ABSTRACT
In the 1990s, many managerial leaders believed that one of the major sources of productivity, creation of jobs, and the generation of new wealth would be in the general area of “turning information into knowledge,” and they were right. Information is available in amazing breadth and depth. Stock market quotes, weather data at thousands of locations, commodity prices and futures and option prices on these commodities, including grain, orange juice, cotton, live cattle, and hogs, make up a part of the mass of new data that are generated each day and hour in the United States. And now data such as these are becoming available from around the world as we become part of a global economy. In addition, less volatile data, such as pesticide recommendations, crop variety selections, machinery specifications, soil types, and fertilizer recommendations, are available, and some of these are different depending upon location. So a bewildering amount of information is available.
