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An information intensive organisation (IIO) is an organisation in which information is the primary resource utilised, shared, and integrated to normal workday routes to achieve a common vision or goal (Jones, 1994). In an IIO,information plays the key role. Many modern organisations have the characteristics of IIO (Sorensen and Fountas, 2009). According to Ebert(2008), besides the traditional production factors——labour, capital, physical resources and entrepreneurship, information is another key production factor.It is information that links, integrates and unites the above four factors.Therefore, in modern business, information should be treated not only as one of the production factors, but the most crucial one. The primary input and output of an IIO is information. The main task of IIOs is to provide processed and valuable information to their customers. In other words, they offer services based on information. A competitive organisation requires that information flows in operation are accurate, instant and smooth, to provide better service to customers.
Compared to traditional organisations, an IIO focuses on how to generate information among different people and departments within the organisation and with external organisations. It is the information that integrates the organisation as a whole. Hansen and Jarvelin (2005),Mendelson and Pilliai (1999) discuss the key features of an IIO, including: (1) information as the raw material and the driving force to achieve the organisation’s mission and goals; (2) information processing carried out through everyday routines, daily tasks and activities; (3) information sharing carried out to ensure that the operating process is efficient and supports collaborative efforts. The overall operation of IIO is a complex information system.
Thus, the definition of IIO can be updated as follows,“an information intensive organisation (IIO) is an organisation in which value is added by gathering, processing and providing information in normal workday routes to achieve a common vision or goal”. IIOs commonly exist in the modern business.
Marketing of a business is an example of an information system in IIO.The marketing activities in IIO are processes full of information flows.Generally, the marketing processes include: (1) delivering the right information of products or services to customers; (2) gathering and processing the needs and feedback from customers and market; (3) integrating and exchanging information with internal departments and external business partners. Marketing activities or marketing communications that exist in the above three categories are complicated processes. The main difficulty is how to identify the useful and valuable information from a huge amount of data(Thysen, 2000), and how to avoid the problem of information overload. In other words, the key question is how to ensure that the right information reaches the right holders at the right time for making the right decisions;neither too much nor insufficient. Business performance is based on how much valuable information reaches the users, and adds value to an organisation’s output.
How to assess the marketing effect, the effect of information flow in marketing——in an IIO becomes a critical topic. Traditional business performance measurement methods for marketing, such as marketing return on investment, performance measurement matrix, the strategic measurement and reporting technique (SMART) pyramid, the input-process-outcome framework, the balanced scorecard and others each has their own weakness in application to marketing assessment in IIOs (Rauch et al., 2009; Lamberti and Noci, 2010). A new method that focuses on measuring the performance of information flow in marketing is needed.
In this thesis, organisational semiotics is used to assess the marketing performance in an IIO. From the semiotics view, business can be carried out by information (Liu, 2001). Within the organisational semiotics approach, organisational morphology (OM) is a method that focuses on the organisational functions rather than just the structure. This method studies the morphology of the tasks and functions of an organisation (Stamper et al.,1994; Liu, 2000). Three types of tasks and norms have been identified,substantive, communication and control. Performance of an IIO can be initially assessed qualitatively by the weights of resources consumed by these three types of norms (Liu, 2000). OM is used to measure an organisation’s performance based on information based activities.
This study developed the method of OM and derived communication effectiveness index and control effectiveness index based on the fundamental concept of OM to assess marketing effects in IIOs. The multi-level framework proposed in this thesis enabled a practical application of OM method.