Advanced office systems: an empirical look at use and satisfaction

Preliminary research findings from a study of advanced office systems in varied user contexts are summarized here. The research, funded by the National Science Foundation Productivity Improvement Research Section, is intended to determine how information technology is successfully incorporated into white-collar work. Participating in the study were 55 offices. They ranged in size from four to 37 employees and represented 26 different organizations that ranged in size from a total of eight employees to multinational operations. The data reported here come from questionnaires administered to 530 employees in the 55 offices.

Findings reported here address several issues relevant to implementing advanced office systems: (1) White-collar office employees can be classified into four types: management and administration, data-oriented professionals, text-oriented professionals, and support staff. (2) White-collar work forms a systematic cluster of information-handling activities, some of which are performed by nearly everyone in the office. (3) A large percentage of employees, including senior managers and professionals, already use computers in their work; and most nonusers expect to use them in the near future. (4) Four aspects of computer systems underlie user satisfaction: functionality, equipment performance, interaction features, and office environments. (5) Satisfaction with functionality is the best predictor of use of the system. (6) The most important organizational influences on use of and satisfaction with information technology are variety in work and the organization's approach to technological change.