Business and administration Essay Example for Free

Business and administration Essay You should use this file to complete your Assessment. The first thing you need to do is save a copy of this document, either onto your computer or a disk Then work through your Assessment, remembering to save your work regularly When you’ve finished, print out a copy to keep for reference Then, go to www. vision2learn. com and send your completed Assessment to your tutor via your My Study area – make sure it is clearly marked with your name, the course title and the Unit and Assessment number. Please note that this Assessment document has 5 pages and is made up of 4 Sections. Name: Section 1 – Understand the purpose of information technology in a business environment 1. In relation to your current business environment (or one that you are familiar with), identify at least two different types of information technology that may be used when completing work tasks. Bookings/Appointments Clients details, address, phone number, name 1. Presentation software 2. Databases 2. What are the benefits to businesses (and others) of using information technology for doing work tasks? Two main important aspects to information exchange using IT are; Sending and receiving, emails are useful as the sender can attach documents to the email they sent. These can be word documents, spreadsheets, sound files or images. Bearing in mind when sending an email its important to know the competence of the recipient for that email there is no point in sending email if the person receiving it can’t understand or doesnt know how to open it! Using the Internet to find information, its important to use a search engine to find the information that you need on the Internet. Search engines look for websites based on the criteria a person enters into the search box. The best-known search engine is Google, other popular search engines include Yahoo! search, Bing and Ask Jeeves. Always be specific when you do Internet research as this will help you to get the correct information more quickly, if you are not specific you might end up with the results that are meaningless or lead up to the wrong path. Whenever using your search engine be precise in your search criteria. Section 2 – Understand how to manage electronic and paper-based information 1. Explain the purpose of agreeing objectives and deadlines when researching information. If possible, refer to specific examples from research tasks you have worked on to support your answer. Research is very important in a business, and to provide information that will inform business decisions. If any information is not collected or is only partially collected, and this can lead to poor-quality decisions being made. Getting research right can be tough but it helps to have objectives and deadlines for what you want the research to achieve. Getting research rights can be tough it helps to have objectives and deadlines for what you want the research to achieve. When I was working at the salon I was asked to research a few different companies that sold products that we used, I had to write down the information for my boss so that he could decide who to go with and who was the best prices. Meeting deadlines is very important, as you could potentially lose clients. 2. Identify the different ways of researching, organising and reporting information. Organising When conducting research it is important that the information being collected is kept well organised, I do need the information should be kept in clearly marked files. Information can be organised in a few different ways, this can be done by sorting alphabetically or numerically, the most important thing is that the research is able to find the information that they need quickly, it helps to have an idea of the information that will be reported. Reporting There are several types of documents listed that may be used to report information such as, business letter, email, fax, formal report, informal reports, memo, notes, text. If a member of staff has a clear brief on what is to be researched and how it is to be presented, then it is possible to organise the research appropriately. Researching When researching information, there are a few things that needs to be done if the research is to be successfully completed. These are as follows: Ensure the researcher knows what they are looking for Discover how the information should be presented Source the correct document Confirm the document is up to date Use documents efficiently Read relevant information carefully. 3a) for your own organisation (or one you know well), describe the procedures that need to be followed when archiving, retrieving and deleting information. Your answer should cover procedures for both electronic and paper-based information. When something is our achieved is put into storage, this is associated with paper based files. Finding these documents often has problems. To avoid storage problems, a business can periodically review its information systems and take appropriate actions such as, removing and deleting duplicate documents and leave in a single copy, removing and deleting unimportant documents that will never be used again or are achieving files that have to be retained. Most businesses will specify in their procedure is when I achieving and deleting can take place and who is able to do this. When i worked in the salon we never used to our achieve we mainly stored addresses, names, appointment dates and phone numbers, we would only delete information if asked by a client is not the clients information would be stored correctly this helps with marketing services so if your client havent come back for a while youre able to collect the information i. e. telephone number so you can contact your client to maybe offer them a discount to bring them back to your salon. if a client wanted their information to be deleted this is easy enough all we have to do with On the delete button and then their information would be erased and if we had any paper information on them i. e. colour codes for their hair or information on manicures etc. then this will all get shredded. 3b) When following the procedures outlined in Question 3a above, are there any legal requirements to consider? When storing information there are some important legal requirements to consider such as, the data protection act 1998, retention periods or industry-specific legal requirements. All businesses must carefully consider the way information is managed. The requirement to keep important records and respect the privacy of people places considerable responsibility on businesses and organisations. Failure to get it right may result in the business breaking the law. The only legal requirements really to consider when I was working in the salon was to never ever give out the clients information to anybody ringing up or asking for this in person. 