Intelligence Reporting Policy and Procedures

Policy Purpose and Context

Coffee Huse is a reputable coffeehouse chain operating across the nation with a strong brand image. To maintain our quality outlook in the public domain, we continuously strive for further improvement. Information and knowledge management (IKM) plays a central role in this context.

This policy and procedures manual sets out the standards and practical instructions to conduct appropriate data analyses on our corporate knowledge and document findings accordingly. The Business Intelligence Officer (BIO) must follow these standards to ensure professional practices are consistently undertaken throughout the (IKM) processes.

The aim is to:

• ensure consistency in IKM practices
• enforce the BIO to use a consistent style across organisational reports
• govern internal control standards in relation to business performance reporting.

This policy applies to all activities involved in the preparation and documentation of business performance reports and tools.

This policy is in effect as at April 2018. It will remain in effect until a new version is approved by Coffee Huse management team.

Procedures

1. Data Preparation

The BIO must source and gather reliable information in order to ensure currency, relevancy, and accuracy. To achieve this, the BIO must:

• review all data sources
• test data for reliability and validity
• discard data that are redundant, invalid, or unreliable.

This is crucial to yield accurate and effective decision making. The BIO must ensure the following quality standards in organisational datasets:

• accuracy (no errors in datasets)
• precision (datasets will yield repeated results without misleading)


completeness (existence of all essential data in the dataset)
consistency (data must be recorded in datasets using the same rules to avoid errors)
uniqueness (data must be consistent across the dataset without duplication )
integrity (assurance of the accuracy and consistency in datasets)
currency (datasets do not include obsolete data)
relevancy (data must relate to the cause of the dataset archived).

The BIO must undertake the necessary data cleansing practices to ensure the data quality standards listed above.

2. Tabling Data

Depending on the analysis undertaken, the BIO may need to table findings. This must be done using a cross-tabulation format to quantitatively analyse the relationship between multiple variables.

The format of a cross-tab must conform to the following standards:

• if numbers relate to a monetary value, then currency format must be applied.
• the final output must be clean and visually appealing.

Each cross-tab must follow an explanation to ensure the reader accurately interprets the findings and easily understands the outcomes.

3. Visualising Data

The BIO may need to use charts to visualise data. The charts must:

• be appropriate to the data type
• have a descriptive title and axis titles in each
• be kept simple and clear, and not be overpopulated with content
• be readable and legible
• include a legend where appropriate
• be visually appealing with a professional outlook
• not have gridlines
• follow a summary of interpretations.

A sample chart format is given below:

In addition to visually depicting the trend in the data with a trendline, the BIO must also show the equation of the line displaying the correlation coefficient. The BIO must provide their interpretations on this correlation coefficient.

4. Decision Making

The managerial decision-making model is a formal set of procedures designed to avoid premature decisions which may have a financial, political, and time impact on the organisation. The model is fundamentally based on group decision making and strictly refuses making strategic decisions at an individual level. The model is illustrated in the next page.

Once a business problem is identified, next step is to collect data which is essential to make a decision. It is critical that this information is validated to ensure its accuracy, authenticity, and reliability. As soon as all contradictory data are filtered out and quality of information is met, the data are then analysed using appropriate quantitative statistical methods based on its format. The output of this process is to mine out hidden patterns, emerging trends and the relationship between possible root causes. These initial findings must be drafted in a formal business report to follow a logical approach to the evaluation of the evidence and conclusions.

Next, this draft report must be communicated and consulted with relevant stakeholders which may include executive management, subject matter experts, specialists, and other relevant persons. This consultation must employ a data-driven approach, explain outcomes with evidence from findings, and mutually agree on the most promising options. This is to ensure decisions are taken within the acknowledgement of individual/group who are responsible to make the most favourable decision.

At last, the formal business report must be finalised incorporating the action plan as mutually agreed by all stakeholders during the consultation session. This action plan then must be implemented in a timely fashion to avoid any potential damage that may occur due to delays in the process.

Each internal member of Coffee Huse must follow the steps outlined above when reaching a decision. This model is aligned to the organisation’s values below to an extent where managerial decisions are made through these ethical principles.

These above procedures must be carried out in line with our core values:

• welcome others and display an approachable attitude at all times
• respect others’ opinions and comments
• be professional in dealings with others
• make decisions as a team, in collaboration
• be constructive in comments
• maintain high standards of personal and professional conduct
• do not interrupt when others are sharing their views
• ensure questions encourage participation
• presents information using verbal and non-verbal techniques appropriate for the audience and purpose.

5. Disseminate Information

The BIO must develop a communication plan prior to disseminating critical information. Upon the receipt of feedback from other stakeholders involved, the BIO must update the communication plan as required.

The BIO must use the following template for the communication plan: