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APR
K
ALFRED
P.
WORKING PAPER
SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
USING COMMUNICATION RELATED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES:
POTENTIAL INFLUENCE AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES
Oscar Hauptman, Kenneth
August 1986
E.
Bodenham, Thomas J. Allen
WP/'1812-86
MASSACHUSETTS
INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
50 MEMORIAL DRIVE
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02139
.
1SS7
USING COMMUNICATION RELATED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES:
POTENTIAL INFLUENCE AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES
Oscar Hauptman, Kenneth
August 1986
E.
Bodenham, Thomas J. Allen
WP#1812-86
IVl.l
I
APR
1
6
1987'
I
- 1 -
ABSTRACT
objective of the article is to identify for the managers of
technology-based organizations the main issues they typically have
the introduction of new communication
to face in considering
It
related information technologies, and in implementing them.
might prove especially useful for vendors of these technologies,
in
consulting their customers about
the
optimal choice and
utilization of their products.
The
The first part of the article is mostly conceptual and it consists
of three sections: first, a brief review of previous research in
the area of
communication in R&D, its determinants, and its
influence on project team productivity.
Second,
a
review of
previous research of information technologies, and their potential
Finally, we
influence on individual behavior in organizations.
of
present
a
conceptual
model
of
the
potential
influence
information technologies on communication in technology based
organizations, which could serve as a guideline for structural
decisions in such organizations.
The second part of
the
article is based on empirical data
collected at ICL Applied Systems in two main areas: first, the
study of communication patterns of software professionals, and the
relationships between these communication patterns and software
project team performance.
The last part is a chronological review
of the PABX SHOWCASE experience at ICL, supported by a peliminary
empirical data on use of information systems.
- 2 -
PART I; PREVIOUS RESEARCH AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
INTRODUCTION: COMMUNICATION AND PERFORMANCE OF R&D PROJECT TEAMS
Communication in organizations is probably one of the most central
and
Barnard's
challenging managerial issues.
outlines
statement
the
role of communication as follows (1938: 82):
An organization comes into being when there are persons (1) able
to communicate with each other, (2) who are willing to contribute
the elements
.
action, (3) to accomplish a common purpose.
organization
therefore
are
communication,
for
an
(1)
(2)
The elements are
willingness to serve, and (3) common purpose.
necessary and sufficient conditions initially and they are found
in all organizations.
.
The
then,
perceived
organizational
and
applied
importance
issue.
If
Hunt,
Sanford,
communication
for
communication became
Barnard
Bracey
&
communication
of
students
wrote
9-10)
since
much more practical,
a
describe
management,
of
increased
has
organizational
for
(1976:
.
theorists,
role
of
entering
the
the
mostly MBAs,
real world of industrial management:
An organization is a social system of structured individual roles
to
which
and
communication
and
tasks
require
coordination
accomplish a specific purpose.
Communication is the vehicle
Coordination and
through which coordination is accomplished
communication are so similar in effect that it is difficult to
The transfer of information
conceive one without the other.
within the organization enables the system to transform raw
materials into outputs.
.
.
.
.
The
determinants
project teams have been
the
basis
frequency
these
of
with which
their accessibility,
experience
infoinnation
with
the
sources
and
studied
other
their
studies
is
of
2
sources
perceived
source
patterns
MIT by Allen and
at
information
.
communication
technical
of
.
it
became
are
technical
information
influenced
more
by
used
colleagues
obvious
is
quality,
3
.
The
&
Fusfeld
that
and
the
the
Allen,
of
past
and
As
by
past
selection
accessibility
(1975);
On
.
determined
experience with the source, than by their technical quality.
Ipor intance Allen (1970); Allen
Tushman (1980); Katz & Allen (1982).
•^Summarized by Epton (1981).
^Allen (1977).
R&D
of
a
Lee,
&
- 3 -
result
libraries
render
may
perceived
high
proximal,
and
perceived
logic,
databases,
infonnation
and
individuals,
or
selection
this
of
or
quality.
At
the
consequently the accessible
publications,
may
overused
be
accessibility
physically
of
underutilized,
them
technical
low
same
time
sources,
individuals
it
with
spite
in
their
physically
the
be
removed
with
spite
in
of
their
possible
technical deficiencies such as obsolescence or a narrow focus.
documented
Allen
influence
the
several
of
factors
frequency of communication among technical professionals.
physical
distance
between
communication
the
on
First,
partners
is
organizational
between
bonds
communication
the
Second,
partners
increase this probability, controlling for physical proximity.
the
architectural
attributes
the
of
R&D
environment,
and structure communication
show
study
office
as
.
patterns
that
professionals in R&D
technical
Third,
2
In the domain of research and development
findings
will
vertical separation, and the nuisance factor can direct
arrangements,
3
such
the
strong
a
determinant of the probability that communication will occur.
the
the
carried
corroborates
out
and
at
these
communication
of
laboratories are
performance
Applied
findings
among
project
specific
technical
recent
Hauptman
by
domain
the
of
A
teams.
Division
Systems
the
in
of
numerous research
determinant
significant
productivity
ICL
tasks,
4
software
of
development and production.
But
one
cannot
without
at
least
development
in
discuss
organizational
speculating
information
about
communication
impact
the
technologies
will
the
have
these
days
explosive
on
such
communication.
^Allen (1970, 1977).
2see also Tomlin (1979).
^E.g., Shilling & Bernard (196A);
Andrews (1966); Allen (1977).
'^Hauptman (1986a,
1986b).
Marquis
&
Allen
(1966);
Pelz
&
- 4 -
POTENTIAL INFLUENCE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES ON
ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
The Promise of Information Technologies
rational-economic
following
The
communication
Is
probably
typical
assessment
enthusiastic
the
of
of
digital
perception
of
the promise of new communication related information technologies:
phone also shares a problem with all speech communication: the
information density of speech is very low.
Generally, the electronic
transmission of speech requires about 60,000 bit per second.
These
60,000 bits of speech carry about the same information as 15
characters of written text... But you can transmit 15 characters
directly as text by transmitting only 120 bits of information, rather
than 60,000 bits of speech. ... In a very fundamental sense, speech
is not an economic medium of communication (Marill, 1980: 185).
The
might
It
electronic
advantages
(1982)
list
seem
mall
that
or
vls-a-vis
new
the
computer-mediated
oral
such advantages
as
case
study
of
a
technologies,
conferencing,
communication.
as
numerous
offer
Klingenberg,
Picot,
such
&
Kranzle
effective decentralization of autonomous
work groups, including work at home.
detailed
media
text
Hiltz
&
Turoff (1978: 8-9) in their
computer-conferencing
package
suggest
(EIEC)
that:
Time and distance barriers are removed.
Participants can send and
receive communications whenever it is convenient for them, with the
material ... to be received or revised
again and again
2.
Group
size
can
without
decreasing
actual
be
expanded
participation by either member.
No one can be Interrupted or
'shouted down'.
In addition, since it is possible to read much
faster than listen, much more total infromation can be exchanged in a
given amount of time.
