Viability as a Criterion for Information Quality in Economics and Organizational Management

Economic and organizational decisions are increasingly dependent on large volumes of information, quantitative indicators, predictive models, and performance metrics. The quality of such information is commonly evaluated through criteria such as accuracy, relevance, completeness, timeliness, and usefulness. However, information may satisfy these criteria while supporting decisions that improve short-term performance but weaken the long-term viability of an organization or a broader system. This paper examines viability as an additional criterion for evaluating information quality in economics and organizational management within the framework of Vitology. The proposed approach considers information in relation to the consequences of decisions based upon it, including their effects on resource distribution, organizational stability, adaptability, regenerative capacity, development, and interactions among different levels of a system. Particular attention is given to the distinction between local efficiency and systemic viability. A decision that appears economically advantageous at one organizational level may transfer costs, risks, or instability to another level or reduce the future adaptive capacity of the system as a whole. The paper proposes that information quality may therefore be evaluated not only by how accurately information describes the current state of a system or supports immediate objectives, but also by whether it contributes to decisions that preserve, restore, or increase viability over time. This perspective provides a basis for integrating economic analysis, organizational management, information quality assessment, and systems-oriented decision-making. Keywords Vitology; viability; information quality; economics; organizational management; decision-making; resource allocation; economic models; performance indicators; systemic risk; organizational viability; long-term viability; information risk; systems thinking.