Solution
The scenario in this report focuses on ABC organisation which is an accountancy/bookkeeping company. The company leverage on the use of QuickBooks and Sage in the storage of customer’s information, which scopes from financial, managing and corporate accounting and finances. Handling these categories of data requires adherence to legislation, accuracy and relevance of data. Wood (2005), on the one hand, defines data as a discrete, objective fact relating to events. Through value addition, it is possible to transform data into information through context, categorisation, calculations, corrections and condensation. In CMI, information management is defined as acquisition, recording, organising, storage, dissemination and retrieval of information (Myburgh, 2002; Dearstyne, 2004). On the other hand, information is defined as an organised data which are meaningful and contextually relevant used to make decisions. Taking this definition into account, the data and information in the context of ABC is as shown in figure 1;
Table 1: Data and Information in context of ABC organisation
Source: Summarised from Wood (2005)
Regarding the features of data and information, the aspects that can be considered include accessibility, relevance, comprehensibility, timeliness and accuracy (Wolstenhilme et al., 1993). These features can be evaluated in the context of the case scenario (see table 2).
| Features | Definition and description |
| Accessibility | This identifies availability of specific information and strategy of sourcing it. ABC engages specialists in different areas and technology to guide in accessing information through sage and QuickBooks. |
| Relevance | This includes sifting and packaging information in an appropriate format.
ABC ensures all bookkeeping data is complete and succinct. |
| Comprehensibility | This involves management information understanding and matching it in decision making.
ABC ensures that all data are grouped appropriately based on their relevance |
| Timeliness | Strict timelines followed in ensuring that there are no delays in requests and receiving and presentation of management information. |
| Accuracy | This is associated with a time feature as lateness leads to errors. ABC ensures that all bookkeeping information variables are aligned with business activities. |
Table 2: Features of Data and Information
Source: Summarised from Wolstenhilme et al. (1993)
A.C. 1.2 – Determine the criteria to be applied when selecting data and information to support decision making
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