Information Inadequacy: Some Causes of Failures in Human and Social Affairs

This paper takes initial steps in facilitating researchers and practitioners to increase the relevance of information for their contexts. Our focus is on forging new possibilities to understand and improve the contemporary dilemma of information inadequacy. We define information inadequacy as vulnerable and inadequate information, composed by the dichotomy of information lack and/or of information overflow, which impose complexities and unexpected behaviour in human and social affairs. By exploring the lack of needed information in human and social affairs, we conducted an inquiry of different empirical and research objects that relate to information inadequacy (for example, empirical situations, theories, or other theoretically and practically based artifacts). The question that emerges then is: How to secure that the needed information is provided to the recipient at the right time, reducing the cause of unpredictable failures and fatalities in our global society? To answer this question, our paper presents initial guiding with a systematic approach that focuses on evaluating and further improving research and practice for information relevance. The empirical cases are mostly based on situations, such as: the financial failures of the Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy 2008, and the Enron bankruptcy 2001; or the disasters of the Space Shuttle Columbia 2003, and Space Shuttle Challenger 1986. The analyses are examined using theories of information behaviour that influence communication processes, from where two or more different actors are necessary to engage in activities of information exchange. The results include the identification of four information exchange patterns: influenced, intentional, hindered, unawares. Furthermore, we discuss implications of the model for practices with information. The paper concludes by challenging the role of information inadequacy in all economic, social and political affairs that remains problematic.