User:Amy Fernando/sandbox

2 Abstract

This report focuses on the Information Processing Cycle of ABC Group of Companies in terms of their Data/ Information, Hardware, Software, People and Procedures of the Human Resource System. This report also provides Recommendations for the weaknesses for the system of the company based on the books and websites I have studied and also from the interviews I have done with the IT Manager of the company. Also this includes a discussion about the effects of developments in ICT on organisations

3	Introduction 3.1	Company Background

ABC Group of Companies, an industrial conglomerate, engages in shipping, inland container depot operations, container leasing, air and sea freight forwarding, and container storing and repairs. It also involves in coconut and tea plantation management, tea factory operations, import and export trading, travel and tour operation, airline representations, lubricants marketing and distribution, and credit card operations. In addition, the company offers life insurance and reinsurance products, as well as general insurance products, such as personal and corporate insurance, fire and engineering coverage, motor and marine insurance, fidelity guarantee insurance, workmen’s compensation insurance etc.

3.2	System Background In this report, the system taken into consideration is the Human Resource System of the company, where they record their employee details and manage them. They record the personal details, salary details and designation related information and performance based information in their system which is basically known as the employee profile.

4	Current Technology used in the company Information Processing Cycle “Computes process data (input) into information (output). A computer often holds data, information and instructions in storage for future use. Instructions are the steps that tell the computer how to perform a particular task. Most computers today can communicate with other computers. As a result, communications also has become an essential element of the IPC.”(Shelly, Cashman and Vermaat, 2008)

When describing the current system of the organization in terms of the information processing cycle, it will be discussed on the five components of the IPS;

1.	Data/Information 2.	Software 3.	Hardware 4.	People 5.	Procedure

4.1	Data/ Information Data which is entered to the system are Personal Information, employee salary information and also designation related information.

Personal Information Consists of; •	Name •	NIC Number •	Contact Details •	Educational qualifications

Salary Information Consists of; •	Basic Salary •	Salary Increments recorded

Designation related information consists of; •	Working Experiences

Performance based information; •	Attendance records

When it comes to recruiting new employees, above mentioned data is input to the system in order to register the records in the system and also to update the master file. As the data is entered to the system the employee is given a employee ID. For the rest of the working time in the company, that particular employee is entitled with that ID. The records of the current employees who work in the company are also updated respectively.

The main function of a Human Resource System is to maintain employee records and maintain the attendance record and the monthly pay of the employee. So this operation is an automated process in this company. There are finger print scanners for the employees to check in when they arrive at work and to check out when they leave work. So this automatically make records of the attendance of the employees.

The accuracy of data is ensured by using different types of data verification and validation methods. This system use data verification/ validation methods such as;

Data Verification and Validation; •	Double Entry - Where the data is checked for similar data, if similar data exist a warning is given. •	Proof Read - A user checks the accuracy of data entered to the system comparing with the original records. •	Character Checks - This checks whether the required number of characters are present in the particular fields. If not the data is not accepted. •	Presence Checks - In almost every form, there are compulsory fields to fill in. So if these fields are empty, the submission of data is rejected.

ABC Group of companies have a special team of personnel who handles the system and maintains the data. In this company there are several departments, so for each department a person from the IT division is present to handle the data and maintain them. Also the executives can also log into the system and amend data. The main employee who works on the system is the business analyst of the company. The BA manages the data, checks the data for errors and maintain the system.

Data collection of the system of ABC group of companies is done through a manual process where data is collected as written paper. Once all necessary data is collected, the person who works for the IT system in the particular department input the data. Before data is input into the system the quality of data is checked by user.

There are some drawbacks with this method. Written paper method is risky because sometimes the data can be lost, misplaced or even destroyed. If that takes place there is no way of backing up data. It also requires a lot of space to store these data. So the company will have to face a lot of difficulties when recovering those data. The advantages of this method are that it is easier when proof reading the information and also it ensures the originality of the data.

4.2	Hardware ABC Shipping company uses Input devices such as Keyboards, Mouse, fingerprint scanners and flatbed scanners in order to input information to the system. They uses fingerprint scanners to calculate the attendance records while the mouse and keyboards are used for typesetting purposes in the system. Scanners are used to scan important documents and to attach them to employee profiles if needed. As output devices they use LCD/LED monitors to display data and they use laser printers to print documents and dot-matrix printers to print small memos and pay sheets. They have high performance computers ranging from Core i3 processors to Core i7 processors and also hard disks as their main way of storing data. They use CD/DVDs to backup their data every week. They also use a DR system as a Backup option in their system. As for communication they use a main server which connects to a series of clients in a star topology network. They use devices such as Routers and Switches to connect the network. 4.3	Software They also use Microsoft .Net framework 3.0 and 4.0 as their software of the system where they use SQL Server2005 and 2008 as their database management software. They also uses Windows 7 as their operating system while Windows Server 2008 is also running in parallel. They also use Microsoft Office and Open Office as their licensed word processing software.

