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Tools for the Analysis of Business Information Needs

How information needs in business are to be forecast and identified, so that relevant services may be develop?

This paper is concerned with the tools that may be used by policy makers and service planners to identify information needs in advance of the development of services, so that resources may be targeted upon those business sectors and information services that are most likely to find a ready market and receptive audience.

Coherent approach to service planning based on four analytical tools:

1. Sectoral Analysis
2. Porter’s Five-Forces Analysis
3. The Value Chain
4. Information Need Analysis

1. Sectoral Analysis

--> The broadest level of analysis; we look at the composition of industry in general.

All businesses need information. The more technology-driven the production process, the more likely it is that the business will need access to information on its market, its competitors, and the prevailing economic and political climate. All that information generally termed "environmental information".

Consequently, any information service seeking to provide information to business in general needs to carry out a sectoral analysis of the companies in its region to identify those that are likely to have the greatest need for environmental information and competitive intelligence.

Example from the Portuguese shoe industry:

• Employs about 40,000 people, but in more than 1,000 factories
• Is largely owned by single owner or families
• In 1999 exported more than 60,000 pairs of shoes

The important point here is: what kind of information does an industry like this need, and how best can it be provided.

2. Porter’s Five-Forces

--> Enable us to determine which kinds of information are most likely to be of relevance.

The Five-Forces are:

• The immediate competition for the company in its established market, who are a constant threat to market share.
• Suppliers, who may use what they believe to be a monopoly position to raise prices, thereby constituting a threat to the maintenance of profit margins.
• Customers, who may seek to drive down prices by threatening to take their business elsewhere.
• Producers of substitute products, which may take away market share by creating market for substitutes.
• New entrants to the industry.

The use of five-forces analysis demands a careful survey of the industries and companies to be targeted.

3. Value Chain Analysis

--> We can adopt it to discover which parts of an organization are most likely to benefit from information provision.

The value chain has five generic categories of primary activities: inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistic, marketing and sales, and service.

The areas of the value chain that are most significant should be the prime focus for information systems and services.

Although it may be possible to identify the critical areas of an organization’s value chain on an a prior basis, it is likely that an information provider will need to undertake surveys to identify the critical sector or sectors.

4. Information Need Research

--> Usually used to identify those studies that involve sample surveys or case studies of individual information-seeking behavior.

Micro level of need analysis: the identification of individuals and roles around which information needs of different kind cluster.

We have to identify the target individuals or sections, and market our services to those individuals if we are to be successful in our business of information service provision.

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