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Course Description:
The course will address the issue of information use by individuals in organizations such as businesses, universities, and other not-for-profit profit entities. The primary focus is organizational use of information, and the consequences, both internally and externally, of that use. Formal and informal patterns of information acquisition and use are discussed as well as the nature and evaluation of the information itself. The course will interest students who wish to better understand the process of information use within the constraints of organizations. Interested students, desiring complementary and related work in the subject, are encouraged to take courses from the University of Arizona's Department of Communication, and Management Information Systems Department. Off-campus students are encouraged to investigate both the on-line availability of courses from these departments and the availability of similar courses from their local accredited institutions.
Course Objectives:
By the end of the course students will be able to explain the use, and consequences of that use, of information in the operations of an organization; and the impact of different forms of information on organizational processes. They will also have an awareness of the means by which individuals in organizations obtain and use information, recognizing the importance of effective and efficient information provision in the life of an organization.
Texts:
Johnson, J. D., (1996). Information Seeking: An Organizational Dilemma. Westport, Conn: Greenwood.
Additionally, a packet of required readings will be available for purchase.
Note that originally I also had listed a text by March and Simon. However, as I have found that it is out of print, it is not longer a required text. I have intentionally left in the syllabus all of the readings related to March & Simon.....simply because the book is so widespsread and so well known that many of you may already have it on your bookshelves, and those that have it may wish (for their own edification) to read the sections of the book that are related to the subject of the week. Please note that reading March & Simon is no longer a required part of the course.
Academic Code of Integrity:
Students are expected to abide by the University of Arizona's Code of Academic Integrity. 'The guiding principle of academic integrity is that a student's submitted work must be the student's own'.
Evaluation:
Examinations: There will be one final examination, worth 25%.
Essays: There will be two essays required. Each essay will be worth 15%. Total 30%
Group project: The group project will require individual students to each interview two people, who work in organizations, about their information needs, their search strategies, and their information-related biases. The individuals will then get together as a group to collectively present to the class an overall picture of the needs, strategies, and biases of those they interviewed. Necessarily, given the nature of this course, this 'presentation' will be on-line, and the 'groups' will be formed of individuals who may not be in physical proximity to each other. To overcome the sense of isolation that may be potentially felt by some students, I would like each and every group to create a Web page for itself and put it up for all to see. This exercise will ensure that the students in each group will talk to each other (so they can provide information about themselves for the page) and it will assist others to get to know who is in the course overall. WebCT will organize the groups. Total project: Worth 35%
Participation: Listservs will be established for this course and students will be expected to participate in class discussion via the listserv as per the more usual mode of participation during lectures. Also there will be chat rooms and bulletin boards etc. WebCT allows for interactions to be logged, so we can ultimately see who has participated. Participation will be worth 10%.
Note that all essays and group projects will be sent to me via the mail system within WebCT, and not via the ordinary email.
Grading
A: 100-90 B: 89-80 C: 79-70 D: 69-60 E: 59-50. F: < 50
Week One Introduction; expectations; What's information? Homepage for course (password required)
Text - Johnson. J.D. Introduction and Overview, pp. 1-10.
O'Reilly, C. (1980). Individuals and information overload in organizations: is more necessarily better? Academy of Management Journal, 23, 684-696.
Week Two - The intangibility of information; The subjective nature of information
O'Reilly, C. (1978). The intentional distortion of information in organizational communication: A laboratory and field approach. Human Relations, 31, 173-193.
Ross, W. & Creyer, E. (1992). Making inferences about missing information: the effects of existing information. Journal of Consumer Research, 19, 14-25.
Week Three - Research & the production of information
Bernard, H. & Sailer, L. (1980). Informant accuracy in social network data IV: a comparison of clique-level structure in behavioral and cognitive network data. Social Networks, 2, 191-218.
Stone, E. (1978). Chapter One In Research Methods in Organizational Behavior. Glenview, Ill: Scott, Foresman & Co. (Chapter one covers 'ways of knowing')
Week Four - Information & Beliefs; Data, information, & knowledge
Van Wallendael, L. (1995). Implicit diagnosticity in an information-buying task.: How do we use information that we bring with us to a problem? Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 8, 245-264.
Week Five - Theories of information
Text: Johnson, J. D. Information fields, pp. 33-43.
