Role of Information in Organisations
Information has been regarded as a Resource, Asset and Commodity (Gordon and Gordon, 1999).
-- As a resource it is likened to land, labour (people), capital (money, raw materials & machinery) and enterprise. The main resource of an educational organisation is information, such as the content to be imparted to students by teachers/lecturers/ instructors.
-- As an asset, information becomes the property of a person or an organisation that contributes to the organisation's output. Just like the assets of an organisation is the infrastructure, equipment and the goodwill, information is also an asset and this is more so in the case of an educational organisation. The information in the hands of the teachers/instructors/lecturers have to be viewed as an investment which can be used startegically to give the organisation an advantage over its competitors as in the case of private colleges, public universities and even government schools.
-- As a commodity organisations sell information, making it similar to automobiles, washing machines or palm oil. As in the case of educational organisations, it is the only commodity that it 'sells' and consumers (i.e. students) determine the quality of the commodity.
The School Principal and Information
The school principal/headmaster, the school senior assistant, the college principal/director, the dean, head of department, university administrators/managers deal with information at various levels, for different purposes and in different forms:
a) Gathering Information - Educational managers gather information from the environment inside and outside the organsiation. They review written information about the organsation (such as reports on discipline cases, financial statements), attend meetings that present information about the organisation and its activities.
b) Sharing Information - Information that is gathered is shared among fellow workers (teachers, instructors, lecturers) and even people outside the organisation. For example, the grades and marks obtained by students are shared and discussed among individuals in an educational organisation. The manager also shares his/her knowledge of the organisation (such as its goals, resources, culture, directives from higher management or the Ministry, future plans) in meetings or in more informal situations.
c) Motivating and Providing Leadership - Even when motivating workers, managers need information. For example, when managers attempt to build team spirit and handle conflict when it arises, he/she has to be well equipped with information about individual workers (eg. backgound of workers). Accurate and complete information (eg. job description, performance levels) is even more relevant when the manager helps to develop and evaluate the skills, knowledge and attitudes of workers.
d) Making Decisions and Plans - All managers are at some point decision makers. The principal, headmaster, the director, the dean or the head determine the organisation's goals and strategy for accomplishing them. Lower-level managers such as the senior assistant, head of department, panitia, course coordinator etc. decide the schedule, the number of staff, the curriculum arrangements necessary to achieve the organisation's goals. Managers require information about their staff, their students, the facilities and the alternatives availabe. Without such information it would be difficult for managers to make decisions. The need information to make long-term and short-term plans for the organisation.
e) Resolving Problems - Practically every day managers resolve problems which needs negotiation and resource allocaton. For example, if there are staff problems, the manager needs to have data about staff attitudes, staff expectations, staff abilities, and resources available (what trade-offs can be made) to enable them to resolve problems.
f) Monitor Impact of Actions - The manager needs to know if his/her actions or decisions has been implemented or carried out effectively. This means he/she will have to compare the organisation's performance against approved standards which means proper management of information is important .
These 6 roles indicate that information is crucial if the manager is to function effectively and efficiently. Unfortunately, in many organisations managers have to:
- cope with less than perfect information in an uncontrollable
environment
- process large amounts of information quickly without time for
leisurely reflection
Given this situation, the manager has to ensure that information is managed properly in his/her organisation. Otherwise it will spell disaster for the organisation!. To what extent can Information Technology make the job of the manager easier?
