Dashboard in MIS at GM
Abstract
Efficiency in the internal processes in an organization is known to be a significant contributor to the growth and success of an organization. Consequently, the growth of an organization necessitates massive loads of data. However, it is noted that the collection along with analysis of large volumes of data for purposes of coming up with objective decisions can become a tedious process. The other challenge is the lack of availability of data in the first place in the right form and at the right time. The latter stated aspects can lead to delayed decision making to any organization to include GM. The main aim of this research paper is to cover the various aspects of the dashboard in MIS across various departments in a manufacturing entity such as the GM. The main focus of this study will be the determination of the extent to which the employees utilize the functionalities of the available business dashboard.
Description of high-level design and interfaces necessary to create a usable Dashboard to support General Manager (GM)-level business decisions.
The design and the interfaces of a usable dashboard to support GM-level business decisions should focus on the outlook of the interface, whether it is business-driven and whether it gives a provision for web access. In creating the database, one of the main factors to be put into consideration is the cost and operability (Oz, 2009). The dashboard should be affordable and should be easily deployed.
Moreover, high-level design and interfaces for a dashboard should be highly customizable. In this case, such should operate in such a manner that it should only provide relevant information that is needed by the decision-makers in accomplishing their job (Takahara, Klir, & Liu, 2006). It should be noted that the display mechanism of a dashboard plays a critical role in decision making. While providing information, the manner in which such is presented for purposes of coming up with an opinion is very crucial.
Apart from that, the design should be in such a manner that presents performance information in a graphical form. The importance of this is that the users will be able to rapidly recognize any performance issues. With the use of graphs, the users are able to monitor trends over time. Besides, such persons can also be able to come up with an objective view.
Last but not least, an appropriate and more desirable dashboard design should be in such a manner that it should offer data through a single user interface. In such a case, the dashboard should have a static structure that ensures that information is available at all times, and this is by the use of indicators.
Identification of the necessary internal and likely external databases that would be needed to support the Dashboard (from data silos, data marts, data warehouses, etc.).
There are various internal and external databases that are needed to support the efficient working of the dashboard. This is based on the premise that GM incorporates both the internal and external shareholders in its undertakings globally. Some of the main players in the institution’s database are the stakeholders, managers, customers, accountants, among other people. The management of the organization, who are the main drivers of it, are known to use a lot of their time in scanning for information and in making decisions. The result of this critical managerial process is both structured and unstructured decisions. For the case of GM, some of the structured decisions by the management include those relating to cash management, inventory control, along with sales and production. All these may rely on both the internal and external databases.
However, for an organization’s dashboard to be said to be effective in decision making, it should incorporate data silos, data marts along with data warehouses. Data silos are a store for fixed data which remains under the control of a given department. For instance, the finance department has some information under its control, the case is similar to the supply chain department, which also has a different series of information. These forms of independent data from the different departmental databases are important in providing a wholistic view of the organization when grouped. Nevertheless, the main issue with data silos is that of technicalities and complexities in such a way that the information provided in one department may be complex for the management to understand from the face value of it (Chatterjee, 2010).
There are also the data marts as elements that would be needed to support the dashboard. A data mart, by definition, refers to a subset of a data warehouse that is oriented to a given business line. Unlike data silos, data marts are summarized data from respective departments for analysis and decision making. This kind of data is meant to meet the demand of a specific group of users. For instance, when it comes to the marketers, data marts from the finance department will help them in determining whether the dealings within the organization is profitable or not. This form of summarized data will be important to GM as it will be basically applicable in decision making.
Last but not least, there is a data warehouse, which is another important element that can be used in supporting the dashboard. In this case, data in a data warehouse is usually from various multiple sources that are not the same. These heterogeneous sources are the various departments within GM. The collected and stored data in the data warehouse should be able to support analytical reporting and decision making.
Critical Entity Relationships (ER) across databases to ensure a high level of information accuracy.
To ensure that there are high levels of accuracy in information at GM, there are various critical entity relationships across the various department within it. Some of these departments include the supply chain department, information technology department, along with sales and marketing department.
