We are all experiencing an information overload, be it internal to the organization or due to external influences of our own information intensive society. Much has been written on how companies should “tame the beast of information” and make it work in the organization’s favour. What has not yet been covered is how an organization can actually comprehensively measure whether or not they are using information effectively to achieve better business performance, or in other words, how senior managers within an organization can measure “Information Orientation”. Following a major 2 year global research project in conjunction with Andersen Consulting, the authors of this book have been able to demonstrate that when a company is high on IO it will be high on business performance. However, beyond just using IO as a diagnostic tool or a benchmark for the effective use of an organization’s information, it can also predict the organization’s business performance. Invariably, a company does not make the best use of available information. Having assessed why and where the failings are, this book will provide ways in which senior managers can actively manage the different elements of their Information Capabilities to improve the usage of information. Information Capabilities are defined in three ways: 1. Information Behaviours/Values 2. Information Management Practices 3. Information Technology practices. It is the total interaction of these three elements and the effective management of them that permits superior business performance. IO Maturity can be gained, but the authors illustrate that it is an iterative process that grows and changes in line with a turbulent environment. Managers of a high IO company realize the need to continually refine and improve their information use and to keep learning more about their business. IO begins at the top. It takes more than authorizing an IT investment and training staff to use information. It calls for different behaviours, values and practices by senior managers. This book provides the means to move towards IO maturity. It is the step beyond Information Technology to actually managing information. The aim of this book is to make a previously invisible dimension of business management visible. A manager, after reading this book, will be able to see, measure and manage the information resources, people and IT in the company and improve business performance.
Book Details:
- Author: Donald A. Marchand
- ISBN: 9780470359938
- Year Published: 2001
- Pages: 320
- BISAC: BUS000000, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS/General
About the Book and Topic:
We are all experiencing an information overload, be it internal to the organization or due to external influences of our own information intensive society. Much has been written on how companies should “tame the beast of information” and make it work in the organization’s favour. What has not yet been covered is how an organization can actually comprehensively measure whether or not they are using information effectively to achieve better business performance, or in other words, how senior managers within an organization can measure “Information Orientation”. Following a major 2 year global research project in conjunction with Andersen Consulting, the authors of this book have been able to demonstrate that when a company is high on IO it will be high on business performance. However, beyond just using IO as a diagnostic tool or a benchmark for the effective use of an organization’s information, it can also predict the organization’s business performance. Invariably, a company does not make the best use of available information. Having assessed why and where the failings are, this book will provide ways in which senior managers can actively manage the different elements of their Information Capabilities to improve the usage of information. Information Capabilities are defined in three ways: 1. Information Behaviours/Values 2. Information Management Practices 3. Information Technology practices. It is the total interaction of these three elements and the effective management of them that permits superior business performance. IO Maturity can be gained, but the authors illustrate that it is an iterative process that grows and changes in line with a turbulent environment. Managers of a high IO company realize the need to continually refine and improve their information use and to keep learning more about their business. IO begins at the top. It takes more than authorizing an IT investment and training staff to use information. It calls for different behaviours, values and practices by senior managers. This book provides the means to move towards IO maturity. It is the step beyond Information Technology to actually managing information. The aim of this book is to make a previously invisible dimension of business management visible. A manager, after reading this book, will be able to see, measure and manage the information resources, people and IT in the company and improve business performance.
This book is not about a new management fad or IT trend. It is a new way of seeing the business value of information, people and IT and a way of measuring and managing these capabilities. After reading this book a manager will be able to see, measure and manage the information resources, people, and IT in the company to improve business performance. Mangers can learn about the best and the poorest practices companies have implemented to address these issues. Now that senior managers of global companies will be challenged to deal with the business realities of the information and knowledge era this book brings a way to measure and manage information capabilities through people, information and IT to achieve superior business performance.
Companies do not make the best use of available information. Having assessed why and where the failings are, this book will provide ways in which senior managers can actively manage the different elements of their information capabilities to improve the usage of information. The authors present the business management impacts resulting from the findings of a major international research project “Navigating Business Success.” Case studies from more than thirty international companies are strategically used throughout the book, including Banco Bilbao Vizcayo, Philips Business Electronics, Amazon, Dell Europe, Ernst & Young, General Electric, IKEA, Ritz Carlton Hotels, and Wal Mart. * Demonstrates the “Information Orientation Dashboard”–a diagnostic tool that senior managers can use to evaluate the three information capabilities of their company. * Illustrates how a predictive link can be made between the way senior executives manage people, information, and IT and the way they achieve superior performance. * Provides hands-on management prescriptions on how to improve a company’s information capabilities–and how to use these capabilities in achieving business strategies and in the implementation of change.
About the Author
DONALD A. MARCHAND is Professor of Information Management and Strategy at the International Institute of Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland. PROFESSOR WILLIAM J. KETTINGER is Director of the Center of Information Management and Technology Research at the Darla Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina. JOHN D. ROLLINS is the managing partner of Strategic Information Technology Effectiveness for Accenture (formerly known as Andersen Consulting), a leading global management and technology consultancy.