyzing past trends, businesses can enact policies and strategies to complement its mission of profit -research findings should focus on past trends and consumer preferences (best ways to recommend next action of business)
Access information in the database system
-by opening the database and checking a set of data for a certain client, necessary information can be accessed online
Demonstrate collaborative/groupware applications
-collaborate applications (Google Drive) allow multiple employees to work together on business electronic deliverables
Describe data mining tools and techinques
-constituted of research of various resources, such as govt reports and databases, to deduce new logical info -after taking a large data set, Association/Relation: make simple correlation between two or more items often of same type to identify patterns
Maintain customer records
-data about customers and their buying habits is kept in a computer program called a database -data can be about customer's contact or other personal info, or about purchase and account history -this data can be developed from face-to-face sales, direct mail responses, phone or email purchases, service requests, website visits, customer comment cards, or can be purchased from a third party -database programs act like filing cabinets that allow you to sort, find, choose, and organize info
Collaborate and aggregate complex internal documents to create a common voice
-when multiple viewpoints and data is combined to establish a common voice, employees can powerfully communicate their ideas more clearly
Discuss the nature of data mining
-data mining: process of examining large databases to gather new info -computational process of discovering patterns in large data sets ("bigdata") involving methods at the intersection of artificial intelligence, machine learning, statistics, and database systems
Discuss the importance of ethics in data mining
-data that is mined must be kept confidential to ensure privacy of clients -large data sets must not be disclosed to unauthorized people
Use basic operating systems
-employees should know how to type, log in, open browsers, use integrated software, use email and social media, etc
Demonstrate basic e-mail functions
-forwarding -carbon copying (CC) -attach files -delete/archive emails -filter spam -block email addresses
Monitor internal records for business information
-functions of information system: gather, analyze, store, and report on data -records are kept regarding financial info, production and inventory, marketing and sales, and human resources -internal data includes accounting records, inventory info, company sales figures, etc -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
Demonstrate basic data mining techniques
-government data, such as the Federal Census Bureau, can be analyzed to make deductions based on existing information -business requirement--identify data sources and formats--build data model--build data structure--(reiterate to identify if did not get what looking for)--mined data structure
Identify ways that technology impacts business
-improved communication -small businesses increase productivity -computer programs and software allow more info to be processed than manual ways -tech can reduce amount of human labor(small businesses can avoid labor costs and employee benefits) -expand operations with technology not employees if technology gives better production output
Discuss principles of computer systems
-include software and hardware -powerful hardware--computer can perform more calculations faster -software--includes operating systems, web browsers, computer applications
Use an integrated business software application package
-integrated business software application packages (Google Apps for Business) include word processing, presentation, and spreadsheet applications
Demonstrate basic presentation applications
-presentation applications (Keynote, Powerpoint, Google Slides, etc) can be used to organize info in a visually appealing format that can be presented to an audience to make the info clear
Demonstrate personal information management/productivity applications
-productivity applications (presentation and spreadsheet software) allows employees to store, organize, and present info
Demonstrate basic spreadsheet applications
-spreadsheet applications (Google Sheets/Microsoft Excel) can be used to organize info and compile into charts, graphs, and tables
Interpret statistical findings
-statistics: used to describe and summarize data in order to make the data more meaningful and easier to understand (distribution, central tendency, dispersion--commonly used) -distribution: summary of the frequency of values for a variable -central tendency: estimate of the center of a distribution of value (mean, median, and mode--measure center) -dispersion: spread of values around central tendency, measured with the range
Demonstrate basic web-search skills
-type text into box and click search button -Google/Bing
Create and post a basic web page
-webpage comprised of HTML, CSS, Javascript and other programming code to create interfaces (UIs) in order to market and sell a business and its products -online applications (Weebly and Word Press) can eliminate need for web designer, easy
Explain the principles of data analysis
1. Process is a way of thinking, not a substitute for thinking 2. Data needs to be thought about and reported in context 3. Look before you leap (is the data reasonable and accurate? can i propose a hypothesis from this?) 4. Question everything (how big was the sample? does this make sense?)--data quality 5. Do a gut check (does it make sense?) 6. Coincidence is not the same as casuality (correlation is not causation, not cause and effect? 7. Just because the data exists doesn't mean the data are relevant
Interpret data mining findings
1. organize mass statistics into histograms, etc for visual representations -Clustering -classification 2. based on existing data, one can deduce info from connections between sets of data -prediction -sequential patterns (cause and effect)
Discuss the nature of information management
Organization Databases Weaknesses Trends Compare Businesses must be able to create, store, access, analyze, update, and compare information in order to use it to make sound decisions (Information Management can aid strategic management and decision making in plenty of ways, one of which are the development of various types of databases that represent different information depending on the needs of the management, with such databases, management can spot weaknesses, enforce corrective actions, detect trends and correlations, compare present with historical data, measure performance against a standard or a benchmark.) Info management: discipline that analyzes information as an organizational resource (covers definitions, uses, values, and distribution of all data and info within organization either with computer or not)
Assess information needs
Relevance Improve Performance Make a difference Organizational problems Overall Goal (determine what training is relevant to your employees' jobs, determine what training will improve performance, determine if training will make a difference, distinguish training needs from organizational problems, and link improved job performance with the organization's goals and bottom line.) must include several data sets for comparison to brainstorm promotional strategies, useful for marketers
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? Quality Purpose Coverage Currency (To evaluate sources one must take into consideration the Quality, Purpose, Coverage, Currency. Quality- refer to the correctness, truthfulness or excellence of the overall source. Purpose-refers to the reason for which the author has produced the information Coverage-refer to the thoroughness and consistency of the information Currency-refers to the time that the information was produced)
Store information for future use
To make it accessible. Businesses obtain a wide variety of information that often can be used for many purposes. Therefore, it is important to store the information for future use so it will be accessible when needed. For example, information about current customers might be used to develop procedures for attracting new customers in the future. If the information has not been stored so it is accessible, the business will need to obtain other types of information. Businesses do not need to store information to to establish quality control. Storing information does not ensure that data is accurate nor does it ensure thatthe information remains confidential. -cloud -hard drive -files
Explain the nature of tools that can be used to access information in the database system
Using a computer you can... -add new data to a database (new item in an inventory) -edit existing data in database (change current location of an item) -delete info (if item sold or discarded) -organize and view data in different ways -share data with others via reports, emails, an intranet, or the internet
Obtain needed information efficiently
access database surveys give you info on customer feedback federal documents give you demographic data
