Toward a research agenda for the study of business practices in information industries

This research considers business practices in the Information Age. We present an economic-theory based view that defines products as bundles of goods, services, and information. Products that consist solely of information, that which is recorded about something, are information products. Organizations or business units that produce and/or sell only information are information-only businesses. Information industries consist of organizations that produce and/or sell primarily information products. Research into the business practices of the organizations that make up information industries is scant at best. Current business thinking is still rooted in the Industrial Age, which was concerned with producing and delivering physical goods. This paper summarizes the results of a literature survey identifying information industry business practices. These results, in conjunction with interview-based research in progress, form the basis for further research into information-only business practices.