In most important aspects of life, human beings have to make decisions, which can be big or small, difficult or easy, situations that must be solved, or opportunities that they want to take advantage of. This becomes important when it occurs in the business context. In this regard, Cañabate (2003) states:
In the context of a company, information management has as one of its most relevant aspects that of decision-making. We thus understand that a decision can be described as the answer to a problem or the choice between different alternatives to achieve certain objectives. (p.1)
The foregoing distinguishes outstanding people from those who are not, according to the decisions they make and with them the way they guide their companies. This means that their decisions most of the time are based on useful and timely information, obtained from the company, its environment or market research when the previous two do not satisfy the need for information.
For a decision to be effective, it is necessary to have key, accurate, and quality information. This makes it necessary to create mechanisms within the organization that allow the systematization of information. In other words, a system that has the ability to have relevant, quality and timely information that allows management to make use of it and that can choose between several alternatives according to the goals and capacity of the company. organization to carry out what is proposed.
However, one of the problems faced by many organizations is the need to make decisions, without adequate information due to lack of it. This is often due to the lack of vision or the lack of resources within the company for the generation of information, despite the fact that it constitutes an investment to the extent that its use allows the achievement of results that lead to extraordinary profits for the organization. Information is the raw and fundamental material in the decision-making of analysts in an organization since the higher the quality of information, the better the quality of decision-making.
The fundamental information to be integrated into an information system comes from different sources that are:
1. Internal information of the company
This is generated by the company itself that allows knowing the behavior of sales in relation to goals, its increase or decrease in relation to other periods, in addition to allowing to know the market share achieved when compared with others in the sector. Variables such as income, required costs, and profits or losses for the period. This information is valuable insofar as it allows the entrepreneur to measure the effectiveness of managerial management, and the effectiveness of the implemented strategies. This allows to introduce the pertinent changes in the light of the results and the perspectives of the environment in which these companies operate.
To dispose of it, within the company it is necessary to monitor the different activities carried out in the period, its analysis and communication at the appropriate time, to those who should receive it. This comes from customers, employees, vendors among others.
2. Information on the market environment.
In any decision-making process, external information is needed. However, for said information to be managed by the managers, it requires that it be treated internally. In addition, it is necessary that the information can flow through the channels of the company so that it obtains the maximum benefit from the organization (Cañabate, 2003).
This is what comes from the environment, both micro and macro of the organization. In the first case, it has to do with information on the competition, suppliers, financial intermediaries, advertising companies, consumers and their attitude towards the products and / or services of the company, of the government. Knowing about these audiences close to the company gives you the opportunity to have more defined perspectives, clearer horizons. Its integration into the company is essential, so that it is available at the required times.
External information is available through state agencies related to the sector in question (Bulletins of the secretary of agriculture, Central Bank, financial sector, National statistics office) that are currently available on the Web. All this information that the manager can have is considered secondary information because in most cases it has already been prepared for other purposes, but it can be used by management when required. According to Saunder (2003) "Secondary information is that which already exists and was collected for another purpose and is divided into documentary data, those based on research and those compiled from multiple sources and companies can be provided at a cost".
3. Market research
It is an effective mechanism for seeking answers to our questions about consumers and their attitude towards our products and services. Allowing to know to what extent our business has impacted those who receive what we offer through their demands at the points of sale.
In this regard, many authors, including Philip Kotler (2003), state that it is the process of collecting, processing and analyzing information, regarding issues related to marketing, such as competing clients and markets. Market research can help create the strategic plan of the company, prepare for a product launch or support the development of the products launched depending on the life cycle. With market research, companies can learn more about current and potential customers.
Market research is a discipline that has contributed to the development of Marketing and the industry in general during the last fifty years, being nurtured by the integration of multiple disciplines, such as (psychology, statistics, anthropology, sociology, economics, statistics, communication, among others). The purpose of market research is to help companies make the best decisions about the development and marketing of different products. Market research represents the voice of the consumer within the company.
A basic list of questions that can be answered through market research is:
- What is happening in the market? What are the trends? Who are the competitors? How are our products positioned in the minds of consumers? What needs are important to consumers? Are the needs being met by the products on the market?
In conclusion, it can be affirmed that good business decisions in general have been taken by managers with a clear vision of the need for information as support, taking the actions required to achieve it. For this they have established the necessary mechanisms for obtaining and analyzing them.
Good decisions are always accompanied by good information that implies relevance of the same, opportunity because it was obtained at the right time and of quality because it allowed us to know what had to be known, for the decision.
References
- Antonio Muñoz Cañabate (2003) Information systems in companies.. "Hipertext.net", no. 1 http://www.hipertext.net/web/pag251.htm#3.2.2 Saunders (2003) Essays and documents. Retrieved December 1, 2010 from http://www.oppapers.com/subjects/saunders-2003-page1.html Philip Kotler (2003). Fundamentals of Marketing
