UNDERSTANDING THE POTENTIAL OF INFORMATION IN DECISION MAKING

Abstract

Today's competitive environment requires managers who are able to identify and distinguish false information and critically analyze information. Today's businesses are driven by a knowledge-based society, and the more critical the thinking, the better the knowledge. Information literacy helps young people to become more critical of the information they receive, while business information literacy can significantly improve decision-making processes. Information literacy is considered to be the ability to critically evaluate knowledge. Information literacy is closely linked to critical thinking skills. Therefore, information literacy is a strong part of the decision-making process. Critical thinking, on the other hand, is an intellectual process in which information is actively and skillfully constructed, analyzed, and synthesized to make decisions. Information literacy promotes critical thinking among young people, which includes inductive and deductive thinking, information analysis and problem solving, which in turn reinforces complex approaches to solving problems and challenges. The aim of this study is to identify the relationship between business students' critical thinking skills and information literacy in order to assess the role of understanding the potential of information in business decision-making for young people. The tasks of the research were to analyze the regularities of critical thinking and information literacy. In general, the views of business students on the aspects of information literacy that influence the decision-making process were collected. Two focus group discussions were conducted to find out the views and attitudes of individuals. Discussions are taking place online due to the circumstances of the Covid- 19 pandemic. The strength of this study is that student results will be automatically recorded to Google Drive. The study showed that critical thinking skills related to researching and evaluating information are needed to justify a decision. It involves analyzing and synthesizing information to solve a problem and is part of information literacy. However, critical thinking skills do not always indicate a high level of information literacy. This may affect the outcome of the decision. Information literacy requires an intellectual framework understanding of information, ability to select useful information and use it effectively.