For example, it is very common practice to summarise financial data and present this information, both in the form of figures and by using a chart or graph. Accurate The new system is certainly value for money. Clearly there is a trade-off between level of detail and conciseness. Valid Information that is obtained for a business purpose should be gathered from a reliable and trustworthy source. If you wanted the information about the population of Birmingham, then Wikipedia might not be seen as a 100% reliable source. If you researched government census data for Birmingham on a government website then this would be seen as an accurate source. 10… Valid information is information that is accurate and reliable so that no mistakes or errors can be made. The reason for this is that if information is invalid, it can lead to the wrong decisions being made. For example, a job board has a purpose where employers can post jobs and job seekers can find and apply for jobs. For example, a market research company may give information on users’ perceptions of the quality of a product. Functional A website is designed to serve a purpose, usually to solve a problem. Understandable: ADVERTISEMENTS: Since information is already in a summarized form, it must be understood by the receiver so that he will interpret it correctly. For business premises, say for a hotel in London, you would probably use the Internet. Microfiche was quite expensive and what the bookshops received was essentially a list of books in print. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Level of Detail Understandable by user Empathetic. 1984. Importance Of Good Information 4 5. While many organizations boast of having good data or improving the quality of their data, the real challenge is defining what those qualities represent. Information should be in a form that is short enough to allow for its examination and use. You have to “keep your wits about you”. For example, if you receive a brochure from a theatre and notice there was a concert by your favourite band yesterday, then the information is too late to be of use. Many students in the past few years have confused the definitions of value and cost. Timely information is information that is given for a correct time period. In the project, the information is used for many purposes and when used, it must be good information. Information should be relevant to the purpose for which it is required. Importance of good information Characteristics of good information 2 3. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Good information is relevant for its purpose, sufficiently accurate for its purpose, complete enough for the problem, reliable and targeted to the right person. These characteristics are interrelated; focus on one automatically leads to focus on other. There are essentially 10 qualities of good information: It must be relevant It must also be clear There must be sufficient accuracy The information must be complete The information must also be trustworthy It must be concise Information must be provided in a timely manner It must be communicated to the right person It must… Information must be on time for the purpose for which it is required. And that's not nearly as valuable. Accuracy is crucial; managers must be able to rely on the results of their information systems. These presentations have usually been well thought out to be visually attractive and to convey the correct amount of detail. A good receptionist is one that is able to remain calm even when callers or visitors cause chaos. In the realm of data quality characteristics, reliability means that a piece of information doesn’t contradict another piece of information in a different source or system. It is also communicated in time for its purpose, contains the right level of detail and is communicated by an appropriate channel, i.e. The characteristics of good information include accuracy, reliability and accessibility to name a few. Information should be easy to obtain or access. If the customer visited a different branch a telephone call would be needed to check details. It must be suitable. An example would be bookshops, who have used technology for many years now, with microfiche giving way to computers in the mid to late 1990s. This is not relevant for the manager who wants to know opinions on relative prices of the product and its rivals. Good information is relevant for its purpose, sufficiently accurate for its purpose, complete enough for the problem, reliable and targeted to the right person. Cost effective Below we’ll discuss more characteristics of good information in detail…. However, this rarely happens; good information is often incomplete. What are great entrepreneurs made of? Experience and research shows that good information has numerous qualities.Good information is relevant for its purpose, sufficiently accurate for its purpose, complete enough for the problem, reliable and targeted to the right person. How can we make sure information is relevant? The presentation of information is important to the user. Good information is that which is used and which creates value. In this article, I talk about top 10 characteristics a good website must possess. At tactical level department heads may see weekly summaries correct to the nearest £100, whereas at strategic level directors may look at comparing stores’ performances over several months to the nearest £100,000 per month. Reliable information is information that is gathered from a valid and trusted source and can be relied upon to be correct. An example would be sales information from the sales department which is given to the finance department about the sales figures for a specific period. This is trusted and valid as it comes from an internal source. × Reliable Source To obtain information that is 100% accurate is usually unrealistic as it is likely to be too expensive to produce on time. But nobody keeps the whole country’s telephone books so for numbers further afield you probably phone a directory enquiry number. Comparison is a very important part of financial information as it helps the users of accounting information to differentiate, analyze, improve, and take important decisions. Decision making is fueled by information. UNENDING PASSION “Enthusiasm is the sparkle in your eyes, the swing in your gait, the grip of your hand and … 10 characteristics of a good student 1. Some of the characteristics of good information are discussed as follows: i. There should be no extraneous information. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Information goods can be digital or non-digital, commercial or non-commercial, tangible or intangible. It brings only consistence and accurate data into the database. 1. Many organisations use presentation software and show summary information via a data projector. Somewhat similarly, a thriving business can be started with a simple concept based on good information. The characteristics of good information include accuracy, reliability and accessibility to name a few. Obviously this information has value to the bookshops in that they can tell you whether or not you can get the book. List with 10 fundamental characteristics of the debate 1- It is informative . Characteristics of Information. Much like a ramp for the disabled which ensures easy access, accessible information should be stored in a way the makes it easily accessible at the time it’s needed. For example if it took an hour to look at the sales figures in a cash register and print them, then that information would not be easily accessible. Good information should be easily accessible as the users need to have it as and when they need it. In these cases any investment may not be recouped. 10 Traits of Awesome Infographics. Below we’ll discuss more characteristics of good information in detail… Valid Valid information is information that is accurate and reliable so that no mistakes or errors can be made. Information is meaning that can be communicated. By searching their microfiche by publisher they could tell you if a particular book was in print. In that situation, the organisation would probably decide that a less costly source of information should be used, even if it may give inferior information. An information good is a product, service, experience or artifact that is valuable to people by virtue of the information it contains. Some Internet websites are like vanity publishing, where anyone can write a book and pay certain (vanity) publishers to publish it. 3 4. Having good information within a business is a vital part of a business’s success. Research Needs on the Interaction Between Information Systems and Their Users: Report of a Workshop. doi: 10.17226/19358. Reliability deals with the truth of information or the objectivity with which it is presented. Characteristics of Information Good information is that which is used and which creates value. The value of this information would be high. She is the world’s most recognised student of the mindset trait. Experience and research shows that good information has numerous qualities. At operational levels information may need to be accurate to the nearest penny – on a supermarket till receipt, for example. A growth mindset is a deeply held belief that a person can learn anything given enough time and effort. The information gained would not be relevant to the purpose. The cost of subscribing to microfiche was fairly high; subscribing to the CD-ROM version only slightly less so. Carol Dweck is a Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. Characteristics of good quality information can be defined as an acronym ACCURATE. Incomplete information may lead to wrong decisions. Further details of these characteristics related to organisational information for decision-making follows. For example, a marketing report that includes graphs of statistics will be more concise as well as more aesthetically pleasing to the users within the organisation. Otherwise, it may not be useful as the basis for making a decision. National Research Council. Accounting information qualitative characteristics are summarized below: In addition to the aforementioned characteristics (i.e., relevance, reliability, comparability, and consistency), the following qualities of accounting information affect its usefulness: understandability, materiality, and … Information needs to be of high quality to be useful and accurate. Experience and research shows that good information has numerous qualities. The publisher should have employed an editor and an expert in the field to edit the book and question any factual doubts they may have. Information should be available within set cost levels that may vary dependent on situation. You can only really use information confidently if you are sure of its reliability and objectivity. For example, an organisation wants to commission a market survey on a new product. The ability to do intra-firm comparison (within the same company), inter-firm comparison (with other companies), and market sector comparison(comparison within the same market sector) makes accounting information easy to work with. It is always up-to-date and stock levels are accurate. The requested information must have enough detail to provide an acceptable answer. For example if the manager wants to see a summary of the sales figures for the last six months, the information with the right level of detail would show overall figures for each month plus a grand total. If the manager received a complete breakdown of all the sales for all products sold in a large report, this would be seen as the wrong level of detail and wouldn’t really be a summary.  It is important to understand what the person is requesting when presenting the information. #1. It protects unauthorized access of database and makes it more secure. 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