Formal and Informal Information Management Technologies

Justify why we need to identify an Information Management System as either Formal or

Informal?

Information management is a social activity that aims to develop and utilize information

resources effectively and to plan, organize, lead and control information resources by means

of modern information technology. Our daily life is full of all kinds of information systems:

bank savings management system, railway ticket management system, network shopping

management system and so on. These systems both create a variety of information and

management problems. Companies, enterprises and government departments need to carry

out relevant system design and information analysis in combination with specific

management requirements. Information management and information system is a major

that guides management practice by combining information technology, data science and

modern management concept (David 2020).

What is formal information system?

The term “formal” means that there is some specific structure or guideline that it must

follow. It is based on the organization represented by organization chart (Altaee 2018). The

formal information is distributed in the form of instructions, memo or reports from top level

to intended user. In other words, formal information has a constraints, application

processes, and monitoring systems which is more reliable.

The formal information system is composed of:

 Information resources, for example databases.

 Information needs of the system

The formal information management technology is the technologies that handle the

procedure of the formal part of the organizational information.

What is informal information system?

Informal information is relatively no strict guideline or structure that people need to follow

and it mainly comprises personal information. It usually for a personal use but it can also use

in the organization. Informal information systems have no special system processes and are

generally acquired through conversations with employees, suppliers, customers, etc. In

addition, professional seminars are also a source of informal information (Kamal 2019).

Formal information system and informal information system are used in the enterprise at

the same time. GPS and Google Maps are the examples of informal information

technologies.

Altaee, MAH 2018, ‘Twinning between informal and formal information Systems’, Advances

in Management and Applied Economics, vol. 8, no. 1, pp.37-55.

David, T 2020, What Is an Information System?, Pressbooks.

Kamal, A 2019, ‘Difference Between Formal and Informal Information System’, blog, 11 July,
Medium educational Blog, viewed 1 April 2020, < https://medium.com/educational-
blog/difference-between-formal-and-informal-information-system-bb129a8e1e30>.

Academic paper:

Simon, D, Fischbach, K & Schoder, D 2014, ‘Enterprise architecture management and its role
in corporate strategic management’, Information Systems and e-Business Management, vol.
12, no. 1, pp.5-42.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10257-013-0213-4.pdf

Lange, M, Mendling, J & Recker, J 2016, ‘An empirical analysis of the factors and
measures of Enterprise Architecture Management success’, European Journal of
Information Systems, vol. 25, no. 5, pp.411-431.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1057/ejis.2014.39?needAccess=true