Information management practices (IMP) from the senior manager's perspective: an investigation of the IMP construct and its measurement

Abstract

While many scholars have discussed what a company should look like when it has reached an advanced state in using its information, there has been little empirical research to develop a valid effectiveness measure to determine whether a company is doing a good job of managing its information. Based on a theoretically derived model of an information life cycle, this study empirically tests a measure of information management practices (IMP) that can be part of future business measurement approaches. To ensure that we maintain an enterprise-wide perspective, we focus on senior managers' perceptions of how well their companies manage information. We discuss IMP as a ‘process’ or life cycle that involves sensing, collecting, organising, processing and maintaining information to enhance its use for decision-making. We first give an overview of the research on life cycle views of information management. Next, we present our information management life cycle framework and its dimensions. We then statistically determine the extent to which these ideas exist in the minds of senior managers as reflected in the second-order construct IMP. Finally, we discuss the implications for evaluating and measuring IMP in companies. The contributions have scholarly value as a building block in a theory of knowledge management, and practical value as a validated measure of the effectiveness of IMP.