Book Description

Indian businesses face many challenges in today's competitive environment consisting of global players, highly demanding customers and shortage of skilled manpower. It is a complex environment that they operate in with 'information' becoming a critical component of their strategy and operations. Right information to the right person at the right time for right business actions is the greatest challenge that businesses face. Need for information exists at all levels, right from in-the-market executives to the middle management and top management in the organization. The type of information required would determine the sources of information, the media preferred, the technology used to access this information, the providers of information to be approached, the purpose of information searching and quality of information required. In this context, understanding the information need and its various aspects from the managers working in the industry was the purpose of this study. This research not only facilitates provision of right information to the right person at the right time but also helps in designing information systems and building the information culture of an organization. It is in this context that the book is written with an objective to explore the information needs of the Indian corporate sector. The study focuses on the middle or higher level of managers working in Indian corporate sector that includes public limited, private limited, family businesses, small businesses and government businesses. The study looks at the type of information required, sources used, media preferred, information providers used, purpose of information search and quality of information that is relevant and important. The research also studies the variations in results between managers in manufacturing sector and services sector to enhance the understanding of business information needs in the Indian context.