Abstract:

This paper is written by a management consultant; one who, by the nature of his task, must try to know, develop and fertilise the soil on which managerial talent in business can grow and bear fruit. One vital constituent of that soil is action-provoking information. The author gives his views on the increasingly important role of information as a business asset and his reasons for those views. He then describes the very imperfect supply and demand situation in which business information finds itself. The objectives which business information must meet having been set out, the prevailing obstacles to a more fruitful relationship between the ultimate user if information — the business decision-maker — and the non-integrated, heterogeneous host of production-oriented suppliers are examined. The author concludes that an Edwardian outlook on information management in business is common and that little encouragement to a more up-to-date approach is forthcoming from the Information supply side.