Working with information: information management and culture in a professional services organization

• Published in: Journal of information science Vol. 32; no. 6; pp. 491 - 510
• Main Authors: Choo, Chun Wei, Furness, Colin, Paquette, Scott, van den Berg, Herman, Detlor, Brian, Bergeron, Pierrette, Heaton, Lorna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thousand Oaks, CA Sage Publications 01.12.2006; Bowker-Saur; Bowker-Saur Ltd
• Subjects: Corporate culture; Exact sciences and technology; Information and communication sciences; Information management; Information science. Documentation; Law firms; Library and information science. General aspects; Organizational culture; Organizational learning; Sciences and techniques of general use; Studies; Use and user studies. Information needs; Variance analysis; Canada; information management; information culture; information use outcomes; Information use; Professional organization; Numerical data; information use outcome; Service; Use study; Information management; Information; Culture; Result
• ISSN: 0165-5515; 1741-6485
• DOI: 10.1177/0165551506068159

The paper presents a case study of a large Canadian law firm with a distinctive information culture that is vigorously implementing an information management strategy. Our findings suggest that, at least for this organization, information culture trumps information management in its impact on information use outcomes. Thus, the strongly held information values and behaviors in the firm accounted for more than one-third of the variance in information use outcomes. Employees did perceive a high level of information management activity in the firm, although information management played a smaller, perhaps indirect role in explaining information use outcomes. What might organizations do to improve information use? This study suggests that organizations might do well to recognize that, in the hustle and bustle to implement strategies and systems, information values and information culture will always have a defining influence on how people share and use information.