Information Systems

The ability of an individual to write, read, understand, and speak is known as literacy. Literacy is not only required in education or academic level but the need for literacy is immensely important in other fields of life. Literacy allows performing the job as it brings on the potential and knowledge in a person. Having some knowledge or information regarding a particular thing is also known as literacy. Like other areas, literacy is also equally important in the medical field. It is not only important for the physicians or professionals but it is also important for the patients as well.

When a patient is admitted in the emergency department for some reason then after discharge his treatment is not over. He has to continue the treatment by following some sort of instructions given by the professionals. In short, the medical process of emergency department patients is not complete after discharge as well. Along with the discharge, the patient is provided with a number of instructions. These instructions are about the clinical conditions, medications, and follow-up. Following these instructions is quite necessary for getting better. It is very important that the patient must understand all these instructions properly in order to avoid any other medical problem.

If the patient does not get along with these instructions then it might result in ineffective care and sometimes health issues. Obviously, for this reason, the literacy of the patient is highly required otherwise he will not be able to follow this instruction properly. In this dissertation, we have tried our best to emphasize the importance of patient literacy regarding emergency department discharge instructions. The topic is no doubt a very critical issue as it is related to the life of the patient. The low literacy rate is one of the biggest reasons for why patients do not follow up the instructions properly. (Clarke, Friedman, Shi, Arenovich, Monzon & Culligan, 2005)

Background Overview

In order to ensure that proper treatment has been given to the patient and also to ensure that quality health care is being provided, discharge instructions play a significant role. For sound health, it is necessary to comply with these instructions. In this topic domain, a number of studies have been performed in the past. Few studies have discussed that patients having fractures do need to follow up the discharge instructions for better results and quick healing. Also, a number of studies have been performed in order to find out whether the patients in the emergency department are provided with follow-up instructions or not. These studies tried to find out what the quality level of the medical institutes is. It is necessary for every responsible medical institute to provide their patients with follow-up instructions. If any institute is not doing this practice then it is not sincere with the health of the patients.

These studies were also necessary to be performed in order to analyze the level of the medical institutes. These studies showed that the compliance rate of the patients was very poor. Even in some cases, it turned out to be 28%. These studies show that even if the patients are provided with the discharge instructions then still they do not comply with these. It was found that the demographics of the patients like age, status, education, and so on are the reasons which make a difference. The demographic variables affect a lot over the receiving of discharge instruction and then following it up.

Solutions have been recommended for these problems in the studies that have been performed. The most common solutions that existed in almost every study were to improve the methods and to improve the patient’s education. The studies in past have always been performed in non-managed affiliated emergency departments. No studies have been performed that may give attention to the factors and features that can affect the emergency department’s instruction compliance percentage. There are many features or variables regarding the emergency department patients’ compliance rate that have not been studied yet. These variables may include the referrals that are given by the emergency departments to the patients.

It is very necessary to find out whether these referrals are provided or not. Many studies have shown that in many cases, the patients are not even able to have an appointment with the referrals for their follow-up. Many articles and books have proved it to be the major reason given by patients for not following the instructions that are given after discharge. The major limitation of most of the studies that have been conducted in this regard is that these studies have not tried to find out whether the referrals are reliable or not. Hence, it can be said that a lot of work has been done in this regard but none of these studies have focused on the patients of emergency departments. The focus has to be made on finding out whether emergency department patients do follow their discharge instructions or not. (Saroff, Dell & Brown, 2002)

Research Objectives

The research study is covering a very broad topic domain. This topic domain covers a wide range of issues. Health care is no doubt a very important issue to be discussed. The research study is said to be manifold as it is covering a number of objectives. Few of these objectives have presented below:

• To find out the importance of literacy for the health care.

• To explore the concept of patient literacy.

• To find out the need of literacy in health care and for patients.

• To find out the significance of literacy in the emergency department.

• To find out the relationship that exists between literacy and the various health outcomes or disparities.

• To find out the interventions that may cause to the people that are having low rate of literacy.

• To find out the role of patient literacy in providing quality health care.

• To have in-depth information regarding the discharge instructions.

• To understand the different kinds of discharge instructions that are being provided by the emergency department to the patients.

• To understand and explore the different features of discharge instructions.

• To understand the need of literacy for understanding the emergency department discharge instructions.

• To understand the need of having a good and sound communication between the patient and the physician.

• To make people realize that patient literacy is the biggest reason for misunderstanding the emergency department discharge instructions.

• To demonstrate the objectives of discharge instructions for the quality health care to the patients.

All these objectives are of equal importance and we have tried our best to cover all these objectives. These objectives have made this research study a very broad and useful one.

Problem Statement

By observing the above objectives of this research study we are now able to develop the problem statement for this dissertation. The problem statement that we have formulated for this research study is given below:

‘What is the need of patient literacy for emergency department discharge instructions?

In order to find out the answer to this problem statement we have performed a great deal of research and analysis work. The collection of relevant information has helped us to solve this problem statement.

Significance of the Study

Having literacy in every field of life is very important for every individual. When it comes to the emergency department, then the need of literacy gets more significant. In this study, we have tried to emphasize over the need and importance of literacy among patients for the understanding of discharge instructions. This is no doubt a very significant topic as it makes the patients as well as the physicians to realize that for improving health care it is necessary that patients must have literacy. Good health is very essential for every individual. When a patient gets discharged from the emergency

department then the treatment does not get over here. Instead, it starts from here as it is very necessary to take proper care after the discharge as well. This can be done when the patients are provided with discharge instructions. Also, it is necessary for the patients to understand these instructions. Only getting the instructions is never enough. Understanding these instructions is the main part. The dissertation has focused on the same topic. It has tried to find out to what extent patients do get an understanding of these instructions. The report is of much significance as it has focused on improving the literacy rate of the patients of the emergency departments so that the quality of health care may get improved.

Improving health care and quality of health is a major task to be performed. It is very essential that steps should be taken that may help the professionals to improve the health of their patients. Developing literacy among patients is the biggest step that can be taken. The dissertation is very significant as it has emphasized the need and importance of literacy in health care. It was never considered that literacy may hold such value for health care as well. Hence the significance of this research study cannot be ignored. It is equally important for the readers, physicians, and patients.

Limitations of the Study

Although the study is very significant and we have performed our best for performing this study but still there are some limitations of this study. The major limitation was the time limit. In this short time, it was very difficult to get a variety of information from the medical centers. It was difficult to practically visit the medical centers and to get the physician charts. The physician charts allow for knowing whether the physicians are properly giving discharge instructions to their patients or not. It was also desired that records can be monitored that may inform us whether the patients follow up the physicians after they are discharged.

Another thing that was to be searched practically was whether the referrals that are given to the patients at the time of discharge are valid or not. Because of time constraints, we were not able to perform that huge amount of practical research. But we have tried our best to get reliable and complete information by surveying the different sources. For this purpose, we have made use of all kinds of sources and performed in-depth observation.

This in depth information has covered this limitation to the large extent. If there was no time limit then it was also possible to visit the patients and their family members in order to find out that to what extent they are devoted to improve their health care. Although we have developed the conclusions by gathering reliable information and performing surveys but still the practical research element is missing. We have tried our best to perform the research work in such a manner that this limitation is covered and the dissertation is not affected. We have no doubt succeeded in performing the research study effectively.

Organization of the Chapters

The research study is very broad and large. We have divided the research study in to different chapters for managing the dissertation properly. The organization of the dissertation holds much importance for performing the research study in a much-sequenced

way. Following is the description that how we have organized the dissertation in to different chapters.

Introduction

The first chapter provides the introduction to this paper on the whole. It has discussed the various elements like the purpose and significance of this study. This chapter has made it clear why this study is very important to be performed. Also, through this chapter, we have defined the various objectives of this paper. The research methodology and the type of data collection that have been used in this paper are also defined in this chapter. Finally, the scope of the study has also been presented. In short, this chapter has made it possible to define the basic infrastructure of this study.

Literature Review

The chapter is responsible to provide the readers with the collected literature or information that has been collected for achieving the objectives. A huge amount of information has been collected that is relevant to the research study. The information has been collected by performing a great deal of research work. This chapter has provided the readers with a great deal of information that will allow the readers to understand the concepts and meanings of the research study. The literature review

also enables the readers to develop their own opinion. Hence all the relevant collected information that is necessary to develop the conclusion is presented in this chapter.

Research Methodology

The chapter of research methodology is basically aimed to develop the research design for the entire dissertation. The research design includes many elements like the selection of research methodology, selection of data collection method and types of sources to be used and so on. This is also very significant chapter as it binds together all the elements of the dissertation together. The importance of this chapter cannot be ignored as creating the right design for any dissertation is a mandatory task to be performed.

If the design developed is inappropriate then the entire dissertation might lead to the wrong results. The conclusion and research findings largely depend on this chapter. Also, the chapter explains the aims and objectives of the research study as well. We have also defined the type of data that has been used in this dissertation along with the sources that we have used for collecting the information.

Research Findings

In this chapter, the findings of the dissertation have been presented. For this purpose, all the gathered information is observed and analyzed. After deep observations, the findings are developed. The research findings present in front of the readers what we have gained from this research study. The results that have been developed are presented here. These findings are developed by working over the defined methodology that has been selected for this dissertation. By using this methodology the presented literature review is used for developing the research findings.

Conclusion

In this chapter, we have concluded the entire study. We have tried our best to summarize all the chapters in to a single one. The conclusion also includes our own opinion regarding the study. The conclusion is very important for any study as it is going to present the results of the study. The conclusion is responsible to provide the summary of the entire dissertation. It should be developed in such a way that all the necessary elements of the dissertation should be discussed.

Paragon Information Systems is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Newtel Enterprises Limited, that operates in Atlantic Canada’s information systems industry. They meet their customers’ needs for information systems hardware and provide them with excellent customer service as well. There was recently a crisis as the founders of Paragon left the company, with the entire sales force, to start a new company in direct competition.

Paragon was rebuilt and has become a stronger company since the founders left (EX1). Information systems hardware is a largely undifferentiated product so Paragon needs to deliver something unique and of value to customers. This can be done by adopting a focus differentiation strategy based on offering superior customer service (EX 8-9). Also, they will provide services that complement their hardware. This will allow Paragon to capitalize on their relationship with NewTel Information Systems (NIS) and become more profitable.