Resnikoff, H. (1980). Information systems theory and research: an overview of the societal significance of information science. In D Nimmo (Ed.), Communication Yearbook 3. New Brunswick: NJ: Transaction.
Week Six - Role of information in organizations
Text: March & Simon. Introduction, and Organizational Behavior, pp. 1-28.
Ashforth, B. & Fried, Y. (1988). The mindlessness of organizational behaviors. Human Relations, 41, 305-330.
Feldman, M. & March, J. (1981). Information in organizations as signal and symbol. Administrative Science Quarterly, 26, 171-186.
Week Seven - Information in planning and organizing.
Text: March & Simon. Classical Organization Theory. pp. 31-52.
O'Reilly, C. & Caldwell, D. (1979). Informational influence as a determinant of task characteristics and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 64, 157-165.
Thomas, J. & Griffin, R. (1983). The social information processing model of task design: A review of the literature. Academy of Management Review, 8, 672-682.
Week Eight - Information in leading & controlling
Text; March & Simon. Motivational Constraints. pp. 53-73 (top of page).
Kozlowski, S. & Ford, J. (1991). Rater information acquisition processes: Tracing the effects of prior knowledge, performance level, search constraint, and memory demand. Organization Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 49, 282-301.
Sinclair, C. (1988). Mood, categorization breadth, and performance appraisal: The effects of order of information acquisition and affective state on halo, accuracy, informational retrieval, and evaluations. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 42, 22-46.
Week Nine - Information in decision-making
Text; March & Simon. Motivational Constraints. pp. 73- 102.
Mazzotta, M & Opaluch, J. (1995). Decision making when choices are complex. Land Economics, 71, 4, 500-515.
Week Ten - Information in decision making (continued)
Text; March & Simon. Motivational Constraints. pp. 103-131.
Connolly, T. (1977). Information processing and decision making in organizations. In B. Staw & G. Salancik (Eds.), New directions in organizational behavior. Chicago: St. Clair.
Louis, M. & Sutton, R. (1991). Switching cognitive gears: From habits of mind to active thinking. Human Relations, 44, 55-76.
Week Eleven - Biases in information use (framing, heuristics etc)
Text: Johnson, J. D. Barriers to Information Seeking. pp. 69-98.
Text: March & Simon. Factors affecting Differentiation. pp. 147-156; Cognitive limits on Rationality. pp. 157-192.
Tversky, A. & Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases. Science, 185, 1124-1131. (also for week 12)
Week Twelve - Biases in information use continued (stereotyping, source credibility, salience).
Fisher, C., Ilgen, D. & Hoyer, W. (1979). Source credibility, information favorability. Academy of Management Journal, 22, 94-103.
Wu, C., & Shaffer, D. (1987). Susceptibility to persuasive appeals as a function of source credibility and prior experience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 677-688.
Week Thirteen - Organization culture as a constraint on users and information
Text: Johnson. J. D. Information Carriers..pp. 45-67.
Harrison, J. & Carroll. G. (1991). Keeping the faith: A model of cultural transmission in formal organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36, 552-583.
Rose, R. (1988). Organizations as multiple cultures: a rules theory of analysis. Human Relations, 41, 139-170.
Week Fourteen - User information search: strategies and sources
Text: Johnson, J. D. Strategies for seekers...pp. 99-133.
Text: March & Simon. Planning & Innovation in Organizations. pp 193-235.
Fisher, R. (1995). Senior managers and executive information systems: examining linkages among individual characteristics, attitudes, computer use, and intentions. Psychological Reports, 77, 1170.
Prusak, L & Matarazzo, J. (1990). Tactics for corporate library success. Library Journal, 115, 15, 45-47
Daft, R., Lengel, R. & Trevino, L. (1987). Message equivocality, media selection, and user performance: implications for information systems. MIS Quarterly, 11, 355-366.
Week Fifteen - Information: networks and socialization
Text: Johnson, J. D. Hierarchies, Networks...pp. 11-32.
Barnlund, D. & Harland, C. (1963). Propinquity and prestige as determinants of communication networks. Sociometry, 26, 467-479.
Sherman, J. (1986). The impact of emergent network structure on organizational socialization. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 22, 53-64.
Tushman, M. & Scanlon, T. (1981) Boundary scanning individuals: their role in information transfer and their antecedents. Academy of Management Journal, 24, 289-305.