Managing the Information Explosion

The process of management, and the management of information as an essential element of general managerial practice, is addressed from the perspective of the manager. Information has always been a key element in the performance of a business and the effectiveness of management, and information technology can now transform the use of this information to give managers substantial benefits in business planning and decision making. It is considered that information must be integrated into an organisation′s overall management and planning system rather than being controlled by specialist IT professionals and that the manager has to be responsible for: people, their motivation and training; business systems, culture and environment; and the organisation′s data resource. The ways in which business information processes can be analysed and modelled are reviewed and it is explained that information models can enable a better understanding of the organisation by showing it in a new and sometimes enlightening way. Some of the many complex issues associated with managing the change process and achieving successful implementation of the technologies are considered.