In earlier times, access to information within a company was a mark of rank and privilege. Workers stoked the furnaces, ran the machines, typed the letters, and filed the reports. The foreman or boss told them what to do, when, and how. It was the foreman or boss who knew how many widgets each worker should be producing on a shift, how many and in what colors and sizes the factory needed to turn out this week, next week, and by the end of the month.