LIBRARY
OF THE
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE
OF TECHNOLOGY
Center for Information Systenns Research
Massachusetts
Institute of
Alfred P Sloan School of
Technology
Management
50 Memorial Drive
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139
617 253-1000
Office Automation: Revolution or
Evolution?
Michael D. Zisman
CISR #34
Sloan WP 986-78
April
Note:
1978
A slightly revised version of this paper will
appear in the June 1978 issue of The Sloan
Management Review
.
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
INTRODUCTION
Page
1
INTRODUCTION
1.0
One
great
the
of
industry
systems
shortcomings
has
been
of
information
the
inability
our
to
manage
This is not surprising when one considers the
expectations.
frequency with which we announce
new management concept or
which
breakthrough
technological
a
inevitably
will
"revolutionize" the means by which we manage our information
In the past ten years,
resources.
we have thrust
upon
the
world the "revolutions" of timesharing, database management,
minicomputer,
the
the
distributed
processing,
microcomputers, and now
led the user community to
large
data
databases, structured programming,
upon
us
a
is
"revolution"
the
of
level of expectation which is to
unattainable,
extent
distributed
MIS,
Each of these proclaimed revolutions has
office automation.
a
"total"
at
least in the timeframes
predicted.
Recent literature has suggested that there will soon be
a
revolution in the office as computer technology is brought
to bear to increase the productivity
labor
The
force.
of
the
our
white
systems
are
cited
new
as
oncoming revolution of office automation.
Although we are led to believe that office automation
relatively
collar
"widespread" use of word processing and
the introduction of electronic mail
evidence
of
phenomenon,
old term given new meaning.
is
a
office automation is rather an
In the late sixties,
the
term
OFFICE AUTOMATION:
INTRODUCTION
REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
automation
office
referred to the application of computers
to well structured,
processing,
high volume office tasks such as payroll
accounts
payable,
present reincarnation,
application
Page 2
automation"
"office
computer
of
purchasing,
In
its
refers
to
the
communications
technology,
technology, systems science and behavioral
etc.
science
the
to
vast majority of less structured office functions which have
not been amenable to traditional data processing technology.
In
both
cases, however,
the objective of office automation
is to improve the productivity of
our
collar
white
labor
force.
While there can be little
provided
an
this
technology
that
administrative
technology
processing,
will
be
in
which
integrated
into
at
most
Rather,
a
office environments evolve and adapt to
this new technology is
purpose
rate
the
organizations will not be revolutionary at all.
scenario
has
opportunity to dramatically change the ways in
which we perform
which
doubt
a
much
more
reasonable
one.
The
of this paper is to address the evolution of office
automation technology.
Although this approach may seem less
dramatic, we suggest that it is far more realizable and will
provide managers
plan
a
framework
which
to
realistically
for the integration of new technology into the office.
We will view this evolution
stage
with
in
the
framework
of
Nolan's
hypothesis for the development of information systems
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
INTRODUCTION
organizations [6], and use
"office
this
framework
Page
3
distinguish
to
automation" from "office mechanization".
This will
be followed by a discussion of some recent research
results
which will impact and provide direction for this evolution.
Before delving into an
hypothesis,
it will
considering
why
examination
of
Nolan's
stage
be useful to motivate the discussion by
office
the
"ripe"
now
is
further
for
automation.
2.0
WHY OFFICE AUTOMATION NOW??
Why are
benefits
interested
we
are
to
gained
be
office
in
by
applying
technology to millions of office workers
white
collar
force?
labor
automation?
this
who
What
computer
make
up
our
Some statistics shed liRht on
these Questions.
Traditionally,
investment
in
the
organization
its office employees.
capitalization per office worker
about $6000 [16].
Organizations
have
made
Estimates for average
vary
from
$2000
[^]
to
the average capitalization
By comparison,
per factory worker is reported
little
made
has
to
be
about
$25,000
fundamentally
[4].
different
capital/labor decisions in these two environments.
In
the
have
led
the
factory,
opportunities
for
organization to trade labor for
automation
capital
investment;
this
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
WHY OFFICE AUTOMATION NOW??
in impressive productivity increases.
resulted
has
however,
office,
Page
there
In the
interest
little
been
has
4
in
automation opportunities.
Current cost trends now make automation in
office
Presently, labor costs in the office are
attractive.
more
the
communications
increasing at 6% per year, while
costs
are
declining at 11% per year, computer logic costs are dropping
at 25% per year,
a
rate
of
and computer memory costs are plummeting at
year
per
40%
approximately 22% of the U.S.
work"
"office
shift toward
increase
this
labor force
involved
is
in
"administrative processing" and that the
or
a
one considers that
When
[33.
more
service
factor,
the
will
economy
based
implicationss
likely
are very clear,
indeed.
Until recently, offices have taken little advantage
technological
opportunities to increase productivity.
has resulted in office costs increasing
total
company
costs
40% - 50%
to
of
from
This
20% - 30%
total
costs
of
of
[4].
