Information is important in every business

In many industries not widely considered information business, information actually represents a large percentage of the cost structure.

When we think of a value chain, we tend to visualise a linear flow of physical activities. But the value chain also includes all the information that flows within a company and its suppliers, its distributors and its consumers. Supplier relationships, brand identity and customer loyalty all depend on various kinds of information.

When mangers talk about the value of customer relationships, for example, what they mean is the proprietary information that they have about their customers and that their customers have about the company and their products.

The changing economics of information threaten to undermine established value chains in many sectors of the economy requiring virtually every company to rethink its strategy not incrementally, but fundamentally.

Information and information management is big business today. Information about the company structure, its finance and how the busineeses are run has made transparency a watchword for companies to compete and survive in the digital age. Other factors such as allocation of resources and productivity are equally important for wealth creation.

The explosion of information in the business arena has changed the competetive landscape bringing tremendous opportunities where none existed before. Wealth is more easily created and is within reach to anyone who is prepared to rise upto it.