Creating Value Through Information and Knowledge Flow: Lessons from the Public Sector Applied to the Private Sector

Abstract

Information sharing can be an enabler for generating value. An organization’s ability to disseminate accurate, complete and timely information has been related to higher levels of organizational efficiencies, in turn generating value for customers. An assumption underlying this conceptual article is that organizations capable of sharing information efficiently and effectively have created certain social–technical conditions that make the interaction of stakeholders more fluid and productive, reducing cycling time of the decision-making process. This article will propose how such an information sharing infrastructure may be conceptualized as a boundary object, providing common mechanisms and meanings for all actors involved in moving data and transforming it into knowledge. With these conditions set, we identify that an enabler of value—the human capability to transform data into information and knowledge—can be created, and organizational benefits can be realized in the form of efficient and accurate decision-making.