The supply chain department offers a critical relationship within GM as it is directly connected to the manufacturing section. Given this case, this department requires a high refresh rate. However, there are some likely challenges that the employees in this department need to overcome so as to ensure a high level of information accuracy. One of these challenges is that there is a need for such persons to be competent in using excel and access to run reports and graphs. The use of the dashboard, in this department, is instrumental as it enhances information visualization, an element that may prompt faster decision making. The use of the dashboard helps in facilitating faster decision making by reducing the amount of time that may be taken to come up with a decision as there is increased data availability. Moreover, the more the data for decision making, the higher the chances of attaining accuracy. Therefore, the accurate information in the supply chain department will affect the accuracy in the decisions made in the manufacturing department as both entities have a critical link.
Apart from the supply chain department, the other section of GM that is critical in its undertakings is the information technology department. The accuracy of the information in this department will directly impact the workings of the organization. The IT department is one of the critical functions of the organization as it provides a link between the external and internal stakeholders. At GM, this department offers a seamless connection between the clients and the employees and this is through its dashboard that covers Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that offers support to a target population. This form of dashboard is an important tool for decision making and also ensures that there is transparency in the dealings of the organization (Metainformatics, 2003). The use of FAQ dashboard serves as a critical tool in decision making as it keeps everyone informed about the various processes along with actions taken in the various departments. Consequently, the use of FAQs ensures that there is accurate and consistent information as such a platform is usually predetermined and organized in advance before allowing the users to interact with it. Moreover, the accuracy of information in this department is usually enhanced through database reviews and updates.
Last but not least, the other department that offers a critical entity relationship is the sales and marketing department. The use of a dashboard in this department ensures that there is reduced time spent on decision making process and that data is visible across the organization. The use of a database in the sales and marketing department by the employees is mainly for comparison purposes, with the tenets of comparison being in terms of goals and sales. Besides, an analysis of this department in regard to dashboard use shows that it is easier to use the dashboard as all the information is accessible at a single access point. To enhance accuracy in the available information, there is the use of the pictures and graphs. Such visualizations help in enhancing information accuracy by mapping what is available in words to the provided graphics. In this case, the provided pictures and graphs are usually peer-reviewed before release for public view on the database.
To this end, it is, therefore, evident that the critical entity relationships at GM are portrayed by three departments namely sales and marketing department, information technology department, along with the supply chain department. The three entities ensure that there is seamless functioning in manufacturing. The databases in the three departments ensure high levels of information accuracy in various ways. For instance, the IT department has a FAQs section in its database which is usually developed and reviewed before public release (Metainformatics, 2003). Besides that, the sales and marketing department, as a way of enhancing information accuracy, provides information supported with peer-reviewed graphs and pictures. Last but not least, the supply chain department enhances data accuracy by ensuring that there is a high refresh rate.
Description of the DBMS and ERP relationships in high-level terms that support the Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) functions necessary to deliver information and formats (e.g., charts, etc.) to the dashboard.
The database management system and the ERP relate in regard to the three main functionalities, which are extract, transform and load. The three functionalities employ the concept of data integration, staging, along with access layers in housing the key operations of the organization. For instance, when it comes to staging, this component is important at GM’s database as it ensures that raw data is available from the various data sources and stored. The data sources in regard to ERP as highlighted above include the three critical departments, which are IT, supply chain and sales and marketing departments. After the data is staged, integration then follows, and here is whereby the disparate data sets are integrated and this is through transforming them from the storage layer (Chatterjee, 2010). The transformed data from the supply chain, sales and marketing and IT departments are then stored in the operational database store. This is not the end of it, the integrated data goes further to another database, which is regarded as the data warehouse database, and here is whereby the data is now arranged and aligned in a hierarchy depending on the degree of importance.
