Information overload and information poverty: challenges for healthcare services managers?
| Date | 08 March 2011 |
| Pages | 238-263 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/00220411111109458 |
| Published date | 08 March 2011 |
| Author | Jackie MacDonald,Peter Bath,Andrew Booth |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Information overload and
information poverty: challenges
for healthcare services managers?
Jackie MacDonald
Library and Knowledge Management Services, Shared Services,
Dalhousie School of Nursing – Yarmouth Site, Annapolis Valley Health,
South Shore Health, South West Health, Bridgewater,
Canada and Centre for Health Information Management Research,
Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
Peter Bath
Centre for Health Information Management Research,
Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK, and
Andrew Booth
School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield,
Sheffield, UK
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into managers’ decision-making practices
when challenged by inappropriate information quality, and to test frameworks developed from
research to see whether they apply to these managers.
Design/methodology/approach – This exploratory, multiple case study used the critical incident
technique in 19 semi-structured interviews. Responses were analyzed using framework analysis, a
matrix-based content analysis technique, and then considered with respect to the research literature on
information overload, information poverty and satisficing.
Findings – The managers in this study tended to satisfice (terminate the search process andmake a
good enough decision, while recognizing that information gaps remain). Those challenged by too little
information appear to fit descriptions of information poverty, while others described aspects of
information overload.
Research limitations/implications – A shortage of information behavior research on managers
makes it difficult to conclude whether these results are typical of managers in general or of healthcare
services managers specifically. Further research is needed to confirm initial findings and address
questions suggested by this paper.
Practical implications – This paper suggests that existing definitions for the concepts of
information poverty and information overload can be used to describe managers’ experiences.
Originality/value – This paper contributes to what is known about information behavior in
managers in general and healthcare services managers specifically. It may serve as an example of how
to consider new research findings within existing frameworks.
Keywords Health services,Managers, Information management
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
This paper presents findings from the first phase of a two-part PhD research study
designed to increase understanding of managers’ workplace information behaviors.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0022-0418.htm
JDOC
67,2
238
Received 7 May 2009
Revised 5 May 2010
Accepted 6 May 2010
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 67 No. 2, 2011
pp. 238-263
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/00220411111109458
Healthcare services managers making critical decisions were asked about their
information practices. It is suggested that the information behaviors of these healthcare
services managersare similar to those of managers in general.Content for this paper was
gathered to specifically to answer a question that arose during the data analysis phase.
Library and information science (LIS) researchers have noted that librarians
designing library and information services and acquiring information resources for
workplace use must first understand the needs of the groups who will use them:
[...] the search for determining factors related to needs and information-seeking behaviour
must be broadened to include aspects of the environment within which the work-role is
performed (Wilson, 1981).
In order to investigate the information-seeking behaviors of professionals, the broader
working context in which professional practice is conducted must be closely examined and
understood (Leckie et al., 1996).
There is comparably less LIS research to help those designing information services and
selecting information resources to understand managers (Case, 2006) than for those
serving students and academic staff, professional groups and members of the gener al
public (Julien an d Duggan, 2000). Although not focused on information behavior,
decision-making research from business and the management sciences, particularly
from Operations Research, contributes to what we know about workplace information
needs:
The work of managers, of scientists, of engineers, of lawyers – the work that steers the course
of society and its economic and governmental organizations – is largely work of making
decisions and solving problems. It is work of choosing issues that require attention, setting
goals, finding or designing suitable courses of action, and evaluating and choosing among
alternative actions (Simon et al., 1986).
This paper will be of interest to those studying the effects of inappropriate information
quantity on decision-making and to those who provide information services to
managers. It also exemplifies how a framework developed from studies of specific
occupational or demographic groups might be used to look at other groups. Finally, it
will interest researchers who are exploring characteristics of information poverty and
information overload by suggesting how well existing definitions describe issues
relating to the quantity of information for managers.
1.1 Definitions
For the purposes of this research, a manager is defined as a paid employeecharged with
the responsibility of leading an organization or one of its subunits; the manager may or
may not have staff to superviseor budgets to manage. A manager may be a member of
senior executive, the chief executive officer, or a vice-president who manages a portfolio
of services,a director who overseesservices of two or more departments,or a department
manager. Those in a fourth category, termed “junior leader”, oversee specific initiatives
within a department or service, such as injury prevention, health planning, or infection
control but do not supervise staff or manage budgets.
A manager’s information behaviour is defined as:
[...] how individuals approach and handle information. This includes searching for it, using
it, modifying it, sharing it, hoarding it, even ignoring it. Consequently, when we manage
Information
overload and
poverty
239
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