Dec 1998 IM218: Information Management (Question 3) Suggested Solutions

3.	(a) Briefly outline four general principles that should be considered in determining the structure of a data processing department.	[6]
	General principles in determining the structure: objectives of department activity and component elements should be clearly defined organisational structure should be flexible, and reviewed periodically reasons for organising or reorganising should be known and clearly stated activities and functions should be grouped according to homogeneity of objectives and purpose levels of authority should be kept to a minimum structure should take into account the people involved job descriptions are important, as are controls and procedures one mark for each principle identified, to a maximum of four marks
	(b) The diagram below shows a basic organisation for a data processing department: This structure is usually appropriate for small to medium-sized data processing functions. In the following two situations, a different organisation might be employed.
	(i) The data processing department at ABC Consultants is tasked with developing a large number of very different applications. Each application must be developed according to the same guidelines, to meet the same company standards. Often, the applications will need to communicate with each other. Suggest a suitable organisation for the data processing department at ABC Consultants, and illustrate your answer with a diagram.	[4]
	A suitable organisation for ABC consultants might be the functional organisation (1 mark); application organisation is less suitable as common standards (1 mark) and interoperability required (1 mark); no information regarding application areas (1 mark) up to three marks for this explanation; one mark for the diagram
	(ii) The data processing department at DEF products, an import-export company, handles two kinds of application: payroll and employee record packages for the personnel department; stock control and ordering packages for the warehousing and shipping department. Suggest a suitable organisation for the data processing department at DEF products, and illustrate your answer with a diagram.	[4]
	A suitable organisation for DEF products might be the applications organisation (1 mark), with a separate unit for each type of application (1 mark), allowing teams to specialise in application areas (1 mark), the areas are quite different, and communication between different types of application would probably be quite limited (1 mark) up to three marks for this explanation; one mark for the diagram
	(c) If data processing is an integral part of company operations, then an independent department may be established, directly under the control of the head of the company. Where this is not the case, we may find that data processing is located either in a service department, or in several different user departments. Compare and contrast these two approaches to locating data processing activities. Take care to explain the advantages and disadvantages of each approach.	[8]
	Locating in a service department: data processing resources are located in just one of the departments (1 mark), suitable for small to medium sized organisations, or where there is a high degree of integrated database use (1 mark); one advantage is that centralisation allows a concentration of resources, meaning more computer power, economies of scale (1 mark); another advantage is that control is simplified (1 mark); a disadvantage is that staff may be isolated from users (1 mark), and lack of knowledge about needs of users may cause problems in resource planning (1 mark) one mark for each relevant point, one of which must be an advantage, another must be a disadvantage, up to a maximum of four marks Locating in several different user departments: the resources are located in different departments, with the end-users (1 mark), processing takes place within departmental boundaries (1 mark), suitable for a large, decentralised organisation where there is little interaction between the information systems and the databases (1 mark), also more user control and direct budget implications (1 mark); lack of economy of scale means greater costs (1 mark), standards difficult to enforce (1 mark) one mark for each relevant point, one of which must be an advantage, another must be a disadvantage, up to a maximum of four marks