Data and reports: Contents design and users allocation

When a common information system should supply data in a batch processing mode to many various users, the systems analyst is faced with the problem of allocating data among various reports and reports among different users. The traditional approach to that problem is very unstructured. Such a problem is formulated here in a nonlinear binary programming model. Four alternative techniques of solving the model are presented, followed by an example. The main contribution is a systematic and analytic approach toward a major problem in information systems design.