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Manage Knowledge and Information

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Table of Contents
Assessment 1 .............................................................................................................................. 4

Question 1 .............................................................................................................................. 4

Question 2 .............................................................................................................................. 4

Question 3 .............................................................................................................................. 4

Question 4 .............................................................................................................................. 6

Question 5 .............................................................................................................................. 7

Assessment 2 .............................................................................................................................. 7

Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 7

Business Performance ............................................................................................................ 7

Financial Forecast .................................................................................................................. 8

Forecast for 2019 ................................................................................................................... 8

Forecast for 2020 ................................................................................................................... 8

Staff Feedback ....................................................................................................................... 8

Customer Feedback ................................................................................................................ 9

Business Problems and Issues ................................................................................................ 9

VET Information .................................................................................................................... 9

Trend Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 10

Decision Process .................................................................................................................. 10

Compliance .......................................................................................................................... 10

Data Storage and Access Options ........................................................................................ 10

Sensitivity Analysis ............................................................................................................. 11

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Validity and Reliability of source data ................................................................................ 11

Risk Management ................................................................................................................ 11

References ................................................................................................................................ 12
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Assessment 1
Question 1

The tools or technologies that are helpful in knowledge and information management are:

 Decision Support Tools refer to those tools which help the users to take decisions on

the basis of certain data which are available in large volumes. Reporting Software and

Analytics software helps the users to identify patterns in the available data and thus the

decisions can be taken based on that.

 Knowledge Visualization Tools are helpful to communicate the relevant information

and data in such a way that the users can understand it in a better way as compared to

the ways in which documents are understood.

Question 2

Artificial Intelligence is an emerging technology that will help the decision makers to take

decisions in a better way. This will also help the companies to manage the information and data

in an effective way and thus the dependency on the manually operated systems can reduce,

which will subsequently eradicate the errors that might be caused due to human negligence.

Question 3

a. Correlation Calculations: Since correlation indicates the dependency of a variable on

another, the companies tend to draw correlations between data or functions and thus,

they can decide to leverage the resources (Ott, 2018).

b. Short to medium term and long-term analysis: Trends help the concerned stakeholders

to have an idea regarding the future financials of a company so that they can take their

budgeting decisions and defined their long, medium and short-term objectives based on

the trends.
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c. Probability Assessment: Probability Assessment has a crucial role to play in the process

of risks assessment of a business and thus the decision makers are often assisted when

the information gap is quantified and the probabilities are identified.

d. Regulation Analysis: The analysis of regulatory aspects refers to an approach where

critical assessment of the regulatory and compliance matters take place and thus the

positives and negatives of the regulations can be used for making decisions and thus

the companies will face a minimum impact.

e. Dynamic Programming: Dynamic Program is a set of algorithms that works on an idea

of breaking up a large issue into a number of incremental steps. This does not only help

the concerned people to identify the problems faced by the process at each and every

stage but the decision makers can be benefitted by getting optimal solutions to each and

every sub problem and thus the decision-making process is an effective one.

f. Linear Programming: Liners Programming technique is a decision-making tool that is

helpful in taking decision under certainty situations where the options are known and

the company's objectives are quantified. The decision pertains to selection of a best

action out of a number of possible alternatives (Siegel, 2016).

g. Queueing Theory: Queueing Theory is a statistical tool which helps the companies,

mainly the departmental stores to serve their customers well by taking an average of

the number of customers, the size of the cart and the wait time. The decisions that the

managers take pertains to determine whether the number of people who are in charge

of the counters are enough to manage the check outs of the customers.

h. Simulation: A simulation refers to a game or a practice session where real life situations

are dealt with. These are undertaken to test the capability of the resources or the

employees of an organization to counter situations that are likely to arise in an

organization. This can be considered as a rehearsal or role playing whereby the people
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undertake similar roles to counter the problems. The decisions makers majorly have an

insight of their resources when simulation is conducted.

i. Transportation Methodology: Transportation method or problem is a unique type of

tool which is an integral part of the linear programming model. The major reason for

using transportation problem is to help the company minimize the costs that are related

to distribution of a particular product from one place to another. The decisions makers

use the transportation models to ascertain a route for the products which will be the

most suitable one as per the cost optimality objective.

Question 4

Management Information Systems:

 Management Information Systems are flexible in nature and are very helpful for data

analysis and evaluation by using a number of sources, as per the needs of the user.

 The users find this very easy to use. The MIS not only keeps the process time effective

but the reports that are generated by the systems are easily interpretable for the

managers.

 The MIS are versatile in nature as they have the capacity to support a number of skills

and knowledge. Further, they are very collaborative in nature as they facilitate the

communication between the managers and employees within a company, irrespective

of where they are located (K.C. Laudon and J.P. Laudon, 2016).

Decision Support Systems:

 A Decision Support System has a crucial role to play in order to ensure that the

interaction between the system and the operator is a natural one, due to the fact that the

system is designed in a convenient system.

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 The DSS in most of the cases are designed to help individual decision makers or a group

of decision makers and thus, it can be customized as per the nature of use, which is one

of the key attributes of the system.

 DSS envelopes a database in order to make the decision-making process a more specific

one.

