Abstract
Information systems have become an integral part in the information sector. Various technological developments have made the sector to have considerable growth as they have made work easier for both private and public sectors, and therefore have received acceptance from both sectors.
They have made the work of public managers easier and simple, especially concerning budget planning and other financial issues. This paper will examine the importance of information systems to public managers and pinpoint on the key issues in managing public information systems. It will also look at the characteristics of useful information.
Introduction
Computerized information systems have become just like a norm in the society today. They have changed the way activities are carried out in offices in that, there is reduction in paper work and more time, and energy is saved in a cost effective way. Though initial installation of these systems is expensive, the benefits thereafter are worth the investment.
Public managers have largely benefited from these systems, though caution is needed before implementation of any single system. The quality and ability of an information system to serve the purpose for which it is designed should be assessed first. The public managers should also create an environment that will allow acceptance of the new system by other users and staff.
This can be done by involving them directly or indirectly in development of the system. This paper will look at the importance of information systems to public managers and the characteristics of useful information.
Importance of Information Systems to Public Managers
Automatic information systems play a key role in improving productivity in the public sector. Development of small size personal computers, laptops and notebooks have been very influential in transforming manpower to automation thus saving on time, energy and resources in a more cost effective manner.
They have been seen to solve or as the solution to the many problems in the public sector with regard to productivity. However, there is a significant difference between what the computers ought to do and what they actually accomplish in efforts to improve productivity1.
Use of computers and computerized information systems helps managers in various ways. Primarily, managers have access to complete and accurate data in good time. After they obtain the data, the managers can then analyze the data in a systematic manner. The managers also have the advantage of controlling the information through security measures and they can access it directly.
To gain a better insight of how computer based information systems are important to managers, it is important to understand how the managers use the information and this can be explained by styles used by managers namely: The Knowledge Executive and The Manager as Computer-Based Information.2
The knowledge executive works with the computer to process information, analyze it and then interpret it for use. Ideally, he is able to work with the computer when executing his roles. On the other hand, the manager largely depends on the works of others such as junior staff and assistants to get the information.
Therefore, he is not directly involved with the computer but rather has other people who do the processing and analytical work and as for him, he is mostly interested with the end result information.
Information systems are vital to the operations of public sector managers; however, it is amazing how these systems face resistance from the same managers and especially when they entail new technology that they are not familiar with. More often than not, people fear adoption of new computerized systems due to their unwillingness to learn, their perception about the systems and sometimes their beliefs.
Managers then need to understand their workforce and be able to determine how receptive they are to change. This is because, if people can easily embrace new technological changes, it would be easy for the managers to introduce new information systems that would be effective and efficient allowing proper utilization of resources.
Managers therefore need to understand the factors that influence adoption of new information systems by human beings. One of the factors is information system user endorsement. The managers must therefore understand the personal factors with regard to employees and know how their attitudes will influence adoption of the new information system.
Incase the people’s attitude is negative; management should develop mechanisms to change the perception and be optimistic about the IS. Endorsement of the IS will also be influenced by technical and organization factors3.
Proper information systems can help improve the flow of information in the organization where public managers. They can be used to obtain only information that is of importance to the organizations and the managers.
S a matter of fact, information breakdown can result to serious problems because, more often than not, people will need to receive information inform instructions, orders, and requests in order to act or carry on a certain role. Such information does not have to always be communicated through word of mouth if proper information systems exist.
For example, email messages can be used, use of short phone text messages, sending a fax, use of telephone extension lines and other information systems can be used to save on time, energy and money especially incase of significant physical distance. Public managers use information systems to monitor employee performance.
For example, employees can sign in and sign out of work via the systems and this helps managers know those employees with a track record of lateness. Employees can also prepare a report of work done during the day or over certain duration of time and then send it to thee manager electronically.
Using surveillance cameras, the managers are able to observe how employees are working and conducting their activities. In so doing, they are able to monitor progress and see how well employees are working towards meeting organizational goals. Therefore, information systems can be seen as decision support systems to managers.
They save the managers a lot of time that could have otherwise been spent perusing papers to get information that can be obtained at a glance using better information systems such as computers. However, the managers should be very careful when designing and selecting on information systems to put in place.
Some of the considerations to be made would include how well the information systems can be maintained by the organization. Public managers should therefore ensure that the systems in place are fit to the organizations needs in terms of information systems required in place. This is because systems not relevant to the needs or that do not serve the expected purpose would just translate to losses.
