The Art of the Long View by Peter Schwartz

This slender volume describes the scenario method of long range planning and Schwartz's personal approach to information hunting and gathering. What could be a dry and esoteric subject is made both interesting and intelligible through the author's lucid style and use of real world examples from Royal Dutch/Shell, Smith & Hawken, and the author's own entrepreneurial venture, the Global Business Network, a consulting firm with clients such as AT&T, Nissan, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Our favorite section is the chapter on "Information-Hunting and -Gathering" and especially Schwartz's list of recommended sources. The list includes some obvious choices such as Discover magazine and The Economist as well as some relatively obscure titles, such as Electric Word and Granta. Today, it would no doubt include Wired magazine (Schwartz is a contributing writer).

Schwartz also does a good job of describing the scenario creation process and its practical business applications. In addition to information collecting, elements of the process include uncovering the decision, creating scenario building blocks, composing a plot, and "rehearsing the future" (applying the results to a decision).

Schwartz is a member of the "digerati," the information elite that includes Stewart Brand, Joel Garreau, Esther Dysan, Paul Hawken, and others. Those trying to get a handle on all aspects of the information network revolution -- economic, political, business, and cultural -- would do well to configure their news filters to track the intellectual output of group members.

The Information Mosaic by Sharon M. McKinnon and William J. Bruns

This is a book written by accountants for accountants and the executives they serve. It is also receiving a lot of ink in the computer trade press, which has recently been paying more attention to information content and use in decision making (as opposed to collecting, storing, and disseminating data).

The key finding of the book, based on a survey of 73 senior executives in 12 manufacturing firms, is that personal contact is the most important source of information for this group. Primary sources of information were found to be: personal observation, the work that managers themselves do, the opinions of other people, informal repetitive reports, and well designed periodic reports.

Few of the executives interviewed used computers; those that did routinely designed their own reports because those prepared by the MIS department were not suitable. Contrary to media reports, the authors also found that information overload -- at least for senior managers -- is a fallacy. Nobody complained about it, but they did complain about too many reports, reports that are too detailed, and reports that are not useful to the person receiving them.

In spite of its appealing title, we found little here that CEO's and content-oriented professionals (e.g. librarians and competitive intelligence researchers) don't already know, either by training or experience. However, the book will interest MIS directors and accountants who are looking for ways to add value to or improve the services their departments provide. This was probably one reason why the Society of Management Accountants of Canada provided part of the book's funding.