Information Quality Strategy: an Empirical Investigation of the Relationship between Information Quality Improvements and Organizational Outcomes

The relationship between information and decision-making is a complex one and has been the subject of extensive research spanning several decades, with roots in nineteenth and early twentieth century economic theories. More recently, researchers have suggested a relationship between the quality of information and the quality of decision-making, with a consequent relationship with organizational strategy; however, there has been very little research in which this relationship was investigated systematically. This research set forth contextual and conceptual models relating information quality to strategy and then provided an empirical investigation of the relationship between information quality and organizational outcomes, with information intensity hypothesized as a moderator of that relationship. Data for this study were collected through a Web-based survey of individuals associated with an industry consortium and were evaluated through a combination of multiple regression analysis, moderated regression analysis, and subgroup analysis. Data analysis revealed evidence that the relationship between the quality of information and organizational outcomes is systematically measurable, in that measurements of information quality can be used to predict organizational outcomes, and that this relationship is, for the most part, positive. An unexpected finding was that different regression models emerge when stakeholder roles in an information system are taken into consideration. Data analysis did not reveal support for the hypothesis that information intensity moderates the relationship between information quality and organizational outcomes.