3. A person participates at a time and rate of his or her own choice.
You need not leap out of the bathroom to answer a ringing telephone,
or drag yourself out of a hotel bed at 7a.m. to make a meeting that
begins at 9a.m.
1.
.
.
.
.
.
.
...
This positive
Chairman
Smith,
outlook
of
is
shared
General
by
Motors
information-communication technologies as
the "21st Century Corporation".
some
who
the
practitioners,
refers
vehicle
(1985:
for
Roger
e.g.,
what
5)
he
to
calls
According to Smith it entails:
an Integrated, coordinated, decision-making way of functioning
which
comprehends
business
plans,
budgets,
programs,
product
corporate volumes, and everything else that helps run the business,
it must create an integrated worldwide data base that brings all
parts of the buslnes together.
.
.
.
- 5 -
If
Hlltz
technologies
Turoff
&
replacing
in
Smith (1985:
interactions.
see
(1978)
main
the
application
complementing
and
face-to-face
prediction is focusing on
6)
of
information
and
the
telephone
replacement
of paper-based information and communication:
Just as automobiles of today are Increasingly moving from mechanical
controls to elctronic controls, so must the businesses of today
switch from paper to an electronic flow of data.
This enthusiasm with a new set of management relevant technologies is
still wanting of rigorous, empirical evidence in real-life industrial and
Nevertheless several important findings should be
governmental settings.
mentioned.
Hiltz
interactions
via
possibly
could
face-to-face,
medium
Turoff
&
computer-conferencing
a
replace
other
telephone and mail.
inherently
is
provide
(1978)
disciplined
detailed
package,
seems that the electronic text
because
of
should
computer-mediated
They are
cognitive
the
.
discussions
Siegel
and
is
et
equally
more
(1984)
al.
distributed
2
showed
among
nature
of
interactions also makes
influenced
less
as
such
presumably filter
the verbal eloquence or aggressiveness of the individual.
(1978),
it
It also
communication,
the affective components of human interaction
Turoff
that
of
it
interactions more egalitarian.
suggest
of
media
communication imposed by the written medium;
The asynchronous nature of
and
protocols
that
or
status,
by
Both Hiltz and
participation
participants
in
what
than
could be expected from similar face-to-face groups.
These
also
studies
provide
effectiveness of communication.
that
it
solution.
usually
took
Possibly
the
the
some
computer-mediated
fact
that
though,
to
the
efficiency
For instance Siegel et al.
these
than face-to-face groups impaired the
It should be mentioned,
reference
groups
groups
flow of
(1984)
longer
exchanged
to
fewer
and
found
reach
a
remarks
task-relevant information.
that the computer-mediated groups were as
task-oriented, and more quantitative than face-to-face groups.
^See for instance Johansen, Vallee, & Collins (1977).
^Conducted at the Social Science Research of Computing
Carnegie-Mellon University.
Center
at
the
- 6 -
These findings are indicative of the potential limitations imposed by
Obviously,
the
medium.
the
computer,
ratio,
in
described by Marill
not
(1980),
transmitting
digital
data
narrows
band
the
The
(60,000 to 120).
500
case by
this
transmitting
are
efficiency of
the
characters
15
only
the
data
same
speech
60,000 bits of
verbal
of
in
via
also
but
vocalization - pauses, pitches and tones.
Even
the
traditional
medium,
voice
telephone,
the
more narrow-banded than face-to-face interactions.
visual
which
channel,
such as age, and sex.
it
includes
the
contacts,
eye
responses,
Obviously,
attributes.
expressions,
totally lacks
It
attributes
the
of
the
person,
This screening can be regarded as positive because
could prevent potential biased
unrelated
physical
incomparably
is
individual's
on
medium
the
movements,
body
based
screens
facial
out
physiological
psycho-
and
task
responses, but the importance of these cues remains questionable.
The central questions of what are
derived
organizations,
the
potential
ways.
communication
from
There
organizational
are
productivity increase
technologies
communication
at
the
"bottom
which
tasks
to
line",
are
and
what
in
amenable
more
to
through information technologies than other tasks,
which might look quite similar.
these
technologies
To what extent these technologies have
themselves
express
information
relevant
remain unanswered.
to
the realistic benefits that can be
has
related
to
It
be
and
issues
is
clear that
administered
the
exploitations
constructs,
and
about
insight
with
with
of
tremendous
organizational astuteness.
What implication the reviewed studies have for industrial management
are
not
usable
concepts
organizations,
Because
clear or obvious.
always
and
our next
ideas
step
for
is
the
to
our
objective
managers
specify
the
of
is
to
provide
technology
expected
impact
based
of
new
information technologies on their communication and structure.
The Influence of Structure on Communication in R&D
The
achievement of effective communication has been very
high
among
- 7 -
priorities
the
R&D
of
enhanced
communication
have
structure
architectural
and
Typically
managers.
been
through
design.
mixture
a
types
realize
to
technology based organizational have to face two conflicting goals
The activities of
1.
coordinated
the various disciplines and
order
in
accomplish
to
work
the
of
organizational
of
important
is
It
various
the
that
:
specialties must
be
multi-disciplinary
of
projects.
Projects must be provided with state-of-the-art information in the
2.
technologies they draw upon.
There is a trade-off between these two goals that spawned the various
organizational
forms
organizations.
When
disciplines
technical
or
organization,
it
the
used
in
organization
is
built
will
effectively
most
accomplish
specific
around
being
namely,
specialties,
"functional"
a
second
the
goal
of
when R&D
On the other hand,
maintaining current technological know-how.
based
technology
structures
and
professionals are grouped into projects working towards a common output
goal,
this
structure
The
activities.
attempt
to
matrix
resolve
accomplish
will
the
coordination
effective
organizational
type
of
goal
trade-off
structure
integrating
by
their
of
another
is
pure
two
the
structures described above.
But
should
what
go,
informational
concepts could guide management
"functional",
requirements
decision making.
"project",
the
of
task
matrix
obviously
central
describe
organizations.
communication
optimal
the
types
There
between
organizational
work-related
The
?
this
in
Before we review the potential impact of communication
technologies on work-related communication in general,
to
„2
even
or
are
deciding which way they
in
of
are
communication
typically
which
a
communication
in
two
any
type
of
be
useful
technology
based
manageable
be
first
The
to
main
should
balance
performance.
common
it would
reached
type
is
organization.
types
to
achieve
similar
It
of
is
to
the
communication which brings together the various outputs of technical work
^Allen (1985).
For details about matrix related issues see Katz
&
Allen (1985).
- 8 -
towards
project.
depends
work
whose
transmits
It
completion
results
the
coordinative, and it is not unique to
of
product
a
communication
This
laboratories.
RiSJ)
R&D
an
or
engineer's work to colleagues
one
of
results.
those
on
-
goal
integral
common,
a
clearly
is
It exists
in any
type of organization.
However,
crucial
This
keeps
which
developments
is
their
of
R&D
endeavors.
know-how
and
technology
informed
professional
technical
a
of
failure
and
vehicle
a
technical
the
in
success
the
communication
of
transfer,
additional type of communication which plays
an
is
determining
in
role
type
recent
there
specialties.
