Businesses have adapted towards the use of the internet which has resulted in a dramatic increase regarding the use of business information systems within an organisation. The knowledge regarding IT and IS has also increased dramatically.

As a result of this businesses tend to store a huge amount of data which involves many things such as their customers personal data, therefore it is important we understand the main aspects behind this through the three concepts of data, information and of course knowledge. From this I will be covering how these three concepts are used within an organisation and how they are controlled on a daily basis as it is important to understand how businesses adapt to the changes that take place involving the three concepts.  What is Data?  Data is a key source of information for businesses. There are many different types of data spread across a wide spectrum including observational data, laboratory experimental data, computer simulation and textual analysis. Data depends on what it is representing.

Data can be shown through many ways, which include resources such as sale receipts, invoices, numerical tables or characters on a page. (Lib.umn.edu, 2017)  Managing Data  Managing data is important as it is crucial in order for a business to be able to be successful within their environment. It is important for a business to ensure they spend correct time and quality towards there is in order to receive the correct relevance from it.

If businesses fail to respond to the correct usage regarding IS it can cause problems regarding the businesses performances. (Cox, n.d.) Problems with Data towards traditional file environment  Data can   Data redundancy. Program-Data dependence Lack of flexibility  Security Lack of sharing and availability  Database A database is a collection of information organised to serve many applications in order to provide efficient retrieval.

This is by centralizing the data and minimising data which is redundant. Databases can be presented in any number formats electronically, graphically, through audio or even statistically. An organisation such as Tesco would be able to use databases in order to keep important data they need and reduce the data which would be redundant. (Kayas, 2017)   Organisation Data is important for organisations as it allows them to run the business and be able to perform well against their competitors who strive for the same targets which is to build a large customer base. Companies have different needs and purposes regarding data in order to achieve high levels within their market. Organisations need to have a clear purpose as to why they are collecting the data they require.

(Data Sharing, 2017) From being within Tesco in the past years their approach towards collecting data and what schemes they have in place in order to do so. Tesco collect data using their loyalty cards known as club cards, which is a card they have put in place for their customers to collect points and receive gifts such as money off their purchases. This allows Tesco to collect data regarding their customers as it allows them to analyse what products their customers are buying, those making frequent visits and those taking bigger responsibility for marketing. This allows Tesco to create different sectors that target their customers in order to meet the needs of their customers. A good example for this could be Tesco having several facilities located in there Tesco Extra stores such as mobile phone department, gaming and a hair salon.

This will enable Tesco to receive more customer loyalty as customers will not only be shopping there but will also find themselves using the services Tesco provide. This enables Tesco to provide greater competition within their market. Therefore, Tesco’s scheme of having club cards enables them to develop new markets and allows them to adapt to the changes such as updating their current markets in order to prevent customers from going to other businesses. This will also improve their relationships with their customers in order to keep them loyal to the business. In my opinion for Tesco to receive better results towards the future I would recommend promoting the loyalty cards better than they already are. This is because not every customer will be aware of the club card therefore Tesco may have frequent customers who are shopping but are not aware of the loyalty cards. This will enable Tesco to collect more data in order to achieve better results for future performances. This would also link to reminding people to scan their loyalty cards who are currently members.

This is because customers will be forgetting to scan their cards which will lead to less data collected for the organisation. Therefore, I would strongly recommend that Tesco ensure they promote their Clubcard and ensure more people are aware of this scheme as this will not only benefit the organisation but will also benefit the customers as they will receive points and eventually prizes such as money off from their purchases.  Information  Information is the next step from data which can be defined in several ways.

Information can be formed through data that has been processed which gives the data an opportunity to be meaningful. This means that the data has been processed for a specific purpose such as numbers being data giving a purpose to form information. Data that has been understood and defined by a recipient can also be a definition for information. From these points it clearly highlights that there is a specific process in order to get from data to information which would be known as a transformation processes. (Bocij, Greasley and Hickie, 2009) There are several characteristics which highlight the key aspects behind information. These would include  Timeliness- Information needs to be available when necessary Frequency- Information should be considered on how often it should be presented Appropriateness- Information needs to be relevant for the designated for the specific purpose Accuracy- Accuracy is important as it depends on the purpose of the information Action- It is important that the appropriate user initiates the actions required Understandability- Information should be understood otherwise will have no use to the user Brevity- the level of detail should be appropriate Rarity- Information should not have anomalies or else would highlight problems Presentation- the format of information should reflect the needs of the recipient   (Cox, n.d.) It is said that information should have a purpose, be up to date and accurate.