Furthermore, accounting for these costs is very haphazard in
most organizations, where
a
large portion of these costs are
lumped into corporate overhead [16].
The decreasing cost of
office automation technology, as well as the availability of
that technology, coupled with the increased cost
labor,
provides
an
opportunity
for
of
office
innovative corporate
managers to stabilize or reduce office costs.
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
WHY OFFICE AUTOMATION NOW??
Page
Many organizations now realize that they must begin
5
to
toward the automated office if they expect to stem the
move
rising tide of office costs and still
process
workloads
A
being
placed
them.
on
growing
the
Stanford
Research
Institute study suggests that average investment per
employee
will
from
rise
this is the
case,
technology
could
$2000 to $10000 by 1985 [4].
total
the
office
reach
market
billion
$85
office
for
systems
1985-1990
the
by
If
timeframe.
the availability of sophisticated
On the negative side,
technology at relatively low prices has led some individuals
to believe that technology alone will solve the problems
the
This is
office.
delusion.
a
Technology alone provides
opportunities.
If the technology is to
organization,
it
must
be
of
of
use
into
a
be
incorporated
to
an
systems
solution to the problems of the office.
3.0
STAGES OF GROWTH
A
evolutionary
number
of
discussion
of
the
hypothesis
stage
process
clearly
and
human
childhood,
proposes
identifiable
comparison.
adolescence,
a
specific
be conveniently segmented into a
can
growth
that
A
process
phases
purposes
for
of
good example is the division
into
stages
of
adulthood and old age.
infancy,
Obviously,
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OH EVOLUTION?
STAGES OF GROWTH
Page
6
any one of these stages could be further subdivided if needs
so
dictated.
extent that
As such,
stage hypothesis is useful to the
a
provides
it
insights
evolutionary
the
into
process under study.
Nolan suggests that there exist four stages
for
an
organization
matures.
labels
He
formalization,
stages
these
applications
information systems
of
stages
The office will
area
lead
to the
become
soon
information
for
a
systems
undergoing
organizations and we foresee the office
stages of growth.
expansion,
initiation,
These
maturity.
and
familiar "S" growth curve.
major
use
its
as
growth
of
similar
We examine these stages in more detail so
that managers can place present and future developments into
a
broader
perspective.
This
will
followed
be
by
an
examination of other relevant hypotheses.
3.1
Initiation
In the initiation stage,
(or
will
cost-reduction or increased productivity and will
use
mechanized
office
equipment.
limited to text processing
computer
installations
applications.
equipment,
were
limited
perceive
opportunities
technological
perceived)
have
organizations
This
just
to
for
begin
to
will normally be
as
the
first
bread and butter
Some users will take advantage of the machine
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
STAGES OF GROWTH
readable
text
will
and
systems, TWX/Telex and other
capabilities.
output
are already
standalone
output
to
photocomposition
mediums
the
word processing equipment,
the longer range objective of reducing
organizations
the
technology
stage,
Emphasis
fairly
a
paperwork),
interest,
and
in
will be introduced and
There will
clear delineation between word processing and
data processing at this
processing
will
(as opposed to
managed by the administrative services function.
be
using
shared logic systems,
on the more efficient production of paper
most
enhanced
for
initiation
or text editing systems on large computers.
be
7
Many of today's larger organizations
through
or
in
interface
Page
managers
point.
Unfortunately,
most
data
will view this stage with little or no
viewing word processing as an activity outside the
scope of their mission.
3.2
Expansion
The initiation stage will be followed
rapid expansion.
by
Office automation will "catch on",
data processing did during the second stage of
There
will
revolution;
efforts
will
stage
a
EDP
of
just as
growth.
an explosion of interest and predictions of
be
poorly planned
be
and
uncoordinated
development
justified on low marginal cost, given the
equipment in place from stage
1
OFFICE AUTOMATION:
STAGES OF GROWTH
REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
The emphasis in this stage will be on
of
tools
the
8
development
mechanizing devices in the office such as the
by
in-basket,
Page
file cabinet,
Roladex, calendar,
telephone,
etc.
Most references to "office automation" or the "office of the
future" really refer to this stage of development,
be
accurately
mopre
and would
labelled "office mechanization".
The
objective here will be to replace paper flow with electronic
information
extent,
flows.
exists-
generators,
We note that the technology,
today
computer
to
develop
sophisticated
based message systems,
management functions, and other related
this
stage,
to a large
document
basic calendar
office
tools.
In
the data processing sector of the organization
may recognize the office as an applications area.
We will mechanize
filing)
typing,
but
tasks
not
entry, credit approval).
technology
problem
as
organization problem.
introduction
people
that
automate
Here
much
we
as
by
a
are
a
This stage will
not
faced
with
a
systems problem and an
bring
with
it
the
of large amounts of distributed hardware.
For
"critical
good example of this).
these
(i.e.,
functions (e.g., order
many of these applications to be successful,
used
perform
systems,
we
they
must
mass" of users (electronic mail is
be
a
As more and more people begin to use
will have to address the organizational
problems which will undoubtedly arise.