In
about
the
short
run
the
their task may not necessarily require it, but in the long run this type
of
communication can have a very
significant
effect
quality
the
on
of
their work.
conceptual
following
The
model
organizational design decision making.
It
and how the
needs of typical R&D tasks,
general
provides
is based on
first,
technologies
advancement
of
other
stable,
know-how,
defined
is the dK/dt,
as
in
their
frontier;
their
more
can serve as a
vary
some
dynamic.
the
first
is
The
the
for
informational
two main alternatives of project
The model defines the
and functional structures help to accomplish them.
Organizational Structure Space and
guidelines
based
rate
on
development,
of
technologies
rate
derivative
in
the
mature
and
technological
of
knowledge
premises:
and
more
are
change
of
of
following
the
by
dK/dt,
time,
coordinate of Organizational Structure Space;
higher
the
the stronger is the need of the task for effective transfer
of state-of-the-art technology.
Consequently, the more effective becomes
the specialty oriented functional structure in accomplishing this.
The second dimension of the Organizational Structure Space is related
to the
of
an
same need for acquisition of technical information
individual's
comparatively short,
advancing
-art.
technology
assignment
a
to
a
task.
If
the
—
assignment
technical professional working even
is
On the other hand,
unlikely
to
lose
touch
the duration
with
its
in a
(T
)
is
rapidly
state-of-the-
in a long assignment of a year or more,
being
isolated from peers in the specialty or discipline will carry the dangers
of professional obsolescence.
- 9 -
Figure
1:
Organizational Structure Space
(modified from Allen, 1985, Figure
5)
Legend:
dK/^^ -Rate of change of
knowledge
J^-Task duration
Ijj
-Task interdependence
F -Functional structure
recommended
P -Project structure
recommended
:
- 10 -
dimension
third
The
requirement
for
decision
the
of
organizational
space
coordination,
bringing
of
to
the
together
the
related
is
It
expertise of different professionals towards a single output goal.
the
interdependence among
task.
sub-systems and
this interdependence
The higher is
components which comprise
(I
and
)
is
the
co-influence of
the
the stronger is the demand from the
these sub-tasks in the joint output,
task team for coordination of its activities.
The resulting Organizational Structure Space effectively combines its
The prescriptions emerging from this
main three determinants (Figure 1).
representation
graphical
although
conceptually,
simple
are
the
quantitative assessment of the three variables for an R&D laboratory,
a
organization
based
technology
could
prove
to
elusive.
quite
be
or
Qualitatively though the prescriptions to management of an R&D laboratory
are
1.
advancing
rapidly
For
technologies,
ceteris
paribus
prefer
,
functional structures to project teams;
2.
be
If
expected
paribus
3
task is such that
the scale of the
spend
to
a
period
long
of
the assigned personnel will
time
the
on
ceteris
task,
prefer functional structures;
,
Finally,
the
joint
task
each
other
in
of
co-influencing
interdependent,
ceteris paribus
sub-tasks
the
if
prefer the project
,
structure,
seem
to
be
highly
intricate
an
way,
which will accomplish
effective coordination of these sub-tasks.
After postulating
which
most
team,
the
these
effectively
question
technologies,
is
general
facilitate
—
what
rules
for
relevant
could
be
organizational
communication
influence
the
such as electronic mail or database
Rephrasing this,
on this model.
in what way
the
structure,
by
of
the
task
information
retrieval technologies
prescribed division of
the Organizational Structure Space into "Function" and "Project" might
be
altered under the influence of new information technologies.
The Potential of Information Technologies for Coordination and
Technology Transfer
Although,
as
we
emphasized before,
there
is
still
insufficient
data
- 11 -
for a meaningful answer whether or not communication related information
technologies are powerful enough to change individual and organizational
hypothesize
behavior,
we
can
assigned
to
organizational
that
some
structure
functions
the
of
might
which
assumed
be
are
these
by
technologies.
As
the
hypothesis
first
could
one
argue
improvements
that
in
information technologies will make it easier for technical professionals
to maintain up-to-date
technological know-how.
Through direct access of
technological and scientific databases, which by the end of 1984 numbered
2800
selective
,
intelligence
easier
literature,
project
changing
systems,
technical
the
,
to
The exploitation of
specialty.
the
2
techniques
use
to
dissemination
technologies
with
present
this
information
find
it
these
information technologies will make
for
touch
new
a
set
tasks
of
technical
of
if
at
technology
the
in
or
rapidly
of
As a corollary,
disseminated
been
has
discipline
the
coupling
the
professionals with relevant information sources.
the
will
in
improving
by
professional
artificial
keep
effective
structure
incorporating
based organization through internal informal consulting with colleagues,
usually
gatekeepers
.,3
new
the
,
technologies
make
might
informal
this
role obsolete, or at least not as important as at the present.
The
might
team.
second
effective
prove
A
local
management
This
impact
in
ICL
is
incorporating
type
accomplished
that
is
fulfilling
in
example
system
techniques.
previously
possible
the
the
coordinative
EXAC,
a
electronic
information
of
by
the
information
some
"Project"
technologies
need
of
mainframe-based
mail
attain
obviating
structure,
task
project
facilities
will
system
a
and
a
goal
the
need
for direct, face-to-face,
synchronous contact among project team members,
or between
and
team members,
Consequently,
functional
interdependent others
structures might
become
In
feasible
for a new set of highly interdependent technical tasks.
'Cuadra Associates (1984).
For instance Malone (1986
\llen & Cohen (1969).
the
organization.
and
effective
- 12 -
Information technologies
The research in the area of
suggests
will
technologies
members
tasks
teams
of
type
variety
and
uncertainty
there
communication.
dimension
of
emphasize
that
while
Allen,
development
et
al.
the
to
from
of
of
task
of
the
the
R&D
low
coordinative
their
in
benefited
projects
needs
routinlzed
2
is
research
previous
value
these
of
contention
information
structured,
greater
is
utilization
this
the
From
them.
for more
became clear that
it
for
task and
of
perform
who
basis
The
dominate.
relationship between the
oriented
coordination
latter,
the
that
reviewed above
conclusions
communication
with the rest of the R&D laboratory and the rest of the firm, especially
marketing and production, research and technical service projects did not
addition,
only
follow this pattern.
In
consistenly benefited
from management
external
environment
benefits
to
technical
Consequently,
team.
media
the
potential
the
coordination
for
projects
service
communication with
controlled
communication
electronic
of
project
the
the
seem
more
probable; for instance (Allen, 1985):
information about project or sub-system status, progress on
particular technical problems, changes in product configuration and
so on can be easily communicated by information systems and readily
In
this sense,
understood by engineers engaged in a project.
information technology, by providing improved means for updating and
transmission of this information should have a significant impact.
At present, most projects are coordinated, as they have been for
years, by means of periodic review meetings and written status
There is absolutely no reason why such devices
reports or memoranda.
cannot be put 'on-line'.
.
