Should knowledge be disseminated or is it best kept as a secret within an organization? Would businesses be better off if publicly accessible facts were no longer free but were easily accessible?

Attorneys and those in the legal field rely heavily on pay for use databases to get information. Those in academics also rely on paid databases. (Although in academics there is typically a flat fee paid by the institution, whereas in law there is typically a per transaction fee.) What if that type of information source was available outside of law and academics?

We will argue that the creation of pay for use databases for fields beside law and academics would be beneficial.  Managers and organizations should not be hesitant to share information because they will be part of a network that receives information from other industries, similar and dissimilar, and they will benefit from the information shared by others. Also, as explained by Pan and Scarborough, social factors play a large role in how information is used. Therefore, different firms will use the information differently. Businesses must also make that information their own by employing effective managers and technical systems in order for that information to have value for their organization.