AFocusing on the customer will create switching costs that will help to better protect Paragon’s position in the market (EX3,5). This will enable them to differentiate their company from competitors with a more sustainable method than simply competing on price. The new strategy will allow Paragon to fully realize the potential of their relationship with NIS (EX6-7). NIS has experience with selling services for information systems that Paragon can use to help their focus on services succeed.

Working with an established organization like NIS will give them an opportunity to identify where there are gaps in their strategy and how they can best deal with those deficiencies. The services that accompany the hardware have much better margins than the hardware itself. Including services in the product market focus of Paragon will increase the profitability of the company and increase switching costs for clients (EX10). This change in focus will provide the management with the sustainable growth they wanted (EX2).

Finally this alternative will properly align Paragon’s goals, product market focus and core activities with their now formalized value proposition (EX4). This will guide the actions of employees as it gives them direction for how they can provide value to the organization.  The First thing Paragon needs to do is to meet with their employees and inform them that excellent customer service is how the company plans to differentiate themselves. Employees that will be trained to become capable of providing the services Paragon will now offer.

The sales department will need to learn the specifics of the new services and will also receive customer service training. As the employees are being trained Collins will meet with NIS management and establish a formal relationship between the two subsidiaries. Paragon has moved from the crisis/reactive stage of the crisis curve to the anticipatory stage. With this in mind they should continue to use the participative leadership style they have been using so that they can gain acceptance for the changes that are planned more quickly.

A more detailed outline of actions can be found in Exhibit 11. Exhibit 1 – Assessing Performance Customer Financial Innovation and Learning Internal Business processes Balanced Scorecard -Market share is increasing -Revenue has increased since the crisis -Investment in training tripled -Improved productivity -Had highest net income in company’s history Implications: Currently Paragon Information Systems is performing quite well. The changes they made have enabled them to change their position on the crisis curve from the reactive/crisis stage to the anticipatory stage.

Exhibit 2 – Direction NEL Mission Statement – To provide sustained and consistent growth in shareholder value, through primary focus on telecommunications and related businesses in Atlantic Canada. Essential to our success will be exploitation of emerging competitive opportunities, responsive customer service and an effective, action-oriented management team. Implications: NewTel Enterprises Limited, which wholly owns Paragon, is committed to growing shareholder value and they believe providing excellent customer service is crucial to their success.

Exhibit 3 – Atlantic Canada Information Technology Industry Analysis Threat of Substitute Products Threat of New Entrants Bargaining Power of Buyers Bargaining Power of Suppliers Intensity of Competitive Rivalry Porter’s Five Forces -Relatively low threat of substitute products -Computer hardware is necessary for an information system. -Barriers to entry are low, because of little government regulation and the lack of high upfront or fixed costs. Bargaining power of buyers is increasing -There are few competitors in the market place but more are entering -Buyers are happy to see more competition -Bargaining power of suppliers is unknown -level of intensity is unknown -Hardware is largely undifferentiated Implications: The information technology industry in Atlantic Canada is somewhat attractive. Hardware products are largely undifferentiated but excellent customer service can serve to establish switching costs. With the threat of new entrants and increasing bargaining power of buyers firms needs to offer more value than their competitors.

Exhibit 4 – Business Strategy Business Strategy Triangle -The underlying strategy is to become more client-focused, and provide responsive customer service -They do not have a formal strategy in place Goals -Provide sustained and consistent growth in shareholder value -Create a more participative culture -Develop capabilities of employees Product Market -Systems integration, application development and computer networking Focus products and services in Atlantic Canada Core Activities -Selling hardware -Providing after sales support Implications: The goals, product market focus, and core activities are all aligned with providing the customer with quality service. However, Paragon has made no attempt to develop a formal strategy built around customer service. Value Proposition Exhibit 5 – Environment Analysis PEST Political Economics Unable to be determined. The strength of the economy can have a significant impact on the demand for computer hardware.

Information systems do not directly generate revenue so if the economy is hurting a company’s ability to generate profits they may be hesitant to purchase an information system. If economic conditions are good then a company may be more likely to take this opportunity to develop an information system that can further improve their efficiency. Unable to be determined. Use of the internet is gaining momentum and will change the way that businesses operate. The way that customers communicate with businesses is moving from over the telephone to email. Companies need to be prepared for this change and be able to interact with customers through the medium they desire. Also, the technology that is sold in the industry is changing.

The hardware is constantly improving, removing any advantage gained from superior technology quite rapidly. Social Technological Implications: With the threat of new competitors and lack of differentiation between products firms need to find another way to set themselves apart. They need to create value for their customers through means other than the technology they are selling. Exhibit 6 – Resource Analysis VRIO analysis – Relationship with NewTel Information Solutions (NIS) Value This relationship will allow Paragon knowledge on they can grow their service offering. NIS has experience providing services in the IS industry and can give advice to Paragon.

Rarity No one else in the industry has a relationship with an established service provider like NIS. Inimitability Very difficult to establish a relationship with a company that may ultimately be a competitor. Organization There is no formal relationship between NIS and paragon. Implications: Paragon’s relationship with NIS can provide them with a competitive advantage. They just need to address the fact that there is no organization to capitalize on this resource. They need to have meetings with NIS or an intermediary that will allow them to communicate formally so they can share information and make sure they do not interfere with each other’s interests .

Exhibit 7 – Strategy Analysis Strategy – Environment Linkage Strategy – Resources Linkage Strategy – Management Preferences Linkage Strategy – Organization Linkage Diamond-E Due to increased competition and a lack of differentiation in the hardware the industry sells Paragon needs to find a sustainable way to differentiate themselves. Paragon is not set up to capitalize on the possible benefits of sharing skills with another NEL subsidiary, NIS. NIS already has experience offering services for information systems in the Atlantic Canada market. Management at NEL is committed to revitalizing paragon. They are willing to give Collins whatever he determines is necessary to sustain growth of the company.

They believe that excellent customer service is valuable enough to their customers, to provide a basis for which to set themselves apart from their competition. Paragon has identified training as a priority. They increased spending allocated to training to a level three times larger than before. Paragon needs their employees to have the technical knowledge and the proper communication skills to provide customer service that will differentiate the company. Implications: Paragon’s strategy, to differentiate themselves in Atlantic Canada with excellent customer service, is aligned with the needs of their environment and what management wants to do.

However, there is a gap in the strategy-resources linkage as Paragon is not properly organized to exploit their relationship with NIS. They need a linkage or liaison with NIS so that they can fully utilize their knowledge of the service aspect of the information systems industry Exhibit 8 – Strategic Alternatives Alternative 1: Paragon will expand so as to offer services around their applications, differentiate themselves with superior customer service, capitalize on their relationship with NewTel Information Systems. Alternative 2: Paragon will expand its offering to include services with their applications, enter the New Brunswick and Quebec markets, differentiate themselves with superior customer service and restructure to a geographic organization.

Exhibit 9 – Strategic Alternative Selection Alternative 1 -The market is large enough to sustain Paragon and is growing -Demand is steady -Low barriers to entry which can lead to more competitors -Low cost to serve customers -Low fixed costs Sustainability of -Utilizes customer service to create Competitive value for the customer Advantage? -Uses distinctive capabilities and processes to build strong customer and channel relationships Prospects for successful -Training has been increased to give implementation employees the customer service and technical skills required for this alternative -Consistent with managements goal of sustainable growth and responsive customer service (EX2) Are risks acceptable -A robust alternative -Assumes that Paragon is capable of providing services around their information systems hardware. Tests How attractive is the market?

Alternative 2 -Larger market than alt 1 -Demand is steady -Low barriers to entry which can lead to more competitors -Low cost to serve customers -Low fixed costs -Utilizes customer service to create value for the customer -Uses distinctive capabilities and processes to build strong customer and channel relationships -Employees are capable of providing the customer service required -Organization has no experience in the Quebec and New Brunswick markets Will the forecast financial results be achieved and increase shareholder value? -Profitability of Paragon is expected to increase so even if revenues don’t meet expectations alternative will remain profitable. -A fragile alternative -assumes that Paragon can differentiate themselves in new markets -Assumes Paragon can withstand retaliation from competitors in new markets. Alternative is more dependent on reaching expected revenues -If targets are not met alternative will be less profitable Implications: Alternative 1 is a superior alternative. They both have attractive markets and perceived sustainable competitive advantages. Alternative 2 offers a larger payoff but is much riskier. It assumes that paragon will be able to enter a new market and compete without any experience in those markets. Alternative one is more conservative but still offers growth and profitable returns with minimal risk. Exhibit 10 – Financial Projections Paragon Information Systems Projected Income Statement Years ended 1998, 1999, 2000 (in thousands) 1998 1999 $16,299 $17,927 15,729 17,255 $570 $672.

Revenue Total Expenses Net Income 2000 $19,720 18,931 $789 Implications: This projection is based on revenues increasing 10% annually and net income as a percentage of revenue increasing from 3. 5% in 1998, to 3. 75% in 1999, and 4% in 2000. The increase in profitability occurs because the services that Paragon offers have a much higher margin. As services become a larger part of Paragons revenues, they will become more profitable. The increase in profitability from 1997 to 1998 is less than other periods to account for the loss of productivity when employees are being trained. Exhibit 11 – Strategy Implementation Immediate 3 Months 6 Months Long Term Hold a meeting with employees to inform them of the changes to the strategy and product offering -establish a formal relationship with NIS -train employees to properly provide services that will be offered. -Sales Department: learn about the services so they can -Sales Department: start pushing the service offerings -Meet with clients to discuss how Paragon can provide better service and offer more value -Meet with employees to discuss the progress of the new strategy and determine if any changes need to be made -Develop new customer service objectives with the information that was obtained from clients -Meet with employees to discuss the progress of the new strategy and determine if any changes need to be made -Evaluate the success of the strategy and make changes as necessary.

Swedish healthcare organisations are required by law to maintain a holistic view of their processes (Prop. 1999/2000:149). Thus, such organisations need to have an overview of the entire scope of health service delivery. As a result, system thinking is vital (Senge, 1990). An organisation must be able to collect data from its operational processes and furnish health service management with data concerning the way in which they have utilised their resources (Kaplan & Norton, 1996).

As a response to this imperative, many healthcare providers have begun to introduce process-oriented structures recently. There are a number of theories about how to design such structures. One theory is based on Business Process Reengineering (BPR), the purpose of which is to identify and redesign organisational processes (Davenport, 1993). Another approach is to analyse a healthcare organisation as a Complex Adaptive System (CAS), an interdisciplinary method that focuses on the self-organisation of systems and patterns, as well as the way in which outcomes emerge.

