Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2005.

This paper addresses the tension between benefits of centralized data control against the benefits of decentralized control at the level of the business unit. Centralized data control provides the benefit of uniform standards whereas business unit data control grants flexibility to react to rapidly changing environments. Many data standardization efforts fail because they do not fully take into account the value of flexibility and ownership incentives. We use a real options based framework and the theory of incomplete contracts to derive propositions about the optimal level of data standardization across the enterprise. Applications of the propositions are illustrated with case vignettes. The paper makes two main contributions. First, the approach defines formally how incentive structures influence ownership of the option value or value of flexibility, which is an intangible information asset. Second the derived propositions would help senior management to more precisely consider aligning incentives in data standardization exercises.

Information plays an essential role in supporting an organization's business; this information encounters any business's technology, people, and process aspects. In contrast, each aspect can risk an organization's information assets. Information traceability and accountability can play a significant role in controlling and protecting information assets. When individuals perceive accountability for each modification or change, they will behave systematically in their activities because they can expect their actions to impact others. A sense of information accountability increases the likelihood that people think about their behaviors in daily processes. However, if the accountability mechanism is insufficient, it can cause conflicts between information owners and employees. Previous works are based on the theories to increase the sense of information accountability and have efficient mechanisms. Moreover, improvement of the accountability mechanism is a concern because researchers rely on laboratory results, which is not enough to develop and have a systematic mechanism. Therefore, existing theories and explanations of information accountability tend to be unclear in practice.This study presents a qualitative case study focusing on information asset accountability among information owners and finding the practical tools and techniques to enforce the accountability. Data collection is carried out through ten semi-structured interviews among information owners who directly own information and make decisions related to classified information and controlling access levels. The interview questions were based on the increasing information asset accountability to reveal the influential factors that must be addressed. Data analysis discloses information owners’ requirements to increase the sense of accountability in an organization when it comes to information asset accountability. Key findings seem to be applying proper tools and processes such as verification and traceability to strengthen the information asset accountability within organizations. It also reveals the employee’s awareness and training to understand the information handling and processes. Employees get involved with processes by receiving training, clarifying their accountability expectations within information assets, and acknowledging the importance of their actions to secure critical information. The study's contribution provides an insight into the information accountability mechanism to identify the enforcement requirement from the information owner’s perspective. Based on the result of the study, it can raise the significance of accountability and traceability mechanisms to the information owners and provide input to maximize their information asset’s security level within the organization.

Submitted by Joana Azevedo (joanad@id.uff.br) on 2017-08-21T14:09:26Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissert Monica Rodrigues Moreira.pdf: 2776884 bytes, checksum: 2795c3c544758a7440fced263220daae (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Biblioteca da Escola de Engenharia (bee@ndc.uff.br) on 2017-08-22T16:29:56Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissert Monica Rodrigues Moreira.pdf: 2776884 bytes, checksum: 2795c3c544758a7440fced263220daae (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-22T16:29:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissert Monica Rodrigues Moreira.pdf: 2776884 bytes, checksum: 2795c3c544758a7440fced263220daae (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-03 / Esse trabalho tem o objetivo de contribuir para a melhoria do processo decisório das organizações baseadas em informação ao analisar o ciclo de vida da informação como uma ferramenta para a gestão estratégica da informação, bem como propor um método de se identificar e classificar bens de informação no contexto organizacional, considerando as especificidades de cada nível da organização. Para alcançar esse objetivo, além de uma ampla revisão da literatura, serão analisados os métodos/metodologias e técnicas de identificação de bens de informação e modelagem de fluxos informacionais à luz do Ciclo de Vida da Informação adotados no projeto MGIC – Modelo de Gestão da Informação e do Conhecimento e, ainda, observados os resultados desse projeto sob o enfoque da gestão da informação. A revisão da literatura permitiu considerar que a informação tem se tornado um dos mais importantes recursos para as organizações e, nesse sentido, o fluxo informacional ou o ciclo de vida dessa informação no contexto organizacional precisa ser gerenciado. Em adição, a análise dos resultados do projeto MGIC permitiu contrapor os aspectos percebidos na organização onde este foi executado com o que preconiza a literatura que trata do tema em estudo, principalmente no que tange a definição e classificação de bens de informação. A conclusão do trabalho indica métodos mais precisos de identificação e classificação dos bens de informação bem como uma proposta de modelagem de fluxo de informação que assegura um ciclo de vida da informação mais eficaz para o contexto das organizações baseadas em informação. / This work aims to contribute to improving the decision-making process of information-based organizations analyzing the life cycle of information as a tool for strategic information management, and propose a method to identify and classify information assets in organizational context, considering the specificities of each level of the organization. To achieve this goal, beyond the comprehensive literature review, it will analyze the methods / methodologies and techniques for identifying information assets and modeling of information flows in the light of the Information Lifecycle adopted in MGIC project - Information Management Model and knowledge and also, above all, the observed results of this project with a focus on information management. The literature review allowed us to consider that information has become one of the most important resources for organizations and, accordingly, the information flow or the life cycle of this information in the organizational context needs to be managed. In addition, the analysis of the results of MGIC project will oppose aspects perceived in the organization where it was implemented with which advocates the literature on the subject being studied, especially regarding the definition and classification of information assets. The conclusion of the study will indicate methods more accurate of the identification and classification of information assets as well as a proposal for information flow modeling methodology to ensure a life cycle of more effective information to the context of organizations based information.