Human Information Interaction

Background and purpose: Business Information is among the important sources for companies, especially for those located in Science and Technology Park which intend to launch a technological business and enter the market. To this end, different aspects of business information behavior of the companies need to be investigated. The aim of this article is to study business information behavior of companies based in Khuzestan Science & Technology Park.

Methodology: This qualitative study was conducted based on grounded theory. Companies affiliated with Khouzestan Science and Technology Park formed our research population. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 14 companies.

Finding: The results show that the aims of business information seeking include: organizational goal completion and task fulfillment, updatedness, efficiency, competitiveness and preparation for difficult situations and problem solving. Furthermore, business information need includes knowledge of market, national and international policies, laws, financial information, information about products, information about management, as well as information management. Sources of business information were mass media, science and technology park, internet, educational courses, informal communication, and library and financial consultants.  However, barriers to business information seeking included lack of information seeking and information literacy skills, problems about information, technical infrastructure, personal factors, cultural, political and ethical problems, problems in receiving information from the science & technology park and organizational problems.

Conclusion: Companies based in science and technology parks are well-aware of the importance of business information. Moreover, their business information needs are in line with other researches. By identifying the relevant sources and obstacles, this paper can help to provide appropriate information services to these companies.