@article{c67f6975e7904e30a21e43007d2c6115,
title = "Information as inventory. A new conceptual view",
abstract = "A new approach to viewing and handling information in the organization is presented. Information is treated as inventory in its three stages: raw materials (data to be processed), work in process (data being converted into information), and finished goods (information being stored). In line with modern inventory management methods, such as Just In Time, we introduce the concept of Information In Process (IIP). We show that IIP is costly, hard to control, and hinders the decision-making ability of those for whom information is gathered and processed in the first place - the users. Mismanaging the information resource by stocking IIP is suggested to be a cause of many system failures and malfunctions as is the case with production systems accumulating inventories. A methodology for applying inventory control techniques to the area of information systems is outlined aiming at the reduction of IIP.",
keywords = "Data integrity, Database, Inventory control, Just In Time, Management by constraints, OPT, Work- in-Process",
author = "Boaz Ronen and Israel Spiegler",
note = "Funding Information: Boaz Ronen is a senior lecturer at Tel Aviv University, Faculty of Manage-ment. He holds a B.Sc in electronics engineering from Technion, Haifa and an M.Sc and Ph.D from Tel Aviv Uni-versity, The Leon Recanati Graduate School of business Administration. He was a visiting professor at New York University, the Stern School of Busi-ness. Information Systems Area, and in Columbia University, Graduate Business School with the Operations Management Area. Prior to his academic career he worked for ten years in the hi-tech electronics industry. His main research, teaching and consulting areas are information economics, MIS in operations management, as well as the implementation of JIT, TQM and TOC in service and industrial organizations. His papers were published in journals such as CACM, Operations Research, Decision Science$ Datamation, and Production and Inuentov Management. Visiting Associate Professor, Information Science, The Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, CA 91711, USA. This work was supported in part by the Marcel and Annie Adams Institute of Management Information System, Tel Aviv University.",
year = "1991",
month = nov,
doi = "10.1016/0378-7206(91)90069-E",
language = "אנגלית",
volume = "21",
pages = "239--247",
journal = "Information and Management",
issn = "0378-7206",
publisher = "Elsevier B.V.",
number = "4",
}