Managers look to the social network to seek information

Introduction. The purpose of this study was to explore how managers selected individuals to serve as information sources. The social context of a for-profit business environment offered opportunity to study information seeking among interacting line-managers. Method. The qualitative methods of social network mapping and interview were used to capture the data. The study was conducted within a stand-alone business unit of a major US-based corporation. A total of twenty-two line-managers participated in the study. Analysis. Content analysis was selected as the data analysis technique. The elements of interest were the themes within the data. Open coding was used to interrogate the data to ensure a systematic approach so that future researchers can replicate the process. Results. Relationship, more than knowledge, can be the reason a line-manager is sought as an information source. In addition to relationship, an individual manager’s knowledge, communication behaviour, cognitive style, and cognitive ability play an influencing role in being selected as an information source. Conclusion. The non-hierarchical flow of information among managers and the reasons managers seek others as information sources further differentiates line-managers as a unique information user group. Introduction and background A series of three research studies was planned to investigate the information seeking behaviour of line-managers. At the 2002 ISIC conference the results of the first of three was presented (Mackenzie 2003). This quantitative study embraced the work of both information science and management theorists (McKenney & Keen 1974; Mintzberg 1973; Kotter 1982; Lindblom 1959; Brewer & Tomlinson 1964; Simon 1955, 1957, 1976; Luthans 1988; Katzer & Fletcher 1992 and Grosser 1991). The statistical results suggested that line-managers tend 'to engage a broad range of information regardless of their area of responsibility... Managers are cooperative and friendly and their relationships with colleagues, subordinates and superiors may add to their success on the job as well as provide access to information' (Mackenzie 1/19 2003: 75). This information behaviour leads to an accumulation of knowledge stored in the individual's cognitive savings account. When decision opportunities emerge, the manager is able to draw from these stored funds. This behaviour assists the line-manager in reducing uncertainty, making decisions on the spot and projecting a public image of being in the know (Mackenzie 2003). The second study, reported here, builds upon these quantitative results to provide further insight into the information seeking behaviour of line-managers. In this study I investigated the social information relationships among a group of interacting line-managers and identified the factors that influenced these managers' selections of certain individuals as information sources.