The purpose of a CAS analysis is to resolve issues associated with adaptable systems (Zimmerman, Lindberg & Plsek, 2001). Regardless of whether a BPR or CAS approach is employed, process-oriented organisational structures face difficulties stemming from the fact that healthcare organisations operate on multiple levels, including county councils, hospital management, clinical management, and care providers, each with its own information requirements (Andersson, Vimarlund & Timpka, 2002).

Each level struggles to survive under difficult economic constraints, limited growth and the constant threat of regulation (Luce & Elixhauser, 1990). Healthcare organisations need an integrated structure in order to quickly disseminate information among managers and care providers (Van de Velde, 2000). The first challenge is to structure information systems such that they support the workflow in a healthcare environment (Strauss et al. , 1985). Thus, it is not surprising that healthcare managers are increasingly seeking help from health information systems (HIS).

Their objective is to minimise the overall costs of healthcare delivery, to improve the quality of their services (Greenes & Lorenzi 1998; Clayton & van Mullingen, 1996) and to correlate costs with resources consumed (Stead & Lorenzi, 1999). One option for gathering data in an 1 Management Information Systems in Process-oriented Healthcare Organisations HIS is to use censors and other devices that continuously furnish the healthcare organisation with data about its finances, quality, competence and level of satisfaction.

However, before an HIS can be designed, both managers and developers need to be familiar with work routines, information requirements, and other key parameters at the clinical level, given that medical information is linked to the environment in which it is generated (Berg & Goorman, 1999). Thus, the organisation must outline its information requirements and work procedures. The HIS that ultimately emerges will be embedded in the organisation’s processes and must satisfy the care provider’s information needs (Berg, 1999).

To sum up, in order to design an HIS in process-oriented healthcare organisations, attention must be paid to issues such as patient focus, cost effectiveness, service quality, adaptability to the constraints of the organisation, and integrated use of information at both the hospital and clinic level (Ovretveit, 1992; Flarey, 1995). Moreover, a holistic overview based on system thinking is vital, including the gathering of data from multiple sources in order to correlate costs with the utilisation of resources.

The challenge is to define models that can support the design of an HIS.  Organisational and work process models in medical informatics. The main purpose of reengineering was to focus on the processes rather than the functions or an organisation (Hammer, 1990). Further organisational enhancement could be achieved with quality methods such as Total Quality Management (TQM), which included process-oriented models. Another approach is to modify the business culture such that it becomes a learning organisation (Senge, 1990).

In the financial area, Balanced Scorecard has been used to translate mission and strategy statements into operational objectives and measurement variables (Kaplan & Norton, 1996). When it comes to medical informatics, attempts have been made to design various kinds of organisational models, such as socio-technical modelling (Berg et al. ,1998). The rationale for introducing these models is to gain a greater understanding of the ways in which an HIS will affect the allocation and content of work tasks.

Changes in work activities require modification of information management (Berg, 2001). The validity of a technology rests not only on the fulfilment of functional specifications, but also on the interaction of the technical system with its 2 Management Information Systems in Process-oriented Healthcare Organisations organisational environment (Brender, 1998). The resulting conclusion that has been drawn today is that social, organisational, cultural and contextual issues should be taken into consideration at an early stage of the development process (Kaplan, 2001).

Moreover, approaches such as cultural-historical activity theory have been used to perform contextual analyses of clinical cognition and activity. Culturalhistorical activity theory argues that studying the present healthcare setting is insufficient – a researcher must also become acquainted with the history of the setting, given that clinical cognition is embedded in broader institutional structures and longstanding evolution (Engestrom, 1995). One method was to highlight patient data on the presumption that the objective of any healthcare organisation is to improve the health of individuals (Engestrom, 1999).

Other researchers argue for a framework that allows for a constant interplay of different models, theories and perspectives (Maij et al. , 2002). The advantages of integrated frameworks are that methods and models can be optimised during the development process, while methods with specific weaknesses can be reinforced by others (Timpka, 1995). Finally, there are approaches for exploring the ways in which healthcare providers tend to reason in clinical contexts – such as situated action, an emerging perspective for studying human cognition and behaviour in order to design intelligent systems (Patel, Kaufman & Arocha, 1995).

Such models address the clinical tasks that are to be performed within specific guidelines and define criteria for selecting appropriate options when there is a set of potentials (Wang et al. , 2002).  The aim of this thesis is to develop a management information system model for process-oriented healthcare organisations, based on two questions: “What kinds of requirements do healthcare managers place on information systems? ” and “How can the work and information systems of healthcare managers and care providers be incorporated into process-oriented healthcare organisations? The work is based on a circular process, during which models are developed by collecting and categorising data, as well as by designing small-scale theories about information systems. Organisational process is defined as “a sequence of work procedures that jointly constitute complete healthcare services”. A work 3 Management Information Systems in Process-oriented Healthcare Organisations activity is defined as a set of work procedures that are closely related by virtue of their purpose and means of performance. A functional unit is the organisational venue responsible for a certain set of work activities.

Healthcare Information Systems (HIS), Management Information Systems (MIS) and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) all define computer-based information systems.  A qualitative research strategy, based on an idiographic case study, was employed. Qualitative research, which has evolved within several disciplines, consists of a set of interpretive practices. It does not accord priority to any single methodology for data collection and analysis, nor does it have a theory or paradigm that is distinctly its own (Denzin & Lincoln, 1998).

Qualitative research is best suited for understanding the processes inherent to a situation, along with the beliefs and perceptions of the people involved. Nevertheless, qualitative researchers can make their findings more widely applicable (Firestone, 1993). Furthermore, a case study is both a process of inquiry and the product of that inquiry (Stake, 2000). The researcher needs a wide array of information about the case in order to provide an in-depth assessment (Creswell, 1998). A primary distinction is between single-case and multiple–case designs of such studies (Yin, 1994).

A case study whose primary mode of research is hermeneutic is idiographic in a natural setting – its main type of data is qualitative and its fundamental level of analysis is holistic (Fishman 1999). Interpretive studies are well served by a considerable degree of openness to field data, along with willingness to re-examine initial assumptions and theories. The result is an iterative process of data collection and analysis during which initial theories are expanded upon, revised or abandoned altogether (Walsham, 1995).

The setting of the study was a paediatric clinic at a county hospital in Sweden. In 1996, the county council adopted a wide-ranging quality program based on TQM and a Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle. In 2000, the county council started using Balanced Scorecard to measure the healthcare organisation’s outcomes. At the time of the study, the county’s development and change program for 4 Management Information Systems in Process-oriented Healthcare Organisations organisational quality was based on a CAS strategy. Furthermore, a processoriented healthcare information system was being designed.

With some 30 clinics and 3,200 employees, the hospital had identified its main organisational objectives as the delivery of emergency and specialist healthcare, as well as county-wide rehabilitation and habilitation services. The purpose of habilitation is to enable someone with a congenital impairment, whereas rehabilitation focuses on recovering lost ability. Above and beyond the responsibilities of healthcare managers in accordance with the functional structure, all clinics at the hospital (including paediatrics) had developed work processes for specific groups of patients.

These Patient Need Group Processes (PNGPs) centred on the healthcare needs of individual patients. The main objective of the PNGPs was to cultivate and maintain a high level of knowledge about medical care at the paediatric clinic. The scope of the processes varied considerably. However, a PNGP unit always comprised at least a doctor, nurse and secretary. If necessary, several clinics, hospitals and county councils could collaborate on the same process. In order to improve nursing care, development teams, staffed by practitioners interested in development work, were set up.

Specific development areas included palliative care and the use of technical equipment. The teams produced documents concerning their specific areas that could prove of value for their co-workers. New work routines were developed for nursing care and for activities that are indirectly related to the patient care process, such as meal delivery, ordering medication and play therapy. The teams had contact people at each ward who were prepared to step in whenever nursing care problems arose.

The team members normally attended meetings during their free time – or overlapping time when two shifts were on duty simultaneously. The paediatric clinic also cooperated with maternity wards and a total of 13 Child Health Centres (CHCs) throughout the county. The clinic was part of a network of specialist clinics in southern Sweden that focused on the exchange of knowledge and experience. At the time of the study, the paediatric clinic employed 12 senior physicians, 21 physicians, 91 nurses, 77 paediatric nurses (specialist nurse’s aides) and 13 secretaries.

The management team consisted of six senior physicians, seven nurses and one secretary from the clinic. During the period of the study, the paediatric clinic supplied approximately 16,000 bed-days to inpatients, performed 5,000 scheduled surgical interventions and handled 5 Management Information Systems in Process-oriented Healthcare Organisations 6,000 emergency room visits by children. The paediatric clinic comprised one surgical unit and three wards, each with a physician responsible for medical matters and a nurse as manager.

The ward for neonatal patients had eight beds for intensive care and ten for prenatal care. The ward for contagious patients had 16 isolation rooms for newborn babies and contagious children. The institutional care ward for children older than a year had 18 beds. The clinic used 15 PNGPs. The collection of data was conducted throughout documents, archives, interviews, observations, diaries, focus groups and feedback loops. 2. 2. 1. Archival data Archival data was used to place the research into context before, during and after the studies at the clinical site (Drury, 2002).

An obvious danger posed by fixed data is that it can easily become outdated unbeknownst to the researcher. In these studies, archival data was related to: annual reports by the clinic; the county council’s quality pronouncements;  the government’s bill for the healthcare organisation; the physical and mental health survey of hospital employees;  reports concerning the county council’s development plans for an HIS. A common interviewing technique is to meet face to face (Fontana & Frey, 1998). The interview may be structured, semi-structured or unstructured.

The scope of an interview can range from five minutes to the lifetime of the subject (Fontana & Frey, 2000). This study involved semi-structured interviews with four doctors and four nurses. A series of open-ended questions addressed daily work routines and communication patterns. The holistic perspective of this approach identifies connections among the individual, societal and organisational levels. One of the techniques that have evolved is the diary method, which proceeds from subjective assessments of time utilisation. The various steps require a practitioner to enter time, activity, Management Information Systems in Process-oriented Healthcare Organisations location, the names of co-workers with whom they interact and other comments during a specified period (Ellegard, Nordell & Westermark, 1999). In this study, a ward nurse kept a diary during one workweek. She entered the nature of her work tasks, the times that she performed them and the names of the co-workers with whom she interacted.  Observation involves gathering impressions of the surrounding world. Qualitative observational research is fundamentally naturalistic (Adler & Adler, 1998).

