10. Osborne - Communicating information to stakeholders

Question 1

Communicating Information to Stakeholders (CH10)

What are the 8 attributes of Good Quality Information? (A.C.C.U.R.A.T.E.)

Answer 1

1. Accurate - free from errors and bias.

2. Complete - nothing missing but not excessive.

3. Cost Effective - its usefulness and value should be greater than the cost of producing it.

4. Understandable - style, format and detail should fit the user’s needs.

5. Relevant - fit for purpose and communicated to the right person.

6. Authoritative - from a reliable source.

7. Timely - provided at the right time.

8. Easy to use.

Question 2

Communicating Information to Stakeholders (CH10)

What is the purpose of the Strategic (Corporate) Level of Management in an Organisation?

Answer 2

• Planning the future direction of the business, and setting goals.
• Will need information on the past to make long term decisions.
• Likely to focus more on external information that affects the business (i.e. competitor activities, government policies or economic environment etc)
• Information will be more summarised than detailed.
• It also likely to be required on an ad-hoc basis rather than a regular basis.

Question 3

Communicating Information to Stakeholders (CH10)

What is the purpose of the Managerial (Tactical) Level of Management in an Organisation?

Answer 3

• Translates the Strategic vision into a Tactical Plan.
• Requires regular, operational information.
• Information required will mostly be internal.
• Information will need to be fairly detailed.

Question 4

Communicating Information to Stakeholders (CH10)

What is Big Data?

Answer 4

A collection of data which is so large and complex, and which accumulates so quickly, that it is difficult to store, and process using traditional data processing software.

Question 5

Communicating Information to Stakeholders (CH10)

What are the 3 main sources of Big Data?

Answer 5

1. Social data comes from tweets, likes, comments, videos etc. Social data provides an insight into the ways customers think and behave.

2. Machine data. This is data from machines such as checkout scanners, smart meters, satellites etc.

3. Transactional data is generated from the daily transactions that take place in a business. Includes data about customers, suppliers, products, prices, locations etc.

Question 6

Communicating Information to Stakeholders (CH10)

What are the 5 Characteristics of Big Data?

Answer 6

The 5 V’s:

1. Volume - the sheer volume of big data makes it difficult to analyse.
2. Velocity - because of the volume of big data, the speed (velocity) at which it is processed is important in order for it to be useful to the business.
3. Variety - useful big data will be generated from a variety of sources, both internally and externally.
4. Veracity - value big data needs to be accurate, or truthful. Therefore, it should be obtained from a trusted source, and processed so that any bias, duplication, anomalies, or inconsistencies are removed.
5. Value - big data will only be useful if it can be processed and transformed into useful and valuable information that can then be used to add value to the business.

Question 7

Communicating Information to Stakeholders (CH10)

What are the Benefits of using Big Data?

Answer 7

• Attracting and retaining customers: can identify patterns in consumer behaviour.
• Focused marketing: Can analyse trends and use this to focus their marketing.
• Ability to Identify areas of potential risk.
• Improved business processes: such as inventory management - potential leading to reduced costs.
• Fraud detection: Better detection of fraudulent transactions.

Question 8

Communicating Information to Stakeholders (CH10)

What are the Limitations of using Big Data?

Answer 8

1. Requires highly-skilled data analysts/scientists /engineers of which there is a lack of + require training which is costly.

2. Integrating large amounts of data in different formats can be very difficult and can lead to inaccurate/incorrect information.
3. Greater care required to ensure data protection principles are adhered to.
4. Greater need for stronger data security.

Question 9

Communicating Information to Stakeholders (CH10)

What is Data Visualisation?

Answer 9

Data visualisation is the term given to images, diagrams, graphs, tables, matrices and charts that are used to present information in an accessible and usable way.

• Used to summarse and simplity large amounts of complex information, and can be particularly useful for making financial information understandable for non-financial staff.

Question 10

Communicating Information to Stakeholders (CH10)

How should the type of Data Visualisation be chosen?

Answer 10

• Choosing the most appropriate form of visualised data will depend on three questions:

1. Who is it being shown to?
2. What needs to be shown?
3. How is it going to be presented?

Question 11

Communicating Information to Stakeholders (CH10)

What are the Benefits of using a Dashboard?

Answer 11

1. The data is easy to understand.
2. Are customisable - can be personalised to the needs of the business.
3. Can be produced in real-time, meaning the data is always up-to-date.
4. If a cloud-based software is used, it can be accessed from any device and location with internet access.

Question 12

Communicating Information to Stakeholders (CH10)

What is the purpose of the Operational Level of Management in an Organisation?

Answer 12

• Involved in day-to-day running of the business.
• Will require explicit, detailed information.
• Relies on regular, detailed, internal information.
• Information tends to relate to past events.