Impact of Master Data Management

Impact of Master Data Management The impact of Master Data Management in an organization to improve decision making. Abstract This research deals with assessing the importance of Master Data Management in an organization and the impacts it has when making decisions. I will present the methodological framework which allows a centered master data to flow to different systems. This research will use the qualitative approach and interpretive paradigm. Master Data Management MDM Keywords: Master Data Management, Data Quality, Information Management, Data Governance Background of the study The focus to Master Data Management is to provide relevant information for decision making using the various systems in the organization. Based on the increasing number of expected benefits of systems that they will deliver a single version of key organizational entities. â€Å"MDM represents the set of policies, governance, standards, processes and tools that define and manage the master and reference data of a business organization to provide a single point of reference.â€Å"(Subotic, Jovanovic, Poscic, 2014) Years of using and retaining data in different data stores have led to conflicts in data descriptions, in the way data is structured, and the values of data, which makes it impossible or hard for an organization to understand and properly use its key data(Cleven Wortmann). Data are used in almost all the activities of companies and constitute the basis for decisions on operational and strategic levels. Poor quality data will have significantly negative effects on the competence of an organization, while high quality data are often crucial to a company’s success (Haug, Zachariassen van Liempd). Integrating those business definitions and data records across business lines and across subsidiaries is no simple task, demanding rearranging of data ownership and governance, however also requiring advanced technology for policies and business rules to be enforced(Scheidl 2011). The goal of MDM is to create and maintain consistent and complete business data for all stakeholders in a controlled and single-view capable manner across the whole organization which will help them figure out the improvement areas so they become more efficient and competitive. MDM is meant to provide organizations with the ability to integrate, analyze and exploit the value of their data assets, regardless of where that information was collected (Milanov Njengus 2012). Research Problem Organizations deal with different data which may be scatted across the whole organization where systems do not communicate with each other causing the organization to make decisions based on data that is not accurate. Research Objectives Master Data Management seeks to consolidate data that resides in various systems that do not communicate with each other, in such a way that accurate and up to date organizational data is available in a single place (Reichet, Otto, Ostele, 2013). This research will discuss on how Master Data Management can manage the organizations data and outline the benefits of using MDM which will permit the organization to understand their key data. Consequently, the lack of a suitable master data management may lead to severe problems like operational faults, inadequate decision making. The bigger the company, the bigger the issue of managing the data will be. If companies grow the data landscape gets more complicated and managing data becomes an issue that is hard to deal with (K Pietzka). Companies need to make decisions based on the data that they understand and has qualities of data quality dimensions – Timely, Consistent, Completeness, Integrity, Accuracy, Conformity. To be successful in business, you need to make decisions fast and based on the right information. (Thatipamula 2013) Preliminary Literature Review Master data form the basis for business processes. Master data represent a company’s essential basic data which remain unchanged over a specific period of time. Which include customer, material, employee and supplier data. Inconsistent master data cause process errors resulting in higher costs. With proper governance, the master data can be regarded as a unified set of data that all applications can rely on for consistent, high quality information (Hamilton G). Theoretical Framework This framework will allow master data to flow from the Master Data System to the applications, making sure that all applications use the same data. It ensures that the data used is always created the same way and is unique. Which will then allow all linked applications to use the centralized master data. By: C LOSER, Dr. C LEGNER, D GIZANIS showing Central Master Data System Research Questions Asking the right questions will enable the organization to better the way they make decision and the processes involved in their every day to day transactions (Cleven Wortmann). This research will use a qualitative research to answer the following research questions: How to maintain high data quality?   The impacts in business for not having high quality data What causes data redundancy in the organization Maintaining high data quality Achieving better insight into the performance of processes involved in the everyday running of the business, the customers they have and product profitability and market share is one of the goals. These reporting understandings are the base for key decision making, however, the quality of the reporting is directly impacted by the quality of the data. Data that is not of high quality leads to under-informed decisions. Also, the return on costly investments in business intelligence is partly diminished if the source data is corrupt (C Loser, Dr. C Legner and D Gizanis 2004) A major factor of any company’s day-to-day business is the data that is used in business processes and is available to the operational staff. If it happens that this data is not available, out of date or incorrect, the business may suffer delays or financial losses. â€Å"The implications of poor quality data carry negative effects to business users through: less customer satisfaction, increased running costs, inefficient decision-making processes, lower performance and lowered employee job satisfactionâ€Å"(Haug A, Zachariassen F, van Liempd D, 2011) Data in an organization needs to be controlled and managed. Without having specific rules in place or enforcing data governance, this will cause data to be redundant in different places/systems across the organization. Data governance specifies the framework for decision rights and accountabilities to encourage desirable behavior in the use of data (Otto B, 2009) When wrong data is identified in the system, some analysis would have to be performed to find out why it happened and how it can be prevented from happening again. The process of correcting the issues will take time and organizational resources. Benefits of Master Data Management The key benefit of Master Data Management is to integrate similar data management processes, consolidate the critical information that is scattered across the organization, improve the integrity of data which makes