There is “descriptive observation”, in which the researcher assumes that he or she knows nothing about what is going on and takes nothing for granted. He or she employs “focused observation”, ignoring that which is defined as irrelevant. Finally there is “selective observation”, the most systematic approach, during which the researcher concentrates on the attributes of various activities (Angrosino & Mays de Perez, 2000). This type of observation requires a notebook, a storage location for the data that is collected during the process (Ely, 1993).

The researcher observes and interacts with care providers at the paediatric wards before and after their rounds. Alongside the observations, the clinical staffs were interviewed again about what they were doing, why they were doing it, what they hoped to gain from an HIS and what benefits they expected. Field notes were entered into a log during the observation study.  A focus group’s planning process should begin as soon as it is set up. The process includes the following steps: establish research objectives, appoint a moderator, develop moderator guidelines and draw up procedures.

The moderator plays an important role during the group session. He or she conducts the interviews. It is important that the moderator not be the same person that put together the moderator guidelines and questions. In this study, a focus group session was held with seven nurses and three paediatric nurses, all of whom were women selected by a ward nurse. The participants had various duties at the paediatric clinic, where they had been employed for anywhere from 9? to 32 years. Five nurses were ward managers and two also managed development teams. They all had experience at each ward, as well as the paediatric surgery.

The researcher had furnished the group moderator with 7 Management Information Systems in Process-oriented Healthcare Organisations guidelines and questions (Greenbaum, 1993). The questions were based on the clinic’s profile of itself: administrative activities, care provision and development work. Questions also dealt with work activities and the exchange of information with other units. Some questions focused in on a patient’s relations with the care providers, as well as the time and place for the performance of care activities. The entire focus group session was videotaped and transcribed. Feedback loops throughout the research project permitted the generation of reports for evaluating data collection. A total of four reports were sent to the practitioners as a result of the case study. In addition, four seminars were held with the practitioners, the purpose of which was to discuss the research findings. The practitioners discussed and critiqued the results. There was no theory at the beginning as to how the material should be analysed. The first step was to break down healthcare management into the hospital, clinical and care process levels.

Statements from the various management levels were interpreted on the basis of information requirement, i. e. main objectives, system functions, expected benefits and risks to be avoided. The second step was the analysis of three main work activities, each with three work procedures, at the clinic level. The third step involved the design of a management information system model. All empirical data was categorised. Various themes were identified and classified. After the categories had been cross-compared and clustered, abstract new categories were defined (Strauss & Corbin, 1990).

The final analysis started with a category-by-category comparison, which enabled the identification of core categories that were sent to the paediatric clinic as a preliminary report for comment and critique (Glaser, 1978). Finally, the categories were modified in response to the comments. The focus was to come up with a context-based, process-oriented description and explanation of the phenomena (Orlikowski, 1993). The categories were incorporated into two small-scale theories. The first theory interpreted the information requirements of three management levels. The second theory interpreted the work processes employed by institutional care.

Management Information Systems in Process-oriented Healthcare Organisations

In order to conduct the final analysis, the two small-scale theories were applied to the modelling of a management information system. Various possible approaches included data modelling (Connolly, Begg & Strachan, 1996), function modelling and object-oriented modelling (Booch, Rumbaugh & Jacobson, 1999). To handle such approaches, various modelling languages have been developed, including the object-oriented Unified Modelling Language (UML) (Fowler & Kendall 1999).

The symbols and notations of the various languages can be difficult for the uninitiated to grasp (Sommerville & Sawyer, 2000). Furthermore, the notation and logic for modelling a system must work in tandem with the people involved in the development process. Thus, it is useful to visualise the information flow by means of a modelling approach, using notation and logic that have been established by consensus. As a result, the management information system models were designed in dialog with the practitioners in the case study.

The notation was taken from Eriksson & Penker’s (2000) business processes but modified on the basis of the discussions. 3. Results The results are presented in accordance with the three sub-analyses. The first sub-analysis focused on the requirements of healthcare managers for an HIS. The second sub-analysis focused on interpreting organisational and work processes in relation to the HIS. The third sub-analysis focused on designing a management information system model for process-oriented healthcare.

Hospital management expressed its intention to use an HIS to empower patients while maintaining control of resource utilisation. Thus, the planned HIS was expected to encourage a greater overall awareness of cost effectiveness with respect to the services provided by various units of the hospital. The biggest risk noted was that of a mismatch between the system and the existing organisational culture, in which it was easy to identify and reward employees who handled 1 Requirements and demands are used as synonym in this chapter and in article 1. 9 Management Information Systems in Process-oriented Healthcare Organisations mergencies. As a result, some of the staff appeared to resist a new way of transmitting information throughout the various levels of the organisation. The goals of the functional units (i. e. clinic management) focused on patients and the introduction of leadership based on co-determination. While management accepted patient empowerment and cost effectiveness as the their main objectives, they thought it was important that employees be allowed to make their own organisational decisions. Management wanted to see a new approach to measuring the activities of their organisational unit.

In order to achieve these goals, they sought a way to define the data that is essential to making a reliable estimate. In managing the healthcare process, the objectives of an HIS centred on developing and maintaining specific clinical competence by enhancing support for decision-making and co-operation on the part of care providers. While all the process managers agreed that sharing information and knowledge was important to improving the decision-making process, they were unaware of resource competition issues. However, the withholding of information was not always intentional.

Due to limited resources and full schedules, process managers were often unable to share their knowledge with other employees. Interpretation of organisational and work processes in relation to HIS Work activities included:  co-ordination of information exchange management; care, including documentation of the care provided and the practice that had evolved at the clinic; supply, including patient assistance and psychosocial support. The work procedures of the various activities were often related to and dependent on each other. Co-ordination activities were oriented toward management of the wards and the clinic.

The activities focused on co-ordinating various types of information in order to support the care effort. External co-ordination is related to the exchange of information between the paediatric clinic and other care units. This coordination continued after the patients had been discharged from the clinic. Thus, the coordination of external resources and inter-organisational collaboration was important to the management of the clinic. Patient co-ordination started before a patient was admitted to institutional care. There were two 10 Management Information Systems in Process-oriented Healthcare Organisations easons for such approaches. First, the amount of time that patients stayed at the wards proved expensive for the healthcare organisation. Thus, such approaches saved money. Second, these approaches enhanced the relationship between care providers and caretakers, assuming that patients and their families were kept well informed. Internal co-ordination was related to management and planning activities at the clinic and the wards. Such activities were linked to external and patient co-ordination, given that providers needed to cooperate with other units and patients in order to manage ward care.

Care activities were underpinned by what had been agreed upon during the coordination of work activities and the information that was to be used by various co-ordination procedures. Care provision involved medical and nursing care performed by physicians, nurses and paediatric nurses. Care activities were broken down among the various professions. But care was regarded as teamwork from the point of view of the patients. Thus, the work tasks of the various professions cumulatively became what are referred to as the outcome of care provision. Practice development took in both medical and nursing care issues.

The knowledge and information cultivated was incorporated into the ordinary work routines of the paediatric clinic. Care documentation activities were linked to care work and development efforts. Documentation provides protection for both care providers and patients. Care documentation served as a means of communication among care providers. Supply activities were indirectly related to care activities. Among employees who performed supply activities were nurses, paediatric nurses, kitchen staff, cleaning staff, play therapists and teachers. Material provision furnished care activities with pharmaceuticals, equipment and materials.

Based on the resources that material provision furnished to care activities on a daily basis, estimates were prepared concerning the resources the activities would require over time. Bandages, diapers, syringes, etc. were also a part of material provision. Material provision also included equipment and supplies for play and school activities, such as games, videotapes and textbooks, as well as kitchen and cleaning supplies. Psychosocial support activities called for an information system that could offer emotional support, such as administrative tasks associated with permitting patients to have their own personal phones.

Thus, psychosocial support depended on the ability of patient co-ordination efforts to proceed smoothly, assuming that both patients and their families could be kept well 11 Management Information Systems in Process-oriented Healthcare Organisations informed. The main purpose of Patient assistance, which included both material provision and psychosocial activities, was to assist care activities. Such activities were related to supporting the physical and mental well-being of patients while undergoing medical and nursing care.

A management information system model for process-oriented healthcare. The county council formally required that hospital management monitor and report on service production with regard to quality and cost. As a result, hospital management needed data about resource utilisation and healthcare quality from the hospital organisation, along with information systems that could support methods such as Total Quality Management (TQM) and Balanced Scorecard. To monitor costs and quality, hospital management needed data from the functional units after determining what needed to be collected.

The focus of process management was developing and maintaining a high level of quality in the medical and nursing care processes. The process unit was responsible for documentation and quality control operations. Process management needed directives from the functional management unit about both data collection templates and quality for medical and nursing care. Process management generated information about medical and nursing quality data for functional unit management. Best practice guidelines and decision support protocols for clinical practitioners were involved in the clinical process.

The HIS application required by process management was a service quality control system that could extract data from and support decision making for medical and nursing care. Functional unit management comprised managers at both the clinic and ward levels. Clinic management organised the monitoring of the clinic’s resources, while ward managers co-coordinated the exchange of information at the wards. Functional unit management requested information about resource allocation specifications and templates for expenditure reports, as well as for patient satisfaction and staff work satisfaction data, from hospital management.

Functional unit management needed data concerning the perceptions of patients and staff with regard to the services provided by the unit. Management was also looking for a way to relate its expenditures to resources utilised. In other words, its primary needs were in the areas of data collection, storage and access tools. Management Information Systems in Process-oriented Healthcare Organisations. Thus, functional unit management required data from clinical activities, but not at an individual or contextual level.

The systems it was seeking were to supply data for use at a composite level, including the volume of financial and human resources that specified care activities necessitated. To monitor service delivery, management units in process-oriented healthcare organisations need data in three distinct areas:  medical and nursing care,  patient flows and  the utilisation of human and material resources. Although the management units may have access to a common data warehouse, requirements for data analysis and presentation vary considerably.

Similarly, data collected from the healthcare organisation during daily work routines can be shared, but the primary data must be converted into a format that is usable by healthcare managers. The data that is collected should ideally be located where it can be made available to ordinary healthcare activities. For instance, networked devices can be used to monitor pharmaceutical use. Intelligent devices can also be connected to equipment in order to track their use, and material storage and use (diapers, sheets, etc. ) can be traced by bar-code systems.

