Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
- In small, family-type businesses, information is shared freely among employees,
without even an attempt to organize it. This leads to:
i.
Underestimation of the role of proper administration
ii.
Presentation of information in a manner that is not well structured,
therefore, making it not helpful in the decision-making process, and of
course, making its role and importance not visible
iii.
Lack of proper documentation, which leads to a lack of history; repeating
mistakes are rarely analyzed, outcomes are not measured, and management
is considered a kind of art
iv.
Making of decisions is usually done by a single person, and that person's
information-processing abilities are the bottleneck for company's devel-
opment and growth
All of this creates a skeptical attitude toward the content of the course and potential
practical benefits in mastering the material. Also, lack of training and research materials
(theoretical models, cases, studies, etc.), relevant to the current situation in Bulgaria, interfere
with the proper design of the course. It is not worthy to develop such literature, because of
the limited time for which it is needed. Also, during the transition, the situation changes fast.
Finally, the current students are the people who are intended to transfer the economy — they
must be trained to perform successfully in the current business environment with clear
understanding of the principles and benefits of the modern management.
A training model is needed, which is sensitive to current students' expertise and
currently used managerial practices, and flexible enough to reflect rapid changes in the
business environment.
DESCRIPTION OF THE ADOPTED MODEL
The training passes in two stages:
•
Lecture-dominated stage: At this stage, there is presentation of basic IRM principles
with intensive discussion of problems, benefits, and difficulties. The problem-driven
approach is applied. This part takes the first one-third of the duration of the course.
•
Case-study seminars: At this stage, every student has to present a snapshot of a real
or virtual company, based on the student's experience. The student must be able to
answer any questions related to business processes, administrative structure and
managerial practice, information flows, decision-making processes, etc. Other stu-
dents are invited to analyze how the IRM principles are or can be implemented in the
company.
The discussion follows the following scenario:
•
Discussion starts with a description of the company: sector, size, structure, activities,
markets.
•
Special attention is placed on the decisions being made in the company, trying to place
any of them on the scales: operational — strategic and structured (algorithmic) or
unstructured (involving risk and uncertainty).
