"This Note, which originally appeared in Technology and the Transformation of White-Collar Work, Chapter 9, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 1987, considers the factors that lead to the successful introduction of new office technology in an organization. It is based on a survey of 55 work groups using advanced office technology in 26 organizations. Success includes the extent to which the technology is used, the users' satisfaction with it and with the jobs they perform using it, and improvements in organizational performance. Features of the organization itself, features of the technology, and the way the technology is introduced into the organization all play a role. For example, work groups in which the implementation used a balanced social and technical approach and encouraged worker participation in the introduction process all had more successful implementations. The Note concludes with observations about areas where technology, implementation process, and research all need improvement."--Rand abstract.
"The first book to combine in one account the technical and social aspects of office organization." Eric Trist The new electronic office technology has been much praised for the increased speed, precision, and memory capacities it offers office management. But do these improvements mean increased productivity? Not by themselves, says Calvin Pava. Equally important to the high performance of office work will be its organization -- not only of clerical support personnel and equipment, but of management and staff professionals. This book is the first to define the organizational challenge posed to management by new office technology. Calvin Pava breaks the myth that these are simple issues for technical solution alone. Based on research conducted at the Harvard Business School, "Managing New Office Technology" takes a method of organization design with a proven track record in industrial settings, and shows how this organizational self-analysis and self-directed change can be applied successfully to offices. Using "sociotechnical design" -- a method that takes into account both the technology and structure of work -- Pava shows how changes in an office's organization can lead to more satisfying and productive results. The goal -- and the proven achievement -- of "sociotechnical design" is to organize people, work, and their tools so their efforts are efficiently complementary. At the core of "Managing New Office Technology" are three detailed case studies that show the principles of "sociotechnical design" at work. These examples of the planning, designing, and implementing of organizational change in an order processing customer service department, a computer systemsfirm, and a payroll department, show step by step how to apply the procedure across a broad range of different activities. Unlike other books on the subject, which deal principally with clerical work and show little interest in bridging the gap between theory and application, "Managing New Office Technology" extends to address "the work of management and staff professionals," and shows "how reorganizing is done." Moreover, recognizing that outside interests have a stake in the effects of technological development in offices, Pava provides a framework for addressing the concerns of such groups as displaced professionals, minorities, middle managers, clerical support staff, old workers, young workers, and organized labor. A glossary of terms and an afterword by Eric Trist, originator of the sociotechnical approach, round out this long-awaited work. For managers concerned about astute deployment of new office technology and for those who are also anxious about the larger implications for society of the growth of automation in offices, Calvin Pava's "Managing New Office Technology" will be required reading.
The introduction of new technology and communication to businesses is forever altering the roles and responsibilities of the white- collar workers. This unique collection from authors in such diverse disciplines as psychology, computer science, sociology, history, communication, and public policy, discusses the ways in which these changes have and are effecting the workplace and the employees while speculating on future changes and effects. Of special significance are the methods suggested for introducing information technology into the workplace. These new methods will increase the quality and quantity of goods and services produced while increasing the quality of working life for employees.
Presenting an overview of the most important factors that determine whether the application of ICT in organizations will succeed or fail, this text pays attention to technical, organizational and economic perspectives as well as examining psychological and user perspectives.
Literature survey and annotated bibliography on office automation and computerization - briefly discusses information technology and guidelines for its introduction and planning implementation. References.
This text discusses the emerging trend in product development and research that focuses on the increasingly important relationship between computer systems and social systems. The text emphasizes the significance of building tools to help people work together and the need for the identification of key factors within an organization to create systems more beneficial to users. Also contained are reviews of current research and discussions of both established tools, such as electronic mail and computer conferencing, and those newly developed programs that emphasize "work group" productivity over individual productivity.
