7. Industrial Intelligence: The Need for Synthesis
| Date | 01 May 1986 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb054891 |
| Pages | 29-36 |
| Published date | 01 May 1986 |
| Author | M.J. Rowat |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
7. Industrial Intelligence:
The Need for Synthesis
by
M.
J.
Rowat
Introduction
I would like to start by stating a little about myself. I think this important because the fact
that I work in a College of Librarianship may predispose you to guess what I shall write
about, the point of view
I
shall adopt and the conclusions I shall reach. You may be in for
a shock!
Twenty years ago I left Leeds Polytechnic having completed the old LA syllabus with as
heavy a bias towards documentation and what was then called mechanised methods as I
could get. Since that time
I
have spent my career in industry, the first few years in libraries
but later with increasingly broad responsibilities for information activities in a variety of
organisations. Some of these organisations have been very large and others very small.
Sometimes these responsibilities included that of resource provision for libraries,
sometimes not. Always, the constant underlying theme of operations has
been
establishing
and delivering an appropriate contribution to the organisation. As such, this contribution
was measurable in terms of costs recovered or profits made
and,
therefore, in terms of the
survival or
even
expansion of the area for which
I
was responsible. During this time
I
gained
an MBA from the Cranfield Business School
in
order that
I
could fully understand the nature
of the businesses of which I found myself a part. Both at that time and since I have been
able to provide consultancy to companies with information sourcing and handling
problems. Frequently, the source of difficulty has been the failure by the company
concerned to recognise the need to evolve a strategy for information exploitation in the
pursuit of its goals — a theme to which I will return.
I am not going to discuss the sources of technical, commercial and other business
information that can be found in any half-decent literature guide.
I am also not going to discuss any activity which may
be
illegal.
Some of what
I
may describe
some of you may hold to be unethical: that, of course, is a matter for
you,
your God and,
presumably, for your professional association to worry about.
What
I
want to present
is,
first, a general approach and, second, some specific techniques
which may help organisations achieve their strategic
aims,
whatever the corporate planners
have persuaded the Board they should be.
The Need for Intelligence
Figure
1
shows a simplified general model of functional responsibility in organisations. At
the three levels of strategic planning, management control and day-to-day operations we
can identify clear needs for, and different types of, information. While we may argue that at
29
To continue reading
Request your trial