Mary Sumner
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to describe the process of office technology growth within sixteen companies. This growth process involves not only the expansion of office technologies and applications but also the process of organizational learning. In this study, the evolution of office automation is depicted using an analysis of technology benchmarks, applications portfolio, organizational strategies for systems development and operations support, and planning and control activities.
The analysis of firms experiencing office technology growth reveals certain stage characteristics similar to those reported in previous research by Nolan and Zisman. Office technologies, initially introduced to mechanize tasks, rapidly proliferate and drive a process of experimentation monitored by analysts representing a central MIS organization. At initial phases the role of data processing is in establishing guidelines for technology acquisition and in establishing standards for an information technology architecture which will support office applications on both centralized and decentralized systems. After gaining experience in designing office applications, organizations in more mature stages of development decentralize the responsibility for systems development, while maintaining centralized control over hardware operations and systems support.
- 1 Richard Nolan, "Managing the Crises in Data Processing," Harvard Business Review, March/April 1979.Google Scholar
- 2 Michael Zisman, "Office Automation: Revolution or Evolution," Sloan Management Review, Vol. 19, No. 3, Spring 1979.Google Scholar
- 3 Thomas H. Johnson and Thomas F. Riesing, "Office Automation: A Management Perspective," 1980 Office Automation Conference Digest, AFIPS, 1980.Google Scholar
- 4 Harvey L. Poppel, "The Automated Office Moves In," Datamation, 1979.Google Scholar
- 5 Jack Buchanan and Richard Linowes, "Understanding Distributed Data Processing," Harvard Business Review, July/August 1980.Google Scholar
Index Terms
- Office automation: Organizational learning and technological change
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