Taking an overview of GM, the integration of the data in the database is done by prioritizing the data from the IT department as this helps in ensuring that the internal operations run smoothly. This is then followed by the supply chain data, which also concerns itself with the internal operations in regard to manufacturing, whereby it supports the managerial decisions on what to procure and what to supply. The last integration then involves the sales and marketing section, which entails the external of the organization and this is in form of marketing trends and the overall performance of the marketers and the suppliers of the manufactured commodities. All these kind of integration helps the management of the organization in making sound decisions.
The information in the dashboard is usually integrated and stored in the provided order for access to the various stakeholders, with each department having a different degree of importance, with the IT and the supply chain department taking the lead, as, without data from these departments in the database, there will be no sales and marketing as no production will take place in the first place. To enhance a thorough understanding of the provided data to the stakeholders both inside and outside the organization, the provided data usually incorporates the use of charts, graphs, and tables (Bidgoli, 2011). This provides ease of conducting trend analysis.
The Extract, Transform and Load functions work simultaneously whereby the extraction takes place in the data warehouse, whereby data from heterogeneous sources are collected after which the next step which is transformation follows. The transformation of the collected data is whereby the data is designed and tailored in such a manner that will facilitate decision making. During transformation, technical terms are usually gotten rid of. Besides, the available data, under this stage, is usually converted to a form that is easier for one to understand. For instance, there is the incorporation of charts, graphs, and tables in the transformation phase. Last but not least, loading then follows, and here is whereby the refined data is now presented and stored in the dashboard.
No less than three and no more than four pieces of information that a Department Store at GM would need. Description of the dashboard sufficiently in terms of data visualization options (e.g., charts, texts, timelines).
The above sales KPI dashboard for GM shows four pieces of critical information for the sales and marketing department. This includes information about the sales volume (number of sales), the revenues generated, the profit, along with the cost.
From this provided dashboard, it is noted that there is the use of various forms of visualizations. For instance, there is the use of bar graphs, indicating the number of sales made. These sales are from various channels and this includes sales proceeds from email, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even Google.
Besides that, there is also the use of a pie chart. This has been used in indicating the cost breakdown.
Last but not least, there is the use of texts as the other form of visualization. In this case, it is evident from the dashboard that the four main elements captured in the dashboard, which are also presented in charts and bar graphs, are put in text, and this is on the topmost section of the dashboard. The text contains the revenue, profits, costs, and the number of sales.
Specification of the layout of the dashboard.
- There are various specification of the dashboards that will be applicable at GM. One of these specifications is that the dashboard should have the capabilities of filtering, sorting and analyzing data.
- Colour selection. This should be in line with various factors such as colour blindness, and even the culture.
- Apart from that, the other specification of the dashboard layout is that it should have the drag-and-drop functionality. The users of the system should be able to easily manipulate the inputs in the dashboard.
- Information overload is the other specification of the layout of the dashboard. In this regard, it should not have too much information. Too much information will affect the speed of decision making, and will also make the dashboard look awkward. A good dashboard should be simple with only relevant information captured.
- The dashboard should not be complex to navigate through. This is given the large number of users ranging from people inside and outside the organization. This is based on the fact that the users of the dashboard possess both technical and non-technical skills.
- Besides that, the dashboard should offer charts and graphs that are drillable. This is in line with the Corda technologies, which are known to provide the users’ ability to drill down the graphs and charts so as to obtain additional information (Bidgoli, 2011).
- Last but not least, the dashboard has to provide alternative scenarios. For instance, when the dashboard at hand is about sales. It should capture the sales volumes and profits.
- Lastly, security is the other element in the specifications of the desired dashboard. Security should be enhanced to ensure dashboard integrity. Some form of authorizations should be required for one to be able to navigate through the dashboard.
References
Bidgoli, H. (2011). MIS: What’s inside. Boston, MA: Course Technology Cengage Learning.
Chatterjee, I. (2010). Management information systems. New Delhi: PHI Learning.
Metainformatics. (2003). Springer Berlin / Heidelberg.
Oz, E. (2009). Management information systems. Boston, Mass: Thomson/Course Technology.
Takahara, Y., Klir, G. J., & Liu, Y. (2006). Foundations and Applications of Mis: A
Model Theory Approach.