4.4	People

Live ware who uses the System are the System analysts, HR Manager, Directors, Executives and departmental IT personnel. Also Developers and Programmers are present in order to evaluate and maintain the system. These people are the employees who are in charge of the system of the company. They only have direct users in this company. Direct users are the people who works with the system.

Role of HR Managers, Directors and Executives; •	Checking the system for accurate data •	Approving Reports •	Recruit new employees. •	Assigning new projects •	Maintaining the employee records. Requirements - Full computer literacy and should have higher studies qualification In Business or IT followed by more than 5 years working experience.

Role of the Business Analyst, Departmental IT Personnel Developers and programmers; •	Implementing new systems •	Feeding data into the system •	Maintaining the system •	Evaluating by fixing bugs and errors Requirements - Full computer literacy and should have higher studies qualification in IT, Software Engineering, BIT along with more than 3 years working experience.

ABC Group of companies do not give training for employees as they recruit well experienced employees and as they are recruited they are given a set of instructions on how to do their tasks properly. If they recruit unskilled employees, the operations in the system will be broken down.

4.5	Procedures

When a new employee is recruited to the company, he/she is entitled with a employee ID. All the details about the employee comes under this ID. The system maintains the records of the employee daily and also updates his/her attendance record. So considering the attendance summary the monthly pay of the employee is calculated. As these information are input, the records are stored in the main server and a backup copy is saved in the DR server. At the end of each financial year, the system produces a report about the employees.

5	Weaknesses and Recommendation

ABC shipping company has few weaknesses in their company. Few of the weaknesses are mentioned below;

ABC Group of companies currently a manual method of collecting data where the user inputs data to the system. This method might not be accurate sometimes as there could be human errors in the data entered such as spelling errors, wrong addresses, wrong contact numbers and etc. And sometimes the data which is kept to be stored can be lost or destroyed. So it is recommended to use a much accurate way of capturing data to the system.

ABC Group of companies currently have a local area network within the company. Intranet is important because it can help users to locate and view information faster and use applications relevant to their roles and responsibilities. So it is also recommended to implement an intranet to the organization

6	The effects of developments in ICT on Organization

In older days companies used to have manual paper based system where all the information about each department in the company was stored in files. These data bases required a lot of space and these data had no security at all. But at present, with the expansion of technology the practices has changed. The manual system the organizations used has become much advanced with the technological enhancements and has become computerized systems. This kind of a system increases the efficiency, accuracy consistency and security. Initial cost of a computerized system will be high. But it 0will be a long term investment to the company. Along with the technology boost, the working patterns of people engaged in business and organizational activities has changed. For instance, repetitive work within the company will be reduced as operations are directly done at one place. Also administration tasks such as decision making will be done swiftly. The equipments they used have drastically changes within the last decade or two. The equipments they use, communication methods they use has changed with the expansion of technology. Nowadays people use personal computers in order to do their work where earlier they used files and paper to engage in office activities. Also people use emails in order to communicate and interact with employees and other customers for business purposes. Also mobile phones, video conferencing etc, also play a major role in the process of communication with people all around the world as at present people does not go to places to meet people and have business meetings. These advances results in efficiency at work and also time saving.

With these developments in the ICT field, people just cannot engage in their activities, these employees should have particular skills to engage in activities. The main skill the employees need is the computer literacy along with higher educational qualifications. ABC group of companies does not give any training to the newly recruited employees as their system is not that complicated. But usually other companies in the industry gives initial training to the employees if they have a specialized ICT systems in their organization and also at present some companies try specialize their employees in every aspect of their careers. Otherwise the operations will not operate in the way as they should operate. As companies become more and more advanced, the come up with their own websites, custom written software, their own networks with servers etc. There could be many job opportunities emerging from the job market such as Website designers, Graphic designers, software engineers, system developers, business analysts, IT consultants, projects managers, quality assurance personnel, hardware engineers etc.

7	Conclusion

This report was focused on the Information Processing Cycle (IPC) of ABC Group Of Companies. This report reflected an analysis on the current technology they use in terms of the Information Processing Cycle(IPC) which includes Data/Information, Hardware, Software, People and Procedures of their system. According to the research I have done it gives a clear understanding about what the Input, output, storage and processing devices they use are followed by a recommendations for their weaknesses in the IPC. From the research i have done, this report also includes a discussion on the effects of developments in ICT on organisations.