Data Relevancy Problem: Data Rich but Information Poor

The Management Database was designed for operational support, and data elements were kept current to reflect the latest changes. However, the design of the database and the use of standard management reports created shortcoming in the capturing of planning data. The following example illustrated these shortcomings.

For a period, many senior level students were unable to graduate because they could not enroll in a freshman level course. An analysis of student enrollment data indicated that there was a decrease in the number of students in the program while the total number of seats for the freshman course has been kept at the same level. In fact, many sessions of the course were not at capacity according to enrollment data. The analysis did not support the opening of new sessions for the course. Furthermore, the course schedules from the previous year were reused because it was a "traditional practice" to do so to ensure "consistency."

Numerous requests from senior students for special permission to enroll in the course triggered a faculty member to investigate the enrollment situation. The research effort reviewed that mainly seniors were able to enroll in the freshman course in recent years. A greater surprise was that nearly half the recent enrollments were from students outside of the program! Further investigation showed that the course was always at full capacity by the end of the registration periods, explaining the number of students panicking to seek special permission. However, the traditional course schedule conflicted with other senior level courses explaining the great number of students withdrew from the course, leading to much lower enrollment figures at the end of the term.

The new information supported the offering of new sessions, and the design of new course schedules. Requests for special permission to enroll the course disappeared within the next 12 months. The average student enrolled in the course dropped to sophomore level within 24 months. Total enrollment for the course doubled in two years, outpacing the university enrollment growth. The irony was that the data was in the Management Database, some even reported to the academic units but ignored because there was no perceived information value for the data.

Challenge Seven: Management needs to play an active role in data planning, and closely align the information report designs for decision support. This is especially challenging in cultural environment that lacks appreciation for operational planning and control.



Managing Globally with Information Technology
Managing Globally with Information Technology
ISBN: 193177742X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 224

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