The process of generating information involves a series of activities that are essential for businesses and organizations. These activities are aimed at transforming raw data into meaningful and useful information that can be used by decision-makers to make informed decisions.
This article provides an overview of the three basic activities involved in the process of generating information: data acquisition, data transformation, and management of information.
A. Data Acquisition
Data acquisition involves capturing data from various sources and recording it for future use.
This activity can be broken down into the following steps:
- Definition of Data: Needs Data needs must be defined carefully in the light of the information needs of all the users. This helps to ensure that data capture is selective and efficient.
- Data Capture: Data may be captured by punching with keyboard or scanning with scanning devices, facts from documents on which they were recorded. In case data are already recorded on computer media such as disks and tapes, data capture may take place by selecting the relevant part of that recording for meeting the data needs for the purpose on hand.
- Data Storage: Most of the data captured for business information systems are organized in data files. Each file contains records relating to various data elements (fields) expressed with the help of different symbols (characters). These files are linked to databases.
B. Data Transformation
Data transformation involves performing various operations on data to make it more meaningful and useful. These operations can be classified into the following categories:
- Rearranging: Rearranging data in some specified order is a very common data processing activity. This involves sorting data in order of date of purchase, value of each unit, or in the alphabetic order of names of these items.
- Classifying: Classification is the process of grouping data based on selected variables or factors. For example, sales data may be classified on the variables like customer’s code, city, and product or sales person involved in obtaining an order.
- Calculating: Calculating involves performing arithmetic operations (like addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and logic operations) on numeric values. This is extensively used by managers for predicting the behavior of various elements of the business environment.
- Summarizing: Summarizing is a process of aggregating various data elements, reducing the bulk of data to a more meaningful form. This may involve aggregation in each category or class of value.
C. Management of Information
Management of information involves storing processed data for future use or communicating it to the end-users.
This activity can be broken down into the following steps:
- Report Format Selection: The format for reporting may include simple columnar/tabular format or visual formats, such as charts, diagrams, graphs, etc.
- Communication: Once the report format is decided, appropriate channels of communication need to be selected and used.
- Storage: If the information generated is to be used in future, it may be stored on some mass storage medium.
Conclusion on Process of Generating Information
The process of generating information is a critical component of modern business operations. By following the steps outlined above, businesses and organizations can ensure that the data they collect is transformed into meaningful and useful information that can be used by decision-makers to make informed decisions. Table 1.0 below provides an overview of the process of generating information.
Table 1.0: The Process of Generating Information
| Activity | Description |
|---|---|
| Data Acquisition | Capturing data from various sources and recording it |
| Data Transformation | Performing various operations on data to make it |
| more meaningful and useful | |
| Management of Information | Storing processed data or communicating it to the end-users |