How do firms determine what type of information is useful for a given decision? Is it possible for firms to have too much information? While a look at a firm’s Web site provides us with lots of information, not all of it is necessarily useful for a particular decision. Let’s look at the Green Mountain Coffee Company and see what information on the site would be useful for some specific decisions.

1. Go to the home page of Green Mountain Coffee at www.greenmountaincoffee.com. What are the major topics on which a user can click to be taken to a page with more detailed information?

Would you likely find the same type of information if you clicked on the links to any one of these?

Why do you suppose Green Mountain Coffee chose those particular subtopics for its home page?

2. Where would you look on the site if you wanted to know more about Green Mountain Coffee’s financial information? Locate the most recent annual report posted on this section of the Web site, and answer the following questions. Did the company make a profit for the year? What was the major expense that the firm encountered? Did the firm pay any dividends? If you were interested in an income-producing stock, would you want to invest in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters?

3. Which link would you want to use if you wanted to gain knowledge concerning the story of coffee? Click on this link now. This page has additional links about coffee. Which one(s) are likely to provide information to help you learn about the different coffees? Click on one of the links you just identified. What type of information about coffee differences does it provide? Did your link provide any information concerning prices as being a difference? Do you think that this would be a difference between coffees?

4. The site provides extensive information about social and environmental initiatives. What areas in particular does the firm highlight? Is this information useful in helping determine if the company’s coffee products taste good? What about the quality of the product? Would this information be useful to a potential investor in Green Mountain Coffee’s common stock?