In information intensive organisations, information is a key production factor. Added value in business is generated by processing information for users. There are many methods to model IIOs, including the input-processoutput model, process modelling methods and functional modelling methods.The IPO model represents the value chain within the organisation. The DFD method describes information flows in detail among departments in business.Mathematical model metrics and social network analysis model organisations with focus on the business functions.
There are various approaches to measure business performance. Each assesses the marketing effect from different perspectives. However, methods reviewed in this chapter commonly lack concentration on information flows in the organisation.
Organisational morphology provides an approach to examine business performance by classifying functions of information flow to substantive,communication and control activities. It concentrates on analysing informationbased activities and balancing the weight of each type of morphology activity numbers. This method can reflect the features of information in IIOs. Though it is suitable to model an IIO and assess its performance, OM cannot describe the routes of information flow. Its measurement tool is based on qualitative method without specific benchmarks.
According to the research questions, existing approaches can only partly meet the needs for modelling IIOs and assess their performance. There is still a gap in both conceptual development of the approach and practical use. A new integrated method is needed to fill this gap. The developed approach can be based on the strengths of IPO, DFD and OM, to establish a single framework to model information based marketing activities in IIOs, together with the method to assess its performance.