Exploration of Information Literacy
Curtis Lee Hill Jr.
COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES COM/705
University of Phoenix
January 13, 2007












Exploration of Information Literacy
An exploration of information literacy (IL) and the impact this concept has on scholarship and the practice of organizational leadership within the general business environment will be presented in this essay. This exploration will start with a definition of IL, which will then progress on to an outline of an umbrella influence of IL, Drucker’s “Theory of a Business.” The next step in this exploratory journey of IL then will progress into specific outlines of the operational forces of IL as played out in the scientific method and the “Medici Effect.” An examination of Procter and Gamble will be examined as a real life model of IL operating in a positive fashion for all stakeholders. Once our examination has come to a conclusion, a new understanding and appreciation of the importance of IL’s impact will have been gained and will be seen as a tool of any and all scholarship.
There are many definitions for IL, one of the two that stands out is the ability to find, evaluate and effectively use information (Zabel 2004). The other definition of note of LI is seen as a means of personal empowerment which allows people to verify or refute expert opinion and to become independent seekers of truth (Bruce 2002). As one can see, the above definitions presented by Zabel and Bruce mirrors each other in an understanding of IL as a skill that can expand thinking and leads one into a greater understanding of one’s greater environment, Drucker’s Theory of Business presents some points of consideration.
Peter Drucker (2004), the godfather of business management, outlined the following theory on business:
A theory of a business has three parts. First, there are assumptions about the environment of the organization: society and its structure, the market, the customer and the technology. The assumptions about the environment define what an organization is paid for. Second, there are assumptions about the specific mission of the organization. The assumptions about the mission define what an organization considers to be meaningful results – they point to how it envisions itself making a difference in the economy and society at large. Third, there are assumptions about core competencies needed to accomplish the organization’s mission. Core competencies define where an organization must excel in order to maintain leadership (p. 83).

The germane part of Drucker’s theory to our discussion/ exploration of IL are the first assumption, “First, there are assumptions about the environment of the organization: society and its structure, the market, the customer and the technology.” Within the first assumption, independent thinking must take place or all the other assumptions with Drucker’s theory are not valid because without a real honest and accurate interpretation of an environment a business cannot operate in an effective and efficient manner. IL’s interjection with an operational seeking of facts and opinions will impact a theory.
The specifics benefits of IL can be gained with the use of the scientific method. The scientific method is a process that puts theories in perspective – that is using theories as the basis for experiments instead of viewing theory, any theory, as gospel (Promoting technical literacy in the executive suite). The era of the of Medici Family or the period of the Merchant Princes of Florence Italy offers one a reflection of leadership in operation with IL and the scientific method. This leadership impact is called the “Medici Effect.” The “Medici Effect” in its basic form is an exponential increase in concept combinations (Johnansson 2004, p.101). As one can see from the journey, the “Medici Effect,” a business enterprise or a scholarly endeavor cannot take place without a strong dose of IL. IL is the means of personal empowerment which allows people to verify or refute expert opinion and to become independent seekers of truth (Presidential committee on information literacy: Final report.). Without a starting point one would move about aimlessly and never reach a point of defined success or understanding.
The example of Procter and Gamble is one of the good reference points in our exploration of IL and our endeavor to understanding and appreciation its impact. Through a need to increase innovation, Procter and Gamble had to find a way to amass, analysis, and direct the use of volumes of information. The old method of achieving its goal of innovation was not working and thus a new path was created to meet all stakeholders’ need for innovation. P and G determined that it needed an open marketplace where the internal and external would compete, and external ideas would get the same hearing as internal ideas within the organizational culture and thus the culture would start embracing innovating ideas found elsewhere (Drake, Skkkab and Jonash 2006). P and G found a way to incorporate IL into its business processes and has created its own theory of the business and an anemic growth from innovation has changed to one where share price had doubled, cash flow has doubled, profits have doubled and the success rate of innovation has reached a level of 75 %, all measures, which a business would die to achieve (Drake, Skkkab and Jonash 2006).
As our journey comes to a conclusion, a new understanding and appreciation of the importance of IL’s impact has been gained, and IL can now be seen as a tool for achieving greater understanding of one’s environment and how one can interact with that environment in a profitable manner, be it monetary or any other manner that is important to an individual.









References
Bruce, C. (2002, July). Information Literacy as a Catalyst for Educational Change: A background paper. Retrieved December 15, 2005, from http://www.nclis.gov/libinter/infolitconf&meet/papers/bruce-fullpaper.pdf, 17.
Drake, M. P., Sakkab, N., and Jonash, R. (2006, Nov/Dec) MAXIMIZING RETURN ON INNOVATION INVESTMENT. Research Technology Management, 49 (6), 32-41 and 10.

Drucker, P.F. (2004). The Daily Drucker 366 DAYS of INSIGHT and Motivation for GETTING the Right THINGS DONE. p. 83 and 84. New York: HarperBusiness.

Johansson, F. (2004). The Medici Effect: Breakthrough Insights at Intersection of Ideas, Concepts and Cultures. p. 101. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Presidential committee on information literacy: Final report. (1989, January 10). Retrieved December 15, 2005, from http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/whitepapers/presidential.htm.
Promoting technical literacy in the executive suite.(1995) Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 19, Issue 6 Retrieved December 5, 2006 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost.
Zabel, D. (2004, January). A reaction to "information literacy and higher education". Journal of Academic Librarianship, 30(1), 17-21