The impact of information on corporate decision making in the insurance sector

The insurance sector is currently in a state of some uncertainty and companies are increasingly conscious of the need to maintain a competitive edge over their commercial rivals while at the same time getting maximum benefits from in‐house resources. As part of this review of resources, the information and library function within many insurance companies is under scrutiny. Reports on a study undertaken to determine the impact of information on corporate decision making within the insurance industry; to explore the value that decision makers placed on the information and services provided by both the in‐house facility and external sources in maintaining a competitive edge in the market place; and to examine the effectiveness and applicability in the insurance sector of the methodology used by Joanne Marshall in her studies of the impact of information in Canadian banks. This involved taking a “snapshot” of the information inputs into decisions made by a sample of decision makers during a six‐month period with each respondent being asked to focus on one decision only.