On the other hand,
acquisition
by
discouraging
role
of
technical
potential
difficult
this
publications,
professionals
to
4
.
arcane
to
professionals
benefits
technological
the
disseminate
translate
for
logic of the two-stage process of information
the
from
"gatekeeper"
access
and
scientific
organizations
in
infonnation
is
use
not
technologies.
only
to
information,
information,
3
acquire
but
also
The
and
to
from
predominantly
concepts and terms which are more usable
is
for technical
Consequently, even when the most current literature
^Allen, Lee, & Tushman (1980); Hauptman (1986a, 1986b).
^Allen, Lee, & Tsuhman (1980: 18).
^Allen (1977: 1A9).
"^For
instance Allen & Cohen (1969); Taylor (1975);
Tushman & Scanlan (1981).
Tushman
(1977);
- 13
could
be
accessed
close
time
the
to
its
of
"production"
database
via
retrieval information technologies, the principal means for communicating
knowledge
colleagues.
organizational
remain
will
technology
and
It
still
is
contact
with
envisage
such
face-to-face
the
difficult
to
technologies which will be efficient in overcoming the need for keeping
abreast with the technological edge.
Data collected via questionnaire surveys in ICL Applied
informative
When the participants of
context.
this
in
Systems
are
survey were
the
asked which are the most extensively used communication channels for the
transmission
indicated
of
face-to-face
that
communication
We
details).
complex
comparatively
of
such
believe
technologies such as electronic mail
These
ideas
gain
For intance Rice
are
adequate
some
for
activities
of
support
some
in
more
a
higher
which
interpersonal
disagreement,
getting
according
to
related
of
involvement
know
constant focused discussions.
communication
extrapolated
for
other
to
non-R&D
general,
organizational
the
of
"technological treatment" because
for
A1-A2
.
exchanging information and opinions, queries,
list
means
context.
hypothesized that computer-mediated interactions
(1980)
only
other
Appendices
(see
behavior can be
these
that
mail
or
answers
their
significantly outweigh
contacts
telephone
as
information,
to
and generating
Rice
included
and
and
generally
technologies
namely,
for
ideas.
The
yield
not
to
their demand
resolution
bargaining,
the same vein,
information
should
their complexity,
someone,
In
tasks,
requiring
tasks
the main
benefit
will
for
be
of
of
the
effective
coordination of technical tasks rather than for know-how transfer, which
can
be
described
interaction
such
as
and
budgets
as
a
complex
involvement
and
2
.
schedules
task
requiring
Similarly,
is
more
more
transmission
easily
social
intense
of
numeric
accomplished
oriented media such as electronic mail and computer conferencing
by
data
data
3
.
On the basis of this argument the hypothesized effect of information
& Krantzle (1982) data are quite similar; see
Appendices B1-B3 for details.
^See for instance Short et al. (1976); Rice & Case (1981).
^Daft & Macintosh (1981).
'-Picot, Klingenberg,
Figure
2:
Influence of Communication Related
Information Technologies on the Organizational
Structure Space
Legend:
dK/cJt
-Rate of change of
knowledge
-Task duration
Iss -Task interdependence
J\
E-Mail -Electronic
Mail
D-Base -Database
for access of
scientific
F -Functional structure
recommended
P
-Project structure
recommended
E-Mail
and
technological
literature
- 15 -
technologies on the Organizational Structure Space will be to move
dividing
between
line
project
the
functional
and
slope and position as described in Figures
because
plane,
difficult
is
it
transfer related variables
amenable
Increasing
somewhat
slope,
its
of
more
which
In
changing
the
of
dK/dt
the
two
the
its
—
T
know-how
technological treatment,
to
line to shift slightly from the origin without
we expect the
changes
is
below.
2
determine
to
regions,
the
project
significant
area.
The
more
usable and powerful is the technology, the larger will be the increase in
the
set
of
technical
tasks
—
plane,
which
for
project
the
structure
more
is
effective.
dK/dt
the
In
operate
I
ss
opposite
in
there
actually
are
directions:
two
forces
because
first,
which
will
coordinative
the
requirements of the task are assumed to be more amenable to technological
treatment,
the
increasing
the
recommended.
of
dividing
set
On
information
will
line
tasks
of
technologies
towards
which
for
other hand,
the
shift
the
because of
such
functional
coordinate,
structure
less significant
the
scientific
as
dK/dt
the
databases
is
impact
keeping
on
abreast with the technology, the location of the dividing line will shift
from
slightly
only
tasks
tasks
of
project
structure
increasing
shift,
somewhat
coordinate,
I
ss
for which the
significant
more
the
low interdependence and
functional
the
the
set
Consequently
recommended.
is
will
area,
the
occur
for
of
knowledge.
area will
be
smaller and mostly
On the
for tasks of rapidly changing technologies and high interdependence.
net
change
function
in
the
the
of
set
in
the
two
effectiveness,
power,
—
technologies
information
tasks
of
of
slow advancement
the increase in the project
other hand,
increasing
electronic
structure
usability
and
and
mail,
will
areas
The
be
a
the
two
scientific
and
of
technological databases.
The
dK/dt
—
changes
the
I
SS
I
occuring
increasing
the
in
plane,
for
the
with
tasks
with
occur
X
plane
significant
lower
functional area,
project area will
duration.
more
—T
for
will
resemble
shift
of
interdependence
while
tasks
the
of
less
high
and
those
the
dividing
short
significant
the
in
line
duration,
increase
interdependence
and
in
long
- 16 -
introduced into most of Applied Systems we have
are only recently being
little empirical data
information technologies mentioned above
the
because
this stage,
At
support our hypotheses.
to
the ICL Applied Systems study
expect
We
to
and to publish these
in 1987,
complete
results.
On
the other hand,
two empirically based topics will be reviewed in the next
section of
paper:
the
Systems software development teams,
technology
based
development
and
and
the
especially
organizations,
production,
Applied
management
for
those
Including
and
implementors
vendors
for
and
of
PABX SHOWCASE implementation
implications
interesting
have
Both
experience.
performance
communication patterns and
of
software
of
new
information technologies.
PART II; EMPIRICAL DATA FROM ICL APPLIED SYSTEMS
COMMUNICATION PATTERNS AS DETERMINANTS OF SOFTWARE
DEVELOPMENT PERFORMANCE
Data and Research Setting
The
data
which this
on
Systems Division,
1984)
via
division;
project
a
section
questionnaire
survey
collected
approximately
of
(60%)
responded
to
performance
measures,
which
302
were
communication data was collected
The
ICL.
based
is
survey.
this
were
collected
(January
Applied
(September
members
500
software
The
at
of
the
development
1985)
from
managers of the division, are subjective assessments of performance of 18
project teams on an administrative and a technical dimension.
included success in meeting designated budget and
comparative
success
maintainability.
research
team
In
addition
conducted
functionality,
product
in
many
as
to
as
schedule;
these
40
the
latter,
reliability,
quantitative
interviews
The former
with
measures,
Applied
and
the
Systems
managers about such issues as product and process technology of software
development;
which
performance;
and
project managers
-••See
are
specific
the
relevant
software
1
.
Hauptman (1986b) Appendix
1.
dimensions
development
of
cases,
software
as
project
described
by
- 17 -
On
basis
the
non-software
with
compared
R&D
software
the
tasks,
with
development
special
were
tasks
focus
project
on
communication patterns, and the relationship between communication
teams'
Because the findings in this area has recently
and project performance.
published
been
data
these
of
provides
section
next
the
,
only
highlights
some
of
these findings.
Optimal Communication Patterns for Application Software Production
analysis
The
performance
communication
responsible
technology
software
communication.
program
the
will
general
communication.
The
nut-shell
are:
first,
designers,
and
On
from
should
programmers
be
reduced
technical
the
corroborates
which
department,
graphics,
language
project
among
usually
is
compilers,
performance.
managers
the
based
or
on
a
database
as
of
team
and
common
access
possible.
beyond
a
The
team,
performance
its
2
Second,
.
leaders
of
a
such
as
contributes
to
technology
tools,
in
managers,
among
significance
communication
Third,
communication
much
dimensions
from
coordinative
software development
statistical
with
finding
communication
frequent
high
this
administrative
and
decisions
programmers
reduced
as
of
are
benefit
hand,
communication
intra-pro ject
the
type
who
the
will
optimal
for
the
differentiated
for
other
the
benefit
presrlptions
and
interface
negative relatonship between the size of the
and
patterns and
analysts,
and
architecture,
hardware
to
requires
Designers
program
software
carrying
encoding
production
members.
team
of
for
software
in
application
about
between communication
software development projects indicates that
of
involved
tasks
relationship
the
of
the
department
with other members of the business center was found to be inconsequential
as
far
as
performance
is
concerned.
Finally,
communication
business center, which is usually based in Applied Systems on
market
application
or
industry
segment,
should
be
beyond
specific
a
minimized
controlled by project managers, or the head of the department.
3
These findings are very much in line with Brooks's experience
^Hauptman (1986a).
^Hauptman (1986b).
%rooks (1981).
the
with
and
- 18 -
developing the IBM-360 Operating System, which showed that a high cost is
to
paid
be
coordination and
for
retraining
mutual
members
of
large
of
contingent
upon
several qualifiers, such as the complexity of the software project.
They
project
Nevertheless,
teams.
these
perscriptions
are
might not apply to all types of software, but mostly to moderately novel
For this type of products,
applications.
is
misnomer.
a
differently,
will
composits
The
coding
of
software
though,
and
design
"development"
should
be
managed
production or manufacturing, while the latter
the former as
face-to-face communication,
benefit from informal,
as
vehicle
a
of
keeping abreast with technology and market needs.
In
a
lay-out
article
recent
for
Hauptman
software
the
recommends
(1986c)
development
team
a
enact
to
floor
specific
optimal
the
communication pattern described above.
Profile of Applied Systems Communication Stars and Gatekeepers
In
general
professionals
communication
the
different
look
patterns
those
from
of
Applied
non-software
of
Systems
First,
tasks.
the mean intra-project communicaton frequency for the former is less than
half
of
the
latter
versus
(4.9
more
than
10
contacts
This
week).
a
difference is even more pronounced beyond the project team.
Finally,
the
frequency of communication is distributed more unevenly among the members
of the software development
greater extent
behavior
might
some, mostly managers, monopolize it to
team;
than their opposite numbers
reflect
more
the
in
management
formal,
This
teams.
non-software
controlled
communication beyond the project team.
Not
incidentally,
this
"communication
stars"
production.
previous
In
monopolization
might
prove
studies
of
shown that "communication stars" and
of
quite
communication
effective
non-software
"gatekeepers",
R&D
by
a
few
software
for
projects
it
was
individuals who link
their organizational unit with the rest of the organization by
^Allen, Lee, & Tushman (1980) results.
^Allen & Cohen (1969); Taylor (1975);
Lee (1979); Epton (1981).
Tushman
(1977);
Allen,
Tushman,
&
- 19 -
frequently
communicating
typicalattributes:
they are of
own;
are
they
usually
are
and
high
internally,
technical
several
have
performers
on
their
longer than average tenure with the organization;
necessarily
not
externally
managers,
and
they
if
are,
they
are
usually
they
not
higher in the hierarchy than first or second level supervisors; and they
are easily identifiable by their peers and managers.
It
stars
was
and
quite
intriguing
gatekeepers
Applied Systems.
in
a
to
identify
the
profile
development
software
of
communication
environment
such
Our data (Table I) show that intra-organizational
Table
I
Profile of Intra-Organizational Gatekeepers
GATEKEEPERS
JOB TITLE
THE REST OF THE DIVISION
as
- 20 -
Table II
Level of Supervisors Who Are Gatekeepers
LEVEL OF
TOTAL
- 21 -
The "break-even" point of the net contribution,
at which it equals zero,
realistic range of values when 5% of the time (k=5%)
is
in
the
on
coordinative communication with each team member of
(n=lO).
premises,
these
On
intra-project
is
spent
10-members team
a
communication
coordinative
looks indeed as a very costly overhead.
But
view of
in
conceptual model presented in
the
Figure
above
2
it
seems logical that electronic mail type of information technologies might
reduce the coordinative costs of
the
value of
constant
the
maximal size of
from
k
Even
project.
a
5%
to
will
3%
reduction by 40%
increase
the output of the 10-members team by approximately 33%.
in
effective
the
or alternatively,
group by 60% from 10 to 16,
a
a
increase
In addition,
if
the
technology enables a team member to avoid coordination with each of
the
remaining n-1 members
the
of
the
team,
coordinating
loses
will
be
reduced even more (below the extremum described in Equation 1).
Although
these
empirically,
production
tasks
technologies
promising.
and
such
design
the
of
more
coding,
as
have
such
generators,
and
CAD
communication
related
potential
the
basis
these
of
as
4GL
(fourth
(computer
information
generation
aided
of
tasks
MAIL)
and
software
information
looks
quite
of
first
hand
might
voice
play
(VOICE
an
,
important
The next section describes
experience with the
messaging
code
software
for
PABX
SHOWCASE
practical issues of implementating the electronic mail
ICL
of
languages),
design)
technologies
role in the software development environment.
the
nature
yet
tested
seems that in addition to recently introduced programming
tools
on
been
not
structured
effective management
more
for
It
basis
the
on
hypotheses
quantitative
MANAGER)
systems
team
the
(DRS
MAIL,
EXAC,
at
Kings
House
(REA08) and other locations of Applied Systems Division.
For details of these technologies see Frank (1983); Friedman (1986).
- 22 -
IMPLEMENTING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN APPLIED SYSTEMS ICLTHE PABX-BASED OFFICE SYSTEM SHOWCASE
The Implementation Process
This section attempts to describe from the point of view Internal to
ICL the chronological events related to implementation of
office system
information technologies at Applied Systems Division.
The
origins
automation
internal
idea
the
of
communication
and
implement
to
technologies
in
of
Applied
be
considerable
1983
Systems
advanced
the
can
technologies
related
which predicted
report,
some
office
traced
potential
Division.
to
an
savings
from
such
time,
ICL's Office Systems Division (OS) already had a number of products
under development,
for
the
all potentially valuable to the process
At
same
the
automating
of
office procedures.
The traditional reluctance to allow the use of any of these products
until
they
were
was
"perfect"
overcome
new large digital PABX under the name
of
data
and
voice-switching
other words
voice
the
traffic.
The
capabilities
being
data
initiative was
second
early
in
1984.
The DNX2000 has both
DNX2000.
is
a
the
non-blocking
affect
through do not
put
events
two
which allowed ICL to market MITEL's
First came the agreement with MITEL,
and
by
the
switch,
capacity
in
for
determination of the then
chief executive Rob Willmont and his senior team,
including Michael Scott
Morton from MIT, that the PABX and the OS products should be tried out in
a
to product,
be
A major proviso was
environment.
realistic
that
the
lessons relating
user attitudes, management, organisation and marketing should
properly
documented
reported
and
where
and
on,
appropriate
incorporated in future versions of the product.
The
twin
concept
learning
of
from
internal
application
of
ICL
products while improving productivity in the host division was given the
title of "Showcase".
should
show how
obtained.
only
it
The term was primarily intended to convey that ICL
used
its
own
Although "Showcase"
coincidentally was
the original concept.
any
technology and
rapidly
aspect
of
became
a
what
confused
benefits
with
demonstration site
could
be
"Showplace"
included
in
- 23 -
The Showcase established in Applied Systems was to explore first the
use of the PABX itself as a switching medium for data traffic,
A few other suppliers of PABXs
or LAN technologies.
the usual mainframe
instead of
actively promoted the PABX as a switching medium for data but there were
few
signs
PABX
Showcase
was
explore
to
To
environmnet.
working
do
Processing
of
this
the
Showcase
As
managers.
provided
conceived early
desk
every
at
technology might
where
in
the Group Information Systems
could
be
project
The
the Group
(GIS),
products
sought
serving
these
1984,
appropriate.
be
system
they
office
of
to
combine
needs
the
the
in
and storage and transfer ot
administrative
professionals,
(DP)
ICL's
use
integrated
an
into
image
and
objective
second
the
Company's products in messaging, mail,
data
The
implementation.
significant
of
a
the
text,
Data
of
secretaries,
and
functions would have
been
staff,
justified,
using
was
carried
to
be
whatever
out
by
responsible for ICL's own
internal systems.
Incidentally,
implementation
the
Showcase
the
of
offered
an
Research
attractive research opportunity for the Management in the 1990'
s
Programme
sponsoring
MIT.
of
The
organisation,
in
longitudinal,
detailed,
completion.
case
this
relationship
close
ICL,
and
research
the
rigorous
and
between
project
team
promised
initiation
from
a
to
The target population of the Showcase - software development
professional and managers at Applied Systems -
software
of
was of significant size,
e.g., management,
and held important practical issues,
performance
the
development
The
teams.
communication, and
technologies
to
be
implemented, and the mode of implementation offered a very valid research
design,
the
with the potential to directly measure
technologies,
diffusion
their
and
in
the
the
changes generated by
target
The
population.
diversity of sites across the country, products and markets, and software
technologies contributed to the strength of the research design.
the most important
factors was the fact that
eager to realise
the
from
the
overlaying
the divisional director was
advantages to be gained not
rigour
of
academic
an
One of
only from IT but also
research
project
on
the
under
way
practicalities of an internal project.
But
when
the
certain
Management
changes
in
were
the
1990'
s
required
project
to
the
had
hardly
Showcase
got
structure
which
:
;
- 24 -
By October/November 1985 lessons were
were to have far reaching effects.
already beginning emerge about the Showcase concept Itself.
namely
recognised,
been clearly
had
roles
project
the
Three major
owner,
host,
the
and the watcher, whose terms of references could be summarised as follows:
The owner is the part of the organisation which could expect to
1.
derive the longer-term marketing benefits from the project;
The host could be expected to derive any short-term productivity
2.
gains;
The watcher is
3.
to document
the lessons and ensure that they are
properly reported on.
But
implementation could
the
without
additional
several
survive
not
actors,
this
in
simple
structure,
These
"sub-contractors".
i.e.,
included
Office Systems Division for products such as electronic mall and
1.
text processing services;
Network
2.
Services
connections
network,
Division
external
to
for
services
such
public
the
as
services
plus
telephone
telex, and facsimile facilities;
Mainframe Systems Division since
3.
networks
internal
accessed
the
by
PABX
Showcase
some
of
the
mounted
were
facilities
on
ICL
to
be
corporate
mainframes
Group Information Systems (GIS) who operated Group Databases and
A.
maintained all equipment at ICL.
The
time
involvement
time
to
of
the
as
these actors could
Showcase
sought
team
be
expected
fluctuate
to
implement
to
or
from
demonstrate
various features.
Against
thess
host.
But
Office
System
ownership
main
the
of
definitions
was
the
long-term
undoubtedly
Showcase
marketing of the PABX itself.
beyond
the
scope
of
this
Applied
beneficiary
the
from
DNX
exercise,
and
testing
Division,
was
who
to
be
remained
PABX-based
the
took
the
over
formal
responsible
for
The logic of this transfer of ownership is
However,
paper.
objectives of the DNX Division could
pilot
from
and
GIS,
Division
Systems
consequently
the
be
it
achieved by
initial
decided
was
a
that
the
relatively modest
implementation
plan
for
- 25 -
having
Office
the
functions
desk
every
at
became
Systems
Applied
Thus
altered.
Systems
responsible
for
was
dramatically
funding
Its
own
Implementation programme.
One of the side-effects of these changes was on the Management in the
1990 's
Obviously,
study.
down considerably.
for
the
diffusion of
technologies was
the
slowed
Neither the DNX nor the AS Division had been funded
bulk diffusion of
IT
and under
the
modified
Showcase
structure
the
Showcase team had to Isolate quite specific areas which could be tackled
and in particular to build on whatever existing technology was in place.
Initial assessment
The
quantitative data
initial
(Table
III)
show
the
compartively
low
rate of use of the voice messaging (circa May 1985) among survey
Table III
Data on Use of the Voice Messaging System (VOICE MANAGER)
Frequency of access
- less than 3 times a day
- 3-5 time a day
- 6-10 times a day
- More than 10 time a day
;
59%^
35%
4%
2%
Diversion of calls to the Voice Manager
- less than 3 times a day
- more than times a day
;
98%
2%
Number of messages received via Voice Manager
- less than 3 messages a day
- 3-5 messages a day
- More than 5 messages a day
-^59%
Notes
response
survey was sent.
rate
;
participants.
