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information, the negotiations with unions over work allocation are inevitably difficult.
In many branches, there has been a build-up of arrears in the daily balancing
of accounts because the expansion of business operations has far outstripped the
capacity of manual book-keeping procedures to keep track of daily transactions.
This has increased the danger of fraud, the dissatisfactions of customers and the
possibility of a complete breakdown of the checks and balances in the branches
accounting system.
Better information handling would help to enhance the productivity
of banks. Software applications could also enhance productivity
through credit cards, automated teller machines, electronic funds
transfers and foreign exchange and treasury management. Along with
computerization in banks, the networked computerization of major stock exchanges
is necessary for smooth functioning.
INSURANCE COMPANIES
In defining information management solutions for the insurance industry, it has
to be acknowledged that almost all insurance companies in the US already have in
place sophisticated computer systems that can handle well over 90 percent of
customer queries within satisfactory response times, provided that the query involves
data that has already been input to the computer. In India, there is hardly any
serious computerization within insurance companies.
Insurance is a document-intensive industry. Core activity is based on proposal forms,
personal details and claim forms all completed by customers on paper.
Any information management system for this industry must,
therefore, address the problems of processing, storing and retrieving
huge quantities of documents in their original format with a possible
retention period of up to 100 years.
Filing and storing these documents in their original paper form subjects the
business to all the constraints associated with the paper medium. Paper
is bulky, heavy and awkward to handle. It is labor-intensive to move and
vulnerable to loss by fire, theft or just misfiling. Because of its bulk, costly
office space has to be given up to non-productive filing systems that are slow
and unresponsive to customer service needs.
Along with computerization in banks,
the networked computerization of
major stock exchanges is necessary for
smooth functioning