sure that the data available is complete and accurate and business will be able to make more effective business decisions from the data with integrity. (Al-Zhrani, 2010) Challenges of Master Data Management Master Data Management challenges consists of managing the data as there is continuously increasing amount of data which will come with unclear processes of how to collect and maintain that data. Because master data is often used by multiple applications and processes, an error in master data can have a huge effect on the business processes. (Gustafsson, Franke, Johnson, Lillieskà ¶ld) Hypothesis Having implemented MDM effectively, the following can be made from the evidence gathered. Hypothesis 1 (H1): Understanding the company’s customers will lead to increase in market share Hypothesis 2 (H1): Data inconsistencies are caused by the distribution of data ownership across different business and function areas and across IT systems. Hypothesis 3 (H0): Companies that explicitly create a master data stewardship program are significantly more successful in terms of data governance Research Methodology Research design For this research I will be using interpretive research design, as its main idea is to assist in understanding, recognizing and restructuring the subject meanings that already exist in the social world so we can use that understanding as steps into theorizing (Goldkuhl, 2012) Research approach and strategy Qualitative approach will be used for this research as it is suitable for discovering and gaining insight about a problem (Scheidl H, 2011) Data collection The data collection technique used for this research was one-on-one interview using a semi structured questionnaire. This technique is appropriate to this research as it allows elicitation of information that is not yet uncovered. Time kept for each interview is 45 min for each respondent. (Scheidl H, 2011) Sampling and population For this research I will use everyday decision makers so to get an understanding of how data influence the decisions that they make. Data analysis After having the interviews, I will then summaries the whole interview by making notes of the key points that were given by the respondents. This will assist in making sure that I familiarizes myself with my research. Knowledge gap In recent studies there have been increased focus on the importance of Master Data Management. This research contributes to the improvement of the scientific body of knowledge since it explores a part where only little previous study are available. Conclusion Poor data quality means there will be difficulties where decision makers have to build trust in the company data. Therefore, addressing and integrating MDM at the start should be part of an operational excellence initiative, in order to solve part of the process inefficiencies. References Milanov G Njengus A, (2012) Using scrum in master data management development projects. Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences, VOL. 3, NO.11 Nov, 2012 Available from http://www.cisjournal.org [Accessed: 15 April 2015] Cleven A, Wortmann F (2010) Uncovering four strategies to approach master data management, Proceedings of the 43rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences – 2010 Available at www.computer.org/csdl/proceedings/hicss/2010/3869/00/09-01-05.pdf [Accessed: 16 May 2015] Subotic D, Jovanovic V and Poscic P (2014), Data warehouse and master data management evolution –a meta-data-vault approach, Issues in Information Systems, Volume 15, Issue II, pp. 14-23, 2014 Cervo D, Allen M (2011) Master data management in practice: Achieving true customer MDM, John Wiley Sons Inc., New Jersey, ISBN 978-0-470-91055-9 Al-Zhrani S, (2010) Management Information Systems Role in Decision-Making during Crises: Case Study, Journal of Computer Science 6 (11): 1247-1251, 2010 [Accessed: 11 March 2015] Rahm E, Hai Do H Data Cleaning: Problems and Current Approaches, University of Leipzig, Germany Available at http://dbs.uni-leipzig.de [Accessed: 16 May 2015] Gustafsson P, Franke U, Johnson P, Lillieskà ¶ld J, Identifying IT impacts on organizational structure and business value, Proceedings of BUSITAL’08, Available at people.dsv.su.se/~pajo/busital2008/paper4.pdf [Accessed: 23 May 2015] Duff A 2015 Master data management roles – their part in data quality implementation. 10th International Conference on Information Quality, 2005 [Accessed: 25 March 2015] Reichert A, Otto B and Ãâ€"sterle H, 2013 A Reference Process Model for Master Data Management. 11th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik [Accessed: 2 April 2015] Jonker R, Kooistra F, Cepariu D, van Etten J and Swartjes S, Effective master data management Available at www.compact.nl/pdf/C-2011-0-Jonker.pdf [Accessed: 28 May 2015] Scheidl H (2011), Master data management maturity and technology assessment, Master’s Thesis, Turku school of Economics Kawulich B. (2005) Participant observation as a data collection method Volume 6, No. 2, Art. 43 – May 2005 Otto B, Schmidt A, ENTERPRISE MASTER DATA ARCHITECTURE: DESIGN DECISIONS AND OPTIONS Available at http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Boris_Otto/publication/50222231_Enterprise_Master_Data_Architecture_Design_Decisions_and_Options/links/0a85e53205fc23566a000000.pdf [Accessed: 25 March 2015] Weber K, Otto B and  ¨Osterle H 2009 One size does not fit all—a contingency approach to data governance. ACM J. Data Inform. Quality 1, 1, Article 4 (June 2009), Haug A, Zachariassen F and van Liempd D 2011, the costs of poor data quality, Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management. Available from doi:10.3926/jiem.2011.v4n2.p168-193 [Accessed: 18 May 2015] Kamel A, Lakhder D and Ammar Z 2012, The organizational impacts of information systems: Analysis and proposal of a methodological framework, British Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, ISSN: 2046-9578, Vol.9 No.II (2012), Available from http://www.bjournal.co.uk/BJASS.aspx [Accessed: 18 May 2015] Liang T, You J 2009, and Resource-based View in Information Systems Research: A Meta-Analysis, Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems Available from http://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2009/72 [Accessed: 18 May 2015] Nowduri S, Management information systems and business decision making: review, analysis, and recommendations, Journal of Management and Marketing Research Available at www.aabri.com/manuscripts/10736.pdf [Accessed: 16 May 2015] Mishra M, Das T 2011, A Study on challenges and opportunities in master data management. International Journal of Database Management Systems ( IJDMS ), Vol.3, No.2, May 2011 C Loser, Dr. C Legner, D Gizanis 2004 Master Data Management for Collaborative Service Processes Available http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.454.7987rep=rep1type=pdf [Accessed: 03 June 2015] Goldkuhl G 2012, Pragmatism vs interpretivism in qualitative information systems research, European Journal of Information Systems, (21), 2, 135-146.Available at http://liu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:515141/FULLTEXT01.pdf [Accessed: 04 June 2015]

