Explain the difference between data and information. Give some examples of raw d

Question

• Explain the difference between data and information. Give some examples of raw data and information.

• What is data quality, and why is it important?

• Suppose that you are a DBA. What data dimensions would you describe to top-level managers to obtain their support for data administration?

• Using a single sentence, explain the role of databases in organizations. Then explain your answer in more detail.

• Describe and contrast information needs at the strategic, tactical, and operational levels of an organization. Use examples to explain your answer.

Explanation / Answer

1)

DATA

Data is raw, unorganized facts that need to be processed. Data can be something simple and seemingly random and useless until it is organized.

example

Each student's test score is one piece of data.

Information

When data is processed, organized, structured or presented in a given context so as to make it useful, it is called information

example

The average score of a class or of the entire school is information that can be derived from the given data

2)

Data Quality

In computing, data quality is the reliability and application efficiency of data, particularly when kept in a data warehouse. Data quality assurance (DQA) is the process of verifying the reliability and efficiency of data.

importance

Data quality is important because we need:

3)

The interactions among end user, data, information, and decision making is explained. Data dimensions needed to obtain support (from top-level managers) for the data administration function are explored. How and why database management systems become the organizational data management standard are described. Some advantages of the database approach over the file-system approach are discussed.

4)

The role of a database in an organization is to manipulate, store and retrieve data effectively and efficiently only to it into useful information that can be used in such a way that will better help make better organizational decisions

5)

Management covers a very wide range of activities designed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of an organization. To understand the full rage of management actions develop knowledge and skill to perform these management activities well, we can classify the complete range of management activities in different ways. One such ways of classifying management activities is based on the dimensions of totality of the organizational performance focused on. To manage an organizational well, managers need to focus on the whole organization as a single unit. At the same time they also need to pay individual attention to each small activity performed by many smaller units within the organization.

Classifying of management as per totality of the organizational performance, we can define a continuum of management levels ranging from strategic management on one end to operational management at the other. Strategic management concentrates on the performance of the complete organization. The focus here is to determine the most appropriate objectives that the organization should pursue given its internal strengths and weaknesses as well as the external opportunities and threats faced by it.

Strategic management involves achieving balance between requirements of different functions and units of the organizations. It also involves balancing risks in short and long term. Based on these considerations strategic management determines long term objectives to be pursued by the organization and identifies the ways and means of achieving these objectives. One unique characteristic of strategic management is the absence of any higher level plans or objectives to guide strategic management action.

Operational management lies at the other end of the continuum of management levels. It is concerned ensuring that the day to day operations of the organization are carried out effectively and efficiently. For example, operational management will concentrate on ensuring that workmen on the shop floor are instructed correctly on the jobs to be performed by them at any particular time and that they are provided with required material, tools and other facilities to get on with the work.

The level between the strategic and operational management is the middle management level. Some authors also call it tactical management. This level of management is concerned with planning and control for individual organizational functions such as marketing, production, and HRD, or sub function within them, for improving performance in short or medium term

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