An exploratory study investigating the information behaviour of line managers within a business environment

Abstract

This exploratory study focused on the information-gathering behaviour of line managers within a specific business context. The context is a for-profit business unit within a major USA-based corporation. It is proposed that managers are a unique information user group and that managers tend to seek and accumulate information that is not only related, but may also be unrelated, to their role in the organization. This tendency to accumulate information enables managers to navigate their environment and to avoid the formal information search process when information solutions are needed. Three hypotheses were tested comparing line managers to non-managers. The results offer quantitative evidence as to the difference in user behaviour between the two groups. Future research planned and currently under way takes the results of this study and applies the methodology of the qualitative paradigm so these findings can be more fully understood.