Report

Business information management

Submitted By Naveed
Student I D 120184300040

Ph.D in Management Sciences & Engineering

[COMPANY NAME]
 Contents
ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................................. 2
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 3
Significance of the study .......................................................................................................................... 4
Purpose .................................................................................................................................................... 5
Literature review...................................................................................................................................... 6
The Information Management Process ............................................................................................... 6
Information Management according to Choo ..................................................................................... 6
Information Organization and Storage ................................................................................................ 7
Information Products and Services .................................................................................................... 10
Information Distribution .................................................................................................................... 10
Methodology.......................................................................................................................................... 11
Data analysis ...................................................................................................................................... 11
Reliability and validity ........................................................................................................................ 12
Findings .................................................................................................................................................. 12
References ............................................................................................................................................. 13

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 ABSTRACT

Today, companies face a situation where well-functioning knowledge and information

management systems is increasingly important for achieving sustainable competitiveness as

core competencies often resides in minds of the employees. Thus, systems enabling

knowledge and information sharing play a significant role for successful business operations;

this is also the case at Volvo Logistics, the logistics provider of the Volvo group.

This qualitative study, An Evaluation of Information Management Processes at Volvo

Logistics, focuses on the handling of the most commonly used operational documents at

Volvo Logistics and how these should be stored according to operational and legal

requirements. Moreover, the research examines the information distribution processes; how

knowledge is codified and handling routines are communicated throughout the

organization.The analysis is based upon the process model of information management

presented by Chun Wei Choo (2002). In this study especially large focus is put on information

organization and storage, information distribution, and document handling as they are

important for the Volvo Logistics case.

Keywords: Information Management, Information Organization and Storage;

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Introduction

This research is a two-folded study in which information management and documentation

handling processes are examined at Volvo Logistics in Gothenburg. Information management

processes are closely interlinked with how knowledge is shared and retrieved in organizations,

and thus, this thesis applies theories about knowledge sharing when analyzing the information

management processes at Volvo Logistics. Moreover, coordinated information processes are

especially important in logistics since it, based on observations from the study, is an

information intensive business where several activities needs to be linked together. Today, the

company’s information and knowledge sharing procedures are characterized by an informal

approach. However, due to the nature of the core business, which is characterized by a large

fraction of hands-on knowledge and growing information flows, the informal approach has

showed to be insufficient. Ownership of information is unclear in the current system.

Therefore, it is uncertain who is responsible for updating information in the system, which

further enhances the informal methods for knowledge sharing. Thus, more formal approaches

for knowledge sharing could be considered as more appropriate in the emerging environment.

Throughout the primary data gathering, two areas related to knowledge sharing and

information management stood out more than others as being perceived as poorly functioning

or with potential for improvements: how information is organized and stored and how

information is distributed today. Thus, there will be a large focus on these areas further on in

this research.

Volvo Logistics, which already due to the nature of the business of logistics, produces and

receives large number of documents, is experiencing a growing amount of transport and other

types of documentation. In the case of Volvo Logistics .The processes between the different

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 functions has not always been done in a coherent way, and this has led to inconsistency in

how documents are stored and organized between different parts of the company.

Consequently, Volvo Logistics in Gothenburg is in a situation with increasing problems of

managing document flows. Thus, this thesis will examine important factors for information

distribution at Volvo Logistics and the existing procedures for document handling at the

company. The thesis will also present a guideline for how documents should be stored and

organized in the future in accordance with operational and legal demands.

Significance of the study

The choice of strategy (codification or personalization) is very much dependent on the tasks

at hand, the size of the company, how it operates and the people it hires. A codification

management strategy based on reuse fits situations where knowledge and information do not

vary much over time and is rather standardized. In situations where the information or

knowledge is customized there are benefits from using a personalization strategy. Haas and

Hansen (2007) argue that emphasizing the wrong strategy or trying to pursue both at the same

time can quickly weaken an organization.

Sometime, similar or even the same problems may be encountered within different divisions.

Effective sharing of knowledge across these divisions can reduce organizational costs related

to inventing the same solutions twice (Goodman & Darr 1998). Haas and Hansen (2007)

distinguished between three performance-related outcomes of knowledge sharing - time

savings, work quality, and signal of competence. Time savings make up for a vital part in a

firm’s productivity levels and competitive performance.

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Purpose

The research will examine which elements are important for efficient information

management processes and focus will especially be on questions related to information

distribution and information organization and storage. This thesis will map the existing

processes for document storing at Volvo Logistics and outline important factors for more

coordinated documentation handling processes. This research will focus on contracts,

transport and accounting documentation which are the most frequently encountered

documents at Volvo Logistics. It will also examine how information regarding how to store

these types of documents is communicated throughout the organization. In order to do this,

the existing procedures and needs for accessing information at the various functions at Volvo

Logistics are mapped and compared. In addition to that, laws and regulations for document

storage, both for electronic and paper documents, regarding questions like storage time,

accessibility, and security are examined.