The managers should also pay attention only to information that is relevant to the overall goals and strategies, thus any other irrelevant information should be sieved and discarded, while efforts are directed to the original focus. They should also ensure that the information systems put in place are flexible to accommodate any technological changes that may arise.
This implies that public managers should be able to see far in the future since new policies may be enacted in the public sector t anytime and require a change in the information system. The managers should therefore be able to integrate new and old systems in an effective without incurring many losses and rendering older systems obsolete due to technological changes.4
Public demand for transparency and accountability in the public sector has risen requiring information to be disseminated on how public funds is spent by the government and other key figures in the public sector.
This has gained popularity due to public support by lobby groups and other interested parties both from the private and public sector5. Public managers are therefore forced or compelled to adopt more sophisticated information systems to be used in communicating information required by the public.
It is also through such information systems they are able to communicate and research on productive economic policies to ensure economic growth takes on the right direction and it is sustainable.
Socio economic information that is very important to the public is at their disposal and must let the public know what is happening in the economy in terms of plans and policies to be put in place to promote growth and development. However, the major challenge is achieving efficiency in relaying information elements.
The government also acts as a catalyst to use of information technology. The government is charged with the responsibility to promote development of information system infrastructure, do assessment of resources that can be used to promote growth of information systems and stimulate use of information systems by the people. This will promote growth in the public sector and enhance delivery of public services.
Planning and management of information resources is very crucial to achievement of economic and social development and failure of public managers to do so can result into serious ramifications. World wide, the public managers have a role to promote the use and development of industries such as those dealing with information systems and information technology.
They should promote and generously support research whose efforts are directed to improvement of information systems. In stimulating use of information systems, they should promote establishment of schools dealing with information technology and integration of information technology courses in to the school curriculums as well as enact policy rules and regulations that will steer growth in the sector.6
Considering the various technological changes in the invention and innovation in the information system, public managers have to allocate considerable resources in terms of money and human resources to support the public information system. Effective and efficient manner while at the same time maintaining information quality.
Information systems are therefore important to the managers since they have to fit in the cost of information systems to be utilized in different departments in a manner that will be acceptable and not arouse public curiosity.
Besides allocating budget of costs associated with the information system, the IS are used to improve on accountability since they are used to process information, analyze it and report on the same with minimal error and reduces the chances of information alterations.
Information systems such as computers and mobile phones are used by public sector managers to carry to authorize payments without being there physically to do the authorization.
Public managers are the largest consumer of information technology in that they help in forecast of expected revenue from tax collection and other income generating activities in the economy7 for policy formulation and enactment of rules and regulations, public managers gather information from the citizens individually or collectively and also from companies and other groups.
Such information is then processed and critically analyzed to help in decision-making processes. Information technology therefore has been of great importance to public managers in terms of data collection, processing and storage as well as communicating of such information to the relevant parties for utilization.
Information systems are important to public managers especially when dealing with the public directly. The term public refers to all the citizens and non-citizens in a country that enjoy the services of the public sector. In order to have peaceful coexistence, the public sector must be able to listen, address the needs of the public, and allow some level of democracy.
In fact, it is not possible to listen to each and very individual due to time logistical limitations. However, with gadgets like phones, the public gets hotline or emergency numbers through which the can get assistance from managers in the public sector. They are able to get assistance from the police and other for instance, in case of fire and there is a need for firefighters.8
When having activities such as elections, managers are able to use gadgets such as electronic voting machines that are used in tallying the votes hence allowing transparency in the whole process, as there are no speculations of rigging. The outcome is therefore viewed to be just and fair and this helps in maintaining peace and order.
The managers are also able to use the media such as radios and television to woe the public to give them their votes during the elections. Other uses would include processing of census information, national security, health, national security, and research.
Key Information Management Issues
Public managers should be able identify and see in advance obstacles that are likely to affect productivity of the information systems developed or those that are about to be put in place. Identification alone is not enough but rather he should be able to have an estimate or measure the extent of such obstacles and devise mechanisms to overcome them. 9
The managers should be very careful when implementing a new system and avoid making hefty changes in the system at once since this could have adverse effect on the whole system. If the managers find out that effecting new changes might be detrimental to the whole process, then they would rather continue with the old system as they look for better ways to effect the changes.
