INFORMATION RESOURCE

MANAGEMENT
SUMMARY OF INFORMATION

In Management, Information is processed

data which is the base for development of
knowledge, skills and attitude of employers,
employees, leaders, experts, stakeholders,
competitors, products and services.
It is the life-line of Management Systems
IMPORTANCE OF INFORMATION

Supports Decision Making

Helps in Planning
Supports Effective Controlling Activities
INFORMATION CHARACTERISTICS

Information is said to be Accurate

A ACCURATE
C COMPLETE
C COST – BENEFICIAL
U USER – TARGETED
R RELEVANT
 A AUTHORITATIVE
T TIMELY
E EASY TO USE
INFORMATION SOURCES

 Sources of information are divided into different groups.

 Primary, Secondary and Tertiary
 Primary: original sources, includes books, documents, results of
scientific experiments, etc.
 Secondary: derived sources, including textbooks, analysis of
scientific experiments, etc.
 Tertiary: contains summaries of both primary and secondary
sources. Includes encyclopedias, etc.
INFORMATION SOURCES

 Documented and Non-Documented

 Documented: generally published or recorded documents of
knowledge.
 Non-Documental: non-recorded information. Easy to handle,
provides information instantly.
 Internal and External
 Internal: present inside the organization, for example, annual
reports, directories, etc.
 External: needed to be gathered from outside. Might have to be
purchased. Example, surveys, magazines, libraries, etc.
RESOURCES

 Resources are considered as assets of an organization.

 These are the re-usable source of supply.
 Resources have three main characteristics:
 Utility
 Limited availability
 Potential for reduction or consumption
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

 It is the efficient and effective development of an

organizational resources whenever needed.
 A technique called Resource Leveling is used to manage
resources.
 It aims at smoothing stock of resources in hand, reducing
both excess inventories and shortages and achieve 100%
utilization.
INFORMATION RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
(IRM)

 IRM Refers to the management of information as a resource,

just like financial, physical, human and natural.
 It addresses the efficient handling of information resources
(raw data) and the resulting information assets (knowledge).
 Information Resource Management means the planning,
budgeting, organizing, directing, training, promoting,
controlling, and management activities associated with the
burden, collection, creation, use, and dissemination of
information by agencies or organizations.
NEED OF IRM

 By mid-1980s, businesses realized that automation was not

the only answer to increase productivity but information is a
resource that needs to be managed to increase productivity.
 Automation is just a tool, to provide access to information
that is required to make decisions.
 IRM is required
 To adapt new information management technologies
 To minimize risks
 To ensure regulatory compliance
 To safeguard vital information
IRM IMPLEMENTATION

 IRM was implemented using three disciplines:

 Database Management
 It establishes and enforces standards to support a global view and
integrated use of enterprise data.
 Drawback: fails to answer question like
 Which information is most crucial to success of the company?
 How can the quality, reliability, accuracy of information be
improved?
IRM IMPLEMENTATION

 Records Management
 Based on the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, in response to
growing Federal Information
 The Federal Law:
 It states that; “Each agency shall be responsible for carrying out its
information management activities in an efficient, effective and
economical manner and for complying with information policies,
principles, standards and guidelines prescribed.”
 Goal: Paperwork reduction, Data Processing, Records Management
and Organization Development.
IRM IMPLEMENTATION

 Data Processing Management

 Arises from fields of Business Administration and Corporate
Information Management (CIM)
 Principles of CIM:
 Information will be managed through proper control and execution.
 It should be simplified by elimination and integration.
 Information systems will be developed and enhanced according to
a department-wide methodology.
 Data will be entered only once.
 Information will be safeguarded against unintentional or
unauthorized alteration, destruction or disclosure.
BARRIERS FOR IRM

 Ineffective information resource management often results in

massive cost overruns, long schedule delays, and systems
that do not perform as intended.
 Some of the causes to this ineffectiveness are:
 Lack of well-defined IRM concepts
 Lack of IRM training or awareness
 Lack of agreement on objectives
 Lack of ability to attract and retain skilled people
 IMPLEMENTING IRM
 Understand the role of Information
 Information can add value to your products and services.
 Improved information flows can improve the quality of decision making and internal operations.
Yet many managers do not fully understand the real impact of information - the cost of a lost
opportunity, of a poor product, of a strategic mistake - all risks that can be reduced by using the
appropriate information.
 Assign Responsibility for Leading your IRM Initiative
 Developing value from information resources is often a responsibility that falls between the
cracks of several departments - the user departments in different business units, and corporate
planning, MIS units or librarians.
 Develop Clear Policies on Information Resources
 Policies for ascertaining information needs, acquiring and managing information throughout its
life cycle.
 Pay particular attention to ownership, information integrity and sharing.
 Make the policies consistent with your organizational culture.
 IMPLEMENTING IRM
 Conduct an Information Audit (Knowledge Inventory)
 Identify current knowledge and information resources (or entities), their users, usage and importance.
 Identify sources, cost and value.
 Classify information and knowledge by its key attributes.
 Develop knowledge maps. As knowledge management gains prominence, this is sometimes called a
knowledge inventory "knowing what you know".
 Link to Management Processes
 Make sure that key decision and business process are supported with high leverage information.
 Assess each process for its information needs.

 Systematic scanning
 Systematically scan your business environment.
 This includes the wider environment - legal and regulatory, political, social, economic and
technological - as well as the inner environment of your industry, markets, customers and competitors.
 Provide selective and tailored dissemination of vital signs to key executives.
 This goes beyond the daily abstracting service provided by many suppliers.
 IMPLEMENTING IRM

 Mix hard/soft, internal/external

 True patterns and insights emerge when internal and external data is juxtaposed, when hard
data is evaluated against qualitative analysis.
 Optimize your information purchases
 You don't have to control purchasing, but most organizations do not know how much they are
really spending on external information.
 By treating consultancy, market research, library expenses, report and databases as separate
categories, many organizations are confusing media with content.
 IMPLEMENTING IRM
 Introduce mining and refining processes
 Good information management involves 'data mining', 'information refining' and 'knowledge
editing'.
 You can use technology such as intelligent agents, to help, but ultimately subject matter experts are
needed to repackage relevant material in a user friendly format.
 One useful technique is content analysis, whose methods have been developed by Trend Monitor
International in their Information Refinery, and are used in our analysis services.
 The classifying, synthesizing and refining of information combines the crafts of the information
scientist, librarian, business analyst and market researcher/analyst.
 Yet many organizations do not integrate these disciplines

 Develop Appropriate Technological Systems

 Continual advances in technology increase the opportunities available for competitive advantage
through effective information management.
 In particular, intranets, groupware and other collaborative technologies make it possible for more
widespread sharing and collaborative use of information.
 Advances in text retrieval, document management and a host of other trends in knowledge
management technologies have all created new opportunities for providers and users alike.
 IMPLEMENTING IRM

 Exploit technology convergence

 Telecommunications, office systems, publishing, documentation are converging.
 Exploit this convergence through open networking, using facilities such as the World Wide Web,
not just for external information dissemination but for sharing information internally.
 Encourage a Sharing Culture
 Information acquires value when turned into intelligence.
 Market Intelligence Systems (MkIS) are human expert-centered.
 Raw information needs interpretation, discussing and analyzing teams of experts, offering
different perspectives.
 This knowhow sharing is a hall-mark of successful organizations.