Managers' use and handling of information

摘要

The paper reviews three important pieces of research funded by Reuters over the period 1994–1996 that surveyed the understanding of, and use of information by managers. The research shows that whilst managers are well aware of the importance of information, they frequently do not feel in control of their use of it. In particular, they find that they are not given all the information they need but at the same time are overwhelmed by too much information. They recognize information is important, but do not know how to value it. They think their organization has information policies, but are rarely aware of what those policies are. They find that their personal and social life can be damaged by the problems of too much information. Finally, librarians and information managers seem not to be considered as a solution to these problems. The research shows that there is a clear market niche for information managers to exploit.