Oedipus the King- Metaphors Essay

â€Å" «Light versus Darkness Knowledge is characterized as a burst of light which contrasts the darkness of ignorance. At the beginning of the play, and towards the fourth episode, we notice the â€Å"darkness†, the lack of knowledge that Oedipus has toward mostly everything that is surrounding him. When Oedipus learns the truth, it â€Å"bursts† into light. The metaphor of light represents truth and knowledge. â€Å" «Sight versus Blindness A reference to this metaphor occurs early in the play, when Oedipus falsely accuses Tiresias and Creon of conspiracy. â€Å"So this is what he wants, Creon the loyal, Creon so long my friend! Stealing up to overthrow and snatch!† (page 22). â€Å"XTiresias responds by using the same metaphor: â€Å"I’m blind you say; you mock at that! I say you see and still are blind – appallingly: Blind to your origins and to a union in your house.† (pg 23) Thus the idea of sight is critical in Oedipus the King. Though Tiresias is physically blind, he sees the truth from the beginning, while Oedipus, who has physical eyesight, is blind to his fate. â€Å" «Ã¢â‚¬ Oh, look upon the city, see the storm that batters down this city’s prow in waves of blood† (pg 5) The priest is comparing the bad situation of Thebes to a storm that attacks at any moment and leaves behind severe damages. â€Å" «Ã¢â‚¬ Now smiled upon by all, saluted now, now drawn aside by suitors to the King, my ear their door to hope† What Creon is comparing here, is his ears to the citizens’ door to hope, meaning that he has the kind of power that makes people hope to achieve something from their request that they submitted to Creon. â€Å" «Ã¢â‚¬ You called me here, I never would have come† Tiresias is actually trying to let him understand that Oedipus is the one who is pushing himself to the truth even though it’s not favorable!!