The
challenges
of
the organizational problems will probably be larger than the
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
STAGES OF GROWTH
technical challenges in this stage.
applications
hardware
and
proliferation of
will
applications
proliferation
The
very
be
the
in
Page
similar
corporate
9
of
to the
computer
facilities in the 1960's.
Since
emphasis
the
mechanization
tools
of
functions, per se,
integration
it
will
proposed, developed,
3.3
the
on
is
there will not be great concern
period
a
stage
in the office as opposed to office
these tools into
of
be
this
in
a
cohesive whole.
experimentation
of
as
the
for
Rather,
tools
are
refined, and some discarded.
Formalization
The
period
proliferation
of
of
expansion
rapid
disjointed
will
result
in
a
very analogous to the
tools,
proliferation of non-integrated data processing applications
of
the 1960's.
tools,
in
As users become more comfortable with these
they will demand cohesiveness and further integration
office
their
environments.
This will motivate
stage of growth which will focus on what is
the
office
in
systems.
devices
applications
done
in
The first change will be toward
and facilities into more cohesive
The second change will be
toward
third
addition to the tools used in the office to
carry out office functions.
integrating
being
a
automating
a
shift from mechanizing
processes,
and from mechanizing
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
STAGES OF GROWTH
ta sks to automat ing funct ions.
work
substantial portion of the
A
carried on in most offices is the execution of routine
routine"
"almost
or
Page 10
office
procedures.
It
these
is
procedures
which give utility to the various devices in the
office and
the
routine
automation
of
routine
these
almost
and
procedures will allow us to use the computer in the
office as more than
a
"word cruncher".
processes
The
that
we are addressing here are those office procedures which are
not amenable to conventional data processing technology
to
a
lack of structure.
This shift in emphasis from devices
crucial
Ackoff [1] provides
one.
process as
and
a
process
to
a
notion
viewpoint,
the
of
devices
the
in
By mechanizing devices,
manager.
the resources of the secretary but,
the
addressing
office
the
of
responsibilities
a
are
resource
we are addressing
not
by and large,
problems
of
the
office
not
manager.
suggesting that secretaries will be replaced;
some
very
a
those
However, when we attack office processes,
manager.
we are automating office functions,
that
system
a
From
process.
resources of the secretary, and the secretary is
are
a
has a goal producing function." It is the manager in an
simplistic
of
is
succinct definition of
a
"sequence of behavior that constitutes
organization that has
of
due
the
of
more
the
structured,
secretary
routine
and
tasks,
and
are
not
We
we do suggest
and mundane
manager
will
be
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
STAGES OF GROWTH
completely
(almost)
group
this
of
the
workers
secretary's
tools
this stage,
productive
more
for
2
and
In stage 2, we mechanize many
of
still rely on the secretary to
but
know when these tools are to be used and how they are to
used
accomplish some job function.
to
In stage 3,
know how the various tools
of
behavior)
should
be
accomplish
to
together
used
(the
some particular job
function (the goal producing function), and when to use
various
tools.
In this stage,
in the stricter sense of
rather
than
bfeyond many current
we begin to use "automation"
replacing
with
people
This focus on
office
machines,
automation
goes
perceptions of the field.
Maturity
The last stage in the growth process
self-explanatory
one,
and
a
organization adapts to change.
integration
of
is
relatively
a
period of stabilization as the
We
will
see
a
continued
functions and facilities in office systems.
Less structured office procedures will be
learn
the
simply supporting or augmenting them with more
mechanized devices.
3.M
and
into the machine so that the computer system will
that
sequence
be
we take
the organization's knowledge about the office processes
put
11
thus making
difference between stage
the
is one of degree.
3
in
available
Naturally,
functions.
stage
automated
Page
more about this area.
automated
as
we
Obviously, some functions will
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
STAGES OF GROWTH
Page 12
be "de-automated" as we learn from the mistakes.
technologies
new
repeated,
changes
develop,
growth
this
as organizations generate
curve
change,
major
As
will
integrate
be
the
their work environments (possibly by changing
into
the work environment), and stabilize
from
the
effects
of
these changes.
3.5
Other Stage Hypotheses
Strassmann [17], of
implications
Xerox,
has
also
considered
the
the stage hypothesis on office automation.
of
He suggests that while traditional data processing may be in
fourth
the
stage
administrative
largely
systems"
because
twenty years.
Nolan's
of
are
growth
curve,
beginning
just
"general
to
emerge,
they have been ignored for the past ten to
Strassmann sees the four stages of growth
in
general administrative systems to be mechanization of tasks,
machine-aided
enlargement.
on what
transactions,
The
Strassmann
machine-aided
redesign
work
work
and
work reported in this paper concentrates
has
labelled
transactions,
mechanization
task
and
and
complementary
is
to
Strassmann's model.
