Findability of Information: Organizational Approaches to Search. A quantitative study of factors affecting perceived satisfaction

Abstract

Seldom is there time to search through every single document available when we want to find information at work. With the modern information technology, the accessible information volume in organizations has grown rapidly and continues to do so. The importance of why people must be able to find what they are looking has increased in pace with the abundance of information. Therefore, the area of investigation for this thesis is information-seeking from an organizational perspective. Our purpose with this thesis is to make a contribution of new knowledge to the research regarding how findability and satisfaction are affected by the way organizations addressing search. Thus, the aim of our study is to make an attempt sorting out how organizations’ reason when it comes to matters regarding search and how these affect the perceived satisfaction level. To achieve this purpose, six hypotheses was tested concerning how organizations managing the search of information. To collect the data needed for hypotheses testing a quantitative analysis was conducted. A questionnaire was constructed and distributed in collaboration with a company active in the business of search management and information seeking. A number of 140 organizations of various sizes, world-wide geographical locations and from many different industries answered the questionnaire. This generated a sample that could represent the larger population. Statistically significant evidence was found indicating a relationship between organizational size and employed people’s perception of their ability to find the right information. In addition, results show a correlation between the involvement of a CIO and their relation to strategies. Further, a strong positive linear relationship is showed between the organizations’ perceived satisfaction level regarding search performance and to which extent the employees perceive their information to be findable. The conclusion is that the involvement of a CIO and formulated strategies concerning search most likely leads to more satisfied employees and increased productivity within the organization. The following report is written in English.