Open Ended and Closed Ended Funds

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN OPEN-ENDED AND CLOSED-ENDED FUND OPEN END FUND DEFINATION A type of mutual fund that does not have restrictions on the amount of shares the fund will issue. If demand is high enough, the fund will continue to issue shares no matter how many investors there are. Open-end funds also buy back shares when investors wish to sell. CLOSED END FUND DEFINATION A type of fund with a fixed number of shares outstanding, and one which does not redeem shares the way a typical mutual fund does.Closed-end funds behave more like stock than open-end funds: closed-end funds issue a fixed number of shares to the public in an initial public offering, after which time shares in the fund are bought and sold on a stock exchange, and they are not obligated to issue new shares or redeem outstanding shares as open-end funds are. The price of a share in a closed-end fund is determined entirely by market demand, so shares can either trade below their net asset value (â€Å"at a discount†) or above it (â€Å"at a premium†) also called closed-end investment company or publicly-traded fund.The main differences between these funds are; Open-ended funds buy and sell units on a continuous basis and hence allow investors to enter and exit as per their convenience. The units can be purchased and sold even after the initial offering (NFO) period (in case of new funds). Under closed-ended funds their unit capital is fixed and they sell a specific number of units. Unlike in open-ended funds, investors cannot buy the units of a closed-ended fund after its NFO period is over.This means that new investors cannot enter, nor can existing investors exit till the term of the scheme ends. However, to provide a platform for investors to exit before the term, the fund houses list their closed-ended schemes on a stock exchange. The units of an open-ended fund are bought and sold at the net asset value (NAV) CEFs do not have to deal with the expense of creating and redeeming sha res, they tend to keep less cash in their portfolio and they need not worry about market fluctuations to maintain their â€Å"performance record†.Closed end fund prices are determined by supply and demand and not by asset value. Therefore the market price might be greater than or less than the share NPV. The number of outstanding units of a closed-ended fund does not change as a result of trading on the stock exchange. Apart from listing on an exchange, these funds sometimes offer to buy back the units, thus offering another avenue for liquidity regulations ensure that closed-ended funds provide at least one of the two avenues to investors for entering or exiting.On the other hand the number of outstanding units in open-ended fund goes up or down every time the fund house sells or repurchases the existing units. This is the reason that the unit capital of an open-ended mutual fund keeps varying. The fund expands in size when the fund house sells more units than it repurchases as more money is flowing in. The closed-ended funds are free from the worry of regular and sudden redemption and their fund managers are not worried about the fund size. However, open-ended fund have outperformed the closed-ended funds comprehensively.In open-ended funds risk depends on the quality and the kind of portfolio you invest in. One unique risk to open funds is that they may be subject to inflows at one time or sudden redemptions, which leads to a spurt or a fall in the portfolio value, thus affecting your returns. Also, some funds invest in certain sectors or industries in which the value of the in the portfolio can fluctuate due to various market forces, thus affecting the returns of the fund. Investing in closed-end funds is more appropriate for seasoned investors.Depending on their investment objective and underlying portfolio, closed-ended funds can be fairly volatile, and their value can fluctuate drastically. Shares can trade at a hefty discount and deprive you fro m realizing the true value of your shares. Since there is no liquidity, investors must buy a fund with a strong portfolio, when units are trading at a good discount, and the stock market is in position to rise. Open ended funds do not have the flexibility to borrow against their assets thus they cannot use leverage as part of their investment strategy.Close end fund on the other hand have flexibility to borrow against their assets allowing them to use leverage as part of their investment strategy. Closed-end mutual funds continuously trade on the open stock market throughout the day. The prices of these funds are continually shifting to meet supply and demand. On the other hand, open-end mutual funds recalculate their share price once per day when the stock market closes and the value of its underlying stock assets are recalculated.Therefore, investors can buy and sell their shares based on the price of the open-ended mutual fund at the close of the previous business day, when the N AV was recalculated. Closed-ended fund shares can be traded at any time during market opening hours. On the other hand open-end fund can usually be traded only at a time of day specified by the managers, and the dealing price will usually not be known in advance. REFERENCES. Russell Ray. An introduction to Mutual Funds worldwide. 2007 Tripathy P. Mutual Funds : Emerg

Gun Control in Canada - 2698 Words

Case Comment: Introduction: Gun control in Canada has a long and controversial history with supporters on different sides of the issue. There are those organizations who want the strictest gun control possible versus those pro-gun organizations that are staunchly opposed to tougher laws. The history of firearms control in Canada is rather widespread, dating back to early Confederation. The Constitution Act of 1867 divided legislative powers between the federal government and the provinces. The provinces were assigned property and civil rights powers under Section 92(27). The federal government was assigned powers relating to criminal law as well as a general power to legislate under peace, order and good government. In 1892, Canadas†¦show more content†¦Summary: In Re Firearms Act (2000), a challenge was raised to Canada’s gun-control legislation, which is part of the Criminal Code. The Firearms Act’s main methods of control included of requirements to register all firearms and to license all firearms owners. The Supreme Court of Canada held that the pith and substance of the Act was in relation to the public safety, which is a reasonable objective of the Criminal Code. The Act attempted to achieve that purpose by prohibiting unlicensed owners and unregistered guns, which was backed by penalties. It was argued that the law was regulatory rather than criminal legislation. It was argued that only complete prohibition of guns would be a valid criminal law. The Supreme Court held it was within Parliament’s criminal law power to control access to firearms through prohibitions and penalties as set out in the Firearms Act. Therefore, the province has the right to issue licences to individuals to possess certain types of handgun s, and the federal government has the right to issue registration certificates for certain types of firearms to those persons in order to regulate the issuance of such registrations, to declare to the public not to possess those firearms and to create criminal offences for such illegal possession. The Court collectively supported the gun-control legislation, relying on its prior decision in R. v Hydro-Quebec, in which the primary energy producerShow MoreRelatedEssay on Gun Control in Canada1400 Words   |  6 Pages  Ã‚  Ã‚   There has been considerable debate recently in Canada over the issue of gun control. The Canadian parliament enacted the Firearms Act to enforce gun control by requiring gun owners to register their firearms. 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