When knowledge becomes information: a case of mistaken identity

We discuss research conducted by the authors in a large financial services firm. The purpose of the research was to examine issues relating to the use of a research database (RDB), designed primarily to provide market information to clients. While the RDB is considered successful in terms of report production, it has created many problems. Analysts resist its use, do not feel ownership of their data once it had been loaded, feel alienated from the report generation process and generally have negative attitudes rewards it. We examine these issues and argue that the lack of a clear theoretical understanding and distinction between data, information and knowledge contributed to their inability to recognise that the RDB is nor a typical information system but should be conceptualized more holistically as an expert knowledge system.