Aiding executive decision making is a critical issue that cuts across every business. In order for a business to thrive and succeed in the ultra-competitive environment of today, executives must make decisions that are based upon the right information. In other words, the right people (executives), must receive the right information, at the right time. Much of the work done at the Lares Institute focuses on aiding executive decision-making, including through the use of information governance structures. Utilizing these principles to aid executive decision-making will enable companies to gain advantages over their competitors, and this post is the first in a series of posts that will examine how to achieve these goals through the doctrine of Information Superiority.
Information Superiority is a term that is used in this context to refer to a company making superior use of information to achieve key business objectives. This includes increasing profit, driving innovation, improving processes, reducing costs, reducing risks, and other similar issues. In order to adopt Information Superiority, most companies must start by examining how they can create structures to help them govern information and share information horizontally in the company. This often is a key stumbling block for companies because while information usually flows well vertically–up the organizational chart–it does not always flow well horizontally across divisions or other groups in companies. While information governance structures alone will not provide a complete answer, coupling information governance structures with a focus on the company’s business objectives, and certain key information, can help add to the bottom line.
While, horizontal information sharing is a key first step, there are many other steps to be taken before a company can achieve Information Superiority. For more information on Information Superiority, click here.