In the late sixties,
for
office
stage,
automation
a
popular
included
stage
the
hypothesis
nonmechanized
[15]
craft
an early mechanization stage characterized by the use
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
STAGES OF GROWTH
of
typewriters,
adding
card data processing
electronic
data
machines and the like, the punched
stage
the
and
processing.
automation
solely
with
what
was
previously
by
single
components.
views
one
automation as
moving
stage
mechanization
into
of
Strassmann,
considered
automation stage of electronic data processing
that
stage
Clearly the stage hypothesis
discussed in this paper, and that discussed
deals
Page 13
the
and explodes
automation
and
These views are not necessarily inconsistent if
distinction
the
technology
a
forward;
what
frontier
view
we
mechanization
between
which
as
is
and
continually
automation today will
probably be viewed as mechanization is some future period.
M.O
IMPLICATIONS OF THE STAGE HYPOTHESIS
Our view of the evolution of office automation
revolves around
a
distinction between mechanization of tasks
in stage 2 and automation
of
believe
several
that
clearly
there
are
functions
in
stage
implications
for
3.
We
those
charged with managing this evolution, and we discuss some of
those
implications
in
that,
however,
will
it
this section.
be
necessary
Before proceeding to
to
more
distinguish the terms mechanization and automation.
clearly
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
IMPLICATIONS OF THE STAGE HYPOTHESIS
Mechanization And Automation
M.I
literature
current
It is distressing that most of the
on
Page 14
office automation addresses the oncoming "revolution" in
the office
but
automation
from
makes
the
often
and in fact,
literature
Earlier
other.
office
distinguish
to
mechanization,
office
mistakes one for
attempt
no
the
on
subject of office automation studied the distinction between
mechanization
distinction,
the
Shepard
mechanization
1.
from
addressing
In
provides
[15]
distinguishing
according
automation
this
good summarization of
a
points
major
Two
literature.
Faunce,
automation.
and
studies
to
by
Bright and Diebold are:
As automaticity increases,
source
man
from
moves
control
initi a ting
the
technology
to
(i.e.,
automatic control);
2.
As automaticity increases,
function
integration of
increases.
As pointed out in the previous
section,
characteristics which distinguish stage
second point, that of integration
self-explanatory.
The
first
crucial to real automation.
means
that
we
not
only
of
point,
In
the
mechanize
2
it
The
from stage 3.
function,
is
fairly
of control,
that
office
the
these
is
domain,
is
this
task (e.g., from
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
IMPLICATIONS OF THE STAGE HYPOTHESIS
typewriter to word processor)
technology
what
under
know
to
when
conditions
instructed
indicates [14J
the
produce
to
,
a
,
but
also
we
that
use
task should oe executed
word
processor
specific
a
Page 15
document)
technology is knowledge;
the
(e.g.,
should
As
.
be
Simon
"knowledge of
how
to make things,
but also knowledge of how to do things." The
technology
automation
of
knowledge
and
a
higher
implies
degree
technology of mecnanization.
incremental
knowledge
is,
In
different
kind
of
knowledge,
than
the
a
of
office
the
domain,
this
the knowledge of office
in fact,
procedures.
Automating Office Procedures -
4.1.1
In order to
general
mechanism
automate
for
office
procedures,
representing
the
office procedures in the computer memory.
computer
by
the
knowledge
a
about
In this way,
with
tools
encoded procedures.
process representation is an
process
need
the
can automatically react to inputs to the office by
activating the various mecnanized
supplied
we
instance
instructions
This issue of office
of
a
more
general
representation and knowledge representation problem
which is of wide interest in the artificial intelligence and
computer
science
research communities.
What we are really
addressing is the development of knowld ege based systems
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
IMPLICATIONS OF THE STAGE HYPOTHESIS
In considering the
which can be exploited.
Foremost is
extent
the
are event driven.
procedures
office
automation
and
By that,
many office procedures are defined in such
which
we mean that
way that office
a
reasonable paradigm for an office manager is
ball
to
react to various stimuli from the environment.
personnel
of
certain characteristics become apparent
procedures,
office
representation
Page 16
"keep
to
A
the
in someone else's court." When something happens which
and then send it
requires our attention, we react to it,
on
to the next station for further action.
As part of
in
a
suitable
the author worked with
large mortgage banking company and large insurance company
procedures.
office
their
analyzing
large extent,
be
develop
to
for office processes,
representation
a
research project
a
by what we came to call a
attention." The procedure is composed of
performed
external
activity)
in
by
a
a
single
can
could
"local focus of
number of related
attention
span,
is
frequently
to
the
person
performing
the
as the arrival of a document or the arrival
such
of some specific date.
actions
and
single individual, and is initiated by some
(external
event
a
surprisingly
activity is an action or series of actions
An
which occur
a
their procedures were event driven
characterized
activities.
To
be
taken
An activity terminates when no other
with
respect
to
Normally, this means that the organization
the
must
procedure.
await
new
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
IMPLICATIONS OF THE STAGE HYPOTHESIS
Page 17
information from the environment or must wait for some fixed
time period to elapse.
Another interesting aspect of office procedures is
observation
oftentimes
that
difficulties in offices arise
not so much from doing the wrong things as
the
right
the
from
things when they should be done.
is not task performance as much as task
not
doing
The difficulty
recognition.