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Literature review

The Information Management Process

This section will review basic theories on information management and how information

could be stored and retrieved in an efficient way and thereby improve information distribution.

In this section, a framework illustrating an information management process suggested by

Choo (1995, 2002) will be described as it will later provide a foundation for this thesis’

analysis of how Volvo Logistics handles its information management system. The framework

consists of six parts. However, focus will primarily be put on two of these in the analysis;

information organization and storage, and distribution. Information management draws upon

ideas from both librarianship and information science (Maceviciute & Wilson 2002). Choo

(2002) described organizational intelligence as organizations capabilities to deal with

complexity, i.e. to capture, share, and extract meaning from information. In turn, an

organization’s complexity is affected by the number of information sources it requires, the

number of business elements and divisions it needs to coordinate, and the relationships linking

these factors together (Choo 2002). In this thesis the process model suggested by Choo (1995,

2002) is used as a basis for the analysis as it, in a clear and structured way, combines important

aspects for information management and knowledge sharing.

Information Management according to Choo

Chun Wei Choo (1995, 2002) presented a process model of information management. The

system aims to provide the end-users with relevant information. Intelligent organizations gain

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 from having access to varied sources of good quality information. Thus, it is beneficial to be

provided with information through various information products and services able to cover

different time horizons and different information focuses (Choo 1995)

Information Organization and Storage

As previously stated, codified knowledge sharing can be argued to be especially beneficial

when a large organization is trying to distribute procedural knowledge and thus, the people-

to-document approach should be accompanied by a database that is well- developed (Ungan

2006). One of the key factors in a database is the structure; just imagine how difficult it would

be to get any information from a system if the knowledge were stored in an unorganized way,

or if there were no efficient way to retrieve it. Consequently, an effective database should

contain organized data so that it can be easily accessed, processed, retrieved, managed and

updated. One way of obtaining structured databases is to use a database management

approach. This method merges and organizes previously separate files from different sources

into warehouses that store the data. It is very important that the data has been cleared,

transformed, and cataloged so that is can be easily accessed and retrieved by the end user. In

short, if a person is to be able to search for and acquire information, the information must have

been stored somewhere in some form. The form of the stored information is very important

for the personnel’s ease of later acquiring the information (Korfhage 1997). It is important to

organize and store the acquired information in ways enabling information sharing and

retrieval. Using information technology can facilitate this, and today there are a number of

methods for structuring data (Choo 2002). “The volume of data produced and collected need

to be given structure in ways that reflects the interests and information-use modes of the

organization and its members.” (Choo 2002, p.25)

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One way of organizing data is through classification and indexing, this can be regarded as a

way of packaging information into easily representable items that is convenient for the users.

In order to make the stored data useful, the user must be familiar with the different

classifications and understand how what the different categorizations represents and how they

relate to each other (Krippendorff 1973). Commonly, information is occasionally not stored

at all or stored in uncoordinated ways without any thought of how to make it accessible for

future use. Hence, future information and knowledge sharing and learning from lessons

learned become very difficult. (Choo 2002). “The organization must establish an integrated

records management and archival policy to enable it to create, preserve, and leverage its

corporate memory.” (Choo 2002, p.34). Another important feature of the information storage

is that the contained documents often represent an organization’s best, and sometimes only,

link to the past. Also, large organizations undertake a wide variety of functions and have

complex administrative structures leading to difficulties in coordination. (JISC, Information

Management). Therefore, it is important to have coordinated information storage. JISC

suggested that the created and held information is being managed and maintained in such a

way it:

 Meet all internal business needs

 Enable the content of the information to be accessed, used and reused in a controlled

and efficient manner

 Is kept and maintained/stored in the most economical way consistent with the

above objectives

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  Is disposed of in a way that is auditable, and meets all environmental and other

requirements.

(JISC, Information Management, p. 45)

Thus, the information organization and storage constitute an important part in reaching these

targets.Brooks (2007) claimed that organizations of all sizes in all industries have a lot of

information that have been saved and stored in several different places and that each day more

documents are created and received. Thus, as the volume continues to grow, so do the issues

of finding and managing these records. In order to keep the increasing amount of information

under control and to prevent the system from being flooded with irrelevant information, a

retention schedule needs to be developed. A retention schedule determines the destruction or

stable retention of information (Krippendorf 1973) (DeSilva and Vednere 2008d).

The main objective of a retention schedule is to ensure that all information follows a specific

and correct path and that future decisions are made according to the determined rules and

criteria. Some information might also be permanently retained since it, for instance, contains

practices that can be useful for future operations. Consequently, an uncontrolled destruction

of information can exercise a significant impact over an organizations performance.