Although it would be better information it would only be beneficial it improves the end result to the previous one. (Lucey, 2005) Information Systems An information System is a collection of structured processes that involves capturing, storing, retrieving, sharing and destroying information. This means that IS are complementary networks of hardware and software that organisations will use in order to achieve their purposes towards information.  Organisation From this it will show how Tesco use their information, their purposes behind it and how they would use it towards their targets within their organisation to be able to achieve their required needs. Information is key for every organisation as it allows the business to be able to adapt to changes, keep the flow of the business well and achieve better results than previous ones. Tesco would collect their information from their loyalty cards which would be their collected data in order to achieve the right information for their given purposes.

As customers scan their loyalty cards it enables Tesco to collect data from their frequent customers known as loyal members in order to analyse what products they are interested and what they are frequently purchasing at their Tesco stores. From this we ca learn that Tesco can keep up to date and collect accurate data from their scheme of loyalty cards as the cards will be in use every day. This shows that the customers are part of Tesco as it enables Tesco to collect their data and that their frequent customers play a major role towards Tesco collecting their data. Linking back to the characteristics of information I strongly believe that Tesco meet the criteria towards the keys aspects of information.

This is because Tesco’s results will be accurate as they will be carried out every day which would also indicate that the information is up to date, frequent and appropriate. However, I would strongly recommend that Tesco ensure their data is designated towards their required purpose. This is because Tesco are collecting data on a regular basis therefore they need to ensure that their data is organised and set up in different section sin order to meet their criteria’s such as opening a new market or cutting down on a current one in order to improve the income of the organisation.

Another improvement I would suggest is that Tesco improve their current methods towards getting new members to sign up to their Clubcard. This is because people would avoid the application as it may be time consuming or the individual may not be able to understand the language it’s given in. Therefore, I would recommend that Tesco improve their strategies by offering more languages and keeping the application short so that the end result will lead to more members becoming loyal to the business which will benefit Tesco in many ways resulting in frequent customers, better sales and more data being collected by the organisation.   Knowledge  Knowledge is the final step from Information where Knowledge involves facts, information and skills acquired through experience or education. This shows that Knowledge is based around the combination of data, information, experience and individual interpretation. Knowledge can be an intangible asset, which can be a long term resource for organisations, however, has no physical existence. An example of an intangible asset would be trademarks and copyrights.

This is because none of these assets can be physically touched but still add value to an organisation.  Explicit Knowledge  Explicit knowledge is knowledge that is recorded which would include formal knowledge involving processes such as records of all types databases and further. (Lucey, 2005)  Tacit Knowledge  Tacit knowledge involves self-experience which would be shown as certain aspects we carry on our mind, dealing with problems, personal beliefs and personal prospective.  (Palmer and Weaver, 1998) The main objective behind knowledge management is that tacit knowledge transforms to explicit knowledge in order to form a better understanding as this will enable personal knowledge shared within an organisation.

  Organisation  As information is concerted to knowledge it is important Tesco understand their customers and ensure they target the right products towards their club card members. For example, if an individual was purchasing nappies at a Tesco Store it would be the correct process to target other products such as baby wipes, milk and food specifically, for children. This will enable Tesco to ananlyse what their customers are buying and target them with more products related to their common purchases which will lead to Tesco developing new markets and offering more products to customers that they may not be aware of. This will be beneficial not only for Tesco but for the customer as they will be involved with Tesco’s products, sales and what they have to offer that their competitors will not have. This will result in Tesco selling more products, enabling them to open new markets, staying on top of competitors and following all this an increase in their sales.

One suggestion I would recommend Tesco to do would be to engage with their members who hold club cards to ensure they also have an understanding of how Tesco work and what they have to offer on their club cards. This will get more customers involved with Tesco’s scheme and it will result in better knowledge for Tesco linking to the products they would target their customers. From this Tesco’s employees will also have further knowledge gained from their customers which would enable them to share their knowledge within the organisation which will lead to personal knowledge being available to others throughout the organisation so that employees are also aware of Tesco’s schemes and how they should engage with their customers so that Tesco are able to receive more data, information and knowledge for their future performances.   Conclusion            To conclude Businesses, have to ensure they use Data, information and knowledge correctly in order to achieve the best results for their company such as Tesco which has been discussed in this report. As this process goes on it is important that businesses take full responsibility towards each sector as lacking within one sector can affect the whole process. This is because Data is the starting point, then information, then knowledge. If one area lacks then the whole process will be affected.

This will lead to a fall within the business regarding data as a business’s marketing schemes will fail and competitors will gain an advantage if one business is not doing well within the market they trend in.