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2 pages/≈550 words
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APA
Subject:
Accounting, Finance, SPSS
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English (U.S.)
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Topic:

Information flows and financial management (Other (Not Listed) Sample)

Instructions:

Module 3 - Case

Information flows and financial management

Assignment Overview

The Kuali Foundation is a very interesting cooperative venture developing financial information systems in the academic sector. As they describe themselves,

The Kuali Foundation is a non-profit organization responsible for sustaining and evolving a comprehensive suite of administrative software that meets the needs of all Carnegie Class institutions. Its members are colleges, universities, commercial firms and interested organizations that share a common vision of open, modular, and distributed systems for their software requirements. The goal of Kuali is to bring the proven functionality of legacy applications to the ease and universality of online services.

Basically, Kuali is a suite of open source software based financial management applications, applied to the particular needs of colleges and universities. The software is freely available, but support requires participation in the community. Not an unreasonable request, and it does allow for the process of learning how to implement a system and for working out the various sociotechnical adjustments that could be to be made in transitioning to a Kuali based system in any university.

Kathleen T. McNeely and Mary S. Wheeler. A Flexible Financial System. NACUBO

University of Arizona's implementation:

Overview of the system.

Implementation.

Re-evaluation.

You will probably also want to review the Wikipedia article on Organizational Dimensions of Information described in the introduction to this module.

Case Assignment

The background information has further material on flows of financial data and associated decision making. In addition, you may wish to seek out further information through your own research. When you have reviewed the advice and the plans, please prepare a short (2-3 page) paper discussing:

Horizontal Flow, Inward-Outward Flow, Vertical Information flow, and Downward Information Flow of financial data in the Kuali system

Please carefully explain (in general) the kinds of data involved, who's doing what to them, and what effects they have, with reference to the appropriate financial and other information. You aren't expected to be comprehensive, just to trace out one or two specific illustrations of each type of flow in terms of a typical organizational chart or using the Kuali Foundation as an example.

Assignment Expectations

Use information from the modular background readings as well as any good quality resource you can find. Please cite all sources and provide a reference list at the end of your paper.

LENGTH: 2-3 pages typed and double-spaced.

The following items will be assessed in particular:

  1. Your ability to demonstrate your understanding of the various information flows within organizations;
  2. Some in-text references to modular background readings.
source..
Content:

Information Flow
Name:
Institution:
Introduction
Each organization regardless of the size has some form of information flow within and without the organization structure. With reference to the decisions, objectives, levels and the powers distribution among the different players in the business model, the structure can vary widely. Movement, the level of interpretation and manipulation of information tends to take the same form and shape from one organization to the next. For an organization like Kuala foundation, information moves in several directions. This is an organization that offers several software solutions to institutions and businesses alike. With its open source approach, the organization has developed from a small firm to a well recognized and respected firm in the industry, with close reference to financial softwares (Kuali.org, 2014). There are four ways that information can move within and without Kuala Foundation which include; horizontal movement, inward-outward flow, vertical information flow and downward information flow.
Horizontal Information Flow
Within the organization there are number levels that are part of the organization structure. At the same time there are different clients that are using the financial system designed, managed and maintained by Kuali. Within this levels where the decision-making powers are almost similar or of the same level, any information that is shared, moves in horizontal manner (Greg, 2013). For example, among the board of directors, their decision making powers are almost similar. Much of the debates that they hold are carried through all the members’ consensus before they are passed. This means that any form of exchange of financial data that takes place between these members is horizontal. This is the same case with customers, when they pass along financial information amongst themselves (Kuali.org, 2014). At the same time any financial information that is passed among the different members of the operational teams in the different departments also takes the same form. Information is always flowing from Kuali students, financial system, human resources, Coues, open library environment, rice mobility and ready departments (Haag, Cummings, McCubbrey, Donovan & Pinsonneault, 2006).
Inward-Outward Flow
Sometimes information needs to be exchanged between the management of the organization and the clients or the stakeholders. This means that the information could be coming from the management to the clients, in which case it would be moving outwards. At the same time it could mean that the information is coming from the stakeholders or the clients to the management, which in this case is inward (Vpaf.umd.edu, 2014). For Kuali foundation, it is always in constant exchange of vital financial information between the management and the clients or the stakeholders (Greg, 2013). This is a basic aspect of any business as it has to be in constant communication with these entities as part of managing their finances as clients (Ariz, 2012). When universities or the organizations on the system upload documents with regard to their accounts transactions, these are inward flows to the system. Sections heads will from time to time initiate transactions in the various accounts, in an outward flow on information (Kuali.org, 2014).
Vertical Information Flow
This is a flow that underlined by information moving from the lower levels of management to the higher management levels. Any financial information that comes to the board of directors from the sectional heads is moving in the vertical flows. This means that it is moving from lower levels to the much higher levels in the organization structures (Vpaf.umd.edu, 2014). Information such as monitoring reports, audit reports and other metrics carried out on the various accounts for the general management of the platform, are considered vertical flows if they are passed from the operational levels such as the sections heads to the board directors (Greg, 2013).
Downward information flow
This is a flow that is pretty much the opposite of a vertical flow, such that information with financial data now flows from the upper levels of management to the lower levels of management. Whenever, reports are discussed by the board of directors, there is alw...
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