This
is an area in which the computer may be very helpful.
4.2
Organizational Implications
Much of the
mechanization
work
from
earlier
cited
automation
was
which
distinguished
actually
motivated by
questions of worker alienation in offices and factories.
the literature indicates that workers in automated
general,
environments are less alienated than workers
environments.
less
[15].
function
Shepard
at
work
in
mechanized
This is generally due to job enlargement and
specialization
shows
that
in
for
automated
both
factory "the degree of differentiation in
labor
In
the
the
environnments
office and the
division
of
is related to technology and that automated
technology reduces the
level
of
alienation
employees as well as factory workers."
among
office
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
IMPLICATIONS OF THE STAGE HYPOTHESIS
Page 18
An obvious example is the factory production line.
a
production
mechanized
line,
worker makes
each
requirements,
pacing of work, repetitiveness, minimum skill
attention
mental
surface
These workers are
[18].
levels
production
integrated
equipment
and
plant
system,
relatively
have
the
is
a
high
worker
in
an
monitor
of
an
maintainer
a
of
These
handler.
exception
an
to
contrast,
In
process
automated continuous
minute subdivision of labor
and
likely
alienation.
of
by
The job is characterized by mechanical
station.
work
small
moves
contribution to the final product as the assembly
each
a
In
complex
are
jobs
associated with the whole of the process, as compared to the
high subdivision of labor associated with mechanization,
and
job enlargement usually occurs.
expect
We can
evolution
same
the
results
office systems technology.
of
During periods of
substantial
device mechanization we can expect to encounter
employee
resistance
centers provide
substantial
example
alienation.
worker
mechanization
of
of
stage
2
As
we
and
and turn these over to computer control;
can
expect
less
which
move
met
with
from
the
to the automation of stage 3,
will relieve workers of the mundane
we
mechanized,
highly
a
environment
specialized
functionally
Large word processing
and alienation.
good
a
continuing
the
in
employee
routine
we
functions
during this period
alienation
and
quicker
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
IMPLICATIONS OF THE STAGE HYPOTHESIS
Page 19
acceptance of the technology.
4.3
How Long An Evolution?
rapid
The
proliferation
tools
of
in
stage
2
is
essentially unavoidable as organizations begin to assimilate
It is important to long run success,
new office technology.
that
however,
organizations
keep
steady eye toward the
a
integration of these tools which become crucial to the third
stage
development.
of
end in themselves;
The tools of the office are not an
mechanizing the tools cannot be
an
end
in itself.
How long will this
manage
The
it?
growth
emphasis
cycle
in
controlled and managed evolution;
not
going
driven;
less
to change overnight.
take
paper
this
office
Stage
since most of the technology is
expensive
by
the
minute,
2
who
and
been
has
environments
will
on
are
will be technology
here
and
getting
we can expect products to
start reaching the market fairly rapidly, and in
fact
this
is already the case with word processing and electronic mail
systems.
However,
mechanization
organizational problems.
on the critical path,
of
In stage 2,
stage
2
technology will not be
but rather the organization's
to assimilate the technology.
implies
ability
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
IMPLICATIONS OF THE STAGE HYPOTHESIS
Systems to address the third stage
five
least
to
growth
of
understanding
to
processes remain to be solved.
implementations
We can expect to see
however.
run,
be fairly close to traditional
will
data processing implementations but will make use of
mechanization
at
representing
and
specific ad hoc implementations in the short
These
are
years from being commercially available.
related
Many problems
office
10
Page 20
such
tools
electronic mail systems.
generators
document
as
office
and
Managers should be careful not
to
specific application dependent implementations with
confuse
the more general issue of knowledge
representations.
based
of representation is needed in the long run,
Generality
it comes at a substantial cost.
The critical path
in
but
this
stage will probably be technology.
will
It
evolution
be
interesting
organizations.
in
information processing in
a
much
to
who
see
Office
manages
automation
broader
this
requires
perspective
than
traditional data processing, general administrative services
or telecommunications (see Strassmann
[16]).
The leadership
for the office automation effort will come from one of these
areas,
of
but
a
successful effort will require the
groups.
all
Each group will have to widen the scope of
its mission to include the office of the future;
which
does
catalyst.
so
involvement
most
the
group
quickly will emerge as the leader and
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
OFFICE PROCEDURES AS SEMI-STRUCTURED PROCESSES
Page 21
OFFICE PROCEDURES AS SEMI-STRUCTURED PROCESSES
5.0
We expect the automation of office processes to present
some
problems relative to other computer automation
unique
Most
efforts.
degree
of
difficulties
these
of
center
structure in the applications area.
of commercial data processing has been one
highly
application
structured
For example,
domains.
accounting
domains
systems
followed
highly
a
domain.
office processes is
a
MIS
[7]
Mortons's
provides useful insights here.
Essentially,
consisting
of
a
set
a
deci sio n
of
report generators, etc.
and
provides
DSS
tools
systems, data analysis systems,
framework
In their work,
support
systems
a
for example,
an
environment
such as models, data base
data
extraction
programs,
means with which to interface
these normally incompatible tools into
[5]
semi-structured
to support managers operating in unstructured problem
domains.
(refer,
progression
natural step in this progression.
they motivate the development of
(pSS)
a
recent
much less structured
a
An examination of Gorry and Scott
for
is
the automation of
In this context,
automated
of
relatively
systems
structured domain to
from
to less structured
the
by
the
The history
moving
of
development
the early
development of decision support
from
around
a
synergistic
whole
to the GMIS system at the Sloan School
or the DAISY system at the
Wharton
School
12]).
The
individual manager provides the structure by using the tools
OFFICE AUTOMATIOiM: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
OFFICE PROCEDURES AS SEMI-STRUCTURED PROCESSES
Page 22
in some manner to carry out his/ner objectives.
problem
domain
is inherently unstructured,
notion of process into the computer;
using
system
the
extreme,
nave
we
provide
to
nighly
Since
the
we cannot put a
we rely on tne manager
process.
the
structured
At the other
operational
control
systems (e.g., payroll) wnere the underlying process is well
understood and
As
system.
understanding
is
implicitly
Gorry
of
encoded
underlying
the
Morton
Scott
and
into
computer
the
indicate,
structure
or
an
lack
of
in the problem domain is essential to determining
structure
how the computer can best be used in the problem domain.
Where do office procedures
Morton
framework?
automated
structured and nave been
techniques
processing
office
Some
are
clearly
doesn't make
procedure)
.
.
the
procedures
with
Gorry-Scott
are
highly
traditional
data
tend to be hign volume
also
(these
procedures such as order entry)
into
fit
On the other
hand,
there
some totally unstructured office processes
much
sense
to
talk
For these processes,
tools into a cohesive DSS
about
an
(it
unstructured
the integration of stage
environment
which
augments
2
the
manager will be of great value, but attempts to automate the
process will fail just as other attempts to impose too
much
structure on an inherently unstructured process nave failed.
An example of such an unstructured process might oe the
to day informal communications of a manager.
day
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
OFFICE PROCEDURES AS SEMI-STRUCTURED PROCESSES
There is
a
lot going on in an office that falls between
these two cases.
These are what Gorry and Scott Morton call
semi-structured processes.
of
procedures
office
from
We suggest that
are
instances
Although these processes
processes.
tools
the
developed
in
terms of productivity will come
capture
the
Page 23
notion
large
a
number
of "semi-structured"
clearly
will
benefit
stage 2, the real payoff in
stage
in
when
3
we
can
exploit
it with the
sample application and an
examination
process
of
and
computer.
AN EXAMPLE
6.0
At this point,
of
how
it
beneficial.
might
a
evolve through this growth cycle will be
We introduce an example here which was used
to
study
the representation and automation of office processes
[193.
Consider the job function of serving as an editor for
an academic journal.
While this may not be
procedure in most businesses, in general
typical
of
office
procedures
which
standardized communication,
horizon for completion
structured.
of
the
typical office
form
involve
individuals in different organizations,
written,
a
a
a
it
a
is
number of
amount
large
very
of
relatively long time
process,
and
is
somewhat
An informal description of the journal editing
procedure would be the following:
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
Page 24
AN EXAMPLE
When an individual or group of individuals
write a paper and desire to publish the paper in
an academic journal, the paper must be sent to one
of the journal editors.
It is typically received
by the secretary or
administrative assistant to
the editor.
Relevant data from the paper is
entered into a log which is kept for the journal.
includes the author and title of the
This data
paper,
as
well
as
the
author
which
to
correspondence should be directed.
The paper is
assigned a log number,
and an
acknowledgement
letter is sent to the primary author.
The editor is informed that a paper has
been
submitted and is expected to designate referees individuals knowledgeable in the subject matter of
the paper who will read the paper and offer an
opinion as to its suitability for publication.
Normally,
the editor designates two referees, but
this is not absolutely necessary.
The editor may
designate as few as one or as many as three
referees.
When the editor has designated referees,
the
secretary
sends
letters to these individuals
asking their assistance in reviewing the paper.
The letter is mailed to each prospective referee
along with a copy of the
submitted
paper,
information about the refereeing process, and a
return postcard.
The referee is asked to return
the postcard and indicate his/her willingness to
review the paper.
returns
the
If the prospective referee
postcard and indicates an unwillingness to review
notified and asked to
the paper, the editor is
select
another
prospective referee.
If the
and
prospective referee returns the postcard
indicates a willingness to review the paper, then
s/he is expected to review the paper and submit a
report within one month.
the
After all of the referee reports are in,
editor is so informed and is expected to make a
decision about the publication of the paper.
He
can decide
accept the paper in its present
to
form, to reject the paper, or to request that
the
author(s)
revise the paper in accordance with the
referees' comments.