Moreover, creating accurate, reliable information, providing access to it and only retaining

that worthy of conservation are all parts of the required structure to obtain an information

distribution. This is especially true as an increased personnel turn-over results in a decreased

possibility to rely on knowledge and experience inherent in individual members of staff.

Consequently, a complete information management system is a key-factor for successful

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 business operations (JISC, Information Management).

Information Products and Services

Thus, information retrieval devices, such as search engines, must efficiently respond to user

requests and making past information available. However, the computerized system cannot

do much other than selecting from what is stored, i.e. information that is not represented in

the available indices and relationships that do not appear as links cannot be operated upon and

are therefore neither searchable not receivable intentionally. The end-user also plays an

important part in the information system. Thus, it is important that the product takes its start-

off in the user opinion towards key-features such as application input, processing, output and

storage. The users should also get training in how to use applications and programs correctly

(Marakas and O´Brien 2007)

Information Distribution

Somewhat simplified, it can be argued that before the break-through of electronic databases,

information was mainly distributed via relatively stable operations where creators gathered,

created, edited and distributed information before the end-user used it. This clear definition

made the roles and responsibilities of each party clearly defined and understood. However,

with the emergence of computer technology these characteristics changed and the notions of

creator and user are not as clearly defined anymore. Information is still demanded by the final

consumers but they are now, to an increasing extent, also the creators of information. Thus,

questions regarding ownership and responsibilities have become increasingly important when

it comes to the distribution of information.: Section 2 - Document handling

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 The first theory section presents an information management process where one important

part is the information organization and storage. This section will elaborate on a key feature

within organization and storage; the management of documents and records. In accordance

with Choo’s (2002) advices, this thesis uses recommendations from the records management

field and the framework in this section stems from national and international standards and

recommendations. The standards and recommendations are mainly gathered from ISO

(International Organization for Standardization), JISC (Joint Information Systems

Committee), ISADG (International Council on Archives) and NARA (National Archives and

Records Administration). The framework will later provide the foundation for a suggested

way and guidelines of how to store documents at Volvo Logistics where paper and electronic

copies are given a significant focus.

Methodology

Bryman and Bell (2003) defined a basic case study as entailing a detailed and intensive analysis

of a single case, for example a single organization, which makes this type of design suitable for

this project. To satisfy the aim of the research, detailed and in-depth information about the unique

conditions and work procedures of the specific company was required. Moreover, the thesis can

also be defined as a unique case since its purpose is to present guidelines about documentation

handling adapted to the specific organization. The study has been conducted by using a mixed

research approach that can be defined as somewhat deductive and somewhat inductive.

Data analysis
As one part of the interviews consisted of questions dealing with pure data collection on what

types of transport documents the different functions within the Volvo Group manages,

generating straight-on answers which were analyzed after being coded and organized in an

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 Excel sheet.

The other part of the questions however, consisted of more open questions addressing how

the different functions at Volvo Logistics are working with documentation handling and were

aiming for mapping information needs and operational requirements. The deliverables of this

research can be summarized as finding common document handling work procedures that can

be applicable, stored and distributed to the entire organization. In order to arrive at a satisfying

solution, the data and theories have been developed and revised throughout the entire study.

When the interviews were transcribed and analyzed, the findings were summarized to get an

overview of how Volvo Logistics works with document handling and information

management, the current processes were late

Reliability and validity

Reliability and validity are methods for ensuring and describing the quality and rigor in research

processes and the reliability in the findings of the research depending on a number factors, e.g. the

research question, how data collection is performed, how data are analyzed, and how conclusions

are made. Reliability illustrates how successful a research method is in producing similar results

in varying circumstances while validity in more subtle way addresses how accurate a method is in

measuring what is intended to be measured (Roberts, Priest, and Traynor 2006).

Findings

It can be concluded, that clear guidelines for how to store documents would be beneficial for Volvo

Logistics to have in place in the future. The company encounters large quantities of documents on

a daily basis and do, mainly because of the absence of well- defined guidelines and retention

schedules, store a large amount of documents for a too long time. As stated in the advices by

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NARA presented in the theoretical framework, it is also important to educate employees in record

keeping and management in order for the process to be sustainable. This means that there is a

potential for cost savings in document storage if clear guidelines are formulated and successfully

distributed in the organization. When formulating guidelines for document handling, both

operational and legal requirements have to be taken into consideration This study has examined

information distribution and document handling processes at Volvo Logistics by using a

theoretical framework based on Choo’s (2002) process model of information management. It has

been concluded that a change in both of these aspects is necessary in order to improve the

processes. Furthermore, suggested solutions to these issues have been presented. Thus, future

studies could examine how to turn these suggestions into reality; suitable focus could for example

be on change management and accompanied barriers towards change and how to the design a new

information management system.

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