A risk based model for quantifying the impact of information quality

•Information quality is one of the key determinants of information system success.•A risk based approach addresses the inherent uncertainty in the relationship between information quality and organizational impact.•This model can help information managers to obtain quantitative figures which can be used to build reliable and convincing business cases for information quality improvement.

Information quality is one of the key determinants of information system success. When information quality is poor, it can cause a variety of risks in an organization. To manage resources for information quality improvement effectively, it is necessary to understand where, how, and how much information quality impacts an organization's ability to successfully deliver its objectives. So far, existing approaches have mostly focused on the measurement of information quality but not adequately on the impact that information quality causes. This paper presents a model to quantify the business impact that arises through poor information quality in an organization by using a risk based approach. It hence addresses the inherent uncertainty in the relationship between information quality and organizational impact. The model can help information managers to obtain quantitative figures which can be used to build reliable and convincing business cases for information quality improvement.