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
Page 25
AN EXAMPLE
When the editor makes his decision, a letter
is sent to the primary author informing him/her of
Additionally, copies of the referee
the decision.
with referee names deleted, are sent to
reports,
the primary author.
submits a revision of the
If the author
paper, the revised version of the paper is sent to
the original referees and the whole process
is
repeated.
To gain an appreciation for
hypothesis,
stage
we
the
implications
of
the
now examine how this journal editing
procedure might evolve in an office automation environment.
6.1
Stage
1
In the first stage,
we would expect to see the editor's
standardized
communications
an automatic typewriter
of
some
While
sort.
this
will
the secretary of the task of retyping the documents
relieve
for every paper,
problems
in
we have not addressed any
managing
the paper flow.
maintained which will detail
paper
and letters to be processed on
submitted.
In
terms
the
of
of
the
Manual logs will be
communications
the
control
function
editing, we have really automated very little.
for
each
of journal
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
AN EXAMPLE
Stage 2
6.2
other
In stage 2,
portions
mechanizing
become
available
the editing process.
of
electronic
an
for
The various
mail
system
for
normal communications and will use postal services to
their
Automated filing systems will be
far lesser extent.
to
will
tools
participants will rely on
a
Page 26
some
store
storage purposes.
correspondence
the
of
this
At
point,
used
and for other data
though,
we
still
are
relying on individuals, namely the editor and the secretary,
to recognize when tasks must be performed and
these
initiate
secretary
to
occurred
tasks.
a
to
Just as importantly, we rely on the
recognize
(e.g.,
least
at
when
expected
events
referee not submitting
a
have
not
report on time).
We still expect the secretary to perform all of the tasks as
in stage
1
the only difference is that we give him/her new
;
tools to accomplish some of these tasks by mechanizing
of
the
devices
that the secretary uses.
the secretary to receive inputs,
matter
routine
how
they
are,
some
We still rely on
interpret these
inputs
no
and to see that the proper
outputs are generated.
6.3
Stage
3
Most of the technology
exists
described
above
for
or will soon become commercially available.
stage
2
Such is
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
AN EXAMPLE
not the case for the automation
important
distinction
must
certainly exist to write
automate
made here.
be
specific
a
stage
in
An
3.
The technology
computer
program
to
journal editing function and to keep track of
the
each paper submitted;
does
What
used.
implied
Page 27
such
systems
exists is
not
a
exist
today
are
and
general computer system
which has knowledge of general office procedures,
which
of
journal editing is one particular but not unique instance.
The third stage
procedure
to
growth
of
concentrate
will
on
performed and not just on the tasks which
be
must be accomplished in execution of the procedure.
will
see
processes.
attempts
Here we
actually automate portions of these
to
this
In
the
example,
computer
a
system
will
automatically keep track of each paper submitted, generating
the proper documents at the proper times,
inputs
by
producing the proper outputs.
someone wishes to submit
a
a
consult
procedures,
find
the
For example,
a
journal
s/he
to
when
will
proper cover message.
Upon accepting this message, the computer
will
reacting
paper for publication,
"send" the paper to this system with
secretary)
and
system
machine-readable
editing
(not
library
procedure,
the
of
and
determine that an acknowledgement letter should be generated
and that a message should be sent to the
the
names
of
referees.
The
computer
editor
requesting
system
initiate these actions by sending detailed commands
will then
to
the
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
AN EXAMPLE
mechanized
various
tools,
such as the document generation
subsystem or electronic message subsystem.
receive
paper
electronic
an
mail
received
been
has
Page 28
message
The editor
informing him that
requesting
and
will
names
the
a
of
referees.
probably
The editor will
electronic
"inbox"
file
electronic
the
message back to the
processes
system
actions,
if any,
system
mail
computer
procedure
referees.
it
library
can be taken.
When
should
it
send
computer network) to the selected
the
the
referees
some specified period,
correct
the
situation
a
referees
with
paper,
the
like
a
form letter
the
computer
it will automatically take action
(this
this until
computer
the
instructing
by
If
for
response from the referees within
might
system
a
to
involve sending out
reminder notice or informing the editor).
continue
what
through the
(probably
filled in with some variable information.
does not receive
computer
determine
to
document generation subsystem to transmit
system
will
The computer system will now
message
a
This
will again consult its
determine that since it has the names of
paper,
his
send an electronic
to
system.
message
this
machine-readable
in
file and respond to the message at some
later date by supplying the names of
cause
message
this
a
The process would
decision was made on the paper,
automatically
"tracking"
and managing the routine control functions.
each
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
Page 29
AN EXAMPLE
the computer system now assumes the role
In effect,
secretary.
the
of
detects inputs, consults procedures to
It
determine
what
outputs.
The outputs may be messages to other parties (the
actions
should
taken,
be
generates
and
computer system is acting as an intelligent message
instructions
other
switch)
office
systems to take certain
actions such as filing information.
The computer system can
or
when
react
also
to
expected
specified time periods.
the
events
As one can see,
change
focus
our
procedure
from
can
a
mechanization
device
of
secretary for
automated
be
within
large portion
a
routine and almost routine work done by
the journal editing
occur
not
do
once
we
process
to
automation.
