Information is key to decision-making, the way we manage it and the environment that organizations provide for its management.
Some areas of the company are more susceptible to being affected by internal and external factors, therefore the ability to return to the source of knowledge and the way we obtain it can be a competitive advantage.
Information management may not be so easy, since the globalized world today provides us with very important amounts of information, but most of the time this information comes formless, inconsistent and from unknown or unreliable sources, even without the possibility of verify the quality and authenticity of it.
Diffuse information is all that information that we cannot systematically evaluate, which comes from various sources and knowing how to manage it can position us in a competitive context and improve our perspective of the environment.
INFORMATION
It can be said that the information in a broad definition, is the result of knowing situations, or facts, events unknown until then, as well as the causes that originated those facts and the consequences that they will bring.
The information comes from the ordering of the data so that they have a specific meaning for the recipient and even a certain value. (Sieber, Josep, & Valentin, 2006)
CLASSIFICATION OF INFORMATION
According to ISO27001, information can be classified according to its value, legal requirements, sensitivity and criticality of the company. (Blog Specialized in Information Security Management Systems, 2015)
INFORMATION SOURCES
DEFINITION OF SOURCES OF INFORMATION
They are all resources that contain formal, informal, written, oral or multimedia data. They are divided into three types: primary, secondary and tertiary. (Silvestrini & Vargas, 2008)
The sources of information are all traces or vestiges, testimonies and knowledge bequeathed by the passage of men and women throughout history. It follows that the source of information is everything that contains information to be transmitted or communicated and that allows identifying with the origin of the information. (Gallego Lorenzo, 2009)
PRIMARY SOURCES
They contain original information, which has been published for the first time and has not been filtered, interpreted, or evaluated by anyone else. They are the product of an eminently creative investigation or activity. They also make up the basic collection of a library, and can be found in traditional printed format like books and serials; or in special formats such as micro shapes, videocassettes and compact discs.
SECONDARY SOURCES
They contain primary, synthesized, and rearranged information. They are specially designed to facilitate and maximize access to primary sources or their content. They make up the library's reference collection and facilitate control and access to primary sources. They should be referenced when a primary source cannot be used for a specific reason, when resources are limited, and when the source is reliable. We use it to confirm our findings, expand the content of information from a primary source, and to plan our studies.
TERTIARY SOURCES
They are physical or virtual guides that contain information about secondary sources. They are part of the library's reference collection. They facilitate control and access to a full range of reference repertoires, such as reference works guides or to a single type, such as bibliographies.
ANOTHER WAY TO CLASSIFY THE INFORMATION
(González Nolasco, 2012)
INFORMATION FLOW
Between the different levels of the organization there is an information flow, first towards the interior and also the information that comes from the outside is taken into account. In a theoretical plane, the information flows from one level to another in optimal conditions and without undergoing any changes other than its organization to facilitate its reading.
In reality, the flow of information is affected by the interpretations of the level where it originates and where it is going, and is strongly influenced by noise from the external environment.
FUNCTIONS OF THE INFORMATION ACCORDING TO THE LEVEL AT WHICH IT IS
(Ciampagna, 2011)
EXECUTIVE LEVEL
At the executive level, the top layer, the information covers the needs of:
- Decision makers Strategic plans of the organization
They are little routine, complex, unstructured and summary data.
MANAGEMENT LEVEL
At the administrative level, the medium, the information covers the needs of the sector managers, project developers, professionals, etc.
The tasks are control of the operational level, preparation of policies for the higher level, external and internal data from the operational level are required. It is the place where the information analysis is carried out.
OPERATIVE LEVEL
The operational level, the base of the triangle, is the place where production processes take place. The characteristics of the data are: bulky, low variety, and rapidly changing.
DIFFUSE INFORMATION
The company that does not make use of the information resource and takes advantage of it with its own tools to optimize it, we might think that it is losing the opportunity to generate an advantage in a certain field where it operates.
However, this incessant information age we are experiencing, and as an example of this is that lately there are a series of tools and technologies that allow us to access countless sources that are constantly being renewed through various channels and in multiple ways. The sophistication of the presentation of information is surprising, but this brings with it some phenomena typical of industrial amounts of information, such as the unlimited and unclassified amount of information, the absence of hierarchization in it, and all this degenerates the information that We received.
Considering the above, we can say that the diffuse information is all the information that is generated inside and outside the company but that lacks an order, a hierarchy and a specific use in it, it is also that which does not have a support and its provenance is doubtful.
We could, as people who consider that they have common sense, obviate that nobody will use a type of information like the previous one, diffuse. But the speed of the processes and the accelerated movement of the environment force organizations to take information from all possible sources and then organize it, obtain it and then verify its provenance.
SELF-CONSUMPTION OF INFORMATION
As human beings we carry the business model, personal behavior models, one of them is the self-consumption of information, if they tell us something, we generally do not question what they tell us, due to the hierarchy of the person who said it, the influence on our lives and the culture of self-consumption. At the business level we follow this pattern, we move against the perception that we believe we have of the world and we do not verify it, we use information from the external environment but we do not request the veracity of it or think about hiring someone who will provide us with reliable information and about everything according to what we need.
Idea taken from (Bustelo Ruesta & García-Morales Huidobro, 2000)
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AS A TOOL TO AVOID DIFFUSED INFORMATION
Information management can be defined as the set of activities carried out in order to control, store and, subsequently, adequately recover the information produced, received or retained by any organization in the course of its activities. (Sieber, Josep, & Valentin, 2006)
In the axis of information management we find information management, considering all that is protected in documents.
Thus, an adequate management of information towards the inside and outside of the information can offer us a guarantee that the information we use in the decision-making process will have a foundation through which it will bring us closer to the objective of the company and not the opposite.
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
The information and the use that we give to it has become so relevant that organizations and society itself must take advantage of it for its development and potential competitive advantage.
Diffuse information can cause great damage or stunt the process that is taking place in the organization, it will never disappear, but proper management of this is key to the performance of the organization.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Bustelo Ruesta, C., & García-Morales Huidobro, E. (2000). Consulting in information organization. The information professional, 4-10.Blog Specialized in Information Security Management Systems. (May 18, 2015). Obtained from http://www.pmg-ssi.com/2015/05/iso-27001-clasificacion-de-la-informacion/Ciampagna, J. (2011). Information systems in the organization. Retrieved on February 28, 2016, from https://elprofejose.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/03_los-sistemas-de-informacic3b3n-en-laorganizacion.pdfGallego Lorenzo, J. (2009). Obtained from https://finformacion.wikispaces.com/file/view/Act1_AlejandroNolascoGonzalez.pdfGonzález Nolasco, A. (April 2, 2012). Obtained from https://finformacion.wikispaces.com/file/view/Act1_AlejandroNolascoGonzalez.pdfSieber, S., Josep, P., & Valentin. (2006).Information systems in today's company: Strategic aspects and tactical alternatives. Spain: McGraw Hill.Silvestrini, M., & Vargas, J. (January 2008). Obtained from Ponce Inter Edu:
