[Advances in Computers] Advances in Computers Volume 25 Volume 25 || Social Dimensions of Office Automation

Social Dimensions of Office Automation

ABBE MOWSHOWITZ

Department of Computer Science The City College City University of New York New York . New York 10031

1 . Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336 1.1 Office Automation Defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336 1.2 Objectives and Biases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338 1.3 Prospective Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

2 . Productivity and Investment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341 2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341 2.2 Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341 2.3 Capital-Labor Substitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343 2.4 Productivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344

3 . Technological Change in the Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347 3.1 Overview: Piecemeal vs Integrated Approach . . . . . . . . . . 347 3.2 Information Technology in Today’s Office . . . . . . . . . . . 348 3.3 The Office of the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351 3.4 On the Drive to Automate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352 3.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

4 . Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353 4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353 4.2 Employment Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354 4.3 Changing Skill Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360 4.4 Altered Career Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362 4.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

5 . The Work Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364 5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364 5.2 Quality of Work Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365 5.3 Patterns of Communication and Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . 371

5.5 Health and Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

2.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

5.4 Telecommuting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

5.6 Policy of Organized Labor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375 5.7 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

6 . Organization and Management Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379 6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379 6.2 Overview of Computers and Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . 380 6.3 The Structure of Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384 6.4 Ethics and Computer Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386 6.5 Virtual Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389 6.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390

335 Copyright 0 1986 by Academic Press. Inc .

All rights of reproduction in any form reserved . ADVANCES IN COMPUTERS. VOL . 25

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7. Conclusion: Automation and the Future of Work . . . . . . . . . . . 39 1 7.1 Recapitulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391 7.2 Office of the Future in Light of Factory of the Past . . . . . . . . 392 7.3 Automation and the Role of Work in Human Affairs. . . . . . . . 395 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

1. Introduction

1.1 Office Automation Defined

Office automation, like a human face, is hard to define but easy to recognize. However, we do need to delimit the boundaries of our subject and so will propose a working definition.

General definitions of automation offer little guidance. For example, Froomkin’s (1968) notion was based on the technology of the 1950s and 1960s: transfer machines in automobile manufacturing and computerized process control in industries such as steel, chemicals, and oil refining. Office automation (OA) has been discussed since the early days of computers (Hoos, 1961), but the concept did not crystallize until the advent of microelectronics, networking, and distributed computing.

Any definition of office automation must specify locus, type of automation, and the functions automated. Consider the following view of office automation reported in the inaugural issue of SIGOA Newsletter, a publi- cation of the Special Interest Group on Office Automation of the Associa- tion for Computing Machinery:

Office automation is the use of information processing technology in an office environment to create, process, store, retrieve, use, and communicate information to improve the performance of managerial, professional, technical, administrative, and clerical tasks. (Stouder, 19x0, p. 15)

The locus specified here is “office environment”; the type of automation is that involving the use of “information processing technology”; the functions automated are “managerial, professional, technical, administrative, and clerical tasks.” With minor modifications this will serve as a working definition.

The notion of office environment needs some elaboration. “The office itself is an elusive concept, transcending all types of workers, from secretary to Chairman, from a one-man law firm to Fortune 500 conglomerate, from a product as simple as a telephone to a powerful mainframe com-

SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF OFFICE AUTOMATION 337

puter” (Hughes et al., 1984). Offices exist in many varieties: doctors, lawyers, and accountants practice in offices; presidents of corporations operate from offices, as do the clerks who process the corporations’ transactions; professors avoid students and conduct research from their offices; and the engineers and managers who design products and run fac- tories work in offices. The list is easily extended.

One common element in these examples is that offices are places where something other than the production of goods occurs. “An office is a place where people read, think, write and communicate; where proposals are considered and plans made; where money is collected and spent; where businesses and other organizations are managed” (Giuliano, 1982).

Typically the purpose of an office is to provide support for the production of goods or services. The distinction between production and support is useful but sometimes difficult to apply. Current efforts to link networked machines on the factory floor with office systems will blur the distinction further (Schatz, 1985). Even a stranger to the factory scene would have little trouble differentiating between a parts fabrication area and the accounting division. But how should the foreman’s domain be classified? The foreman moves in the shopfloor environment but some of his activities, such as allocating work assignments, are identical to office functions.

We will interpret “office environment” liberally-after all, the expansion of office activities in every sector of the economy is the key reason for attending to office automation. Given its robust expansion and changing boundaries, there is little point in offering a definition of the office by intension. Thus, for example, we will not try to distinguish a doctor’s office from his examining room on the basis of a formal definition of “office.” Even though there is a difference between the services a doctor provides and the activities supporting those services, there are too many gray areas where a clear distinction is not possible.

Additional ambiguities result from differences in the organizational objectives of so-called office activities. Consider, for example, a research project designed as input to an organization’s strategic planning effort. If such a project were executed within the organization, it would be re- garded as a support function. Were it carried out by a management con- sulting company, it would be viewed as a service or possibly the result would be termed an “information product.” The office activities in both cases would be the same.

It is also important to note that applications of information technology may or may not improve performance. The intent behind the introduction of new technology may be to improve performance, but there is no guarantee that improvements will obtain. Even proponents of office automa-

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tion are sometimes skeptical about what is being accomplished, because of the difficulties of measuring the effects of information systems in the office.

[Tlhe quantifiable effects of OA are limited by the difficulty of relating increases in information output to rising revenues. If a company produces more sales proposals, for instance, and sales go up, it would seem that the two are related. But other factors-sales incentives, a bullish economy, the time of year-may have as much to do with the gains a s :I new officc information system. (Cushing and Goldlield, 19K3, P. 8)

Information technology may be introduced for reasons other than improving performance. The objective may be the political one of enhancing the position or control of certain actors in the office. Or it could be to add a new service or modify an old one in ways that would be impossible without the technology. Hence, we would alter the definition of office automation cited above by substituting the neutral word “in” for the normative phrase “to improve.”

To complete the definition, we need to discuss types of automation and the functions automated. These issues will be taken up in Sections 2 and 3 .

Our working definition, as promised, is the following minor variant of the one stated earlier:

Office automation is the use of information technology in an oflice environment to create, process, store, retrieve, use, and cominunicate information in the performance of managerial, professional, technical, administrative, and clei-ical tasks. (Copyright t> 1983 by The New York Times Company. Kcprinted by permission.)

1.2 Objectives and Biases

This study is concerned with the social implications of office automation. Our principal objective is to describe, analyze, and predict the effects of office automation on people and organization. By people we mean those who work in offices and the clients they serve; the term orgunizu- tion includes all aspects of the office environment as well as the management and structure of the enterprise of which it is a part.

We should be delighted if our study stimulates socially desirable inno- vations in the office, but our intention is to improve understanding, not to promote applications of information technology. Social initiatives are judged by their consequences. Our aim is to illuminate the consequences of office automation so as to provide a sound foundation for judgment.

Although this is a survey article, it is not an exhaustive review of the literature on office automation. The literature surveyed constitutes a sam-


ple biased by the author’s taste and experience. However, the coverage of social issues is meant to be comprehensive.

Office automation is a controversial subject which amplifies residual biases present in all studies of social impacts of technology (Mowshowitz, 1981, 1982). The most salient controversy centers on the work-related effects of office systems with Video Display Terminal (VDT) gateways. Word processing, for example, has become a focus of disagreement between management and labor on questions of health and safety, monitoring, job design, and work organization. Of course, neither management nor labor speaks with one voice on these issues, but a battle looms, however amorphous the lines and however unevenly matched the oppos- ing forces may be.

Observers of office automation are as partisan as office workers and managers. I share the labor perspective in the main. This means 1 am more skeptical than those in the management camp about claims for the beneficence of information technology in the office. In any change there are winners and losers. Office automation is not a simple, zero-sum game, but management gains could spell lost jobs, tighter discipline, and less interesting tasks for many workers.

Increases in productivity and efficiency, improvements in quality, and organizational control are desirable but not at any cost. If the cost is jobs, degraded work environments, and disenfranchised workers, I believe these management desiderata may not be justified. Improvements in the competitive position of American businesses are essential for the country’s economic survival. If automation can help, let us automate. But equity-or plain old American fairness-demands that labor and the community as a whole share in the benefits of automation.

1.3 Prospective Summary

Armed with a working definition of office automation, and forewarned of the author’s aims and biases, the reader should be prepared for what follows .

Our study of office automation begins with an examination of productivity in the office. Low productivity and a low capital-labor ratio- relative to factory and farm-have focused attention on automation as a means of cutting costs and increasing office efficiency. We look at the distribution of costs in the office and trade-offs between technology and labor, and examine the problem of measuring the productivity of office workers.

Having considered the basis for decisions to automate, we turn to the tools of automation. In Section 3, we discuss different approaches to

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automation and present an inventory of office technology. Distributed systems and the office of the future get special attention.

In Section 4, we investigate the impact of office automation on employment. This investigation is divided into three parts: ( I ) employment levels, ( 2 ) skill requirements, and (3) career paths. Because of intcraction cffects and problems of data collection and forecasting, it is nearly impossible to bc scientifically rigorous in estimaling the net effect of office automation on employment levels. Nevertheless, surveys provide valuable trend data, and case studies suggest emerging employrncnt patterns in the office. We analyze the trend data and the patterns and discuss some key policy issues concerning the effects of automation on employment. Changing skill levels in clerical and professional work are examined. We conclude the section with a look at career paths.

The impact of automation on the work environment is taken up in Section 5 . Under the heading “Quality of Work Life,” we examine the rationalization of clerical work and its effects on office workers, relations between management and labor, and the impact of office automation on professionals and managers. Next, we turn to patterns of communication and interaction. Computer-based communication-especially computerized conferencing-is likely to have a profound effect on these patterns. We look at the probable impacts of conferencing on social relations in the office, emphasizing the implications of human communication mediated by computers. Then we examine the forms and social consequences of telecommuting. This is followed by a brief discussion of health and safety issues. The concluding part of this section deals with the policies of organized labor and union rcsponscs to the challenges posed by office automation.

In Section 6 we confront the organizational and managerial implications of office automation. First, we review the literature on computers and organizations. The review focuses on the computer’s role in decision making and problem solving. Since the effect of computers on the centralization of decision making has been and remains one of the key issues, we treat it in some detail. Following the overview of computers and organizations, we analyze office technology in relation to organizational control structures. Here we argue for retaining the centralization hypothesis because it is confirmed by most of the evidence and it stimulates sensible research questions. From control we turn to ethics and crime. This may appear to be a big leap, but in fact the disposition to act ethically is profoundly influenced by organizational control, and unethical behavior often leads to criminal acts. The section concludes by introducing the concept of virtual organization. This concept serves to unify the discussion of technology-induced organizational changes in the modern world.


In particular, it helps to clarify the social implications of office automation by providing a means for analyzing the role of information technology in the abstractification of work and management.

In the conclusion, we discuss the future of work. Since work is a central concern in office automation, it is natural to consider its future at the end of our study. As we see the future, there are two major issues: ( I ) distribution of income in a world of very high unemployment and (2) substitution for the social functions of work. As automation unfolds, these issues will become acute problems.

2. Productivity and Investment

2.1 introduction

Support costs for office personnel absorb the lion’s share of office expenditures. The example of the factory suggests a way of containing the enormous costs of office operations. Estimates of expenditures on office personnel-clerks, professionals, and managers-are upward of three- quarters of a trillion dollars annually. The answer to cost containment seems to lie in the substitution of capital for labor long ago codified in the factory.

Capital investments-plant, equipment, machinery, etc.-per worker in manufacturing average more than $20,000. The corresponding figure for office workers is about $2000. This better than 10-1 disparity indicates to many decision makers in the office that there is much room for using technology to reduce costs.

Improvements may take several different forms, namely, increases in productivity, reductions in overall labor input, better products and services, and tighter managerial control. As we will see later there is not necessarily a clear correlation between expectations for these kinds of improvements and automated systems in the office. First, the desired improvements themselves are not independent and thus pose sticky measurement problems. Second, the introduction of automated equipment is usually accompanied by organizational changes which further confound measurement. Our task in this chapter is to distinguish between realistic expectations and mere fantasies of wish fulfillment.

2.2 costs

According to a widely cited survey of businesses in the United States (Poppel, 1979), direct costs of white collar operations could rise from an

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estimated $600 billion in 1979 to $1.5 trillion by 1990. These direct costs consist of compensation and fringe benefits for white collar employees, i.e., managers, professionals, and clerical workers. With the aid of computer-based office systems, however, these enormous sums could be trimmed by more than $300 billion per year (Poppel, 1979). Therein lies the allure and the promise of office automation.

The breakdown of direct costs by category of employees shows that more than three-quarters of the total goes to support managers and professionals. Yet most of the investment in office automation has been directed at clerical operations. This is borne out by business expenditures on information resources (computer- or communications-based systems): two-thirds for clcrical, one-third for managerial and professional employees.

Office automation has evidently followed a path of least resistance. Word processing and file management applications are more straightforward technically than decision support and knowledge-based systems. It is easier for managers to contemplate the automation of clerical work than it is for them to think of upsetting their own accustomed ways with new technology. The organizational culture may also be an impediment to innovation (Schein, 1984). Despite the hand wringing evident in some management circles over the lack of automation directed at principals (i.e., managers and other professionals), decision support and problem solving systems arc still in their infancy (Keen and Scott Morton, 1978; Winston and Prendergast, 1984).

Immediate relief from the high cost of managers and professionals could come from using computers to eliminate or speed up thc clerical functions currently performed by these high-level office workers. It is estimated that managers and other professionals spend as much as 25% of their time on clerical and support activities such as looking for filed reports, proofreading, handling routine correspondence, and trying to reach and schedule people (Poppel, 1979).

Automated systems to facilitate these kinds of activities already exist but are underutilized by managers and professionals (Abraham, 1981). A report stored in a computerized file management system can on average be retrieved more quickly than one in a manual filing system. Proofread- ing can be facilitated by the use of word processing systems capable of checking for spelling errors automatically. Likewise, the burden of routine correspondence can be eased by the use of word processing, especially if the content is repetitive or highly stylized. Finally, sophisticated communications systems reduce the problems of reaching people and scheduling appointments.

For much of this clerical activity the problem of automation is one of


reorganizing work rather than developing new applications of computers and telecommunications. Beyond the clerical area-in the realm of the remaining 75% of a principal’s activities-new applications are required. Here we are speaking of highly sophisticated technology to support nonroutine problem solving and decision making. In this realm the possibility of reducing costs remains largely speculative.

Such speculation has been rife since the early days of computing. Twenty-five years ago Licklider (1960) argued the case for man-computer symbiosis to enlarge the bounds of scientific and technological achievement. His argument anticipated that of today’s managers who seek to reduce the cost of high-level personnel.

Describing his own intellectual work, Licklider explained:

About 85 percent of my ‘thinking’ time was spent getting into a position to think, lo make a decision, to learn something I needed to know .... [M]y thinking time was devoted mainly to activities that were essentially clerical or mechanical: searching, calculating, plotting, transforming, determining the logical or dynamic consequences o f a set of assumptions or hypotheses. preparing the way for a decision or an insight. [Licklider 0 1960 IRE (now IEEE). p. 3091

The remedy for so much seemingly superfluous activity is to render unto man that which is man’s and to the computer that which is the computer’s.

The fraction of a principal’s time taken up with essentially clerical work is likely to lie somewhere between 25 and 85%. In any case, enormous cost savings could be realized by separating clerical activities from problem solving and decision making proper and automating the clerical tasks. Additional savings could be obtained by replacing human with computer expertise and developing computer systems that amplify human abilities.

2.3 Capital-Labor Substitution

Automation as a method for reducing costs in the office is one that has worked quite well in other areas of economic activity. The basic idea of this method is to substitute capital, in the form of information systems, for human labor. This substitution is especially attractive in the office because the current capitaUworker ratio is estimated to be substantially lower than the corresponding ratios for the factory and the farm. The comparisons suggest that by increasing the ratio for the office it will be possible to duplicate the prodigious productivity increases accomplished in agriculture and manufacturing.

According to a 1976 study, the average investment per office worker was $2,000, compared with $24,000 for factory workers and $52,000 for

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farmers (Purchase, 1976). Juxtaposition of productivity growth rates and levels of investment per worker in the office, in the factory, and on the farm, respectively, lends credence to the hypothesis of a positive correlation between productivity and capital investment. From 1972 to 1977 the annual growth rate in productivity of blue collar workers was more than 2%, whereas the rate for white collar workers was 0.4% (Day, 1979). Although the absolute numbers vary from one estimate to another, the ratios of productivity growth rates in the factory to those in the office are uniformly high.

The literature on office automation reveals a general belief that information technology is the white knight that will rescue the office from its dismal record of productivity growth. As noted earlier, the tendency has been to try the easiest things first. Thus computer terminals for applications such as word processing, data entry, and file management have been sprinkled around in hopes that secretaries, clerks, and even some managers and other professionals would be enabled to work more efficiently (Salmans, 1982).

The Office of Technology Assessment (1983) reports that there is now one computer terminal for every five office workers, and that by the turn of the century the ratio will grow to one terminal for every two office workers. For a broader array of computer resources-electronic typewriters, word processing terminals, desktop computers, office software- driven devices, and data manipulation devices-the corresponding ratio of resources to white collar employees is expected to rise from 71100 in 1982 to 50/100 in 1987. If these predictions are correct or even conservative, there is no guarantee that the desired result will obtain.

As Strassman cautions, cheap, computer power is not in itself the cure for office inefficiencies. “There is a fallacy in the reasoning [about office automation] that somehow cheap computer power makes it desirable to use a great deal of it. Investments in information technology must meet the same stringent criteria of justification as any other investment. Costs are important but secondary” (Strassman, 1985, p. 82). ,

We turn now to the question of how information technology is being used and how it is likely to be used in the future to make capital investments work to increase productivity.

2.4 Productivity

2.4.1 The Concept

Office automation revolves around a concept that is not very well defined. Where the output of a production process is a measurable quantity of goods, such as wheat, yarn, cloth, stccl, or automobiles, it is relatively


straightforward to define productivity as the number of outputs per unit of labor input. This definition is directly applicable to office work as long as the outputs are clearly identifiable and uniform. If one’s job is to telephone sales prospects, process insurance claims, file documents, type letters, or record data, one’s productivity may be measured in the classical way in terms of the number of calls, claims, documents, letters, or records processed per unit of time (Goldfield, 1981).

In cases where the nature of the outputs is less clear, the classical definition of productivity needs to be modified. An extreme case involves measuring the output of a scientific researcher. Researchers produce ideas, which are typically expressed in written reports. Since reports are not uniform in content or significance, neither the number of reports nor the volume of text per unit of input is an adequate measure of productivity. Although judgments of the productivity of researchers are in fact made, they involve factors such as peer evaluation that do not lend themselves to objective measurement. The problem here is the difficulty of assessing the significance of a researcher’s idea for the objectives of a given enterprise.

Between the two extremes exemplified by routine clerical work and scientific research, respectively, are activities susceptible in varying de- grees to classical productivity analysis. Computer programming is a re- vealing example because its outputs may be measured in terms of lines of code. Of course this is not satisfactory since there may be significant differences in execution time and comprehensibility between n lines of code produced by two different programmers, even if both are at the same level and have the same job description. If they do not have the same job description, a unitary measure based on lines of code produced will not do at all: “it makes no sense to compare the output of an analyst to that of a systems programmer” (Bromberg, 1984). Differences might also arise between different typists, but the criteria for judging the quality of typing are much easier to apply.

Toffler (1983) has observed that the notion of productivity “was designed for a world of material production, when you could count how many workers and how many hours it took to turn out how many skirts or copper bars.” However, the problem of measuring the productivity of knowledge or information workers is no different in principle from the case of material production workers. Appropriate units of input and output have to be identified for each class of workers.

2.4.2 Measuremeni

As information itself becomes more firmly established as a commodity, monetary measures of information activities will serve as outputs in pro-

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ductivity equations. This is already done for salespeople, stockbrokers, loan officers, and others who work on commission. A stockbroker’s productivity is measured in terms of commissions generated per unit of time or per unit of salary. Whenever there is a direct connection between a worker’s activity and revenues, it is possible to reckon productivity in this way, i.e., as a ratio of dollars out to dollars in.

Measuring the productivity of professionals and managers is difficult primarily because a lot of secondary (or intermediate) information activity has not been analyzed into clearly defined cost or value categories. The difficulty appears to depend on position in the organizational hierarchy since job specificity is greater at the lower levels. A senior-level manager may be judged ruthlessly according to bottom-line results, but it is not clear how to assign values and costs to specific activities on which decisions are based. High-level managerial and professional positions are generally believed to be of the nonprogrammed type characterized by crea- tive and imaginative thinking and nonroutine problem solving and decision making.

Mid-level positions will be increasingly susceptible to productivity analysis. Information gathering and analysis performed within an organization in support of decision making can be compared with activities that are the end products of other organizations. With such yardsticks it will be relatively easy to differentiate and assign values to information ac- tivitics.

The widely shared conviction that automated office systems will increase productivity has stimulated attempts to refine analysis. In these refinements labor productivity is but one among several considerations. As capital-labor ratios in the office increase, the more convincing these approaches become. Bair (1978) identifies a hierarchy of productivity components starting with equipment performance (e.g., execution speeds and failure rates). Built on this level is throughput performance (e.g., learning rates, error rates, output per unit time). At the top of the hierarchy is organizational performance (e.g., projects or products completed on schedule, bottom-line performance). This schcmc is proposed as a means of assessing the impact on productivity of automated office systems. The assessment proceeds systematically by measuring impacts at each level in turn.

This kind of analysis is necessary because the substitution of capital for labor is not one-for-one, i.e., a given number of work stations does not directly replace a given number of office employees. Computer-based office systems alter work procedures, job definitions, and organizational structure. Thus cost-benefit analysis must take account of procedural and structural changes as well as the relative costs of particular pieces of equipment and particular employees.


2.5 Summary

In this section we have discussed the costs of office operations and the perceived need to use information technology to lower those costs or at least to keep them from rising as fast as they have been. We found that information technology is expected to lower costs by increasing the productivity of office workers and by tightening managerial control. It is also expected to make companies more competitive in the marketplace by improving product and service quality.

These expectations are easy to state but hard to realize in practice. Professional and managerial personnel account for the lion’s share of office costs, yet spending on office technology-mainly word processing and computer-based filing-has been directed primarily at clerical work. To reduce the major support costs, one must know how to increase the productivity of professionals and managers. This question led us to examine the notion of productivity and methods of measurement. We noted that automation alters the way work is organized and that changes of this nature must be included in any cost-benefit analysis of office technology intended to increase productivity.

3. Technological Change in the Office

3.1 Overview: Piecemeal vs Integrated Approach

The office of today is a far cry from the futuristic work environment that has been heralded repeatedly from the beginning of the computer revolution. Automation today is mainly word processing (Billadeau, 1981). More sophisticated applications to support problem solving, decision making, and communication await the deployment of integrated office systems. Such systems may be Local Area Networks (LAN) or Pri- vate Branch Exchanges (PBX) capable of processing data, voice, text, and images. Whatever the underlying technology, the office of the future will consist of a collection of interconnected workstations which serve as gateways to shared network resources and have the power of stand-alone computing devices.

Evolution of the office of the future is dependent on both technological and organizational innovation. On the technological side there is intense competition between PBX-based and LAN-based integration. The honey- moon stage of the marriage of computing and telecommunications has given way to the sturm und drang of mundane cohabitation. Equipment and transmission standards have to be adopted, service arrangements developed, and regulatory issues resolved.

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The organizational sphere is equally important. Office technology does not come with a blueprint for effective and efficient work organization. Considerable experimentation with new ways of working and managing will be needed to learn how to make optimal use of the integrated systems of the future.

The dominant approach to technological change in the office is piecemeal automation (Smith, 1983). This is typified by the installation of word processing, whether in the form of personal computers or specialized word processors. The piecemeal approach seeks to exploit an immediate technological opportunity with little or no concern for long-term needs and possibilities. By contrast, an integrated approach would attempt to analyze office functions and work organization with a view toward using sophisticated technology as an integral part of a plan for a truly innovative office.

3.2 Information Technology in Today’s Office

3.2.1 Inventory of Advanced Office Technology

Information technology is being used to support communications and information processing functions in the office. In some cases these two functions are clearly differentiated; in others they are inextricably inter- mingled. For example, electronic mail is primarily a communications function, whereas word processing mainly involves information processing. On the other hand, computer conferencing is a hybrid activity that blends communications and information processing.

Automated, information processing activities include the following:

Activity:

Document preparation and storage

Data input

Personal office and project management aids

Technologies: Electronic typewriters Word processing systems Personal computers Automated typesetting Advanced printing Floppy and hard disks Mass storage systems Keyboard systems Optical character readers Handwriting readers Voice recognition systems Specialized software


Information management File management systems

Decision support Management information systems Database systems

Database systems Computer graphics Operations research methods

(simulation, modeling, and optimization)

Knowledge-based systems

Major communications-related activities include the following:

Activities: Technologies:

Message transfer Telephone Facsimile Electronic mail Cellular radio Teleconferencing

Finally, mixed-mode activities encompass:

Activities: Technologies:

Conferencing Local area networks Computer conferencing

The above classification is offered as a provisional map of existing landmarks on the terrain of office automation. This is an awkward time to catalog information technology in the office because the landscape will change very rapidly once networking becomes a practical reality. The distinction between information processing and communications will dis- solve as networking evolves to support greater integration of office activities. Decision support, for example, may be absorbed in computer conferencing or networking systems.

3.2.2 Distributed Systems

As noted in the discussion of productivity, the bulk of expenditures on new technology has in the past been directed at the automation of clerical functions. Now the focus is shifting to the realm of managers and professionals. Although many of the early applications of computers (e.g., financial record management) were in this arena, the current thrust of automation is to stimulate the diffusion of new technology throughout the office

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rather than to concentrate it in one place. The use of mainframes in the 1950s and 1960s led to the consolidation of data processing activities in one department or organizational unit (Hoos, 1961). By contrast, personal computers, terminals, and workstations are being distributed everywhere to facilitate automation at the site of office activity.

Emery (1977) characterizes a distributed system as “a hybrid between centralized and decentralized systems, with the choice of which particular functions to distribute depending on the tradeoffs involved.” Recent technical developments have brought down the unit costs of central processors, primary memory, and auxiliary storage devices. These cost reductions are likely to continue. In addition, system software will become increasingly powerful and database management systems will permit more effective sharing of data and better integration of functional processing tasks; computer applications will become more sophisticated; and communication services will perform more reliably and effectively. These developments will support a host of alternative forms of distributed computing (Emery, 1977).

Most representative of the current stage of distributed automation, aimed at managers and professionals, are personal office aids. These include a host of applications designed to assist in the organization of day- today activities. Examples of such applications are scheduling aids, re- minder (or “tickler”) files, “to-do” lists, and calculating aids.

Of greater long-term significance is the development of knowledge- based systems as aids to decision makers. Indeed, Feigenbaum and McCorduck ( 1983) view this development as nothing short of apocalyptic. Expert systems have attracted a great deal of attention recently as potentially viable commercial products. Several companies arc offering expert systems for divcrsc applications such as preparing contract bids and con- figuring computer systems (Feigenbaum and McCorduck, 1983; Winston and Prcndcrgast, 1984).

The shift from central mainframe to distributed microcomputers in the office is reminiscent of a shift that took place in the factory some time ago. Electricity and the fractional horsepower motor provided the means to make machine tools independent of a factory-wide, central drive mechanism. The ability to operate lathes, milling machines, presses, etc. inde- pendently introduced a new order of flexibility into the factory.

The parallel between the office and the factory suggests a pattern in the development of automation that bears some resemblance to the Hegel iar! dialectic in which a historical “thesis” is followed by its “antithesis” which in turn is superceded by a new “synthesis.” In office automation thesis corresponds to centralized, mainframe-based computing; antithesis signifies distributed computing made possible by microelectronics; and


synthesis corresponds to the coming of integrated office systems that will place all the computing and telecommunications power of local and wide- area networks at the disposal of the user in the office.

Distributed machine systems (antithesis of central drive organization) made their appearance in the factory about a century ago. Although some degree of synthesis was accomplished with transfer automation in the 1950s, this was limited by an inherent lack of flexibility. Perhaps there are two cycles in the history of the factory, the second being linked to the introduction of numerically controlled machine tools. In any case, a new synthesis of distributed, computer-controlled machines is in the making. As in the office, this is being brought about by networking.

3.3 The Office of the Future

At the time of writing, the market for office automation products has fallen into a slump of unexpected severity (Pollack, 1985). This slump is part of a general (cyclical) slowdown in the computer and electronics industries, but it also appears to be the result of a glut of stand-alone devices that cannot communicate easily with each other.

The networked office was promised prematurely, but it will not be long in coming. Practical (or politico-economic) rather than technical barriers stand in the way of full integration of the computer-based systems in the office. It is now possible to have devices made by different manufacturers communicating with each other, but cost is sometimes an impediment to implementation.

As investments in office technology mount, so will the pressure for inexpensive solutions to the problems of incompatible equipment. The vehicle for integration of office equipment will be based either on the LAN designed to support data processing or on the PBX whose central function is support of voice communication. Both types of systems have adherents and detractors and it is not yet clear which one will ultimately prevail. Most likely both will evolve in parallel for some years to come. The final result will probably be a marriage of the two approaches that supports all forms of communication and data processing within the same system.

However fierce may be the battle between the companies pushing one or the other approach to the networked office, we are safe in assuming that the synthesis of distributed office automation will occur. When this happens the visions of the pioneering MIS enthusiasts of the 1960s may appear quaintly conservative. It will indeed be possible for a high-level manager to oversee a large operation from a workstation in the executive suite. The workstation will serve as a gateway to the local office environ-

352 ABBE MOWSHOWITZ

ment as well as the wider world of the organization and beyond. From the workstation the manager will be able to communicate with co-workers, subordinates, and virtually anyone; reports and other forms of structured information will be available from databases resident on the network; and problem-solving and decision-making aids will be on tap as needed. The manager is not even likely to be called upon to type since practicable voice recognition systems are in the offing.

The significance of this synthesis is the availability of all these components of office infrastructure in a readily usable form. Many automated aids are currently available, but the barriers to use, such as the time required to master the peculiarities of diffcrcnt systems, limit their use- fulncss.

Every participant-not just managers-in the office of the future will be affected by automation. These effects will be examined in some detail in Section 5 .

3.4 On the Drive to Automate

On one level the driving force behind office automation can be under- stood in terms of the current quarter’s balance sheet. From this perspective, decisions of particular managers to install automated systems are motivated by the dcsirc for immediate returns, such as increased productivity, lower costs, better product quality or reliability, and tighter organizational control over office activities. But the immediate “bottom-line” concerns of managers tell only part of the story. The particular system designs that are chosen, their mode of implementation, and the way organizations adapt to the new systems define a pattern to which the decisions of individual managers adhere.

Surveying the scene from a vantage point more distant than the quar- terly balance sheet, one begins to discern such a pattern. Even more fundamental than the efficiency, quality, and managerial control promised by computcr-based systems is the unparalleled flexibility that can be achieved with the new technology. This holds for both the factory and the office. Programmable automation makes it possible to accommodate a full spectrum of different forms of work organization-a spectrum bounded at one extreme by centralized managerial control and at the other by complete autonomy for employees.

More striking yet is that the synthesis to be achieved by networking will support both ends of the spectrum at once. This is flexibility with a capital “F.” If there is a mystery here, it is only because distributed processing is too often confused with decentralization of control. A stockbroker operating from a workstation tied into his firm’s network may be better


equipped to serve his clients by the ability to check current prices with his terminal, to retrieve a customer’s portfolio from his company’s database, and to obtain information on stock price trends from a distant database (Giuliano, 1982). These capabilities may also give him a fair degree of autonomy in dealing with clients, but at the same time his superiors are better able to track his performance in generating commissions.

Distributed processing without loss of executive control is what defines the flexibility that management finds so attractive, above and beyond the immediate benefits of automation. We will return to this point in Sec- tion 6.

3.5 Summary

In this section we have surveyed contemporary office technology and pointed to likely future developments. Incremental change is the dominant approach to office automation. The office of the future with a network of workstations supporting a rich variety of communication and information processing functions will most likely emerge haltingly in stages.

Key areas of technological development are Decision Support Systems (DSS) and computer-mediated communications. DSS are indispensable to the effort to increase the productivity of professionals and managers. Computer-mediated communication-conferencing, in particular-has the potential to improve organizational effectiveness as well as efficiency.

The most significant feature of the distributed systems that will form the backbone of the office of the future is their ability to support functional and spatial decentralization. Management will be able to localize functions and distribute activities in different places withour sacrificing overall control.

4. Employment

4.1 Introduction Not surprisingly the impact of office automation on employment is a

highly charged issue. The specter of widespread unemployment resulting from automation has been with us for some time. When transfer lines first made their appearance in automobile manufacturing after World War 11, many observers predicted a hemorrhage of jobs. Now, as everyone knows, this did not happen-the resilient American economy created unprecedented numbers of new jobs.

354 ABBE MOWSHOWITZ

Past successes in job creation are cool comfort in the present situation. Some of the new jobs of the post-war period resulted from increased volumes of production in manufacturing. As automation reduced the labor input in manufacturing, prices could be reduced and thus markets increased. However, the new jobs resulting from increased volume of production constituted only a small percentage of the total. Most of them were created in the rapidly expanding service sector.

With office automation the “economic slack” that took the job creation pressure off manufacturing is fast disappearing. No sector of the economy is immune to the labor-reducing effects of automation. Primary (agriculture and extractive industries), secondary (manufacturing), and tertiary (services) sectors of the economy are all experiencing the impact of automation.

Of course, some new jobs will be created by the information industries responsible for automation. Moreover, new forms of economic activity that cannot be foreseen will come into being. However optimistic these prospects may seem, it must be remembered that advanced automation will apply to the information industry jobs and to the new forms of economic activity without prejudice.

The controversy surrounding office automation is not limited to its impact on employment levels. Automation has a pervasive and highly visible effect on the workplace and is a source of anxiety among employees and managers alike.

Whether or not there is much planning for the introduction of automated systems, they do occasion opportunities for modifying work procedures. Some job definitions are changed, different skills may be required, and supervisory relations are altered. The result is a different role structure and the beginnings of a new organizational culture. This kind of change is anxiety provoking for those most affected, namely, employees, supervisors, and middle managers.

In this section we will first examine the impact of office automation on employment levels. Then we will look at the job categories affected by computer-based systems and examine the question of skill changes. We will conclude with a discussion of career paths in the automated office.

4.2 Employment Levels

4.2.1 Methodological Problems

Projecting future employment levels in the automatcd office is not a simple matter of conducting some empirical research and drawing appro-


priate conclusions. A large number of studies have been conducted in recent years (Norman, 1980; Zeman, 1979), yet controversy continues to rage (Sadler, 1980). The classic techniques of case study and survey have limited applicability. Case studies cannot give an account of the net sectoral or industry-wide employment effects of technological change-to say nothing about cross-sectoral implications; and surveys fail to differentiate the impact of technology from the effects of related factors (such as changes in work organization) on employment.

Surveys are further hampered by the difficulty of obtaining data since employers often regard information about numbers of jobs affected by automation as highly sensitive. Longitudinal case studies could help to distinguish between transient and long-lasting effects of automation on employment, but few, if any, such studies have been conducted.

4.2.2 Need for Theory

These methodological problems place a premium on theoretical analysis. The centerpiece of any theory must be the long-term secular trend, in evidence throughout the industrialized world, toward reduced working time. The average work week in manufacturing has fallen from 67 hours in 1870 to just under 42 hours (Leontieff, 1982; U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1975). Thus, many millions of working hours have been withdrawn from the labor market (Leontieff, 1982).

If automation yields productivity gains-a small “if” since that in large part is what automation is all about-then it would appear at first glance that there would be fewer jobs to go around. On second thought one realizes that there are other considerations. These are ( I ) the possibility of larger markets for the fruits of automated production and (2) new economic activities associated with the process or tools of automation. Larger markets may result from decreased costs of production, improvements in product quality or functionality, better control of marketing and distribution, etc. New economic activities may be in manufacturing (e.g., hardware used in the automated office), services (e.g., repair and mainte- nance of equipment, electronic mail), or the information area (e.g., software, commercial databases). Many observers would agree with Peitchinis (1982) that information technology “is no different in its implications for society, the economy and employment than were all major technologies.”

Larger markets and new economic activities usually mean more jobs. Optimists point to the long-term growth in the labor market despite prodigious productivity increases in the primary and secondary sectors of the economy. But this employment growth is due only in part to economic

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growth; much of it comes from the shorter work week. Based on his extensive economic modeling efforts, Leontief (1982) foresees continued reductions in working hours resulting from employment declines associated directly or indirectly with automation.

The trend toward less time at work is still alive and kicking in Europe. The German Metal Workers Union called a strike in the summer of 1984 for a 35-hour week; after a work stoppage of about 2 months, union and management compromised on a 38.5-hour week, a reduction of 1.5 hours in the average work week (Business Week, 1984). Moreover, official union policy in most Western European countries is to push for a shorter work week, more vacation time, earlier retirement, and sabbatical leaves to give more people a chance at a job in face of increasing layoffs linked to automation (Trades Union Congress, 1979).

4.2.3 The Office’s Share of the Labor Market

The significance of office automation for the future of work is evident from the share of total employment represented by office workers. Ac- cording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (U.S. Department of Labor, 1980) there were 48.6 million white collar workers in 1978, constituting 49.8% of the total. By the Bureau’s most conservative estimate, this category of jobs will expand to 60.7 million or 50.9% of the total employed in 1990.

Table I shows the current and projected distributions of employment over major occupational groups.

According to these projections, the fastest growing occupational groups are scrvice, professional and technical, and clerical workers. Most of the growth in the service area is expected to be food service (e.g., waiter’s assistants) and health care jobs (e.g., nurses aides and medical assistants). The professional and technical group consists mainly of teachers, medical professionals, health technologists and technicians, engineers, and engineering and science technicians. The increase in this category will be largely in medical and health occupations; declines are expected in many teaching areas. Demand for clerical workers will be particularly strong in the private sector; little growth is anticipated in government employment (Nardone, 1984).

4.2.4 Limitations of Forecasting

The accuracy of unemployment forecasts depends on the accuracy of labor force projections, forecasts of economic and industry trends, and occupational estimates. Labor force projections by the Bureau of Labor


TABLE I

EMPLOYMENT B Y MAJOR OCCUPATIONAL GROUP, ACTUAL 1978, AND PROJECTION FOR 199(rJ

1978 ~

1990 Percentage

Occupational group (millions) Percentage (millions) Percentage 1978-1990 Number Number change

Total White collar workers

Professional and technical

Managers and adminis- trators

Saleworkers Clerical workers

Blue collar workers Service workers

Private household Other service

Farm workers

97.6 48.6 15.6

8.8

6.4 17.8 31.8 14.4

I .2 13.3 2.8

100.0 49.8 15.9

9.0

6.6 18.3 32.6 14.8

I .2 13.6 2.8

121.4 61.6 20.3

10.7

8. I 22.5 38.3 19.2

1 .o 18.2 2.3

100.0 50.7 16.7

8.8

6.7 18.5 31.6 15.8 0.8

15.0 I .9

24.4 26.7 30.4

21.3

25.8 26.4 20.5 33.3

- 14.9 37.6

- 16.3

(' From United States Department of Labor, 1980.

Statistics (BLS) are based on the extrapolation of past trends in work- force participation. This approach assumes that what has been happening is likely to continue-a sound assumption, but one that does not accommodate trend-shifts such as occurred in the work-force participation rates of men and women since 1950. BLS forecasts ran afoul of this trend-shift until corrections were made in 1976.

Economic and industry trends depend in part on labor force projections. BLS forecasts these trends by making assumptions about five key variables: fiscal policy, labor force growth, productivity growth, the unemployment rate, and price levels. Each of these variables is exceedingly complex and a potential source of error. BLS takes great pains to point out the pitfalls of economic forecasting and to warn those who use its results to take them cum g r a m salis.

Estimates of employment by occupation are based on an industry- occupation matrix describing the relationship of employment in 162 occupations and 124 industries. BLS reports that the difference between projected and actual employment in 1975 for the major occupational groups ranged from a 6.7% underestimate for clerical workers to a 9.1% overesti- mate for operatives. For particular occupations the errors were much

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greater, the average discrepancy being 20.8% (U.S. Department of Labor,

As indicators of broad trends, these forecasts and estimates are extremely useful, especially for short-term planning. The principal weak- ness of these and many other projections is their inability to anticipate discontinuities in economic, political, or social development. Extrapola- tions of historical trends miss demographic shifts such as the baby boom and socioeconomic changes such as radically altered male-female participation rates (Fullerton and Tschetter, 1983).

Particularly germane to office automation is the way in which survey- based forecasts handle technological change. BLS reports that estimates of productivity (employmcnt-output ratios) by industry were the largest source of error in the industry employment data (U.S. Department of Labor, 1982, p. 5) . This is not surprising since new technology is a key element in productivity, and simple extrapolations do not capture the revolutionary potential of new technology.

To be able to account for office automation’s effects o n employment, survey-based forecasts must be tempered by case studies and both empirical methods integrated into a theory that makes sense of fundamental historical changes. A large number of case studies must be conducted to sample the full range of conditions under which automation is evolving. Such conditions include industry setting, evolutionary stage, types of automation, implementation approaches, management-labor relations. Moreover, longitudinal studies are needed to distinguish between transient and steady-state effects.

1980, pp. 5-9).

4.2.5 Emerging Patterns in Office Employment

Two patterns are suggested by existing case studies of office automation. One may be characterized as the “jobless growth” syndrome, in which the number of employees increases slightly upon introduction of office technology but then levels off and remains stable as transaction volumes grow. The slight increase in employment, despite gains in productivity, may be explained by a substantial rise in the work load. Assum- ing the same growth in work load, more jobs would be created without automation. But this is a questionable assumption. Direct job reductions are often less important incentives to automate than:

1. Reduced costs (e.g., lower word processing or typesetting costs). 2. Improved cash management (e.g., more rapid cash flow may reduce

3. Greater efficiency (e.g., data entry at the source-meter reading, borrowing costs or result in considerable short-term interest income).


direct entry of transaction information-can eliminate intermediate recording steps).

4. Reduced overtime and casual labor to handle peak loads (Wilkins, 1982).

A second pattern involves the use of office automation to make substantial job cuts. Citibank’s automation of the procedure for issuing letters of credit is a compelling example (Matteis, 1979). The preautomation procedure required at least 13 people to handle over 30 processing steps in a 3-day period. After automation, one employee working on a VDT linked to a minicomputer-based system could process a request the same day it was made. The system was phased in over a ldmonth period, but the ground was prepared a year before the implementation started. The Let- ter of Credit Department staff was reduced from 142 to 100 in this prepar- atory period. Additional major staff reductions were made during the first 3 months of the implementation.

4.2.6 Policy Positions on Office Employment

It should go without saying, but does not, that a theory is essential for interpreting the results of surveys and case studies. The familiar division of observers into optimists and pessimists is simple minded and counter- productive. Observers who invoke such a division typically promote themselves as voices of moderation and reason who eschew extreme positions. By implication, those labeled optimists or pessimists are dis- credited and discounted, a neat ideological trick. On closer inspection, the moderates turn out to be proxies for the optimists, and the pessimists are the bad guys.

Unemployment is a politically sensitive issue and the principals-business people, managers, labor leaders, workers, public officials, and researchers-in the debate on automation have vested interests or represent those who have such interests in the outcome (Mowshowitz, 1981, 1982). Business interests and their entourage in government and academia who stand to benefit from automation are its most vocal supporters (Branscomb, 1982; Giuliano, 1982; Poppel, 1979; Spinrad, 1982); labor and allied groups with something to lose from automation are its staunch- est critics (Gregory and Nussbaum, 1982; Hanauer, 1981; Hines and Searle, 1979; Kraft, 1977; Noble, 1983). A clearly articulated theory would bring to the surface the assumptions and biases that derive from vested interests. The contending parties could then debate issues of substance rather than calumniating or ignoring each other. This, of course, calls for the lions and lambs to lie down together in harmony.

360 ABBE MOWSHOWITZ

Intense competition in the international marketplace makes the achievement of such harmony appear naive indeed. “High tech” has become the battle cry in the race for market share. The term itself may have become overexposed by the time this article appears in print, but the faith on which the commitment to high-tech development rests will remain intact for some time. An article of this faith is the belief that economic growth necessarily entails employment growth. This is an unfortu- nate myth. Levin and Rumberger (1983) and Riche et ul. (1984) point out that the growth of job opportunities for engineers, computer specialists, and other high-technology professionals will greatly exceed the average, but these occupations will account for a mere 7% of all new jobs in the 1980s.

Policy initiatives to stimulate development and application of advanced technology-office automation, in particular-may constitute the best strategy to improve the competitiveness of American industry. However, the belief in attendant employment benefits is misguided. In addition to being wrong, it promotes a false sense of security and an unwillingness to face the likelihood of increasing unemployment. As Gotlieb (1980) observed, “computers are job killers and the sooner we accept this, the sooner we will start to deal with the implications effectively.”

4.3 Changing Skill Requirements

4.3.1 Secretaries and Clerks

Automation-induced changes in the skills needed for office jobs depend on how work is organized as well as on what equipment is used. If, for example, a secretary’s job remains essentially unchanged except that typing is done on a word processor rather than on a typewriter, some new skills will be acquired and some old ones abandoned, but there appears to be little change in the level of skill involved. Similarly, the shift from mechanical to electronic filing and retrieving requires manipulation of a keyboard rather than a file drawer, but thc complexity of the respective tasks seems comparable. In these cases a new technology substitutes for an old one, but the job itself is not redefined.

Differences in skill levels should perhaps not be treated so cavalierly since office workers may perceive such differences to be significant. However, the issue is not easily resolved on this basis since perceptions are notoriously variable. Experienced typists see a loss of skills in word processing because, for example, they attach considerable importance to their ability to lay out text on a page and to use various special features of


a typewriter. Newcomers, having no stake in the old technology, do not share this view (Evans, 1982).

One objective measure of skill level is the amount of training required to master a skill. This measure suggests that there is little difference between typewriters and word processors for straightforward business correspondence. A few days to a couple of weeks of training are needed to master such correspondence on a word processor. Learning how to prepare a complex document takes 3-6 months (Wilkins, 1982). This suggests a higher level skill, but such document preparation involves more than a simple substitution of one technology for another-a change in job definition may be involved.

When work is restructured there is more opportunity for making significant changes in skill requirements. The only change in the cases of secretarial and filing jobs cited above was the equipment used to perform the worker’s tasks. If changes are made in the tasks themselves or their scheduling, or if the pacing, employee control, or supervision are altered, the definition of the job and the level of skill required may also be changed.

Word processing makes it possible, and to some managers desirable, to split secretarial work into typing and administrative tasks. The aim of this fragmentation is of course to increase productivity in the classical way, to wit, by reducing a complex task into simpler components that require less skill and training. If successful such a program would create a higher skilled job for a few secretaries and a lower skilled job for the vast major- ity who now hold that title.

Skill is but one of several closely related job characteristics including variety, monitoring, discretion, etc. that are affected by automation. For all of these, the impact of technology is mediated by changes in the organization of work, and these depend on the choices of management in the deployment of new technology.

4.3.2 Professionals and Managers

It is harder to fragment managerial and professional jobs than clerical ones because the former are relatively unstructured (or nonprogrammed). But the difficulties are not insurmountable. As Kraft (1978) has shown, prepackaged programs, structured programming methods, and chief programmer teams have been used quite effectively to fragment and deskill programming jobs. That programmers’ capabilities are enormously enhanced by sophisticated workstations (Verity, 1985) does not negate Kraft’s argument.

Comparable divide-and-conquer techniques are applicable to most, if

362 ABBE MOWSHOWITZ

not all, jobs. New technology and organization make it possible to transform nonprogrammed tasks into programmed tasks. This possibility has been actualized in many different settings since the earliest days of computer applications. Inventory control systems, for example, automated stock-replacement decisions, thus reducing some inventory control managers’ functions to the handling of exceptional cases.

Despite such developments, the impact of office automation on the skill requirements of professionals and managcrs has not been very pro- nounced. Management Information Systems (MIS) were introduced in the 1960s with much fanfare and great expectations (Kriebel, 1972; Mowsho- witz, 1976). MIS did not livc up to those great expectations, and management was not revolutionid (Hoob, 1983). This is of course not to deny that steady progress has been made in the development of information systems to aid in problem solving and decision making. MIS is now a part of the larger concept of DSS, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that many of the expectations of the MIS pioneers will eventually be realized.

Office automation has produced changes in specific skill necds. Profes- sionals and managers at all but the highest levels are under pressure to learn how to use word processing systems, computer-based communications, and specialized programs such as spread sheet graphics and file management systems. Moreover, a number of new job categories-computer programmer, systems specialist, computer operator, telecommunications specialist, etc.-associated with the development and use of office technology have come into existence.

Whether or not these changes in specific skills imply a net difference in the level of skills in the office is debatable. What may be more significant than modified skill levels is an apparent increase in the rate of obsolescence of skills (Armer, 1972). Technical university lore has it that the skills of an electrical engineer remain fully current for about 5 years after graduation. Something similar holds for a number of engineering and computer science specialties. With rapidly changing technology, adapt- ability (or educability) is at a premium, both for employers and for employees (Newsweek, 1983).

4.4 Altered Career Paths

Job fragmentation limits the number of career paths open to an employee. A word processing operator has fewer opportunities for advancement than a secretary. This is a valid comparison because, as explained earlier, secretarial work is being split into word processing and administrative functions. Thus, the employee who might have become a secretary, but because of automation winds up as an operator of word process-


ing equipment, will have a more limited career horizon. “ C . Wright Mills’ (1951) account of female clerical work as replaceable, mechanized and standardized work still holds true today” (Iacono and Kling, 1984).

The pathway into management may be opened for the administrative secretary, an opportunity resulting in part from the split in traditional secretarial work. However, the word processing operator may find it more difficult to become an administrative secretary than a traditional secretary would. Changes in career paths will follow changes in work organization. The career ladder for clerical workers whose tools are enhanced by computer-based systems is very different from that of workers consigned to fragmented tasks in centralized operations such as word processing pools.

Office automation may reinforce the need for dual (i.e., managerial and technical) career ladders for professionals. As suggested earlier, specialized training can be an impediment to career advancement if technical-to- managerial crossovers are inhibited. Since students take account of these factors in making their career choices, an appropriate incentive structure will be needed to guarantee an adequate supply of technically trained professionals.

One persistent trend in computerization has been the disappearance of middle management positions. If this continues, the management career ladder will increasingly develop missing rungs, making it more difficult to assure a good supply of seasoned talent for the executive suite.

4.5 Summary

In this section we have tried to make sense of a complex and troubling aspect of office automation. The impact of automation on employment is a politically charged issue with high stakes, not only for office workers but for the communities in which people live and work.

The discussion was divided into three parts: (1) employment levels, (2) skill requirements, and (3) career paths. There have been many studies of automation’s effect on employment levels, but the results are inconclu- sive and the issue remains controversial. Both surveys and case studies have methodological weaknesses, and forecasts must always be taken with a large grain of salt. Nevertheless, we do have some reliable knowledge about employment. We know that the average work week in manufacturing declined nearly 40% from the late nineteenth century to World War 11, and the decline was largely a consequence of productivity gains made possible by technological advances. We also know that the effects of automation are no longer limited to one sector of the economy, which means that displacement will not be balanced by employment opportuni-

364 ABBE MOWSHOWITZ

ties in the way that the growth of service jobs absorbed manufacturing declines in the past. Since productivity increase is the name of the office automation game, it is clear that the most likely scenario is mounting unemployment.

Automation is altering skill requirements in the office. The change is most evident in clerical work, but professional and managerial jobs are also affected. Clerical work is being fragmented and deskilled in order to create production systems to handle large volumes of office transactions, such as check posting and claims processing. Although the traditional secretary is not yet an endangered species, many secretarial jobs have been split into administrative and word processing functions. Managers and professionals are having to learn to do many things for themselves. Composing reports on a word processor rather than writing them by hand or dictating them into a tape recorder eliminates a whole step in the document creation process. Managerial and professional jobs are susceptible to fragmentation, but they are yielding very slowly. Career paths too are affected by automation as intermediate positions on various career ladders vanish.

1

5. The Work Environment

5.1 Introduction

the social status hierarchy white collar work occu ies a higher position than blue collar work. The criteria that determine this relationship have something to do with the physical working environment-danger, noise, cleanliness, etc.-but the key is discipline. Unlike factory workers, office employees do not punch time clocks and they are not paced by the inexorable workings of an assembly line. The importance of these differences is highlighted by some individuals’ choice of office employment that pays less than factory jobs they could have.

Unfolding in the office today is a conflict between two traditions. In seeking to control costs and ensure high quality products and services, managers look to the accomplishments of the factory system. The main lesson of the factory is the application of the divide-and-conquer principle to the organization of work. Application of this principle in the office is perceived by employees as a threat to whatever control they currently exercise over their work. In its most polarized form the conflict surfaces as a battle over management’s alleged efforts to turn the office into what employees believe to be a factory.


As noted before the chief manifestation of automation in today’s office is word processing. This application illustrates task fragmentation to the extent that routine typing tasks are separated from the administrative work of the traditional secretary. But many other aspects of work organization in the office are also affected. In what follows we will examine automation-linked changes in the quality of work life of different participants in the office. Then we will turn to the impact of computer applications on patterns of communication and interaction. A particularly important element here is the possibility of remote work with all that this implies for the spatial organization of office functions. Finally, we will investigate the controversy over health and safety issues connected with working on VDTs and conclude with a discussion of the policies of organized labor.

5.2 Quality of Work Life

5.2.1 Methods and Biases

The introduction of new technology in the office creates opportunities for redesigning jobs and reorganizing operations. In addition to the employment and skills issues treated in the previous section, office automation raises questions about the quality of work life. Although there is some ambiguity in the term, quality considerations typically include job satisfaction, security, autonomy, relations with superiors and co-workers, participation in office decision making, and related issues. Some observers also include health and safety questions; they are treated under a separate heading here because of the widespread concern over the consequences of working with VDTs.

The issues listed above are obviously not independent. Security and autonomy, for example, usually affect perceptions of job satisfaction. Moreover, the territory can be carved up in many different ways. The terms used in the discussion of quality of work life reflect, directly or indirectly, the ideological dimensions of labor-management relations. Despite some shared expectations and areas of agreement on office automation, labor and management continue to be adversaries in this new arena. Some researchers have an easily identifiable affinity with one or the other of the contestants; others adopt a neutral stance, but it is difficult to avoid taking sides.

Experimental designs sometimes serve as a means to distance oneself from one’s own biases. This appears to be the case with a survey conducted by Kling (1978). A set ofjob characteristics based on a diagnostic

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instrument developed by Hackman and Oldham (1975) was used to survey a group of clerks, data analysts, and managers in city government offices. The job characteristics used in that survey were skill variety, job pressure, feedback from the job, opportunity to work with others, closeness of supervision, and task significance. The study was intended to provide systematic empirical evidence on questions of the computer’s impact on work life.

The results led Kling to conclude that computers have differential effects on workers. Different classes of workers are affected differently under different conditions. In particular, he found that “computing and supervision do not necessarily go hand in hand,” a conclusion at variance with earlier results and with much speculation on computers in the workplace. Of course, given the richness and variety of human experience, disconfirming instances can be found to falsify almost any hypothesis about social systems. The trick is to construct hypotheses-e.g., that computers and supervision go hand-in-hand-that allow for simple but cogent explanations and reliable predictions. Extensive catalogs of the minutiae of social interaction are useful as sources for hypothesis formation but do not in themselves constitute knowledge of society. They may also obscure major conflicts between contending parties such as management and labor.

Bikson and Gutek (1983) surveyed white collar workers to “determine how information technology is successfully incorporated into white collar work.” Their findings clearly reflect an emphasis on successful uses of the technology. Not surprisingly, those surveyed touted the positive effects of information technology on the quality of their work and their productivity. Complaints were heard about the office environment but not about system functionality.

The case study approach provides more opportunities than the survey method for direct expression of personal values and hiascs. Williams (1983), in an examination of several office automation projects in the private sector, focused on questions of employee participation in the redesign of work organization. The main issues discussed were democra- tization of work, opportunities to acquire new skills. increased employee interaction (autonomous work groups), and challenging and meaningful work. Although by no means inherent to the method, this example shows how the investigator’s central concerns can bias a case study. The one cited here appears to be in the labor camp; far more side with management. The imbalance results from the (not very surprising) fact that far more research is being conducted in management-oriented circles than in pro-labor environments.


5.2.2 Management vs Labor

Despite their adversarial relationship, management and labor do have common stakes in office automation. Insofar as satisfied employees make more productive workers, management may share labor’s interest in improving the quality of work life. Mumford (1967, 1972, 1982), a management scientist, has long urged the adoption of worker-sensitive attitudes toward the implementation of computer-based systems in the office. By involving workers in the design process, management could avail itself of a potentially valuable pool of knowledge, skills, and experience. In addition, by taking account of the needs and desires of the principal users of office systems, the likelihood of achieving the intended productivity gains might be increased. It is assumed here that workers will continue to be needed to operate the new systems.

Management does not always heed the advice of Mumford and others. This is evident from the complaints of labor spokespersons (e.g., Gregory and Nussbaum, 1982) and management-oriented observers (e.g., Turner, 1981) alike. Indeed, Turner (1981) claims that “[wlhen computer-based application systems are introduced into clerical jobs, these jobs tend to become poorer.” This happens because design decisions are made by technical personnel who consider job design to be someone else’s responsibility. As a result, “management is missing an opportunity to use these new systems as organization development strategies.”

Management may be missing an opportunity to make jobs better, but this does not necessarily imply that office automation is not being used as part of organization development strategies. The most that can be inferred is that the design of “good jobs” is not a high priority. Perhaps management is taking advantage of the opportunities for redesigning jobs to transform them along the lines of factory work-Giuliano’s (1982) industrial stage of office organization-so that technology can be used in the office to increase productivity and control through fragmentation. There is little evidence to suggest that management is reaching for what Giuliano (1982) calls information-age office organization.

5.2.3 Rationalization of Clerical Work

As observed earlier, clerical work has thus far absorbed the bulk of the changes brought about by office automation (Giuliano, 1982; Gregory and Nussbaum, 1982; Iacono and Kling, 1984; Schlefer, 1983). Computer- based systems have made it possible to segregate operations such as check and credit card processing in so-called “back offices.” Word pro-

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cessing has allowed for reorganizing the typing function. Computerized file management systems have replaced many mechanical filing systems.

These changes have been designed to rationalize production in the office. The poorer jobs noted by Turner are one result. Rationalization begins with what Adam Smith characterized 200 years ago as division of labor, Smith’s explanation of the benefits of division of labor is a literate statement of the justification used by contemporary managers for automating clerical work. These benefits are “owing to three different circumstances: first, to the increase of dexterity in every particular workman; secondly, to the saving of time which is commonly lost in passing from one species of work to another; and, lastly, to the invention of a great number of machines which facilitate and abridge labour and enable one man to do the work of many” (Schneider, 1948, p. 341).

The division of labor also makes it possible to replace one set of workers by another earning lower wages. Smith failed to mention this attractive feature, an omission corrected by Babbage (1832) a half-century later. Braverman (1974, pp. 80-81) explains Babbage’s principle in the following way:

[I]n a socicty based upon the purchase and sale of labor power, dividing the craft cheapens its individual parts .... [Babbage’s principle] gives expression not to a technical aspect of the division oTlahor, hut to its social aspect. Insofar as the labor process may be dissociated, it may be separated into elements some of which are simpler than others and each of which is simpler than the whole. Translated into market terms, this nicans that the labor power capable of performing the process may he purchased more cheaply a s dissociated elements than as a capacity integrated in a single worker. (Copyright 0 1974 by llarry Braverman. Reprinted by permission of Monthly Review Foundation.)

The insights of Smith and Babbage were elaborated and refined at the end of the nineteenth century by Frederick W. Taylor (1967), the founder of scientific management. Braverman (1974) encapsulates scientific management in three principles: (1) the dissociation of the labor process from the skills of the workers, (2) the separatioii of a task’s conception and planning from its execution, and (3) the use of the monopoly over knowledge of the work process to control each step and its mode of execution.

Centralized word processing and data entry illustrate these principles in the office. By splitting secretarial work into typing and nontyping activities, it is possible to create a closely supervised word processing pool to take care of all or most of an office’s typing needs. Following Babbage’s principle, secretary-typists can be replaced by lower-cost operators, thus reducing the overall costs of typing. Iacono and Kling (1984) claim that many large organizations today operate with a mixed mode of centralized


word processing and more traditional arrangements wherein secretaries use word processing in their local environments. In view of the organizational traumas involved in implementing centralized word processing and the continuing need for traditional secretaries in a variety of special situations, this is to be expected. Socio-technical change does not proceed in strictly linear fashion.

The organization of data entry presents a similar picture. With the spread of computer applications, the data recording tasks once done by high-level clerks and professionals (e.g., insurance agents, claims adjus- tors, and loan officers) have been identified as a new specialty to be performed by data entry clerks. This specialty being less skilled than that of the insurance agent, etc., the wages are correspondingly lower.

5.2.4 Paths to Automation and Implications for Clerical Jobs

Although there are many possible paths to office automation, the road charted by Smith, Babbage, and Taylor seems to be irresistable to managers. There are, of course, exceptions wherein tasks are integrated rather than differentiated, but the trend toward division of labor is firmly entrenched in practice and solidly based in theory. Yes, the impact of automation on quality of working life depends on how the technology is implemented, as experts on human-machine interfaces contend (Chapanis, 1984). Decentralized word processing, for example, gives secretaries an opportunity to appreciate the utility of the technology. How- ever, there is little basis for supposing a free choice among the paths to the automated office (Mowshowitz, 1985). The situation is reminiscent of the Second Law of Thermodynamics: despite local decreases, the entropy of the universe is always increasing.

Information technology is being used to transform the office into a well- oiled, efficient, and reliable production system. This is inexorable, just as the computer is indispensable to modern society. “The belief in the indis- pensability of the computer is not entirely mistaken .... [Ilts enthusiastic, uncritical embrace by the most progressive elements of American government, business, and industry quickly made it a resource essential to society’s survival in the form that the computer itself had been instrumental in shaping” (Weizenbaum, 1976, pp. 28-29).

In practical terms the legacy of Smith, Babbage, and Taylor for clerical workers is the factory system of production suitably modified for use in the office. Rationalization means less variety on the job, raised production quotas, diminished opportunities for advancement, reduced status, increased supervision, isolation, and shift work (Evans, 1982; Gregory and Nussbaum, 1982; Howard, 1980; Wagenaar, 1985).

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The use of information readily available from terminals or workstations to monitor the behavior of clerical workers has implications for personal privacy. According to Westin (1979, p. ix), “only a small minority of employers in the country have installed comprehensive policies governing privacy, confidentiality and employee access rights in their personnel files.” Given the substantial amount of information about employees that can be generated in the process of monitoring and then find its way into personnel records, the need for such policies is more urgent than ever (Westin and Baker, 1972). Legal remedies arc currently inadequate (Pri- vacy Protection Study Commission, 1977). Most privacy protection stat- utes at the federal and state levels apply only to government information systems (Smith, 1979). We will return to the monitoring issue in Section 6 .

5.2.5 Automation of Professional and Managerial Work

No class of workers is exempt from the drive to increase productivity through application of the time-tcsted principles of Smith, Babbage, and Taylor. Professionals and managers are only marginally less susceptible than clerks. Thus far computerization has been limited to relatively routine tasks. Zuboff (1982) gives the example of an automated collection system designed to increase productivity by limiting a collector’s control over “how or in what order he or she should work on an account.” The system enabled management to maintain tighter control of the collectors and to hire less skilled people to do the job.

In a survey of 620 claims representatives in the Social Security Admin- istration, Turner (1984) found evidcnce of increased mental strain, greater absenteeism, and less job satisfaction among those using an on-line system to access claimant records. The group using the on-line system was compared with one using a less flexible, serial-processing interface to the computer containing claimant records. The more advanced on-line system allowed workers to conduct more interviews per day and thus to interact with more clients. Ironically, the additional interaction affordcd by the technically supcrior system became a source of stress and dissatis- faction.

Turner argues that his results accord with the commonly reported finding of a negative correlation between technology-induced improvements in productivity or product quality, on the one hand, and the quality of jobs, on the other hand. “The benefits of productivity improvements usually accrue to management while the costs of reduced work-life quality are paid by workers” (Turner, 1984, p. 1217). It should be added that, as automation evolves, such costs are likely to be paid by progressively higher levels of professional and managerial workers in the office.

The principal reason for the trade-off between productivity and job


quality is not, contrary to Turner’s claim, the technical specialists’ lack of understanding of the impact of technology on jobs. The technical specialists who implement computer-based systems take their cues from management and by and large share management’s view of what it takes to improve productivity and the quality of products. The degradation of work resulting from the application of Smith, Babbage, and Taylor is no accident.

5.3 Patterns of Communication and Interaction

5.3.1 Implications of Computer-Based Conferencing

Automation is changing the way people communicate and interact with each other in the office. Some of the changes taking place are direct; others are indirect consequences of new technology. Computer-based communication systems-electronic mail, tele- and video-conferencing, and computer conferencing-have a direct impact on social interaction and communication. Although the telephone serves as model and prece- dent for these systems, they greatly extend the power of the telephone and add new dimensions to communications. Indirect effects of office automation are mediated by changes in work organization. For example, when word processing is centralized, interaction between typist and document originator is much less than it would be in a traditional office.

Discussion of computer-based communication systems in the office centers on the functions they support and their degree of impersonality. Electronic mail eliminates the sipultaneity constraint of ordinary telephone communication, thus wiping out the plague of “telephone tag.” Since there is no voice contact in electronic mail, one might argue that this form of communication is more impersonal than the telephone.

Tele-conferencing is an extension of telephony. Video-conferencing en- hances telephone communication by transmitting video images of the conferees. These techniques are designed mainly for inter- as opposed to intraoffice communications and sometimes substitute for face-to-face meetings, thus reducing the need for travel. Remote conferencing does not appear to be an adequate substitute for direct interaction in cases involving complex or sensitive negotiations such as in the exploratory phase of contract discussions.

Computer conferencing combines electronic mail with other network facilities (Hiltz and Turoff, 1978). It permits groups of conferees to communicate with each other without having to be in the same place at the same time. In addition, conference participants have access to a range of network resources such as word processing and database management systems. Conferencing makes it possible to structure computer-mediated

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communication and thus helps to avoid “information overload” (Hiltz and Turoff, 1985). It provides the means for multiparty discussions of complex issues over extended periods.

Turoff (1985) recommends using this technology to form “information marketplaces” within organizations. He claims that by treating information as a free market good, productivity could be increased (e.g., by ending internal monopolies of information resources) and costs lowered (e.g., by making matrix management more effective). This idea is in tune with the trend toward the privatization and commercialization of information analyzed by Schiller (1981).

5.3.2 Abstractification of Work

The indirect effects of computer-based systems in the office may be more significant than their direct impacts on social interaction. All these technologies underwrite the computer terminal as the new focus of activity in the office (Zuboff, 1982). Instead of working with fellow employees, office personnel are increasingly interacting with computer terminals, Zu- boff illustrated this effect with a banking example. As a result of the reorganization of a certain back office function, a clerical worker could complete an entire procedure at a workstation. Formerly the procedure consisted of a sequence of operations performed by more than one pcrson.

Technology-related changes in communication and social interaction in the automated office are of two kinds. First, the new technologies expand the scope of the telephone and ordinary mail by providing a range of electronic alternatives to face-to-face interaction. Second, computer- based systems make it possible to reorganize work around the computer terminal, thus reducing opportunities for social interaction between employees.

Both types of change make life at work more abstract by inserting technology between the human being and the world of experience. In their mediating role, computer systems create a new reality which differs from the conventional one. It is not surprising that few workers feel comfortable when first confronted with this abstract reality. But the new world of computer-mediated work is not entirely alien. Reliance upon information from databases for one’s construction of reality is a straightforward extension of scientific abstraction from direct experience. Just how far social organization can go in placing mediating layers of technology between human beings and what philosophers call the world of direct experience is unclear.


5.4 Telecommuting

5.4.1 The Possibilities

Information technology has created new possibilities for office employees to perform their work outside the office and at times other than normal working hours. If most of one’s job can be performed at a computer terminal or workstation linked to an office information system, then essentially all one needs is a terminal and a telephone. It follows that one could in principle work anywhere these needs are met. Arrangements wherein employees use communication networks to access computer resources at the office from remote locations is generally called relecom- muting (Eder, 1983).

Although only a very small proportion of the work force is currently engaged in it, telecommuting is growing in popularity. Management finds it attractive because of the possibility of reducing expenditures on office space and employee fringe benefits. Some employees, especially professionals such as computer programmers, like the flexibility afforded by remote work. Some women with young children choose to telecommute from home in order to supervise their children while working. All proponents of remote work can point to the reductions in energy consumption that would result if fewer people commuted to work (Nilles et al., 1976).

Telecommuting is a species of remote work, i.e., work conducted outside the office and unconstrained by office hours. In general, remote work need not involve communication with office computer systems. An employee who completes a project report on a typewriter at home is engaged in a form of remote work. However, it is doubtful that anyone would be paying attention to remote work were it not for the technical feasibility of telecommuting. Without computer communications there would be no effective method for supervising employees at remote locations.

Olson (1983) describes four types of remote work. These are (1) satellite work centers, (2) neighborhood work centers, (3) flexible work arrangements, and (4) work at home. The satellite work center is an office hous- ing a relatively self-contained division of an organization. Such a center would be located within convenient commuting distance of as many employees as possible. The neighborhood work center is a kind of satellite center designed to be used by employees from several different organizations. This type of remote work is heavily dependent on communications networks for coordination and supervision. Flexible work arrangements denote organizational policies intended to accommodate a variety of personal and career needs from the sharing ofjobs to occasionally working at

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home. The last category-work at home-offers an employce the option of working at home on a regular basis.

5.4.2 Management Motives and Consequences for Labor

Telecommuting, like office automation in general, defines an unequal contest between labor and management. Seen as an extension of rationalization applied to the spatial and temporal dimensions of work, this should come as no surprise. Remote work was an option long before telecommuting became feasible, but it was not seriously entertained by management in the absence of effective means for supervising employees. After all, why reorganize work unless there is reasonable expectation of a measurable increase in productivity and efficiency? Remote work arrangements are now being adopted precisely because telecommuting af- fords a means of supervision; whether or not supervision is actually used in a particular case is less important than its availability.

Management's objective in the contcst is clear, howevcr, muddy may bc the means to achieve it. Employees' objectives are not at all clear. This- together with differences in resources, power, and organization-makes the contest unequal. Employees are attractcd by the flexibility of remote work, and for some the arrangement may live up to expectations. How- ever, the quality of work life is inevitably compromised by diminished employee benefits, isolation of thc remote workplacc, reduced opportunities for collective bargaining, wages based on piece rates, and the impersonal supervision of computerized monitoring. Fears of the erosion of New Deal labor legislation (Morfand Alexander, 1984) are far from para- noid. A likely picture of the future is a small number of elite managers and professionals enjoying remote work as one of the perks of success, coun- terbalanced by a large number of poorly paid, low status telecommuters performing routine, repetitive tasks.

5.5 Health and Safety

The major health and safety issues in office automation have to do with the cffects of working on VDTs. A few years ago thc main concern was potential radiation hazards. Much of that concern was laid to rest by the results of a study conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). In a report published in 1981 NlOSH concluded that there is no radiation hazard to pcrsons working at or near V D i s (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1981). However, there is still uncertainty about thc long-term effects of extensive daily exposure to VDTs (Hanauer, 1981).


As VDTs have become nearly ubiquitous, several other health-related problems have surfaced, These problems are linked to the features of VDTs and the design of workstations and to the way the equipment is used in work. Anyone who has spent several uninterrupted hours staring intently at a VDT is likely to affirm the problem of eye strain. VDT operators have also complained of fatigue, back pains, and a variety of stress-related problems stemming from their work on terminals. NIOSH has recommended a 15-minute break for every 2 hours on a terminal.

Equipment features that are relevant to these complaints include screen brightness, character definition, noise, keyboard design, etc. ; workstation design factors include lighting, position of screen, seating arrangement, spacing of workstations, etc. Although much remains to be learned about optimal VDT and workstation design, enough is known to do a better job at alleviating some of the common complaints of operators. Ignorance of the problem and sheer orneriness may be partly to blame for the use of poorly designed workstations, but the chief culprit is an inability or unwillingness to spend what is required for the best designs.

Stress-the scourge of the white collar world-is now perceived as the chief health-related worry of office workers. The causes go beyond VDT and workstation design to the organization of work. Stress is the great leveler of the office, affecting managers and professionals as well as clerical workers. As explained above, automation plays a role in providing opportunities to redefine jobs. More often than not, redefined jobs are worse jobs. Reduced variety, closer monitoring and supervision, greater performance demands, reduced opportunity for social interaction, and other features of fragmented work may contribute to stress (Gregory and Nussbaum, 1982; Howard, 1980; Wagenaar, 1985). But new generations of office workers may come to accept this discipline, as factory workers have, and the symptoms of stress just might disappear.

5.6 Policy of Organized Labor

5.6.1 American vs European Approaches to Labor Relations

Outside of government relatively few office workers are organized. However, the positions taken by labor unions and associations represent- ing clerical and other office workers signal important agendas for those who work in offices. It would be idle to speculate on the prospects for success of various organizing drives, but it is not idle to examine the policy initiatives of organized labor inasmuch as it is the only coherent force in opposition to management in the evolution of office automation.

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Despite some attempts to deal with control and participation in decision making, most of the efforts of organized labor have focused on the traditional concerns of labor unions, i.e., wages, physical working conditions, health and safety, etc. The American labor scene contrasts sharply with that of Western Europe, especially West Germany and the Scandinavian countries. The Europeans have adopted so-called codetermination laws that require a portion-usually one-third to one-half-of the board of directors of each large corporation to be elected by labor, with the stock- holders represented by the remainder (Leontieff, 1982). One major consequence of codetermination is a policy of joint labor-management responsibility for implementing and operating new technology (Hedberg, 1978; Nygaard, 1980). By contrast, the only formal role of American labor in the introduction of new technology is the right of advance notice in some collective agreements.

An example of joint labor-management responsibility for technological change is the general agreement between the Norwegian Federation of Trade Unions and the Norwegian Employers’ Confederation governing the development, introduction, and use of computer-based systems. The agreement covers systems affecting employees and their working conditions. It calls for giving employees access to planning information and for involving them directly in the process of computerization (Nygaard, 1980).

Activist elements in the American labor movement are calling for greater union participation in technological change along European lines: (1) union experts to evaluate new technology and its impact on work, (2) education of the rank-and-file members about present and future effects of automation on the workplace, and (3) sharing of productivity gains with workers through a shorter work week, longer vacations, and more breaks during the work day.

Whether or not codetermination is viable in the American scene, the European approach of joint labor-management initiatives is instructive for dealing with potential conflicts over technological change. One of the ironies of office automation is that unilateral decisions about new technology are being made in the office at a time when factory managers appear to be getting serious about involving workers in the innovation process. Worker participation in decision making and workplace democracy are important issues for both management and labor (Taylor, 1977; Zwerd- ling, 1978).

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) has adopted a “New Technology Bill of Rights” that could serve as a model for labor participation in decisions concerning technological change (IAM, 1984). The IAM has proposed that Congress amend the National Labor Relations Act, the Railway Labor Act, and other appro-


priate acts to establish a national labor policy through a New Technology Bill of Rights. Among the provisions of this Bill of Rights are guarantees that: unit labor cost savings and labor productivity gains be shared with workers, companies compensate the community for technological unemployment, displaced workers are entitled to training for new jobs, adequate care is taken to protect the health and safety of workers from potential hazards of new technology, and workers have the right to partic- ipate in the deliberations and decisions affecting all aspects of the introduction, deployment, and use of new technology in the workplace. This is a far-reaching proposal, one that appears remote from what labor and management can agree upon in the American office today.

5.6.2 Organizing Problems and the Aims of Office Workers

Clerical workers are in a particularly weak position since very few are organized. Only 11% of all clerical workers belong to unions; in the private sector a mere 6% are organized. Thus, office automation has met with little resistance, despite numerous complaints from VDT operators (New York Times, 1984).

The main focus of organizing efforts has been on increased pay and opportunities for advancement. Rapid development of office automation could aid unionization if management fails to respond to the causes of resistance to change. A significant development in the drive to organize office workers was the formation in 1981 of District 925. Working Women, a Cleveland-based Association of Women Clerical Workers, joined forces with the 850,000 member Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to form District 925. A major aim of this new union is the organization of the nearly 20 million female clerical workers in the United States.

Organizing efforts face formidable problems. According to Serrin (1984), “the strike, the traditional weapon of workers and unions, has no power. With computerized equipment, work at one office can easily be transferred to other sites.” He quotes a District 925 organizer on the reason for not using the strike as a weapon in the drive to organize an office of the Equitable Life Assurance Society in Syracuse, New York: “We can’t strike Equitable. With this technology, they could flick a switch, and the work could be in Kansas City. This changes the whole nature of organizing.”

Thus far unions have done little to challenge management’s right to introduce new technology in the office. Organized labor has confined itself to short-term, Limited issues, such as wages, benefits, and health and safety-issues over which management has been willing to bargain.

According to a survey produced for the AFL-CIO Professional Em-

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ployees Department, fewer than 20% of all contracts have any provisions for dealing with technological change. Typical contract clauses deal with ( 1 ) notification of impending technological change that might result in displacement of workers, (2) layoffs of workers currently employed, (3) substantial changes in jobs, (4) changes in job classification that might result in pay reductions, (5 ) retraining programs, and (6) health and safety issues, especially pertaining to VDTs. Unions generally do not partici- pate in the early stages of planning for technological change, nor have they challenged management’s traditional right to make unilateral decisions about design of jobs, use of technology, organization of work, and supervision of workers (Hanauer, 1981).

The ability of unions to organize office workers and bargain with management is highly dependent on economic conditions. Competition from foreign manufacturers has reduced the market share of some domestic producers and has also reduced employment. Such competition spurs investments in labor-saving automation which limits the growth of employment. Manufacturing unions have already been severely weakened by these developments (U.S. Department of Labor, 1980). With abundant labor reserves and office jobs requiring relatively little training, organizing drives in the office may not get very far.

5.7 Summary

This examination of automation and the work environment of the office addressed five related issues: (1) quality of work life, (2) communication and interaction, (3) telecommuting, (4) health and safety, and ( 5 ) organized labor. We will briefly review each one.

The central theme of our discussion of work life is the rationalization of the labor process which is furthered by automation. This process has deep historical roots and powerful exponents in the figures of Adam Smith, Charles Babbage, and Frederick W. Taylor. Smith analyzed the division of labor and its application to machine manufacture, Babbage called attention to the cost savings that can be achieved by lowering the skill requirements of a task and using cheaper labor to perform it, and Taylor elaborated and refined the ideas of Smith, Babbage, and others to create scientific management. The main practical arena for the development of these ideas has been the factory. Now the scene is shifting to the office as pressure mounts to improve productivity. Our principal point is that the lessons of the factory are the guiding principles of office automation.

In large offices, clerical work has already been transformed into factory-like production systems. The latest technology-office automation-is simply being used to consolidate and further a well-established trend. For most clerical workers, this spells an intensification of factory


discipline. For many professionals and managers it signals a gradual loss of autonomy, task fragmentation, and closer supervision-courtesy of computerized monitoring.

Communication and interaction will increasingly be mediated by computer. Electronic mail and computerized conferencing will figure promi- nently in this mediation. Work activities will become more abstract as individuals interact with computer terminals and opportunities for direct social experience diminish.

Telecommuting poses some interesting questions about labor-management relations, Some workers find the idea appealing because of the flexibility of telecommuting arrangements. Management is attracted by its cost-saving possibilities. Equally important for management is computer- based monitoring as a substitute for direct supervision. Telecommuting is likely to be used to reduce overhead expenses for employers by hiring people on a part-time or contract basis. Such arrangements make workers very vulnerable to exploitation.

The main health and safety issue in office automation is stress, both physical and psychological. This is related to the pervasive use of VDTs. A host of ergonomic issues linked to VDTs are also of concern to office workers and, despite NIOSH’s findings, there is still some anxiety about possible radiation hazards.

Relatively few clerical workers are organized, so their ability to bargain with management is limited. Their most formidable bargaining chip-the strike-is of limited use because much computer work can be shifted from one office to another. Clerical workers’ organizations are concerned with wages, benefits, and health and safety questions. Their position is too weak to bargain over longer term issues such as participation in decisions affecting new technology. European trade unions are in a much stronger position and, in some countries, have won the right to join with management in making decisions about new technology.

6. Organization and Management Control

6.1 Introduction A revolution in management and organization has been imminent from

the earliest applications of computers. Experience has tempered some of the more outrageous expectations, but revolutionary fervor persists. The notion of MIS has been replaced or subsumed by DSS, but the theme underlying both remains a powerfully active principle in the evolution of computer applications in the office.

