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Chapter 6 Foundations of Business Intelligence: Databases and Information Management 265

comments that manufacturers fear. Even so, keep- icism from the business community. Time will tell
ing the database free of inaccurate reports is likely to whether saferproducts.gov becomes an indispensable
require more time and hours than the CPSC staff will consumer resource.
be able to provide. Sources: www.SaferProducts.gov, accessed May 22, 2012; Josh
Since the database went live, there have been hun- Cable, “Democrats Defend Consumer Product Safety Database,”
dreds of thousands of visits to the site and millions of Industry Week, July 7, 2011; Don Mays, “My Experience With
the CPSC Database,” blogs.consumerreports.com, March 16,
product searches conducted by visitors, according to
2011; Andrew Martin, “Child-Product Makers Seek to Soften New
the Consumer Product Safety commission. Despite Rules,” The New York Times, February 21, 2011; Lyndsey Layton,
its growing popularity, it may not survive congressio- “Consumer Product Safety Commission to Launch Public Database
of Complaints,” Washington Post, January 10, 2011; Jayne O’Donnell,
nal attempts to take away its funding, in response to
“Product-Safety Database Under Multiple Attacks,” USA Today,
pressures to reduce the federal budget as well as crit- April 12, 2011.

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS

1. What is the value of the CPSC database to 3. Name two entities in the CPSC database and
consumers, businesses, and the U.S. government? describe some of their attributes.
2. What problems are raised by this database? Why 4. When buying a crib, or other consumer product
is it so controversial? Why is data quality an for your family, would you use this database? Why
issue? or why not?

6.4 MANAGING DATA RESOURCES

Setting up a database is only a start. In order to make sure that the data for
your business remain accurate, reliable, and readily available to those who
need it, your business will need special policies and procedures for data
management.

ESTABLISHING AN INFORMATION POLICY

Every business, large and small, needs an information policy. Your firm’s data
are an important resource, and you don’t want people doing whatever they
want with them. You need to have rules on how the data are to be organized and
maintained, and who is allowed to view the data or change them.
An information policy specifies the organization’s rules for sharing,
disseminating, acquiring, standardizing, classifying, and inventorying
information. Information policy lays out specific procedures and account-
abilities, identifying which users and organizational units can share
information, where information can be distributed, and who is responsi-
ble for updating and maintaining the information. For example, a typical
information policy would specify that only selected members of the payroll
and human resources department would have the right to change and view
sensitive employee data, such as an employee’s salary or social security
number, and that these departments are responsible for making sure that
such employee data are accurate.
If you are in a small business, the information policy would be established
and implemented by the owners or managers. In a large organization,
managing and planning for information as a corporate resource often requires
a formal data administration function. Data administration is responsible for

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