Information retrieval behavior

The “need” for information can be caused by four types of modes (Vandenbosch, 1997). When managers have no intention or specific purpose to find anything and are just viewing some data it is called undirected viewing or scanning which is often the case in the first sub phase of the decision making process. This is similar to undirected surfing on the internet. At the extreme other end of the continuum, we find the formal search mode which is “a deliberate effort to find a piece of information” (Aquilar, 1967). This is also referred to as focused searching.

Improve organizational performance

Scanning a broad range of information sources can lead to improvements in organizational performance (Huber, 1991; Thomas et al. 1993) and there is strong support that it is especially important for senior managers (El Sawy, 1985). In respond to strategic uncertainty, senior managers in high performing companies scan more regularly and more broadly than those in lower-performing companies (Daft, et al., 1988). Also, smaller organizations do perform less scanning behavior (De Smit, 1990).

A model of cognitive style

Both types of information retrieval behavior are closely related to the model of cognitive style[1]. Where the previous paragraph presents the behavior as if it were in the control of the manager to chose the method of information retrieval, the following paragraph has a stronger emphasis as to how one gathers and processes information as if it were fixed.

Behavior related to decision making

The way an individual gathers and processes’ information is part of their decisional behavior. Finding problems and opportunities are related to information gathering and processing. Individuals can gather information in a (McKenney and Keen, 1974; Bemelmans, 1987):

• preceptive way – they focus on headlines and relationships between items and look for deviations from their expectations; sees the problem in a top-down manner; 
• receptive way – they are more concerned about details and try to derive the attributes of the information from direct examination in order to get the complete picture; this way of information gathering can be seen as the bottom-up approach. 

Once information has been collected, it must be processed and interpreted in order that the manager becomes aware of what is really going on.

Two ways to process information

Information processing can be performed in a: (McKenney and Keen, 1974; Bemelmans, 1987):

• analytical or systematic way - they use a structured method to chart the problem, if followed through, this heads likely to a solution;
• intuitive or heuristic way – they do not use the same type of methods as the analytical problem solver, but instead use methods like trial-and-error; these thinkers are better at solving ill-structured or non-programmed problems. 

Risks and advantages

Each method of information gathering and information processing has some risks and advantages. The cognitive style is important because in many cases it settles peoples’ preference for the type of human-machine interface (Turban, 1993). For example, systematic thinkers tend to discard alternatives quickly so it is conceivable that those people should be encouraged to explore other alternatives. Little effort should be invested in the support of one cognitive or decision style via the interface. Rather, business intelligence solutions (BIS) and their interfaces should help managers to use, develop and extend their own styles, skills and knowledge.

[1] the way individuals perceive, organize and change information during the decision making process