Furthermore, patients and healthcare staff can be registered with smart cards as they come and go. However, computerised patient records (CPRs) are the most logical central resource for data collection in the clinical setting. The data that is documented in the records can be used to monitor the clinical activities that have been performed. CPRs can also furnish data about work activities at the healthcare organisation. Such data is of little value as long as it is limited to individual patients. What is useful is to analyse cumulative data, such as the number of radiology examinations that have been conducted on leukaemia patients.

The purpose of the data warehouse is to store what has been collected from various sources. The application and its interface are the parts of the HIS with which healthcare managers interact and with which users most readily identify. Thus, the application must help healthcare managers use information and must supply the right information to the right healthcare managers. Moreover, the application must support the specific analysis methods, tools and data formats required by current organisational analysis procedures, such as Balanced Scorecard and quality assurance methods.

Discussion

The aim of this thesis was to develop a management information system model for process-oriented healthcare organisations. The research effort employed qualitative methods such as archival data analyses, interviews, observations, diary analyses and focus group analyses. Constant feedback loops among the participants in an idiographic case study helped establish a balanced interpretation. Meanwhile, categorising and modelling formed the pattern of interpretation for the management information system model.

The main findings of the study are that an HIS in a process-oriented organisation must support the medical work, integrate clinical and administrative tools, and furnish information that allows for the measurement of organisational inputs and outcomes. As a result, it is important to identify the multiple roles that information plays in a process-oriented healthcare organisation. Most of the organisational development methods that healthcare currently takes advantage of, such as reengineering and quality management, include process definitions. However, the interaction between various groups of processes has seldom been analysed.

Several recent organisational methods, such as Balanced Scorecard (Kaplan & Norton, 1996), address the problem of relating costs to resources. The areas in which information systems are expected to enhance care delivery range from access to medical knowledge bases, patient and clinician communication, and the minimisation of medical errors. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to how integrated administrative, financial and clinical systems should be configured in order to support process-oriented healthcare organisations in an optimal manner.

Internal co-ordination is informed by and dependent on documentation of care activities, particularly by monitoring the way in which human resources are harnessed to take care of patients. Furthermore, such co-ordination relies on information about the utilisation of material resources, i. e. durable equipment and disposables. Thus, internal coordination must obtain information from care activities in order to synchronise the work of the clinic, as well as to track costs associated with care and supply activities. The various processes monitor costs and allocate resources, relating them to the kinds of care activities that have been provided.

The third sub-analysis discovered that the various management levels in process-oriented healthcare organisations need the same type of primary data, though in differing formats. An HIS for healthcare management in a processoriented healthcare setting can adhere to its structure and practice activities. Moreover, CPRs and other tools can be used to directly collect management data where and when the activities take place. But the data is useful only if healthcare management has the opportunity to examine it with its own analysis tools.

For instance, while computerised ordering systems are regarded as important, the fit between organisational and information system models is not identified as a success factor. Clearly, there is a need for systems that optimise clinical workflow, as well as those that support the maintenance of equipment and supplies. However, systems provide optimal organisational value only if they support an integrated organisational model and business plan. 5. Conclusions This thesis points out that healthcare managers at different levels in an organisation all need the same primary data.

The differences among the various management levels all concern the ways in which they compile the data that they need for their work. One problem when developing management information systems for healthcare organisations has been a lack of interest in integrating administrative, financial and clinical systems. In process-oriented healthcare organisations, integration is essential to obtaining the full benefits of such a structure. System thinking must also pervade the development of healthcare management information systems.

As a result, the multiple roles played by information in process-oriented healthcare organisations must be identified. Future work Identifying the multiple roles played by information in a process-oriented healthcare setting requires additional research about the process of designing an HIS. In the complex environment that healthcare organisations represent, various practitioners are required to pinpoint data sources and information 15 Management Information Systems in Process-oriented Healthcare Organisations requirements, as well as to advocate for the process of change in the organisational and information structure.

Healthcare managers have differing preferences when it comes to information requirements, organisational processes and work activities. Thus, the development process relies on tools that can incorporate those divergent needs into system thinking. As a result, primary data is refined into information differently at the various levels of a processoriented healthcare organisation. More research is required concerning information system models and their notation. Though various groups (system analysts, designers, programmers and healthcare managers) can employ models and modelling activities during a development process, their objectives differ.

Healthcare managers need to visualise their work environment and organisational processes, system analysts are interested in developing information systems in collaboration with designers, and programmers are looking for coding specifications. They may share a vision in terms of designing a healthcare information system, but their perspectives vary. Thus, the modelling effort should be based on at least two dimensions:  furnishing models with notations and objectives oriented towards specific groups; ensuring that the models visualise the same system but address varying interpretations.

Arguments based on the cognitive and practice perspective have identified prototyping as a fruitful approach to the development process (Houde &Hill, 1997). Prototyping is often used when the design calls for a high degree of involvement on the part of practitioners and end-users (Bodker & Gronb? k, 1991). Modelling, on the other hand, is linked to an organisational perspective and is frequently employed by system analysis methods. Thus, there is an opportunity to combine these two perspectives during the development process.

Modelling is useful as part of a design theory with a high degree of practitioner involvement alongside of system analysts, designers and programmers. The process can subsequently be analysed based on the representations in the models that emerge from the requirements of the various groups. Additional research should examine what the groups need when it comes to the substance of the models, how the models are to be visualised and the ways in which they can interact with the differing requirements of the groups in order to ensure a fruitful development process.

References

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The importance of quality information in making quality decisions cannot be overemphasized. Quality decision making demands the availability of timely, accurate, and timely information (Ajayi & Fadekemi, 2007, p. 109; Shanteau, 2001, p. 913; Post & Anderson, 2005). Information can either be descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, or prescriptive (Harsh, 2005). As organizational structures become more complex, so does the need to improve the coordination between departments.

In the highly volatile, dynamic, and competitive 21st century business environment, the success of any company largely depends on the managers’ ability to utilize information in making decisions concerning new products, suppliers, customers, business opportunities, markets, and technological developments (de Alwis & Higgins, 2001). Management Information Systems (MIS) coordinates the collection, processing, storage, and transmission of information used to support management operations. Since decision making is a core administrative function, its success is partly dependent on the availability of quality information (Ajayi & Fadekemi, 2007, p. 109).

MIS as well as the information generated by such systems are an essentiality in prudent and reasonable organizational decisions. In every organization, the development and maintenance of management information systems is governed by clearly defined guidelines, policies, procedures, and standards. Again, since MIS links almost all levels of management, it must support the long term strategic goals of the organization or company. However, the success of any MIS depends on the timeliness, accuracy, consistency, completeness, and relevance of information (CCANB, 1995; Oz, 2008).

Over the past decade, the global market place has become highly dynamic and volatile. With increasing globalization and internationalization, technological advancements, increased brand promiscuity, media fragmentation of customers, and the persistent quest for added value and competitive advantages; companies have been forced to integrate management information systems into their operations so as to provide reliable information to facilitate the resolution of both structured and unstructured problems.

Since sound decision making is central to superior organizational performance, the processes through which the facilitative information is generated must be secured and controlled (Post & Anderson, 2005). Some authors have wittingly referred to the 21st century as “Asia-Pacific century”. More than ever, the region has emerged as a key economic player in global economics. More importantly, Asian managers are encouraged to espouse creative and innovative management options to maintain their competitive edge.

As such managers must strive to make decisions that appreciate the constant changes in information concerning benchmark data, market trends, productivity indicators, and key performance indicators (de Alwis & Higgins, 2001). Due to the paucity of research into the nature of the interplay between MIS and decision making in Kuwaiti companies, this study attempts not only to bridge this knowledge gap but also highlight the need for transformative change in Kuwaiti companies.

For instance, a majority of Kuwaiti companies operate within organizational structures that are characterized by inertia, hardness, and non responsiveness to changing economic, social, and technological developments. It can be argued that the information base utilized by most Kuwaiti companies is redundant, irrelevant or unappreciative to the changes in global market place. For this reason, the study draws the attention of Kuwaiti managers to the benefits of having a management information system which supports critical strategic and operational decision making on real time basis.

Zain Telecommunications is one Kuwaiti company that has since recognized the value of MIS in decision making. Currently, Zain Telecommunications is in the process of organizational restructuring to exploit the gains in competitive advantage. This study examines these changes and the subsequent decision making benefits accruing from the implementation of large scale highly integrated management information systems.

1. 2. The Context of the Research Zain Telecommunications is an important case study of the influence of MIS on decision making. Zain was established as Mobile Telecommunications Co. (MTC) in Kuwait in 1983. Currently, Zain group has a market capitalization of more than USD 7. 5 billion has its headquarters in Bahrain. Currently, Zain has over 70 million active subscribers in 26 Middle Eastern and African countries.

The Group’s Chief Information Officer together with top executives has been instrumental in the implementation of cordin8 TenStep/Program Management Office (PPMO) as a way of transforming the global operations of the conglomerate. The integration of PPMO into the corporate technological infrastructure is in line with the ambitions of the 3x3x3 vision; a 2003 initiated strategy directing the transformation of Kuwaiti Mobile Telecommunications Company over a nine year old period (Cordin8 Technologies, 2008).

While the first and second phases involved partnerships, acquisitions, and green field opportunities to drive regional and global expansion which culminated into the establishment of Zain operations in over 22 countries by 2008, the last phase of the vision is objectively guided towards positioning Zain as one of the largest telecommunication companies in the world by 2011.

In preparation for the last three years of the vision, Zain led the establishment of a Group Information Technology Program Management Office (PMO) aimed at rapidly integrating acquired companies, operating companies (OpCos), and partners into a single corporate knowledge base. It is this desire that led to the choice of cordin8 which is a web 2.0 based collaborative platform instrumental in building solutions. One of the most important solutions under cordin8 is the PPMO in which the TenStep Project Management process is incorporated. PPMO is congruent to the Project Management Body of Knowledge Guide (PMBOK Guide) developed by the Project Management Institute (PMI) (Cordin8 Technologies, 2008).

From the first implementation of this MIS in the data center in Bahrain: Zain’s headquarters, the company is gradually rolling out the processes to partner corporate groups and operating companies in several countries. Due to the ability of cordin8 TenStep/PPMO to integrate most of the Group’s IT programs including the ERP Program Zain ME, Omnix NAMS, Business Intelligence/Date Warehouse Programs, and Zain Group’s IT Operational Program, the importance of the MIS cannot be overemphasized (Cordin8 Technologies, 2008).

