Information Logistics

Business administration and information systems research invent new terms and concepts not only to denote new phenomena but also to convey a new perspective on problems that are known in principle. The concept of information logistics links the functions of business logistics and information management. It focuses on vertical coordination within firms and horizontal coordination within and beyond the boundaries of the firm. In a conceptual perspective, information logistics is a crucial element of a revised model of the firm. In an interorganizational perspective, information logistics refers to emerging tele-communication infrastructures. The flow of goods and finances is represented in information systems, and the coordination of business transactions, e.g. inter-organizational logistics chains, is supported. Within the framework of information management, information logistics focuses the production, acquisition and distribution of information. Meta-information such as directories, data dictionaries or repositories fosters an easy access to corporate and external information as well as distributed knowledge. Information systems and infrastructure management raise questions of design and strategic evaluation of logistical in-frastructures: how does the usage of global telecommunication infrastructures contribute to the attainment of strategic goals and what are the new roles of the company within interorganizational networks and new cooperative forms of business alliances? While some intermediaries are replaced by electronically mediated forms of coordination, especially electronic markets, numerous new intermediaries set up or extend their business. The concept of information logistics focuses on the functions of control and coordination of intra-and inter-organizational information flows. The optimization of these information flows is meant to improve the coordination of business process chains and transactions in and between firms. Goals of information logistics are: tion, inventory, production planning (more efficient delivery from production to POS) and feedback on quality (e.g. OTIS uses elevator maintenance information and statistics for pre-emp-tive repairs and R&D). Together, the three layers of logistics (logistics of goods, finances and information) represent the main flows of economic production and consumption and-at the same time-fields of interaction between companies, the public sector, and finally private households. Increasingly, information logistics is becoming essential for the coordination of flows of goods, for example tracking and tracing information become an integral part of the logistics service. Financial logistics within the banking system is virtually information logistics; the exchange of money has been replaced by the exchange of financial information. While the electronic data exchange within the banking system is well advanced, the informational integration with the …