5.1 Introduction One of the most difficult aspects of planning a project is estimating how long it will take to complete each key stage. An estimate might be based on: the size of the tasks and the effort required to complete them; the number of days that are not available for working on the project; historical data from other projects, including the experience of colleagues. Where a project has a fixed end-date (for
6.6 Professional bodies and societies Consider joining a learned society or professional organisation. They can be very useful for conference bulletins as well as in-house publications, often included in the subscription. Don't forget to ask about student rates. Try looking for the websites of learned societies associated with your subject area (e.g. The Royal Society, the Institute of Electrical
5.3 Desktop search tools Finding your paperwork or electronic files can be a problem. You may find that even if you do have some sort of filing system, your structure soon gets quite large with files in multiple locations, which can be hard to navigate. You may find yourself making arbitrary decisions about which folder to place a document in. It may make sense now but in the future, when you look where you think it should be, it’s not there. At times like this you may resort to the search command from the Wi
4.7 T is for Timeliness The date when information was produced or published can be an important aspect of quality. This is not quite as simple as saying that 'good' information has to be up to date. Here is an example of a news item from an onli 4.4 O is for Objectivity One of the characteristics of ‘good’ information is that it should be balanced and present both sides of an argument or issue. This way the reader is left to weigh up the evidence and make a decision. In reality, we recognise that no information is truly objective. This means that the onus is on you, the reader, to develop a critical awareness of the positions represented in what you read, and to take account of this when you interpret the information. In some cases, authors may be 4.2 P is for Presentation By presentation, we mean, the way in which the information is communicated. You might want to ask yourself: Is the language clear and easy to understand? Is the information clearly laid out so that it is easy to read? Are the fonts large enough and clear? Are the colours effective? (e.g. white or yellow on black can be difficult to read) If there are graphics or photos, do they help 3.10 Summary There is a lot of information available on business and management via the internet. Try the activity below to start exploring what is available. Use the Author(s): 3.7 News sources Many news sources are now available online. Searching an online version of a newspaper is easier, quicker and more effective than searching through printed indexes, microfilm or actual newspapers. 3.4 Databases At a basic level, a database is a collection of information which can be searched. It is a way of storing, indexing, organising and retrieving information. You may have created one yourself to keep track of your references – or your friends' names and addresses. They are useful for finding articles on a topic, and can be used to search for many different types of information. You may find some of the following databases useful for your topic. They contain different types of informatio 1.6 Keeping up-to-date How familiar are you with the following different ways of keeping up to date with information; alerts, mailing lists, newsgroups, blogs, RSS, professional bodies and societies? 5 – Very familiar 4 – Familiar 3 – Fairly familiar 2 – Not very familiar 1 – Not familiar at all 1.4 Evaluating information How well does the following statement describe your approach to evaluating the information that you use?
When I come across a new piece of information (e.g. a website, newspaper article) I consider the quality of the information, and based on that I decide whether or not to use it.
5 – This is an excellent match; this is exactly what I do Introduction This unit will help you to identify and use information in business and management, whether for your work, study or personal purposes. Experiment with some of the key resources in this subject area, and learn about the skills which will enable you to plan searches for information, so you can find what you are looking for more easily. Discover the meaning of information quality, and learn how to evaluate the information you come across. You will also be introduced to the many different ways of 7 Designing evaluation So far in this unit we have considered information used in making a selection. What about information about consultants thereafter? Evaluating consultants’ work was highlighted as one of the difficulties in this area, yet such information is important. You may need to evaluate a small initiative (perhaps a limited diagnosis, feedback and initial planning contract) with a view to deciding whether to work more extensively with the consultant. You may need performance measures to contribute to 3 Seeking relevant information Once you have a reasonably clear idea of what you are looking for and have identified potential consultants, you may need to find out more about them before you can choose. Ideally, you will gather information from as many sources as possible, and, as with any such information, evaluate its reliability and relevance to your particular context. The clearer you are about the nature of the intervention that you require, and the key features of the context in which this will occur, the better pla Learning outcomes After studying this unit you should be able to: appreciate the characteristics of consultancy when viewed as a service offered for sale; as client, identify suitable contexts for using consultants; as client, identify, gather information on, and evaluate the suitability of competing consultants. Acknowledgements The content acknowledged below is Proprietary (see terms and conditions) and is used under licence. All other materials included in this unit are derived from content originated at the Open University. 2.5 Rating agencies: corporate governance indices A number of rating agencies, including credit rating agencies, have developed indices to measure corporate governance performance. Among the more well-known indices are FTSE-Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) Corporate Governance Index, Standard & Poor's Corporate Governance Scores, Dow Jones Sustainability Index and Business in the Community Corporate Responsibility Index. Rating agencies can act as catalysts for corporate governance by either directly factoring corporate governance in 5.5.3 Normative pressures
Normative pressures concern what we think we ‘should’ do. They concern our values and the broader social values to which we subscribe. Some organisations make explicit attempts to foster particular kinds of value (for example, in relation to customer service), but normative pressures also come from outside the organisation, such as from a particular professional or religious affiliation. Institutional pressures are important for both private and public-sector organisations. 4.6 Post-decision evaluation For most normally functioning people, maintaining self-esteem is an important internal goal. This can cause us to filter out or discount information that might show us in an unfavourable light. This is what lies behind the fundamental attribution bias. This is the tendency to attribute good outcomes to our own actions and bad outcomes to factors outside our control. While such defences against loss of self-esteem can be helpful to the extent that they help us persist in the face of adv 4.1 Introduction A psychological perspective does not start from the assumption that people are fundamentally irrational. Rather, it emphasises a different logic: a logic that meets the challenges we have evolved to face (Calne, 1999). For much of our evolution we have faced an environment with major differences from the modern business world. We have developed a range of cognitive mechanisms to cope with adverse environments in which resources are scarce. These include a range of simplifying and confidence-s
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Abyz News Links A portal to online news sources from around the world, providing up-
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