How information is used and how it flows in an organization is as follows: Information in

an organization is used for a myriad of different processes throughout an organization.

Information flow through an organization is a duplicate image of an organizations activities.

Making a model of an organizations activities goes a long way in helping to build an effective

strategy for competing in today’s business world. The three things that are generally looked at in

the process of information flow is cost, time, and the information path. A break down of these

three components is as follows: Cost will show how much the present implemented information

processes cost. Time would show us the current speed of information being transferred to the

user of said information. IE: how much time it would take for management to receive the right

information from say a warehouse, etc. The third component is the path. The path gives

information about the size of information flow net elements that information goes through to

make it to the information user. These three components are closely relative to each other and

therefore make any analysis difficult.

Essentially, information runs in a circular pattern. It is very similar to how water flows down

a drain in a circular pattern. Once the water is in the drainage line, it goes through a series of

pipes, of different sizes and direction. Organizations utilize information in a very similar way.

Information comes in from the customer via a purchase, and then that purchase information is

then stored in a database. From that point, the payment information goes to the proper

destination such as warehouses, banks, shipping offices, etc. The information then passes back

into the database where it is stored until retrieved again. That is an example of information flows.

Information flows enable an organization to fulfill their services, or product delivery. The more

efficient an information flow is, the more effective a company can be in regards to operations,

and expansion.

Due to the sensitivity of most customer information, information is very closely guarded, and

is handled as very valuable pieces of any organization. It is considered a material resource.

Information flows within a given organization are always heavily secured, because it would not

be very good at all for a company to allow other company’s to gain access to sensitive customer

information. Information treated as a material resource, makes things much easier in decision

making by management. Information then goes through information processing, and then

analysis by way of the database. This process streamlines decision making by management. The

overall effectiveness of a company’s activities hinges on these processes. A few organizations

have information flow in a more linear aspect. Information sources can come from a foreman or

upper management, and is usually passed further along the chain of command to subordinates at

lower levels.

The company that I am employed at is a construction company. I am responsible for making

sure materials purchased from different company’s arrives at the different job sites on time, and

in their entirety. The way information flow in this organization goes is pretty cut and dry in

comparison to other organizations. The owner of the company prefers to do job estimates

himself, so at the end of every day I receive the materials list and any special items wanted by

the customer, eg. Imported bathroom fixtures, etc. I input the information into the Information

System along with any special requirements that need to be addressed. After input of all the

information needed, including sensitive customer information, the information system then

generates all the possible company’s the materials can be procured from for a given jobsite. The

next morning when I arrive at work, I then start the tedious job of contacting the company’s

listed and work to schedule delivery at the different job sites. I have a lot of leaway in regards to

decisions based on what the information system recommends. The information system at our

office is more of a database storage and retrieval system then streamlining the company, as there

is not inventory to keep track of, and no end product to keep track of. At the end of the job,

information is entered to reflect the cost verses profit.