Information, Control, and Privacy

Introduction to Resources

Resources are the total means available to a company fro increasing production or profit, including land, labor capital, and raw
materials

Physical Resources are tangible and can easily be identified; usually start from acquisition and are then assembled to be
available for use when needed (e.g. wood, cement, and steel fro building construction)

While Conceptual Resources, are non-tangible and are considered valuable for what they represent rather than physical make-
up. Money is considered a conceptual resource as each paper bill represents a specific monetary value as opposed to the paper
where it is printed. The same goes to human resources.

Managers use conceptual resources to manage the physical resources.

Information as a Resource

Information can be simply defined as “facts about something or someone that are provided or learned”. Facts are considered
relevant truths which have been validated and identified. Data are considered facts; therefore, processed data are considered as
information as they are organized in such a way that they have additional value beyond the value of the facts themselves.

Unlike other organizational resources, information is considered:

Expandable

- Information can be expanded without compromising its integrity. Example is a person’s personal information.

Compressible

- Although expanded information can give a more detailed explanation, it may not always be needed. Example is
research abstracts.

Transportable

- Information, especially digital information, is easily transportable. Sent through the following: send via email, share
via Facebook, copy onto a flash drive, and upload on YouTube

Unlike other organizational resources, information is considered:

Diffusive

- Gossip or rumors tend to spread easily. Unfortunately, the same applies to any kind of information—be it true or not.

Sharable

- Since information can easily spread, it is considered shareable as well. Information can be kept calling it a secret.

Valuable Information

Information is said to be valuable if it has the following characteristics (Stair & Reynolds, 2016):
Accurate

- Accurate information is error-free.

Valuable Information (cont.)

Information is said to be valuable if it has the following characteristics (Stair & Reynolds, 2016):

Complete

- Complete information contains all the important facts. This is especially important in the field of medicine. Missing
information could spell disaster, or worse, lead to death.

Economical

- Information should be relatively economical to produce. Decision-makers must always balance the value of
information with the cost of producing it.

Reliable

- Reliable information can be depended on. In many cases, the reliability of information depends on the validity of the
data collection method.

Information is said to be valuable if it has the following characteristics (Stair & Reynolds, 2016):

Flexible

- Flexible information can be used for different purposes. Example is the use of IDs (Identification Cards)

Relevant

- Relevant information is important to the decision-maker.

Simple

- Information should also be simple, not overly complex. Sophisticated and detailed information may not be needed.
Complex information may sometimes lead to confusion which could result in inaccuracy of details.
Information is said to be valuable if it has the following characteristics (Stair & Reynolds, 2016):

Timely

- Timely information is delivered when it is needed. This is a true in the case of weather predictions, stock market
forecasts, and traffic management.

Verifiable

- This means that information can be checked for correctness and authenticity. Most authors include references,
bibliography, or citations in their works to enable readers to verify the content.

Accessible

- Information should be easily accessible by authorized users to be obtained in the right format at the right time to meet
their needs.

Secure

- Information should be secure from access by unauthorized users.

Value of Information
Information is considered valuable mainly for business purposes as businesses depends on it to produce quality products and
services. Valuable information helps managers make good decisions which is why valuable or useful information is called
knowledge.

Information, as a resource, has four characteristics, namely it (1) has zero marginal cost; (2) is non-rivalrous; (3) is non-
exclusive; and (4) does not exhibit high degrees of transparency (Leickly, 2004).

Zero-marginal cost

- The cost of producing the first copy of an information may be substantial, but the cost of producing (or reproducing)
additional copies is negligible.

Non-rivalrous

- Simultaneous consumption of information by consumers is possible. Movies nowadays are sold not only as DVD
copies. There are also digital formats which anyone can watch online or download on their mobile phones.

Non-exclusive

- Exclusion is not a natural property of information goods, though it is possible to construct exclusion artificially.

No transparency

- To evaluate the information, the information must be known, so one has to invest in learning how to evaluate it.

Information Economics
In economics, a good is considered to be an experience good if consumers must experience it to value it. Below are some
strategies to overcome customer’s reluctance in purchasing information before they know what they are getting:
Browsing previous

- Example are movie trailers and music that is downloaded from iTunes.

Branding

- Big names such Microsoft and Apple have no issues when it comes to launching new products as people have establish
their trust on these brands.

Reputation

- When a movie is announced, people would often be skeptical if it would be good enough.

In general, people value an organization’s ability to make their lives easier and better by using information about their products
and operations.

Information Overload

Information is produced at rapidly-increasing rates due to the following reasons:

Easy duplication and transmission of information

- A picture posted on Facebook which is also posted on Instagram and Twitter means that the same picture has been
posted three times on three different sites

Increase in communication methods

- Mobile phones are for SMS and computers are for emails, but today smartphones can do both

Growth archives of historical Information

- Print or hard copies are now being replaced by digital ones. These digital copies are stored on cloud servers that offer
maximum storage capacity for end users.

Mobile Social Media and Mobile Commerce

Two new scenarios in communication:

Mobile social media

- Mobile social media is the accessing of social media sites, such as Facebook and Snapchat, using a mobile device.
People are using their desktops less and less in accessing websites.

M-commerce

- M-commerce or mobile commerce was a term used during the 1997 Global Mobile Commerce Forum by Kevin
Duffey. The use of mobile devices has paved the way for data to be transmitted and received much faster, without
compromising security and scalability.

Industries that are now embracing m-commerce include:

- Financial Services – Banks have introduced online banking a few years back, and now it can be done
through bank’s mobile app.

- Mobile Ticketing – As payments can be done online, receipts of transactions can also be sent on mobile
devices.
 - Service/Retail – As consumers are now able to place and pay for orders using their mobile devices, the e-
commerce trend has shifted from desktop computers to mobile devices.

- Information Services – Includes the delivery of news, stock quotes, sports figures, emergency reports, and
weather and traffic updates to a single mobile device.

Information Control
Information control comes in the form of keeping secrets inside a business selling IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) to those
prepared to purchase it. Information control is about allowing those who have appropriate authority access to and use of
information on the basis of the authority that they hold.

Software Piracy

- Examples of software piracy as identified by The Software Alliance (2018) include:

- Distributing software or mobile apps from the internet in a manner that violates the license terms

- Buying a single copy of a software program and installing it on multiple devices without authorization

- Making and/or sharing copies of installation CDs

- Sharing the login credentials (without authorization) used to access a web-based software application
(“Software as a Service”)

Information Control (cont)

Identified four (4) issues which further complicate the problem on information control:

1. Convergence

- It is now possible to disseminate information, find, or consume the same content/information via multiple devices or
distribution networks.

2. Scale

- The internet has given everyone access to anything they would like to search, upload, and download anywhere in the
world.

3. Volume

- News and media outlets abound in print and online. This development can be attributed to the increasing volume of
media content and communications activities happening across the world, greatly complicating government regulatory
efforts to control information.

4. Unprecedented individual empowerment

- The popularity of social media sites has made it possible for individuals to post anything they want. Thus, creating
issues when it comes to content restriction as most people are doing this their private accounts which has led to the
identification of Intellectual property rights.