Database Reference
In-Depth Information
BY USER LEVEL
BY FUNCTION
Production
Marketing
Purchasing
Finance
……………..
Executive
Supervisory
Operational
U.S.
U.K.
Europe
Asia …..
BY LOCATION
Figure 3-4
Community of users.
at different responsibility levels, performing various distinct functions, and located
in multiple places?
Figure 3-4 indicates how the user community in an organization may be divided
into groups in three different ways. This kind of division helps us understand the
differences in the types of information various user groups require and to note the
differences in methods of information delivery to them.
Remember that information is required to carry out the business processes.
So, if you want to understand the information requirements of each user group,
you must review the processes and the relevant tasks performed by each group.
At User Levels
Dividing users into groups based on their responsibilities in an organization
seems to be the most natural method for forming groups. Note the division of
users into three groups based on their responsibility levels: executive, managerial,
operational. If you are an operations person, you work with current data to
carry out your processes. You process a customer order, make an airline reserva-
tion, send an invoice, issue payroll checks, or balance inventory. You perform
the processes that run the day-to-day business. On the other hand, the processes
carried out by the other two levels are not so directly connected to the everyday
operations.
Supervisory processes relate to monitoring operations and exercising control.
Supervisors need information in the form of summaries and exception reports.
Executives establish long-term plans, set the overall direction, and make strategic
decisions. Their processes need historical data revealing trends and business condi-
tions. Executive processes must have data that can be used for analyzing past per-
formance and future trends.
Here is a summary of information requirements and how the enterprise database
serves the needs:
For operational level.
Current data on all the entities relevant to the organization.
Examples of such business entities: customer, supplier, order, invoice, aircraft type,
employee, and so on. Users at the operational level need data at the lowest level of
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