As you may or may non cognize, an Information System is a aggregation of hardware, package, informations, people, and processs that work together to bring forth quality information and instruction is the procedure of geting cognition. How do people get this cognition you may be believing? Well, they learn from other people such as pedagogues, employers and workers. There are many signifiers of stuffs that are used in instruction. The traditional stuffs would be the text books and manuals used for acquisition tools, but in todays times it ‘s a different narrative. Educators are now turning to computing machines to help them with larning. This new manner of acquisition is going highly popular and is realy distributing fast. Not merely can you utilize information systems inside the schoolroom to attach to face to confront larning but it can besides be used for distance acquisition.

Learning has no boundries when it comes to IS. The Internet allows pupil to hold to entree to an eternal sum of information for research intents.Students of all ages can utilize on-line activities that relate to their capable affair and keyboarding accomplishments are being developed at really early ages. In order to succed and derive more cognition about our information-rich society, pupils must be able to utilize this engineering efficaciously, both in an educational scene and beyond.

The instructors of today are confronting many challenges and alterations, it is going an progressively more hard occupation because of the immense sums of outlooks. By utilizing engineering in learning it can really assist with many outlooks faced by the pedagogues of today. IS alterations from twelvemonth to twelvemonth therefore it is of import for a instructor to take portion in professional development in engineering. Professional development ensures that engineering is used eficiently and efficaciously in order to make new chances for larning and to advance pupil accomplishment.

In a manner, Information Systems have become the anchor of modern instruction. It allows schools to hive away valuable pupil information and assists the disposal section with the direction of the full school. When an IS tool is good to larning, it benefits learning. If an IS tool is good to learning, it in bend benefits disposal and the learning pupils and so on. It is a collaborative attempt which affects all facets of instruction.

Teachers can show many IS tools to pupils in order to assistance in the acquisition procedure. Examples of these acquisition tools would be E-learning, Web TC, online categories, construct maps and distance acquisition are all classified as signifiers of instructional engineering. Distance acquisition has many benefits, these include leting pupils to go to categories when the state of affairs does non allow them to go to the on-campus talk, it gives the pupils flexibleness to work on assignments when their agenda permits them to and in bend this releases a pupil from go toing a category where a set twenty-four hours and clip is scheduled. Students besides have the priviledge to make synergistic teamwork between groups every bit good as have the chance to cormmunicate with people from different backgrounds, civilizations from all around the universe.

Having IS capablenesss in the schoolroom allows pupils to hold mention stuffs at their fingertips. The web is non merely a beginning for communicating but can besides supply mention for an tremendous figure of subjects. Today ‘s web non merely consists of Web sites where information on assorted subjects can be found but it contains pictures where the ocular scholar can analyze subjects in a manner that they process information. This resource provides pedagogues with prosecuting digital resources to be more effectual in the schoolroom and in bend addition pupil involvement by linking the schoolroom to an abundant sum of information from around the universe. When utilizing such resources, the instructor is now a facilitator in larning the capable stuff and non person who is talking the stuffs like in the yesteryear.

The bulk of the determinations made within educational establishments are made from analysing informations this information is collected by the usage of IS engineering. Examples of IS engineering would be an on-line trials ( such as Exam View or Quiz Star ) where pupils take trials online and recieve their consequences about immediatly. This on-line tool so shops the trial and the memo to the trial, but will besides hive away the pupils replies. A study can be instantly generated after the trial has been completed. The information from the studies will instantly be available for instructors so they can be shown where the pupils are fighting.

A common illustration of the usage of this engineering in the schoolroom are pupils utilizing computing machines for research undertakings, computing machine package and presentations. Assorted applications are taught to pupils on a day-to-day footing. Due to the fact that today ‘s pupils learn in many different ways, instructors need to calculate out variou effectual methods for them to acquire that information. The regulations of the past bash non use to the pupils of today. Alternatively of the pupils necessitating to accommodate to suit the cast of what the instructor expects, the instructor needs to accommodate the manner they deliver that information to the pupils.

IS helps better instruction in the schoolroom due to the fact that it gives the instructor the chance to educate the pupils many different ways. It requires pupils to believe outside the box and acquire a better apprehension of the information that is being presented to them. Students besides have a opportunity to research thoughts on manus and do their acquisition more meaningful and relevant. In the yesteryear, instruction was one dimensional. However, due to engineering altering the ambiance in the schoolroom, instruction is now teacher directed, but pupils can go farther engaged with helping the instructors lesson with the provided engineering at a chink of a button. Teachers besides have to set up a ground for utilizing IS in the schoolroom and have to do the instruction successful for their pupils. In order for learning to be effectual instructors need to let flexibleness in the lessons prepared on a day-to-day footing.

In the society of today, information systems are altering quickly twenty-four hours by twenty-four hours. There are many different manners of engineering that can be use to hike acquisition for pupils. These manners of engineering can run from Power Point presentations to mobile laptops with Internet entree for each pupil. With engineering like this in the schoolroom the pupils get a much better quality of larning. Nowdays information systems are going easier and easier to utilize and this makes it more convenient for pupils who wants to make research and happen solutions to there jobs. Students gain cognition through computing machines where engineering is used basically as a coach and serves to increase the pupils basic accomplishments and cognition and where engineering is used as a tool that can be applied to a assortment of ends in the acquisition procedure which can function as a resource to assist develop higher order thought, creativeness and research accomplishments.

Communication is highly of import if you want the right message to be delivered. There are many different ways to pass on. Using the right method for its bringing is merely every bit of import. In the past instructors and pupils would do presentations in category and would utilize flip-charts, overhead projectors, or blackboards as their primary medium. Now, we have electronic whiteboards that record what the instructor writes, so pupils can entree the animated or narrated information on a computing machine for alteration after the presentation. Power Point presentations can besides be used, in which we can incorporate text, picture, sound, artworks, links to other paperss, or links to the Internet. This widespread application allows both pupils and instructors to pass on in a truly multimedia format. Social networking sites, electronic mail ( e-mail ) , and web logs ( web logs ) are three more agencies of easing communicating among pupils.

Collaboration is now simpler than of all time due to the usage of online tools and package that allows pupils and pedagogues to work together on undertakings. Wikis, web seminars, and video conference calls are a few ways that pupils and instructors can come together and portion information with other pupils and co-workers.

Communication can besides be done via the Web. Students can link to the cyberspace by utilizing either Dial-up entree, radio webs, DSL ( Digital Subscriber Line ) , satellite modems or overseas telegram modems. Many schools of today have Web sites that connect users to school calendars, upcoming featuring events, contact information for the school and pedagogues, library resources and a batch more. If IS did non be this would wholly be impossible to make. This method of communicating allows schools relay information to parents and pupils in a timely mode. Lots of schools have incorporated a type of IS that allows parents and defenders to hold entree to their kid ‘s consequences and attending record. In a nut shell parents sign up for their ain user name and watchword and so they have sole entree to this type of information. Via this IS tool, schools can hold 24/7 communicating with parents to inform them of their kid ‘s advancement in each category.

When pupils graduate and enter into the on the job universe, they must be equipped with the necessary accomplishments to vie in an international market. An illustration of a accomplishment would being able to video conference which removes the boundaries of a traditional schoolroom. The pupils are able to derive valuable cognition that is outside of the text edition by speaking to pupils in that state. From the pedagogues ‘ point of view, computing machine applications allow for them to take a traditional schoolroom and turn it into a practical schoolroom.

In the schoolroom, the assorted types of engineering deliver different signifiers of content and serve many different intents. Examples of this would be word processing and e-mailing which promote communicating accomplishments, database and spreadsheet plans which promote organisational accomplishments, every bit good as patterning package which encourages the apprehension of mathematic every bit good as scientific constructs.

Educators and pupils likewise are both looking for better ways to present and larn information. Most educational plans use a computer-based preparation attack. Schools are rapidly accommodating to thse preparation plans and it in bend aids pupils in larning. The benefits that information systems give to the educational procedure are endless.

Currently there are some limitations as to the number of stores that could participate in this project due to the location issue. At the moment Somerfield is looking to install only in its 330 neighbourhood stores where the location allow this to happen. Thus there will some issues to resolve with the rest of the stores including forecourts. Recommendations To respond even better to the customer demand, the author would recommend developing a personalized catalogue of the favourite products for the customer s every time they log to the system.

Personalization is great tool to maintain the loyalty of the customers. Thus by having the confidence of the customers over the security of the transactions the company could take an advantage of in storing the customers’ card detail into their home delivery card. As the last the things the customer want is to enter sixteen digit card number, date of birth. They want to click on product, chose “purchase now” and have it delivered home within a certain time. Personalisation will help to monitor the customer buying habits.

At the end of the day the only goal of the company is to generate income, increase brand awareness, become number in grocery convenience market, that’s why the company should choose very clever memorable advertising campaign to achieve its targets. Knowledge of what to expect takes the fear out of buying and thus encourages transaction to happen. The company would need to forecast very closely the customer demand especially during busy trading periods I. e. Christmas, Easter.

By using the personalization and home deliver cards as loyalty card, the company will save later on the costs on direct marketing and will be able to use vouchers and coups so popular among the customers of Tesco and Sainsbury’s. The author has expressed earlier her anxiety over the trust in using the innovative e-business technology by the customers. According to Amit (2000), in order to improve and stabilize the trust factor in customers, the company should adopt five primary components to the highest possible standards: Conclusions

This new device will help Somerfield to speed the operations, enhance the productivity, reach new customers, bring to the business new competitive advantage. This e-business project includes does not simply include the new technology but the elements of cooperation of customer relationship marketing ( CRM) , supply management, internal resource planning. The company will partial E- Business with the mix of digital and physical aspects, as Somerfield – is a standard brick-and-mortar organisation with the primary physical business activities but conducting e-business activities.

All companies operate within the environment which is effected by the certain factors. Due to the nature of business Somerfield is influenced by the needs of the customers and how the services are provided to them through competitors and intermediaries and via upstream suppliers. It is worth to mention the great influence provided by local and international economic conditions and legislation, as well as technological innovation are vital in providing superior services to competitors or through changing the shape of the marketplace.

