Page 44 - Information Management 3rd Edition

Information Management
reading reports. It should always be remembered that the information that is supplied in the report is influenced by the frame of reference of the report writer, the business culture in which the report was created, as well as the objective of the report writer. Thus, there is always an element of subjectivity in information provided for decision-making.
3.3.5 The potential value of information
In addition to the general value of information, there are three specific areas in which the potential value of information is high. These areas are communication, feedback and the action and decision-making processes of management.
• Communication
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Communication and information distribution exist in such a close-knit
relationship that it is difficult to distinguish between cause and effect. On
the one hand, information is the reason for all communication, on the other
hand, communication makes information distribution possible. We have
already referred to the value of information, and the fact that we have so many
communication devices and businesses in our modern society, mirrors the
premium placed on information for effective decision-making. Information is
a resource just like all the other business resources, but with a distinct feature,
namely the ability to pull all the other business resources together. It is this feature of communication that illuminates the versatility of information, as well as the potential of information to become knowledge when it is applied. Since information always sets a series of events in motion once it gets communicated, the communication structures, tools and methods in any business should be well designed and applied.
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• Feedback
It is important to understand the notion of feedback and the exact role it plays.
Feedback is needed at each stage during the entire process of information flow. It provides the manager with the status of the current situation or task in progress. Once this is revealed, the manager can act on it if he/she needs to and make sure that everything is still going according to plan. When feedback is practised at a healthy level in business, it means that interaction is taking place regularly and this will lead to the successful integration of the various functional areas in the business.
Proper and accurate feedback would require openness, honesty, confidence, accurate communication, acceptability of mistakes, and a positive atmosphere of cooperation. It is important to design effective feedback mechanisms and these should be done in a way that achieves synergy between the various functional areas in the business. Feedback mechanisms should therefore be designed to integrate the efforts of the functional areas jointly. Regular feedback has a positive impact on the morale of the staff. This makes sense, as feedback is received upon each completed step of a task and every individual in the team, as well as the team itself, has a clear direction of what to do next. The more regularly feedback is received, the faster staff can react to new information. The higher the added value, the greater the increase in the business’s competitive advantage.
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