Failure in information system can be classified in to project failure, user failure and system failure10. Project failure occurs when the project does not meet the expected standards; system failure refers to inability of the system to serve the purpose it was designed for, while user failure results when the users cannot use the system due to lack of adequate training, lack of expertise as well as lack of interest by the users.
Public managers are faced with a challenge when it comes to integration of technology in information systems. This hits as the biggest challenge since change is inevitable and it is continuous. There is no single development in information systems technology that is not accompanied with some level of change. The managers should therefore know to handle and integrate changes as they come.
Public managers should ensure that there is cooperation between the personnel in information resource planning and the personnel making plans for the firm. This will ensure that information is integrated in a comprehensive manner.
The underlying point is that users of information system must link up with the system developers to ensure that all informational requirements as at the time of system development are put into consideration. In this case, users refer to both the public managers and the end users or staff.
The reason for involving the managers is that it is easier for them to support the development of a system that they know how it will work and how it will benefit the operational processes.
As for the end users or staff involvement, they will accept the new system with ease since they will feel that they were part of its development and therefore be more willing to learn and use it. There are two methods that can be used to ensure compatibility of informational requirement with information system developed, prototyping and heuristic system design11.
Another key issue in information management is in identification of information requirements. Considering that public managers mostly deal with public information, it is sometimes difficult to identify the real information requirements due to the many and varied needs of the public as well as many interest groups. Security issues cannot be overlooked.
Public managers need to know when public information is in safe hands and when it is not. They also need to know the kind of information that will be safe if released to the public and one that would cause chaos and unrest. All loopholes that could give unauthorized persons access to confidential information should be taken care of and enact rules and regulations to guard on such information.
Public managers should see to it that software in place are relevant and make sure they are properly maintained for the sake of effectiveness and efficiency in operations.12
Characteristics of Useful Information
Any useful information should be easy to understand and comprehend. Public managers must make sure that information can be understood by all the relevant parties. This implies that if information is meant to be for the public, both professional and non-professionals should be able to understand the information with ease.
If it is for other formal purposes like use by ministries, the language and terminologies used should be relevant and allow the parties to understand the information being relayed.
Useful information should be relevant to the users. Information relevance refers to the ability of the information to influence or affect the decision making process. Relevant information can dictate or change the way a decision is made.
For example, if the public managers wish to form an anti-corruption commission, then they realized that a potential chairperson candidate is implicated in a scandal involving corruption, then that can change the decision of having such a candidate running for the position. Reliability is another characteristic of useful information.
The parties interested with the information should be able to pin a certain level of confidence in the information. This implies that public managers and other parties can rely on the information to represent their ideas, economic, political, and social information to concerned parties. Reliable information has three distinguishing characteristics such as verifiability, neutrality, and representational faithfulness.
Verifiable information is one that gives the users an opportunity to check for errors and be able to ascertain that the information is error free. For example, in preparation of a schedule to show how the managers spent money, cost and receipts of items bought should be attached so that any person who doubts the costs can actually cross check.
Information is said to have representational faithfulness if what it portrays is what actually happened and it can be proved. In addition to that, neutrality implies that the information is not exaggerated and some ideas are not concealed.
For example, if the public mangers were conducting an investigation with regard to misuse of public information, only the findings of the report should be reported without trying to cover up for senior officials involved in the scum.
Useful information should be comparable and consistent. For example, information in the planned budget should be comparable to the actual budget of the income and expenditure. This would give the public managers an opportunity to assess both favorable and unfavorable variances and then take corrective measures in the future.
This is very useful especially with regard to making economic decisions since they can know where to reduce spending to offset budget deficit. Bearing in mind that the public has a stake in information held up by public managers, such information need to be consistent once released to the public.
Inconsistency may make the public and other parties such as foreign investors to loose confidence, a situation that can lead to economic shake or political disability disrupting peace in the country.
The manner in which information is reported should also be consistent and especially with regard to financial information. This means that the accounting standards and principles used in preparing accounting and financial information should be consistent to make it easy for the users to understand and interpret the information.
In addition to the above-discussed characteristics, useful information and especially accounting information should consider materiality and conservatism accepts. Materiality explains the ability of an error in representing and accounting of financial statements influence the decision made.
