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| Guide
to Good Information Strategy |
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Introduction
Computers have revolutionised business, industry and the public sector by
enabling organisations to process vast amounts of information at high speed. But
there has been a price to pay. The explosion in corporate information has
created almost as many problems as it has solved.
People have to deal with a colossal amount of information from day to day.
Around 1,000 books are published internationally every day and the total of all
printed knowledge doubles every five years. More information is estimated to
have been produced in the last 30 years than in the previous 5,000. The New York
Times alone contains more information in a weekday issue than the average 17th
century person came across in a lifetime. New information technologies have
contributed to the deluge by promoting communications both within organisations
and with customers, suppliers and business partners. Meanwhile, business trends
such as downsizing are intensifying the pressure by reducing the number of
people available to process data and increasing the burden on the individuals
who remain. Leaner, meaner management practices are also squeezing out time for
planning ways to deal with information overload.
The huge wealth of data waiting to be exploited on dial-up information services
and the Internet adds to the pressure. Use of phone-based information services
is soaring. In 1985, the world spent 15 billion minutes on the phone, talking,
faxing and sending data. By 1995, this figure had quadrupled to 60 billion
minutes, and by the millennium it is expected to be 95 billion minutes. Small
wonder some people feel unable to cope. Occupational
stress, of which information overload is a major component, is costing
organisations millions of pounds a year in lost productivity, delayed
decision-making and the failure to spot opportunities. In the UK alone,
information overload contributes to up to 30m working days a year a lost through
stress-related illnesses at a cost of some £2 billion. Yet many companies are
doing nothing to address the problem. At best, this is wasteful, at worst it
could cripple business.
As a leading producer of business information, Reuters is well aware of the
problems. But there are ways to minimise them, and this guide is intended to
help begin that process.
"Only a minority of organisations appear to be
directly and deliberately addressing the management of occupational
stress."
Tom Cox, Professor of Psychology, Nottingham University |
Information
Overload |
Information
Addiction