Question 5

Since businesses are exposed to a number of risks, the risk management process is a critical

way as to how the companies can identify, define the chances of the risks and take necessary

actions in order to mitigate them. Risk Management refers to a set of activities that are

undertaken in order to assist the managers to counter the risks by taking appropriate decisions.

Assessment 2
Introduction

The report, rather a business plan elucidates the business performance of King Edward VII

College and the financial forecasts based on the existing performance and the relevant

information that has been provided by the respective departments. The report also consists of

the outcomes that have been derived from the survey of the consumers and the staff of the

college. Further, the reports consist of the major issues that could hinder the operations of the

company, the information relating to VET and the analysis of the trends which can cause issues.

Lastly, there will be a decision process, a compliance, elucidation of the data storage options,

the analysis of the sensitivity of the data options, validity of the data and the process of risk

management.

Business Performance

The college was successful to earn higher revenues every year, however, a major increase was

seen in the total cost of sales that was incurred by the company. There was a drastic increase
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in the costs when the company moved from the second year to the third year. An in-depth

analysis of the income statement revealed that the company had incurred higher costs for the

salaries of the employees (staff and teachers) which also increased the superannuation costs of

the institution, leading to a subsequent increase in the cost of sales significantly.

Financial Forecast

The Sales is expected to rise at 10% for years 2019 and 2020. For the year 2020, it has been

assumed that the expenses will be doubled and there will be an increase of 10% to the previous

year due to the expansion. All the other assumptions will be same as given.

Forecast for 2019

Net Sales: $46,86,000

Total Expenses: $28,38,740

Profit: $18,47,260

Forecast for 2020

Net Sales: $73,38,600

Total Expenses: $42,16,203
Profit or Loss: $31,22,397

Staff Feedback

The survey of the staff revealed that most of the personnel mostly like the organization due to

the colleagues they work with and the people for whom they work. Most of the staff complained

about the performance review system and flaws in the training. The lack of communication as

well as disorganized processes and the managerial decisions were also concerning for the staff

members. The staff feel that the institution should define goals for the staff and link them to

rewards. Most of the employees felt that the major driver for them was their connection to the

vision of the company. However, majority of the members felt that the roles they were given
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was not enough to identify the potential and thus, the management should improve teamwork

by implementing an effective performance management system.

Customer Feedback

The feedback from the students showed that majority around 75% of the students rated the

college either good or excellent. The students told that the facilities and the faculty of the

college was great and most importantly was at par with the fees that was paid by the students.

The campus of the college was also at a convenient location and the administrative staff were

also well behaved and helpful. The students also found the virtual classes and the work stations

very useful and thus there were times when they could be connected to the online chats and

solve the doubts. The only negative aspects that the students mentioned was related to the

teachers where the students complained that there were not enough teaching staff. Moreover,

though the teachers were supportive while in class, they showed reluctance in interacting when

needed.

Business Problems and Issues

The college has only been focussing on the management courses. The turnover of the staff is

also quite high and the staff lack diversity. There are regular changes in the regulations that

have a negative impact on the students. The education industry is a highly competitive one and

price is considered to be a main source of competitive advantage and thus, the colleges that

have lower fee have higher chances to success. There are often chances when the colleges fail

to satisfy the demands of the students and moreover, the malpractices often create a negative

image of the college.

VET Information

Formal Communications:

 Commercial and Legal Notices from the top management to the lower management.
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 Publications and Reports in a top down approach in the hierarchy.

Information Communication:

 Talking to the colleagues, usually done with the ones who are of similar designations.

 Chatting over Social media

Trend Analysis

The major trend related to financial aspect is the increase in the expenses as well as the sales

revenue of the company due to the expansion. The expansion will also lead to an increase in th

operational costs.

Decision Process

There are certain steps that need to be undertaken before expansion. Firstly, the feasibility of

the study should be done which should include selection of a target market. It is to be followed

by the analysis of the market. Once the market is analysed, the drivers and the critical success

factors should be identified. The next step would be to choose the target customer segment and

to establish the resources, by making the investment.

Compliance

In order to comply with the goals and objectives, the actions should be taken in such a way that

the institution is able to become a leader in the training and vocational educational industry.

Secondly, the actions should take into account the development of the people so that there is

an integrity as well as an equality in all the workforce. The actions should be ethical so that the

company is not only profitable, but is also accountable to the concerned stakeholders.

Data Storage and Access Options

 Cloud Storage: Google drive is the most common example.

 Master Data Storage: Useful for managing critical data of organizations.

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Sensitivity Analysis

These data storage options are immensely dependent on internet connectivity and if they do

not work, Database sharing is the only option left.

Validity and Reliability of source data

The data is authentic as per the exception reports that were attached to the income statements.

Risk Management

Risks:

 Underdeveloped Operational Infrastructure

 Competitive Risks.

 Legal Risks.

 Financial and Business Risks.

 Decline in the quality of offerings.

Mitigating Activities:

 Focus on Core Competencies so that the competitive risks are mitigated.

 Differentiate the offerings so that the quality of offerings is not hampered.

 Establish a compliance framework so that the legal risks can be mitigated.

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References
Ott, W.R., 2018. Environmental statistics and data analysis. Abingdon: Routledge.

Siegel, A., 2016. Practical business statistics. Cambridge: Academic Press.

Laudon, K.C. and Laudon, J.P., 2016. Management information system. Delhi: Pearson

Education India.