For example, when reporting the expenditures of certain period, and then a miscellaneous expenditure of $2 is omitted, such an error can be said to be immaterial. On the other hand, if on expenditure of $1000 allocated as bursary to needy students is omitted, such an error would be material since it would largely affect the results portrayed.13
Conclusion
Information systems are very important in the current world where technological developments have become a part of every day life. They have become of great relevance to the public managers who are faced with a lot of bulky and tedious work that needs to be processed either for decision-making purposes or for dissemination to the relevant parties such as public and interest groups.
Information systems help public managers in financial management. Data is entered into the computer and with a number of commands using the appropriate software; they are able to generate information required within a short time. They have made information flow to be easy and smooth within organization and therefore promoted effectiveness and efficiency in overall information.
However, they call for considerable investment and careful analysis should be done in terms of costs and benefits before a decision is made on the type of information system to put in place. The managers should observe that information generated possess good qualities such as reliability, relevance, consistency, and comparability among others.
Bibliography
Ammons, David. “Common Barriers to Productivity Improvement in Local Government,” Public Productivity Review, 9: 187-202. NY, M.E. Sharpe Inc, 1985.
Caudle, Sharon. Key Information Systems Management Issues for the Public Sector. (Attached material).
Cohen, Steve, Eimicke, William and Heikkila, Tanya. The Effective Public Manager: Achieving Success in a Changing Government. MA, John Wiley and Sons, 2008. Web.
Goldfi, Shaun. Pessimism, Computer Failure, and Information Systems Development in the Public Sector. (Attached material).
Government Information Systems. A Guide to Effective Use of Information Technology in the Public Sector of Developing Countries, 1995. Web.
Groenewegen, Peter and Wagenaar, Pieter. Managing emergent information systems: Towards understanding how public information systems come into being. (Attached material)
Kenneth Kraemer. The Usefulness of Computer-Based Information to Public Managers. (Attached Material). Ouadahi, Jamal. A Qualitative Analysis of Factors Associated with User Acceptance and Rejection of a New Workplace Information System in the Public Sector; A Conceptual Model. Wiley Interscience, 2008. (Attached Material).
Porter, Gary and Norton, Curtis. Financial Accounting: The Impact on Decision Makers. KY, Cengage Learning, 2007. Web.
Rubin, Barry. Information Systems for Public Management: Design and Implementation. (Attached material). Stevens, John, Cahill, Anthony and Laplante, Josephine. The Utilization of Information Systems Technology in State Financial Management: An Empirical Assessment. (Attached material).
Worthley, John. “Computer Technology and Productivity Improvement,” Public Productivity Review. M.E. Sharpe. Inc. 1980. Web.
Footnotes
1 Worthley, John. “Computer Technology and Productivity Improvement,” Public Productivity Review (NY, M.E. Sharpe. Inc., 1980). Pg 10.
2 Kenneth, Kraemer, The Usefulness of Computer-Based Information to PublicManagers. Pg 14.
3 Ouadahi, Jamal. A Qualitative Analysis of Factors Associated with User Acceptance and Rejection of a New Workplace Information System in the Public Sector; A Conceptual Model. (Wiley Interscience, 2008) pg.2.
4 Cohen, Steve, Eimicke, William, and Heikkila, Tanya.The Effective Public Manager: Achieving Success in a Changing Government, (MA, John Wiley and Sons, 2008).
5 Stevens, John, Cahill Anthony and Laplante Josephine, the Utilization of Information Systems Technology in State Financial Management: An Empirical Assessment. Pg 4.
6 Government Information Systems. A Guide to Effective Use of Information Technology in the Public Sector of Developing Countries, 1995, pg 5.
7 Kenneth, Kraemer. The Usefulness of Computer-Based Information to Public Managers, Pg 14.
8 Groenewegen, Peter and Wagenaar, Pieter. Managing emergent information systems: Towards understanding how public information systems come into being. Pg 1.
9 Ammons, David. “Common Barriers to Productivity Improvement in Local Government,” Public Productivity Review 9: 187-202. (NY, M.E. Sharpe. Inc, 1985), pg 2.
10 Goldfi Shaun. Pessimism, Computer Failure, and Information Systems Development in the Public Sector, Pg 3.
11 Rubin, Barry. Information Systems for Public Management: Design and Implementation, Pg5.
12 Caudle, Sharon. Key Information Systems Management Issues for the Public Sector, Pg 6.
13 Porter, Gary and Norton, Curtis. Financial Accounting: The Impact on Decision Makers (KY, Cengage Learning, 2007), pg 57.