1986
about
facilities
utilisation
users.
out
of
96
the
(DRS
rate
use
Mail,
of
the
EXAC)
probably
Voice
are
still
not
whom
to
The results of a Management
In the
and
Manager,
very
suffered
;
85%
13%
2%
the
Internal
1990' s survey in early
the
different
from
Showcase
lack of
electronic
(Table
IV).
mall
The
critical mass of
- 26 -
Table IV
Use of Information Technologies In January-February 1986
Owners of information technologles
among survey participants
- VOICE MANAGER
- EXAC
- DRS MAIL
-*-
Number
;
Usage during last week
- VOICE MANAGER
- EXAC
- DRS MAIL
:
Number of people accessed through
- VOICE MANAGER
- EXAC
- DRS MAIL
;
-'-42.4%
Notes
448
response
rate
out
of
survey
population;
"^Proporation of owners among respondents;
-'Proporation of owners
of the system who used it at least once a week.
;
In addition,
most of
the
features of
special
used only by a minority of the owners of the
used the "Timed Delivery"
and
-
"Immediate Reply",
hand,
some
stage
of
of
the
and
reactions
implementation,
For instance,
system.
the "Priority Messaging"
"Disrtibution Lists" and "Confirmed Delivery",
22%
Voice Manager were
the
44%
-
were
indicating
"Personal
quite
a
18%
even
bi-modal
attitudes towards the new technologies (Table V below).
35% used
"Redirect Message",
Response".
positive
somewhat
-
options,
26°c
On
for
the
the
other
initial
dsitribution of
In other words.
- 11 -
while the majority of the owners of the system,
been using it very sparcely,
for various reasons, have
significant proportion of this population
a
found it useful and satisfactory for their needs.
On
Showcase
the
side
technical
the
demonstrated
feasibility
the
using the PABX to connect a variety of users to a number of
using
various
types
addition,
In
details).
capability
terminals
of
access
connecting
of
Figure
(see
portables,
explored
functions was
other
to
computers,
home
functions,
Appendix
and
3
of
C
and
for
the
"foreign"
and
equipment was also demonstrated.
The
routing
queuing
and
reductions
substantial cost
software
be
to
available
the
enabled
PABX
For instance,
made for casual users.
to connect a large number of
it was possible
with
users to the 4-port PC,
the
actual number being limited only by the frequency of access of the users
Also
concerned.
simplicity of connection provided
the
rapid means
a
of
dissemination to satisfy emergency requirements, pending a more permanent
connection.
addition,
In
the
Voice
Messaging
Service
accessed
was
through the PABX without a software connection between the two.
Experiences
Although the "hard" quantitative data about the implementation of the
the opportunity
office systems technologies is still lacking,
the
implementation in action provided us with some anecdotal
about the process.
now send
-A secretary could
Voice
which
an
both
information
out
it
;
directly from the Word
and
take
it
personally
and be confident that it had gone;
Manager
are
telex
urgent
rather than having to type
to the Telex Room,
-The
observe
The highlights of these data are provided below.
Simple improvements in speed, convenience and confidence
Processor,
to
enabled
dispersed
Department
Personnel
physically
-
and
distribute
to
sales
teams,
messages
and
arrange meetings much more easily than before.
The need to consider change of roles and to rethink methods of working ;
-Telexes could be sent at any hour of day or night,
any
8801
Word
Processor
connected
to
the
PABX
and
initially from
later
from
any
Figures:
OPD
PABX SHOWCASE
- 29 -
Voice
terminal.
The
available
from
similarly
be
worldwide
location
any
potential
substantial
A
telephone.
could
Manager
with
accessed
tone-generating
a
independence
for
was
and
was
therefore
created;
-Salesmen
they were
found
no
longer
tied
and
times
to
places
from
which to communicate with head office, while the Sales administrator
was able
individual or communal messages knowing that
send
to
those
concerned would pick them up when convenient, without worrying about
their location;
-The
Manager
Personnel
enterprisingly
used
Voice
the
Manager
for
remote dictation of minutes into his secretary's voice mail box, thus
speeding up distribution by two to three days;
-The
power
integrated
of
demonstrated
was
facilities
when
a
substantial questionnaire received on DRS MAIL was downloaded to the
8801
Word
completed
Processor,
using
by
editing
the
facilities,
reloaded to DRS MAIL and returned to the originator within 20 minutes
without any paper being produced;
-A maintenance engineer
treated his voice mail
box
exactly like his
document in-tray - checking it at periodic intervals and prioritising
the contents before continuing with his peripatetic tasks.
Unsuspected gaps in knowledge were uncovered
-Many secretaries were unaware of
use.
Central
The
Telex
;
convention and
the answerback
Operator had
answerback
checked
previously
its
codes for correctness of destination.
-Access
machine-held
to
directories
was
not
commonly
a
familiar
feature.
Increased use of
to
swamp
the
a
-
carriers
even
threatened
carried by another facility,
facility,
a
modest
increase
in
access
direct
to
external electronic mail services caused congestion on the ICL X25 PAD.
Dual
use
of
secretaries not
at
telepnone
the
was
not
always
Divisional headquarters were
not
productive
able
to
-
those
release
the
telephone once they had accessed the facility required (further DNK2000's
had not then been installed).
PAD
this gave
rise
to
a
When compounded with congestion on the X25
conflict - either the secretary kept her phone
- 30 -
tied up or she risked losing the chance of gaining access.
Further,
technology
which
guides
facility
one
system
a
the
to
user will
rarely be able
Incidentally,
the facility itself.
product
the
written
by
extremely
side
programmers
easy
use
to
provide
any one
in
whether
layers
the
of
layers.
in
is
the
ICL network,
the
of
similarly
a
fault
the
PABX,
the
several
or
was saturation
the most common fault
as described above.
of the carrier services,
On
failure
modem,
the
through
must
identify
to
terminal hardware or software,
user
wants
service against
all-embracing support
The
a
that
programmers.
for
long
as
obvious
was
it
as
MAIL
DRS
sticks
one
routines
some
for
instance,
basic
the
to
been
had
is
functions.
However, to set up a distribution list requires knowledge of the system's
structures
file
and
naming conventions
-
plainly
few users
knowledge
a
could be expected to muster.
Work-flow was changed with not
For
instance,
in
past
the
and
arose
secretaries'
penchant
of
as
for keeping
copies
extra
majority
an
of
unqualified beneficiary.
telexes
were
a
workload
would
rapidly
sent
not
knowledge of the facility spread rapidly,
secretaries,
that
the
everyone
the danger
increase.
Also
hard-copy of everything initially caused
addressed
to
the
sender
and
needing
to
by
be
a
sent
the
flood
from
central telex switch instead of being printed automatically at the local
telex-room.
SUMMARY: LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE AND RESEARCH
Research and the PABX Showcase
The
experience
of
implementing
information
technologies
at
ICL
contributes to the growing knowledge base in this area, both academic and
industrial.
For Instance,
implementation
comparison.
in
business
several recent
organizations,
papers address electronic mail
and
highly
relevant
for
First, Picot, Klingenberg, and Kranzle (1982) detailed field
study of how the various communication media,
telephone,
are
telex,
mail
and
facsimile,
to
from face-to-face,
teletex
(an
through
electronic
mail
- 31 -
protocol),
perceived
are
face-to-face
telephone
and
managers.
by
perceived
are
comes
It
as
as
no
surprize
superior
to
the
that
indirect,
asynchronous channels for stimulation and privacy (with the exception of
which
mail,
teletex
highest
is
comfort
for
well
quite
rated
dependability and
on
formality
and
promptness
accuracy,
and
confidence.
