Proceedings

it, transform it in order to get the necessary results, or as the literature states, the
resources (inputs) are worked upon and transformed into outputs which affect
organization’s environment and which, at their turn, generate new sources of inputs
and information. If we analyze a production process for instance, one good example
for the flow of information inside the process would be that of the shop-floor
supervisors and operators who use information about the raw materials available,
inventory, warehouses, machinery in order to help them in planning production;
furthermore, they transform this information with the use of other pieces of
information regarding the degree of capacity utilization, efficiency and process
quality, delivery schedules and deliver orders to the final customers, generate
information about customer satisfaction to the marketing department, prices, sales and
other incoming orders to the financial department, thus creating a continuous
information flow, adding value to all the processes.
Firms nowadays operate by combining two types of activities: physical - the transport
of materials from suppliers, the actual production, the handling of work-in-process
throughout the facilities, the delivery to the customer etc. and electronic - online
orders, products catalogue and offers, payment systems, scheduling of operations,
online meetings, the communication in the supply chain and many more (Boddy et al.,
2004). Even if the IS are well development and wide-spread, there is still the need for
direct human contact - face-to-face reunions, telephone calls, brainstorming, which
usually are most efficient when unusual problems arise or solutions are unclear.
However, in situations or cases where the exchange of information has become a
routine, IS enable the communication to be done almost only electronically, through
the means of company-wide databases, interrelating different parts of the organization
to have access to updated information. It is not only a consequence of the fact that
technology rushes to provide new and non-conformist means of communication in the
competition for growing progress. It is a solution for the necessities of businesses that
have developed and operate globally, in different environments. As a consequence of
globalization and instant access to information, new products and services have
transformed the way customers influence businesses (Petcu & Drăghici, 2010).
Corporations transfer their knowledge and their operational functions worldwide,
creating a network of information sharing that has to be accessible from every corner
of the international business arena; emerging firms want to promote themselves and to
enter the market with a modern approach of doing business, going online and getting
in contact with their clients and partners by all means.
Figure 1. Increase of information intensity in manufacturing
Dynamic business
environment
cement
food
~ 1092 ~
aero
(Source: Coronado Mondragon et al, 2004:1223)
elec-s
auto
Information intensity