7.0
TOWARD THE THIRD STAGE
In a recently completed research project at the Wharton
School,
investigated
we
required
achieving
for
automation
systems
(see
the
methodology
stage
capability
3
Morgan
and
[8]
technology
and
office
in
Ness
[9]
Automation
description
of
During
previous
two
years other researchers,
Professor David Ness,
had
developed
the
Wharton
the
tools,
including
systems,
and electronic filing
there
existed
a
document
robust
Office
large
a
generators,
systems
stage
2
for
a
Project).
chiefly
testbed
electronic
[10,11,12].
environment,
of
mail
Thus,
and
our
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
TOWARD THE THIRD STAGE
Page 30
objective was to push that technology toward the third stage
described in this paper.
project
The research
discussed
is
in
author's
the
doctoral dissertation [193 and is briefly summarized here.
1.
As we stated earlier,
levels
are
mechanization and
technology,
of
essentially
knowledge
Automation
implies
technology
and
of
how
that
a
automation
to
more
things.
do
sophisticated
knowledge base be used, and this in turn requires
way
is
a
of representing this knowledge in the computer
system.
formalism
[20,21],
To that
called
an
developed
we
end,
Petri
au gment ed
modelling
a
net
previously
based on formalisms
(APN)
developed
in the computer science and artificial intelligence
fields.
With
the
APN,
describe
can
we
office
procedures such as the journal editing procedure in
a
manner that can be interpreted
system
devices.
control
for
office
An
was
describe
office
the
automatically
representation.
various
the
computer
the
mechanized
specification
procedure
also designed so that analysts could
language
fashion;
of
by
procedures
external
converted
in
a
parsimonious
specification
into
the
APN
can
be
internal
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
TOWARD THE THIRD STAGE
2.
The other part of
the
research
development and implementation of
Pace 31
project
the
computer system
a
named SCOOP (System for Computerization
Procedures).
was
Office
of
The objective of SCOOP is to provide
the technology for achieving
the
automation.
interface between the
SCOOP
the
is
third
user and the mechanized tools of the
allowing
stage
office,
of
thus
the user to deal with the computer at the
level of process instead of task.
SCOOP
office
to
interprets
procedures
control
the
the
APN
descriptions
of
stored in the procedure library
various
office
tools.
It
is
presently being used by an editor of Communications
of the Association for Computing
Machinery
and Transactions on Database Systems
in the editorial
manner
function,
described
operates
to help
in
through
the
of
four
the
journal
stages
editing
of automation
(specifically, it operates as we described stage
capabiiites
in
the
previous
capable of interpreting
office
procedures,
from individuals,
the
in the previous section where we
considered the evolution
function
and
(TODS)
(CACM)
the
section).
APN
3
SCOOP is
descriptions
of
sending and receiving messages
and sending instructions to other
mechanized office tools.
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
TOWARD THE THIRD STAGE
While we have
there
editing,
used
example
the
nothing
is
application
comes
SCOOP
could
used
be
without
procedures,
for
a
having
descriptions.
APN
wide range of office
write
to
computer programs for each procedure.
can
SCOOP
be
procedures
the
used
Naturally,
SCOOP
organization's
could
organization's
through
In this way,
many
flow
the
of
processing
interrogate
systems
and
so
that
update
the
maintained
normally
databases
traditional
organization.
also be interfaced to the
could
data
the
in
processing systems.
data
this manner, office automation and data
will
specific
performed by the secretary and to track
information
SCOOP
automate
to
to
description of
the
journal editing supplied by the
SCOOP system
specificity
the
from
journal
of
the
in
specific to journal editing;
this
Page 32
blend
together
into
a
In
processing
general
more
"information processing" system.
8.0
CONCLUSION
In this paper,
the
manager
can
automation systems.
we have provided
rationalize
the
a
framework with
evolution
of
We suggest that office automation
which
office
will
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
CONCLUSION
evolve
and mature from a focus on task mechanization to one
on process automation.
growth
Page 33
An understanaing of the evolutionary
process and its implications will assist managers in
planning for
introduction
the
and
management
office
of
systems technology.
A prototype system
operating
from
been described.
automating
for
office
knowledge base of office procedures, has
a
Our experience with that project reinforces
our opinion that while the Denefits of stage
are substantial,
we
incorporate
functions,
2
mechanization
the truly "automated office" requires
a
notion
of
process
into
our
that
systems
thinking.
9.0
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Most of the work described here was performed while the
author
was a graduate student in the Department of Decision
Sciences of the Wharton School, University of
Tne
assistance
David
Ness
is
of
Professor
gratefully
Pennsylvania.
Morgan and Professor
Howara
Several
acknowledged
useful
suggestions from tne annonymous referees as well as comments
from Davia Root of the
Morton
of
the
Sloan
quality of presentation.
Wharton
School
School
have
and
helped
Michael
Scott
to improve the
OFFICE AUTOMATION: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
REFERENCES
Page 34
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