The
restructuring
of
other
the
better
rates
Appendices
(see
On
B1-B3
hand,
face-to-face
than
details).
for
the
On
the
teletex is percieved superior than face-to-face
task-oriented dimensions
on
privacy).
for
authors
channel
but
definitely worse
is
provide
also
utilization;
data
teletex
complexity and
on
about
seems
potential
the
to
not
be
a
very
strong competitor to face-to-face communication (only 5% of this type of
communication is percieved to be potentially replaced by it).
telephone
somewhat
only
rate
replacement by teletex.
study
this
open
issue
the
communication when computer-based media
results
first
the
in
subjective data,
restructuring
introduced.
are
quasi-experimental
reliable,
a
actual
of
potential
18%
of
completion
The
Systems should provide us with one
of the communication study at Applied
of
and
12%
Because of the use perceptual,
leaves
still
with
better
Mail and
setting
in
this
field, in a real-life situation.
There
several
are
implementation,
issues of use,
information
clarify
studies
typology
effectively via
electronic
mail.
to
address
the
central
benefits that could be expected from
and
communication
of
close
come
Steinfield's
technologies.
the
which
study
(1984)
tasks
that
found
He
clear
a
is
could
effort
an
to
performed
be
distinction
between
social and task usages, and to what extent each sub-task was susceptible
to
mediation
warning
on
mail.
estimating
over
about
technologies
electronic
by
complex
tasks.
negotiations/bargaining",
the
He
"resolve
His
impact
found
support
results
Picot
al.
et
information-communication
of
such
that
tasks
as
"carry
conflicts/disagreements",
on
"discuss
confidential matters", had neve r been carried out via the computer by at
least
(1967)
50%
of
respondents.
the
definitions,
Using
Watzlawick,
Beavin,
"analogue" communication might continue
and
to
Jackson
elude the
computer-based media.
Culnan
of
the
(1985)
medium as
addressed
a
the
determinant
narrow issue
of
its
use.
of
perceived
Her
results
accessibility
suggest
that
- 32 -
physical access to a system is only a necessary, but also an insufficient
Controlling for the other variables,
condition.
knowledge
with
only
significantly
accessibility,
information
about
found
the
terminal
and
language,
accessibility,
or
Her results validate and update what
overall reliability of the system.
Allen
command
the
of
with
not
but
system usage correlated
importance
accessibility
of
determinant
as
of
source utilization (1977: 185).
reliability of
The general
interlocking
and
subsystems,
a
the
complex
system,
"splash and
been
(see for instance Jenkins,
but could well
approached
by
be
range
a
effects
ripple"
new components or subsytens has
1969)
reality
in
adding
of
number
a
of
writers
of
fruitful field for
a
more determined and systematic research.
Practical Lessons for Managers
The Managment in the 1990'
Important
lessons
implementation
requirements
of
to
project and the PABX Showcase each carry
s
pointers
and
for
communication
development
research,
technologies,
results
achieve
future
and
organisational
for
investment
from
and
information
in
technologies.
The
between
correlations
according
to
the
variation
in
its
communication
boundary-penetration
intensity
of
performance,
the
communication
and
the
of
individuals,
among
and
type
performed suggest an opportunity to broaden our approaches
of
projects and office lay-outs.
differing
and
There may well also be
to
the
task
management
scope
for more
extensive research into communication profiles and their relationship to
the effectiveness of entire departments and sections.
conceptual
The
duration,
and
value
of
influence
the
example
rate
a
progress,
automation and
related
guideline
be
tool
in
the
well
in
practice,
the
consultants with their customers, the latter,
on
of
as
a
an
former,
by
task
on
interdependence,
this
academia
arsenal
as
technologies,
tested
sub-task
and
know-how transfer from
based
design,
technologies
information
of
consulting
can
organizational
of
technological
potential
of
as
model
to
design
industry.
vendor
internal
by
is
ICL
of
an
Its
office
managerial
external
ICL's internal managers.
- 33 -
These are only some of the potential
future possibilities.
Additional,
more far reaching usages of this knowledge remain tantalislngly blurred.
Is
it
possible
relevant to
so,
a
to
build
a
portfolio
structure
communication
patterns,
particular type of activity in a particular industry?
there would a powerful diagnostic
communication.
of
In
addition,
recommended
for
detected
this
type
tool
for measuring
deviations
of
task
and
from
the
each
If
organisational
communication
industry will
provide
indirect measures of organisational effectiveness.
The final stage of the Management in 1990' s communication at Applied
Systems will attempt to address these issues, and to provide some of the
answers.
- 34 -
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APPB€IX
Al:
COMMUNICATION MEDIUM AS A FUNCTION
OF PHYSICAL SEPARATION
(HIGH COMPLEXITY INFORMATION)
PROPORTION OF COMMUNICATIONS (PERCENT)
20
10
I
WITHIN A
40
30
I
I
I
60
50
M
i
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
70
I
I
I
I
I
I
TELEPHONE
FLOOR
WRITTEN
WITHIN A
BUILDING
WITHIN A
LOCATION
'H«.«»f
BETWEEN
LOCATIONS
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
M
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
ll
I
I
I
APPENDIX A2:
COMMUNICATION MEDIUM AS A FUNCTION
OF PHYSICAL SEPARATION
(LOW COMPLEXITY INFORMATION)
PROPORTION OF COMMUNICATIONS (PERCENT)
20
10
I
I
I
I
I
40
30
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
50
I
I
I
I
I
60
I
I
I
I
FACE TO
FACE
WITHIN A
FLOOR
WRITTEN
WITHIN A
BUILDING
WITHIN A
LOCATION
BETWEEN
LOCATIONS
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
Appendix B1;
Affective Evaluation of Comf.unication Channels
Channel
factor
Appendix B2
:
Task-Oriented Evaluation of Communication Channels
Channel
Appendix B5
:
SUBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL CHANNEL
SUBSTITUTION (N = 96 MANAGERS)
REPLACED
CHANNEL
,
,
Appendix C: Details of Showcase Technical Parameters
The principle functions accessed:
External Electronic Mall - Telex, Qulckcomm, MCI Mail,
Internal Electronic Mall - ICLMAIL, DRSMAIL, EXAC,
Local Computing - PCs, running CCPM,
Mainframes - Large Data Bases,
Public Data Bases and Services.
The following terminals were in regular use to access the functions:
OPD (One Per Desk, ICL)
DRS (ICL),
STC,
PC Heads (the direct connection to the processor was diverted
via the DNX2000)
8801 Word Processor (ICL).
9911
030
Date Due
^rr
MAR
OCT 23
W4R03
,.,U€.
3
1
4 li90
1991
mi
1994
Lib-26-67
3
TDflO DDM DTM
7m