4. Why is confidentiality critical when managing information? Most businesses keep a lot of information, some of this information is sensitive or confidential, and so it can be viewed or accessed by everyone in the business. Access to confidential information should be strictly limited and secure. You can differentiate between levels of confidentiality such as, confidential contracts, confidential negotiations, business secrets or internally sensitive documents. Information concerning individuals can also be confidential. This includes things like medical records, personnel files and employment contract details. There is certain information that is kept confidential for several reasons. These include: Legal requirements, including complying with legislation such as the data protection act or the content of legally enforceable contracts. Commercial requirements, such as keeping confidential information secret. A lack of confidentiality can show a lack of competence and/or trust. Moral requirements, there is a strong moral obligation to respect people’s privacy and confidentiality. If this is broken and then people will withhold information and lack of trust. People need to know what they can and cannot access and the repercussions that may follow if confidence and trust are broken. Section 3 – Understand the purpose of producing documents that are fit for purpose 1. Identify at least two reasons for producing documents that are fit for purpose. The information that goes into a document can make all the difference in the effectiveness and efficiency of a business. You should agree in advance with all who is involved what the document should contain within it. 2. Use the table below to describe some of the different types and styles of documents that are produced in a business environment, and then explain when these different options may be used. Documents When they are used Email Less formal, Documents easily attached, Can be sent instantly worldwide Fax Faster than letters, Once good for sending graphics and images, Being superseded by emails, Cumbersome if large quantities of information are being delivered Formal Report Can give clear account of things, Can present more complex and linked information Text Immediate, Best suited for small chunks of information Section 4 – Know the procedures to be followed when producing documents 1. In most organisations, time is taken to agree the purpose, content, layout, quality standards and deadlines for the production of documents. What are the reasons for doing this level of planning? It’s very important that you know exactly what your clients want – both internal and external. If this information is unknown or guessed, its likely that customers will not get what they want. Time should be taken to agree on the specification of a document. This way, many potential problems can be avoided. A failure in one or more areas may significantly undermine all the work that has been done in other areas. For example, an ‘outstanding’ report that delivers on purpose, content, layout and quality standards but is three weeks late (poor on deadlines) may be worthless. Likewise a document that is fine on purpose, layout, and quality standards and deadline but misses some key content would also be of very little or no use. 2. Businesses will spend time checking finished documents for accuracy and correctness. a) How is this done? A finished document will always have to be checked in some way or another for accuracy and correctness before it can be given to the customer. If the document doesn’t get done or completed then mistakes may happen. b)Why is this done? This is done to ensure the document is fit-for-purpose. If the checking phase is not completed, then there is a good chance that mistakes and incorrect or insufficient information may make their way in to the final document. This could result in inefficiencies and dissatisfied customers. 1. Have a copy of the final draft document awaiting approval. 2. Have the document specification available. This may be the business specified way for producing documents such as letters or minutes. Or it may be the specification agreed between a supplier and a customer. 3. Compare the document with the specification agreed between a supplier and customer. 4. Check the spelling and grammar in the document. The first person to check the document is likely to be the author. But best it’s to have someone else to have a look over the document as they wouldn’t have been working with it as closely as the author has been. On word processing systems they have a spell checking and grammar checking facilities, which can be used to check over the accuracy of what has been written. However, these spell checkers dont pick up everything and its best to use them as well as with reading a printed version of the document 3. Explain the purpose of following confidentiality and data protection procedures when preparing documents. In all businesses should have clear procedures on data protection and confidentiality when producing document. They are required by law to do so and it is also good, ethical business practice. If people thought that a business could not respect their confidentiality, they would withhold information or look for an alternative business. The business should make it very clear to their clients who has access to which items of data and for which purposes. The issues of access may apply to people other than staff – it can apply to people outside the organisation. 4. In business environments, there is often a requirement to use notes as the basis for text and documents. a) Compare the different types of documents that can be produced from notes and include a description of the format of each document. Notes that have been taken down tend to be, key points of information, key dates/times and also key names. MEMO -The format will include, To, From, Reference, Date and then the relevant information being communicated. LETTER Printed on company headed paper, listing ref, date, name, address, subject, letter content, yours faithfully/yours sincerely, signature, name ; job title. Also if the letter is confidential this must be stated. REPORT Title, introduction, body of report, a conclusion, consistency of format is essential i. e. using the same paragraph spacing and font style/size throughout content of report. b) Explain the procedures to be followed when preparing text from notes. 1. Establish the purpose for why you are note-taking. 2. Establish the format for the document needed. 3. Check that all the notes for clarity and make amendments if you feel its necessary. 4. Check that the detail in the notes is sufficient for producing the document. 5. Check over all the facts. 6. Produce the document. 7. Check the final document. 1. Don’t write down everything that you read or hear. Be alert and attentive to the main points. Concentrate on the meat of the subject and forget the trimmings. 2. Notes should consist of key words, or very short sentences. As a speaker gets side-tracked you can go back and add further information. 3. Take accurate notes. You should usually use your own words, but try not to change the meaning. If you quote directly from the author, quote correctly. 4. Think a minute about your material before you start making notes. Don’t take notes just to be taking notes! Take notes that will be of real value to you when you look over them later. 5. Have a uniform system of punctuation and abbreviation that will make sense to you. Use a skeleton outline, and show importance by indenting. Leave lots of white space for later additions. 6. Omit descriptions and full explanations. Keep your notes short and to the point. Condense your material so you can grasp it rapidly. 7. Don’t worry about missing a point. Leave space and try to pick up the material you miss at a later date, either through reading, questioning, or common sense. 8. Don’t keep notes on oddly shaped pieces of paper. Keep notes in order and in one place. 9. Shortly after making your notes, go back and rework (not recopy! ) your notes by adding extra points, spelling out unclear items, etc.. Remember, we forget quickly. Budget time for this vital step just as you do for the class itself. 10. Review your notes periodically. This is the only way to achieve lasting memory. Once you have completed all 4 Sections of this Assessment, go to www. vision2learn. com and send your work to your tutor for marking.