Page 43 - Information Management 3rd Edition

Chapter 3 – Managing Information
• Distribution methods
The second factor that can influence the flow of information is the methods used to distribute information. Attention has already been given to this earlier in the chapter.
• People
The third factor that can influence the flow of information is the people in the business since they are the key players in facilitating the flow of information. Bear in mind that people are not always fully informed, people sometimes keep information to themselves, they sometimes do not supply the correct information, they tend to supply incomplete information, they sometimes do not react to information, they do not always keep documents up to date and they cannot always anticipate the impact of information.
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3.3.3 Information needs to be available and useful
The decision-making process comprises the choice of various possibilities. Since
all decisions are taken on the grounds of available information, the availability
of information can influence decisions considerably. Incomplete or inadequate
information is frequently the main reason for wrong decisions, resulting in a loss
of large amounts of money, labour and time. You can refer to the “Requirements
of useful information” discussed earlier in this book. Useful information
will assist decision makers to reach the objectives of the business. For rational
decision-making, it is therefore important that information contains the correct
and complete facts. Furthermore, information should be presented in a concise
format, such as tables and graphs, and should contain only the necessary facts
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− that is, be relevant. It should also be possible to apply the information to a
variety of decision-making situations, that is, information should be versatile.
The success achieved because of information received in time, or the damage
done because of receiving information late, cannot be determined exactly. This
is one of the main reasons why people sometimes underestimate the value of information in the day-to-day operations of the business. One of the outcomes of this attitude is that people neglect the way they deal with information. People sometimes adopt a careless approach to the timeous distribution of information. The less information conforms to these requirements, the less useful it probably is. Information is valuable in a business and is often the main factor giving a business the sustainable competitive advantage it needs to remain profitable and to survive.
Remember, information is intangible and only the method that we use to distribute information can be touched, for example, paper, the computer screen, the fax machine or the phone. Because we cannot touch information, it is difficult to determine the extent of the influence of the content of information that is distributed.
3.3.4 Information is a human representation of occurrences
It seems clear that information is in all instances a human representation of occurrences. Because of that, it is possible that information can sometimes be incorrect. Therefore, management should take this factor into consideration when
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