ABSTRACT
One of the most significant failures in organizations today is the inability to convert raw data into information. Organizations collect hundreds of thousands of data sets on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis, with no clear plans as to how to extract information from them. Managers and supervisors are often bombarded by enormous volumes of reports that are aimed at tracking everything from productivity to quality. Often times, the data are presented poorly and the essence of the information is lost. In some cases, the decision to collect the data was made at a time in the history of the organization when it seemed reasonable to track or monitor that activity. However, no one revisits that effort to determine its continued relevance. Successful implementation of the quality management process depends to a large extent on the quality of data and the ability to convert the data into information.