If the project is successful, Somerfield has an opportunity to further improve the sales, increase the share price, maintain the loyalty of its customers, and confirm its leadership position on the British market. This project will also show the standard of the internal operations, cooperation and communication practice internally. The company faces a set of challenges: externally and internally.

The company would need to overcome internal barriers: Internal readiness of the company should facilitate the level of the external influence on the company profitability by such factors I. e. customer resistance to the technology, competitors activities. Supply chain could play a vital role here. The most important three elements in supply chain management system are time, transparency and trust. Where the responsiveness, new information technology, reliability play very important role too. The company has to test fully before any implementation takes place. The company’ willingness to set up such new service will guarantee the future success if the company will follow its strategy goal and set action plan.

The main aim of technology is to achieve customer relationship management (CRM) is a key element. To build long-term relationship with customers is essential. Reicheld and Schefter (2000) say that if you can keep the customers loyal , the profitability of the company accelerates much faster than in traditional business. Korper (2001) states that retails offers three types of customers: the customers who know what they want and go get it , the customers who want to buy something but are undecided, and the potential customers who merely do use e-business technology.

Somerfield should need to concentrate on the customers who are dedicated to shopping, who came for a product and wants to quickly and easily purchase that product. In order to give what they want, Somerfield will consider the following steps: 1. Ease of use of the technology. It involves simplicity in access and in navigation. The customers are used to speedy and user friendly technology. 2. Privacy. The company should provide everything necessary to maintain secure e-transaction. Customer’s confidence is extremely important here. Responsiveness. The customers expect full reliable company’s responsiveness in any matters.

References

1, Somerfield. The company facts. Available at http://www. somerfieldgroup. co. uk/index. asp? sid=201&press_ID=1182 (last accessed 17 August 2008) 2. Somerfeld. The company business profile. Available at http://www. somerfieldgroup. co. uk/download/factpack. pdf ( last accessed 17 August 2008) 3. Coop Society. Annual report 2007. Available at http://www. midlandsco-op. com/annualreport/ ( last accessed 25 August 2008)

On the basis of the decision making stands information, as one of the main elements that determine the evolution of our-days society. As a consequence, data analysis tends to become a priority in the activity of an organization for decision-making. The diversity and the dynamic evolution of tools and technologies from the Business Intelligence category, represent a positive factor,wilt a decisive role, In the evolution of decision-making systems and Implicit In Increasing quality of decisions.

For an organization, Business Intelligence technologies are strong and complex tools for analysis, reporting and prognosis in which the core Is data warehouse. This paper aims to highlight the essential role of Business Intelligence in order to increase the quality and timeliness of inputs to the decision process. Keywords: business Intelligence, competitive advantage, knowledge, decision making, organizational performance, sustainability Introduction In today’s highly competitive environment, business organizations need to act fast in order to secure their financial situations and their market positions.

Firms are continuously striving for ways to attain a sustainable competitive advantage. They deed to count more on their Internal distinguished strengths to provide more added customer value, strong differentiation and extendibility. Business decision making is a highly complicated process that most business organizations need to survive in the competitive environment which becomes progressively restraining. This type of competition shows that there is an increasing need for informational assistance to facilitate decision makers to produce fast, In time and accurate decisions.

Statement of the problem Information technology Is the enabler that supports the core business of an organization (Evans, 2003:2). However it is important to establish the best information solution that not only supports the goals and operations of an organization but also holds the potential to give the organization a competitive advantage. Business Intelligence Is said to offer a way to navigate through data to generate information typically by using Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) which provide a way to use querying, analyzing and reporting.

Business Intelligence uses various kinds of functions that convert data into something tangible, clear, true and realistic as possible and can be relied upon in the decision making process. The hypotheses reposed is that organizations are aware of the advantages of implementing a Bal system, but that they do not fully understand how it can benefit the organization, taking the cost factor into account, and how It can with what the current have In their organization. The mall focus of this research Is to determine the Impact of within organizations.

The research is based on qualitative case study research methodology executed on interviews with management from five different organizations, namely Sandal with be referred to as company A, Business Partners will be referred to as company B, Pick And Pay will be referred to as company C, Statelessness Municipality will be referred to as company D and Oven that will be referred to as company E in this research report. Research Methodology The research methodology is based on two methods, namely literature reviews and case study methodology.

The purpose of the literature reviews was to establish the terminology and to identify the issues that are applicable to the research. The literature reviews provides background to evaluate and compare scenarios in the various companies researched. An empirical method is used in the case study. The case study tends to provide a qualitative empirical research rather than a initiative research. Qualitative research indicates that the research is accurate in observations that can be used as general indicators, and may be applicable to other cases.

According to (Yin, 1994:1) case study methodology is the preferred research methodology when the researcher uses questions, which include “why’ or “how’ to collect real-life context. “Questions being asked are related to contemporary set of events over which the investigator has little or no control” Case Study design The case study design follows the approach of a multiple-case design, which implies that certain aspects of each case may be studied.

The advantage of a multiple-case study is that the different case studies can be compared to provide a better understanding of the current scenarios to make it applicable for general use (Olivier, 2004:99). Five different organizations was approached to participate in the research as mentioned earlier and will be referred to company A,B,C,D and E. Company A, B and E are from the financial sector, company C is from retail sector and company D is from governmental sector.

A prerequisite was that the interviewees should have a broad knowledge of information technology and be on a managerial level with a umber of years experience in the organization. It was necessary for the interviews to be able to provide information from a strategic viewpoint but also be able to provide scenarios for description purposes. Although the interviewees have different titles for their respective designations, the interviewees have vast experience in their field and could contribute extensively to the research project.

Case Study Protocol

The purpose of the case study was protocol is to identify precisely what aspects will be studied. The protocol is used to provide an understanding of what is expected to e learnt from the case studies and to provide information for the states hypothesis. A formal questionnaire is used as the case study protocol to establish a more controlled research methodology. The questions derived from the literature study allow for a more focused approach during the execution of the case studies. It was expected that questions could encourage the interviewees to provide more information than directly requested.

Data Collection

The research project used a qualitative approach, when collecting data as the responses to the questions one cannot measure the answers numerically as issues such as the value of Bal systems could only be expressed in quantitative terms. As gathered. The variety of information has the inherent possibility of supporting the theory to be tested. Tape recordings have been made of all interviews. The questionnaire, which was used during the interviews, is available in annexed A of this document.

Analysis Brief Definition of Bal

Companies A,B,C,D and E in a nut shell defines Bal as a collection of decision support technologies aimed at enabling knowledge workers such as executives, managers and analyst to make better and faster decisions. It is relatively easy to access the benefits deriving from information quality improvement goals of BIBS. It aims at reducing the gap between the amount of data organizations collect and the quality and the amount of quality information available to users on the tactical and strategic level of business decisions.

It is important to note that the amount of information increases slower than the number of decisions that (should) have appropriate information support. The intuition in business decisions is still important; however, its role has shifted towards a more supplementary element within the structured decision process that is based on information in all phases, I. E. Fact-based decision-making. In business practice, this information gap comes in different forms.

Among others, the common thread found among the companies researched is:

• Data required for analysis is located in different sources that are hard to integrate
• Data sources are inconsistent.
• Management gets extensive reports that are rarely used or inappropriate.

There is quite some data within organizations they are unaware of.  Data within operational databases is not properly arranged to support management’s decision.  For “non-technical” analysts, it is a complicated and time consuming activity to repaper reports and execute queries. Traditional tools for querying and reports are, despite a graphical user interface, hard to use.

Due to an increased need for information in analytical decision processes, IS staff plays a role of data steward: integrate data from different sources, prepare reports, aggregate data, etc.  Analysts take too much time to gather the required information instead of its analysis.  There is lack of external and/or competitive information to support decision- making, data owners are too protective of information, and there are limitations of incompatible software/hardware systems

Of the five interviews conducted only company E indicated that they had a Bal system in place. The other four however indicated that there is a definite need for a Bal system to be implemented, as it would lead to effective decision making, and be an enabler for future sustainability as well as competitiveness. The responses from (Solomon Engage, Volvo,13. 2004. ) Bal assists in strategic and operational decision making.

Optimizing customer relations, monitoring business activity, and traditional decision support . Packaged standalone Bal applications for specific operations or strategies . Management reporting of business intelligence. One implication of this ranking is that merely reporting the performance of a firm and its competitors, which is the strength of many existing software packages, is not enough. A second implication is that too many firms still view business intelligence (like ADS and SIS before it) as an inward looking function.

Business intelligence is a natural outgrowth of a series of previous systems designed to support decision making. The emergence of the data warehouse as a repository, the advances in data leaning that lead to a single truth, the greater capabilities of hardware and software, and the boom of Internet technologies that provided the prevalent user interface all combine to create a richer business intelligence environment than was available previously. Bal pulls information from many other systems. The diagram shown below depicts there understanding of what an integrated system looks like.

Bal converts data into useful information and, through human analysis, into knowledge. Some of the tasks performed by Bal are: Creating forecasts based on historical data, past and current performance, and estimates of the direction in which the future will go.  “What if” analysis of the impacts of changes and alternative scenarios.  Ad hoc access to the data to answer specific, non-routine questions.  Strategic insight Company E, having a Bal system in place enlightens us with the following critical factors / characteristics surrounding Bal in there organization.

The concept of business intelligence systems Well-built business intelligence systems can provide the ability to analyses business information in order to support and improve management decisions making across a broad range of business activities. Company E invested a substantial amount of money in a Bal system. There is however no method to measure the realized business value brought about thus far. Bal systems have the potential to maximize the use of information by improving the companies capacity to structure a large volume of information and make it accessible thereby creating competitive advantage, competing on analytics. Bal utilizes a substantial amount of collected data during the daily operational processes, and transforms the data into information and knowledge”, says Company E. The main characteristics of BIBS are the capability of roving representative information to the high level management to support strategic activities such as goal setting, planning and forecasting as well as tracking performance. This is used to gather, analyses and integrate both internal and external data into dynamic profiles of key performance indicators. Bal can access both historical and real time data. In essence managers at every level cam have a into meaningful indicators.

Executives need information for strategic and tactical decision that often requires the combination of data from ERP and non-ERP application sources. The usual reports developed from daily transactions does not satisfy the business needs, an executive cannot take a real time decision based on a hundred pages per month cash-flow detailed report. Information must be aggregated and presented with a template based on a business model. In the table below represents the main differences between ERP reports (confirmed via interview’s that it is the most widely used) and BIBS reports generated by company D.

ERP systems are transaction processing and weak on analytics. Strategic and executives managers demand for technology solutions that they can extract, analyses and virtual information from ERP and standalone systems and this has provided a motivation for new type of information such as BIBS. The components of these types of systems are based on innovative technologies such as data warehousing, OLAP, data mining, friendly graphical user interfaces, integrating tools capable of collecting, processing, storing and retrieving data from different sources.

Business Intelligence Architecture BIBS architecture is structured on three distinct levels:  Data Management – is represented by relational databases, data warehouses and other type of data sources. At this level is common to use a data warehousing solution that collects and organizes data from both internal and external sources and makes it available for the purpose of analysis. A data warehouse contains both historical and current data and it is optimized for fast query and analysis. Data warehouses extract, transform and process data for high-level integration and analysis.

Although a data warehouse can make it easier and more efficient to use the BIBS, it is not required for a BIBS to be deployed. Organizations can extract data directly from their host system database for their analysis and reporting purposes, but in a ore difficult way.  Model Management – is the level of data extraction, transformation and processing. This level is based on different type of models for statistic interpretation, analysis and forecasting data. At this level, we can find technologies like OLAP, data mining and analytical reporting.

The OLAP engine is a query generator that provides users with the ability to explore and analyses summary and detailed information from a multi-dimensional database. Traditional relational database systems handle this situation by using multiple queries. In many cases, the aeries become so complex that even the developer finds them difficult to maintain. OLAP overcomes this barrier by enabling users to analyze multi-dimensional data. Managers can use an OLAP engine or typical operation like “slice and dice” data by various dimensions and then drill down into the source data or roll-up to aggregate levels.

OLAP provide tools for forecasting data and “what-if” analysis. OLAP can only mark the trends and patterns within the data that was requested. It will not discover hidden relationships or patterns, which requires more powerful tools like data mining (DIM). These tools are especially appropriate for large and complex datasets. Through statistical or modeling techniques, data mining tools make it possible to discover hidden trends or rules that are implicit in a large database. Data mining discovered by these tools must be validated and verified and then to become operational data that can be used in decision process.

LOAM(on-line analytical data mining) systems are OLAP systems used for data mining, used to discover new information from multidimensional-data. Data Visualization Tools – provide a visual drill-down capacity that can help managers examine data graphically and identify complex interrelationships. BIBS attempts to present data in a form that is relevant for strategic decisions. At this level, one can find tools for reporting and presenting data in a friendly manner. A very efficient solution that can be used also to integrate data is to develop a business intelligence portal.

The main purpose of a Bal portal is to integrate data and information from a wide range of applications and repositories, in order to allow visualization of a multitude of systems, either internal or external to organizations, through a simple Web interface. Therefore, a Bal portal an be seen like a Webbed, secure interface, which can offer a unique integration point for the applications and services used by employees, partners, suppliers and clients of the organization. The main advantage of the information portal is that it can be easily offered as a service to the wide public.

BIBS development life Cycle BIBS lifestyle is divided in 6 stages and 16 steps as following:

1. Stage 1: Justification Step 1: Business case assessment – business needs and opportunities are identified and then the team proposes an initial solution Justified by costs and benefits. A preliminary report is built-up.
2. Stage 2: Planning Step 2: Enterprise infrastructure evaluation -this step estimates and values organization’s capabilities to sustain and accomplish the BIBS project in terms of: infrastructure, components,devices, network and also future needs of these equipments.In this step is built organization’s infrastructure.Step 3: Project planning – BIBS involves dynamical project planning which leads to rapid changes in technology, organization and business needs, human resources and implementing team. The project plan is detailed, progressive, each stage and step has checking points and test documents and reports.
3. Stage 3: Business analysis Step 4: Defining business needs – interviews and meetings are organized with executives and managers and business needs and requirements are identified and defined. An initial solution is proposed, discussed and adopted. Step 5: Data analysis – this step involves identifying and designing data sources, designing detailed ERR diagrams with attributes and references between data. The logical model is designed. Step 6: Application prototyping – An initial prototype is built and tested in order to validate business needs. After testing results are estimated and reported tit positive and negative aspects. Step 7: Metadata analysis – metadata are designed and data sources are mapped on metadata structure.CASE tools are used for designing and mapping process.
4. Stage 4: System design Step 8: Data design – in this step the logical model is detailed and refined and physical model is designed. The data model for processing and storage are selected from the following options: relational, object oriented and multidimensional model. Difficult in the entire cycle and depends on quality of data sources. It is recommended that the process should be built in one environment which integrate al modules of the organization and not separately, on each department.Step 10: Design metadata repository – if it is used a pre-defined solution for metadata repository then in this step it is adjusted for project requirements otherwise a metadata repository is designed in terms of metadata logical model depending on data model: relational, object oriented or multidimensional.
5. Stage 5: Development Step 1 1: TTL development – filtering tools, procedures, operators are used for building TTL process. Data filtering and transformations depends on data sources quality. These sources are different like: files, databases, email, internet, unconventional sources.Step 12: Application development – after prototype validation, building the final application may be a simple process. Procedures templates and interfaces are re-built; user rights and privileges are granted. Step 13: Data Mining – executive systems have to implement data mining capabilities in order to succeed and accomplish manager’s requirements. This step involves testing algorithms, data mining techniques like clustering, predictive and organizing methods. Step 14: Developing metadata repository – if the metadata repository has to be built-up then metadata dictionary and data access interfaces are developed.
6. Stage 6: System implementation Step 1 5: Implementation – it is the delivering process in which the development team organize training sessions for managers, final documentations and technical support are prepared, data loading process and application setup is accomplished Step 16: System testing – after system implementation preliminary conclusions are made, costs are estimated and the development team build a final report in which are describe system performances and also some parts which have to be improved or re- built-up. The table below indicates the type of reports that our researched organizations can generate.

Company B suggested a technique/ tool that could be used to collaborate with them would be an agile dashboard. The Agile process: Business Intelligence Journal Volvo. 17, No. 4 When using an agile Bal approach, all those involved in the Bal initiative work together as one team with one goal and set of objectives. To accomplish this, many organizations create hybrid teams and a business intelligence competency center (BCC) composed of individuals with the necessary skills to define, architect, and deliver analytic solutions. In some cases, many of these teams are organized under business units outside of IT.

Agile employs a series of shorter development cycles to increase user collaboration. It welcomes changes during the development to deliver measurable value quickly and efficiently. As business becomes more dynamic and social in nature,Bal environments need to be prepared to move fast and deliver value in creative ways. Intertwining BI best practices with the agile software methodology is Agile Bal still follows a process and a method. There is still documentation and a plan; success metrics are still defined at the beginning of the project. Project management is still a core component in this process.

It is therefore recommended that you still use the following tools, documentation, and processes to help guide the project:  A vision and scope document is used to define initial, critical success factors and get project approval.  A requirements document outlines the core business problems and key data elements, metrics, and dimensions that are needed for the Bal solution. The difference from traditional Bal development is that this document focuses on the smaller and shorter deliverables and keeps it lean. A design document describes the database design, data mapping, reporting designs, and TTL constructs.

Again, different from a traditional Bal project, this design should focus on bringing the technical team together on the architecture and for future support without getting lost in too many details. A project baseline plan for delivering a piece of functionality quickly, with the longer- term plan represented at a higher level.  A change control log to track which changes are implemented and which are put on hold. An enhancement log to track enhancements that the team is unable to fit into the first release.

Barriers to Bal in the organization Companies A, B,C,D as well as E before they implemented a Bal system agree that the incept of Bal is not understood by many business leaders, and this creates barriers to the success of implementing a Bal system. The following are some barriers identified by (Steve Williams, July 2011) that these companies experience.  Business leaders are confused and skeptical when it comes to information technology,and they need to have a much more concrete idea of what BI is and what they would be getting from it before approving six-figure to seven-figure Bal budgets.

In the absence of such enlightenment, Bal tends to be underfeed, which inhibits its success.  Any business strategy won’t succeed unless a company’s various units ark together. To do this, of course, each unit must have defined strategic missions and functional strategies that reflect those missions. Bal success comes down to improving the performance of the critical processes that determine business success.

A company can’t earn a return on an investment in Bal unless that investment yields increased revenues, reduced costs, or both. Elementary, you may say, but many companies satisfy themselves with Bal value propositions that aren’t clearly linked to their business strategies and critical business processes. There is no sense of urgency among top management Despite obvious needs and Bal opportunities, leadership may not view Bal as being critical to business success.

There’s no compelling internal vision and consensus or no persuasive external driver to create a sense of urgency within these companies. The absence of hard facts and solid analyses allows senior management and executives to offer a variety of plausible (but not provable) explanations for performance shortfalls. Lack of business leadership – Ultimately, the ROI on Bal comes from changing business processes, and only the business side of the house change.

Accordingly, companies need to create business led coalitions to drive the placement, deployment, and use of Bal to improve performance and profits. Nevertheless, many business executives think of business intelligence as an IT initiative, many are intimidated by the technology side of 81, and many prefer to be the Judges rather than the Judged when it comes to implementation.  The designated Bal team lacks Bal skills and experience.  IT is run as a shared service, so Bal takes a back seat. Business leaders lack IT as’. N. Y and thus avoid meaningful engagement. * The Bal team lacks business sax. N. Y and therefore struggles with Bal requirements.  IT development methods are inappropriate for rapid effective delivery of Bal Recommendations Leadership Effective BI/DO leadership is critical to sound business strategy and competitive advantage. Beyond sponsorship, the leadership factor includes organization and planning, which have proven to be significant in assessing BI/DO leadership.

Strong and consistent leadership will have an explicit influence on the competitiveness of your BI/DO initiative as well as affecting the other factors: infrastructure, skill, and value. Remember, leadership is a long-term investment that takes time to cultivate and integrate into your organization Organization Does management encourage the use of BI/DO?  Has user satisfaction with BI/DO been a management concern?  Are BI/DO objectives set by the Bal manager or derived from overall business objectives?

 Is BI/DO strategy aligned with the strategic plan of the organization?  Do BI/DO objectives adapt to the changing objectives of the organization?  Has a standard process for proportioning BI/DO projects been established Skill Skill development for BI/DO teams and user communities provides a strong measure of competitiveness. An effective and robust training curriculum is a cornerstone to developing a deep pool of skill resources. As with leadership, skill development takes time.