Explain the difference between administrative policies and procedures (both formal and informal) and analyse their purpose. You should also analyse the methods employed for evaluating the effectiveness of procedures.

Assignment Title: Information System Management

Assignment Brief:

You have recently started a role in a Business Administration function in an organisation and you are required to gain some underpinning knowledge into the administrative systems that exist within organisations.

 As part of your role you will carry out research on the various types of organisations and administrative systems that exist within a business, including how information can be managed and the use of ICT within the organisation.

Moving on you will continue your research on examining systems thinking and its impact on administrative performance. You will also look at the role of policy and procedure in relation to meeting customer requirements. 

You are required to select an organisation you are familiar with or you want to research on or you are working with. (This needs to be approved by your tutor)

 You are required to write an assignment on Task 1, 2 and 3. 

Task 1

In this section, you will gain an understanding into administrative systems and how they support business. Take your selected organisation as a case study.

•  Explain different features of administrative systems within those different types and sizes of organisations.

To help you do this you could consider the different departments that exist within various organisations and think about the administrative functions that support them, and their purpose.

• Explain how different types of organisations that you have discussed, manage the flow of information between departments and users. What methods do they use to transfer, store and manage information?
• To conclude this section, you are required to evaluate the role of ICT in supporting the administrative functions of the various organisation types that you have discussed. (LO 1- AC 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3)

Task 2:

In this section, you will gain an understanding of how systems thinking affect the administrative performance of organisations

• Explain different stages of systems development; you should look at this from the investigation phase, right through to operational level. Also, provide an explanation of the contribution of systems thinking to efficient administrative performance. Do systems thinking enhance the performance of the business?
• You must analyse the drawbacks to systems thinking in an organisational context as well as evaluate the benefits of implementing systems change in general and in your selected organisation. (LO 2- AC 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4)

Task 3

 In this final section, you will develop an understanding of the role of policies and procedures in an organisation, in meeting customer requirements.

• Explain the difference between administrative policies and procedures (both formal and informal) and analyse their purpose. You should also analyse the methods employed for evaluating the effectiveness of procedures.
• Finally, in terms of providing customer service and meeting customer requirements, analyse the relationship between formulating policy and preparing procedures, and analyse how to ensure the procedures meet customer requirements