Effective Information for Managers: Using Multi-Dimensional Data Structures to support Research Management

If an organisation is to achieve its goals in the current “Information Age”, the work of managers must be supported by high quality information. Systems that process organisational performance data into managerial information commonly have either dimensional or relational data structures. This paper reports the findings of a study of information support for university research managers and describes the informational view afforded by the dimensional structure of data in contrast to the more common relational one. Subsequent discussion raises broader issues concerned with the effectiveness of multidimensional forms of information in supporting managerial work and the specific difficulties of applying these to the problem of research management.