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The bulk of office expenditures are for the support of professional and managerial personnel and, by extension, for the functions of problem solving and decision making. Thus it is not surprising that management is strongly motivated to use new technology to increase the productivity of its m3st highly trained and most highly paid employees. The record of accomplishment is difficult to interpret because technological change is almost invariably preceded, accompanied, and followed by organizational change. This makes it hard, if not impossible, to isolate the effects of technological change by itself.

Like employment, the issue of office automation’s impact on management and organization is riddled with controversy. This controversy has taken shape around the question of technology’s role in the centralization or decentralization of decision making and organizational control. Empiri- cal studies conducted in private and public organizations have helped to clarify the issues in this controvcrsy, but there is no consensus on the findings.

A conclusion that can be drawn from empirical studies of computers in organizations is that management is ruled by a paradigm that has its roots in the early industrial revolution. This accounts for the hierarchical organization of distributed processing. It appears that habits of thought and action override attempts to experiment with the features of new technology. The traditional paradigm reinforces a tendency to use information technology to distribute organizational functions in space while at the same time consolidating and strengthening managerial control.

Rigid, hierarchical control in an organization can lead to a vicious cycle of employee disaffection followed by a further tightening of control spark- ing yet greater disaffection. This points to an important relationship between the managerial or organizational environment (“ethical space”) and computer-related crime by employees.

We will open this section with a review of the impact of computers on organizations. Then we will take a close look at the role of office technology in the establishment, maintcnance, and implications of control hierar- chies. This will set the stage for analyzing the effects of office automation on ethical behavior. We will conclude with a discussion of virtual orguni- zatian, an integrative concept for understanding the role of computers in the evolution of organizations.

6.2 Overview of Computers and Organizations

6.2.1 Administrative Technique

Information handling is an integral part of organization. In one form or another, communication, computation, record kceping, intelligence gath-

SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF OFFICE AUTOMATION 38 1

ering, report generation, and related information activities were vital to the life of organizations long before the advent of computers and telecommunications. Thus, information technology does not impact organizations as an alien force, but as a new set of administrative tools. The technology may catalyze changes in the way information-handling functions are performed, but it does not alter the fundamental objectives of administration. In short, information technology is part of administrative technique.

Central to administrative technique are the coordination and control of activity and people. The computer’s potential as an instrument of coordination and control was appreciated quite early. Just after the Second World War, Wiener (1954, p. 154) anticipated the use of computers to automate factory production. Before 1960, Simon (1965) had elaborated the “new science of management decision” and provided a foundation for analyzing the computer’s role in the management of organizations.

6.2.2 Computers and Centralization

Coordination and control involve decisions and actions within a web of human interactions. Since the computer is an aid to problem solving and decision making, it is natural to examine the tool’s organizational effects in relation to decision making. Leavitt and Whisler (1958) did just that in a speculative article dealing with the computer’s potential to shift the locus of decision-making authority between center and periphery. Their work set the tone for much subsequent discussion.

The question of the computer’s centralizing tendencies is highly controversial. Howsoever centralized decision making may be part of the American scene; this form of management is perceived as antidemocratic. Centralization suggests concentration of power and a form of tyranny or domination of the many by the few. Thus, proponents of managerial uses of computers reject any necessary connection between computer applications and centralization of decision making.

Simon (1962) erected a theory of hierarchy to defuse the centralization issue. He argued that hierarchical structure in the physical world is nature’s way of being efficient. By analogy, what appears to be a command hierarchy in social organizations is more aptly termed a coordination system designed to achieve maximum efficiency. More recently, Simon (1979, p. 226) explained this as follows: “there are three main motives for centralizing the decision-makii:g process: to gain economies of scale (expertness), to coordinate interdependent activities, and to control lower level activities in the interest of higher level goals.” The computer’s con- tribution to social organization is to raise the “level of expertness in decision-making on complex matters” by allowing for the use of systems models and large databases.

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There are difficulties with this argument. Even if hierarchy is essential to efficient organization, a centralized command structure may and typically does emerge. Call this a degenerate case of hierarchy. By whatever name, a centralized command hierarchy is inimical to democratic values.

Leavitt and Whisler (1958) predicted that computer applications would contribute to centralized management by:

1 . Diminishing the autonomy of middle managers and 2. Providing top management with direct access to information and

thus increasing their control over the organization.

Empirical studies of computer use in organizations do not provide conclu- sive evidence but do tend to confirm these predictions,

6.2.3 Ambiguous Findings?

Virtually every paper on the effects of computers on organizations contains a paragraph or two reviewing the allegedly ambiguous findings on the centralization question. Bjorn-Andersen (1978) cites several studies that partially confirm Leavitt and Whisler’s predictions and several that do not. In particular, case studies in the insurance industry conducted in the late 1960s revealed (1) decisions being displaced to higher levels in the management hierarchy, (2) greater control exercised by the head office, and (3) consolidation of functions within the data processing department (Whisler, 1970; Delehanty, 1967; Stymne, 1066). Upward displacement of decision-making authority has been observed in other industries (Mumford and Banks, 1967; Schultz and Whisler, 1960). Further evidence of centralization was found by Balle (1977) in an intensive longitudinal study of 12 French firms.

Bjorn-Andersen points to the work of Stewart (1971) as one of the few instances where no evidence for computer-induced centralization was found. Stewart examined a number of cases of computerization and concluded that the centralizing or decentralizing effects of computers depend entirely on the type of application, the managers involved, the character of management involvement, the way computer systems are used, the kind of information generated, and the modes of dissemination.

More impressed with confirming instances and the results of his own study of the impact of a computer-based production planning system in a radio and TV assembly plant, Bjorn-Andersen (1978, p. 13) observed an overall tendency toward “change in the organizational structure in the direction of a higher degree of rationalization.”


6.2.4 Resolving Apparent Ambiguities: The Several Faces of Centralization

Robey (1981) points to differences in “speculative analyses” of the. centralization question and to ambiguities in the empirical results. One way to resolve these ambiguities, he argues, is to regard computer applications as moderating rather than independent variables, i.e., to view computer use as impinging on relationships between other variables but not exerting an influence on organizational structure directly. This approach is consistent with the conclusions he draws from his own research, to wit, computer-based information systems are “compatible with a variety of organizational design options.”

Another way to resolve the apparent ambiguities in research findings is to look at centralization as a reflection of administrative control strategies. Blau and Schoenherr (1971), Bjorn-Andersen and Eason (1980), Mowshowitz (1977), and others have argued that effective centralization of control can be accomplished by specializing tasks and formalizing and standardizing procedures.

Of course, not every task is inherently rationalizable, and for those that are, the technical means may currently be lacking (Gerson, 1977). The lack of technical means probably accounts for what Kling and Scacchi (1980, p. 314) take as evidence that computing and supervision do not go hand-in-hand. Rationalization makes it safe for upper level management to delegate some decisions to subordinates because the execution of ra- tionalized procedures is relatively easy to monitor. Thus, we can have the form of decentralized decision making without its substance.

In any event, as Simon (1957) explained, centralization need not take the form of shifting decision authority up the organizational ladder. Con- trol can be centralized by establishing general rules that limit the discretion of subordinates. This is especially important here because computer applications can and usually are designed to incorporate such discretion- limiting rules (Mowshowitz, 1977; Zuboff, 1984). Rationalization by technique is no less unprecedented than application of the Babbage principle. If computer systems are viewed as elements of administrative technology, the effect of embedding decision rules in such systems becomes under- standable as a variant of the process of bureaucratization described by Max Weber (Gerth and Mills, 1946).

In a review of computers in organizations, Attewell and Rule (1984) also have the obligatory section on the ambiguity of results concerning Leavitt and Whisler’s centralization hypothesis. In addition to studies pro and contra, they cite results that suggest the inadequacy of the notion of centralization for analyzing the power shifts resulting from computeriza-

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tion. Kling (1980) points out that computer systems often create opportunities for centralized control that are not seized by managers, and employees are not above such tactics as supplying false information to an MIS system to thwart management’s efforts to control them.

Attewell and Rule also refer to studies (Marcus, 1984; Kraemer and Danziger, 1982) indicating that groups other than top management may be advantaged by the deployment and use of computer systems. They conclude from their review that “the transformations in organizational life through computing are so multifarious as to encompass the most disparate cause-effect relations in different contexts” (Attewell and Rule, 1984, p. 1190). This leads to a call for research: ( 1 ) to determine cause-effect rclations in particular contexts and (2) to situate the particular cases in general categories of cause-effect relations.

The universe is indeed filled with multifarious transformations encom- passing disparate cause-effect relations. Kling and Scacchi’s (1 982) de- tailed comparisons of different models certainly demonstrate that for the world of computing. However, had our predecessors accepted the Atte- well and Rule prescription, our knowledge of the world would be very limited. Imagine Newton suggesting a research program ( 1 ) to examine the rates of acceleration of free-falling bodies of different colors and odors and (2) to categorize those ratcs. After all, the results for red, green, and yellow objects may not be the same for purple ones. Knowl- edge is not likely to be advanced by the collection of vast quantities of data-be it case, survey, or experimental-without the guidance of a theory that rejects the accidental and simplifies the multifarious connec- tions between things.

6.3 The Structure of Control

6.3.1 On Keeping the Centralization Hypothesis

The centralization hypothesis may be too simplistic and restrictive, but it is an excellent point of departure. First, it has led to fruitful lines of inquiry in many empirical and theoretical studies of computers in organizations; second, it lends itself to elaboration and refinement as a hypothesis in its own right or as part of a broader formulation of the impact of computerization.

Consider the principal arguments marshalled to reject centralization as a useful dimension of analysis: (1) empirical findings are somewhat ambiguous, (2) computer applications tend to reinforce existing power relations rather than increase or decrease centralization, (3) top management is not


always the main group whose power is enhanced by having access to information in computer-based systems.

On closer inspection the findings turn out to be less ambiguous than they appear at first glance. The nonconfirming instances usually indicate that the system studied had little effect on control structures in the organization. Typically this prompts investigators such as Stewart (1971) to conclude that computers can be used to centralize or decentralize decision authority. Now, neither logic nor theories of the universe preclude computers from being used for any old social purpose, but this observa- tion is not particularly illuminating. On the other hand, the concrete historical circumstances in which computer technology is applied do indeed constrain the objectives that can be served (Mowshowitz, 1984).

This kind of constraint is revealed in the reinforcement effects observed by Robey (1981), Kling (1980), and Kraemer (1980). In many cases researchers have found that computer systems reinforce existing power relations in organizations. But this is hardly inconsistent with the centralization hypothesis. If the control structure being reinforced is already highly centralized, one should not expect to see a marked increase in centralization. To argue, as Attewell and Rule do, that multifarious results are possible with computers is like insisting that military hardware sold to the South African government need not strengthen Apartheid because the size of the arsenal has no demonstrable impact on Apartheid regulations.

The third argument, namely, that top management is not necessarily the principal beneficiary, fails for similar reasons. The'immediate and apparent effects of a new computer system may be to increase the power of subordinate groups. Given the dominance of hierarchy as an organizational principle, it makes more sense to ask if this change is transient than to reject the centralization hypothesis.

6.3.2 Management and Instruments of Control

Management does not always seize opportunities to tighten its control, as Kling (1980) argues, but computer-based systems are not soon disman- tled, and there is every reason to suppose that management will figure out how to use the available instruments to further consolidate power. Execu- tives and management scientists are certainly not unaware of the problems they face in learning to play the computer as an instrument of control. Top managers face resistance to change within their own ranks as well as from subordinates, and a considerable body of research and practical experience is available to help them cope (Keen, 1981).

Modern history shows that administrative technology contributes to

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rationalization of control, i.e., specialization, standardization, and formalization. Computers, as the latest and perhaps the most powerful addition to administrative technology, are fully consonant with the historical trend. Centralization of authority goes hand-in-hand with rationalization.

King (1983) analyzes centralization as a management strategy that has strengths and weaknesses just like other strategies available for achieving certain aims. He differentiates centralization into three factors: (1) control; (2) physical location, i.e., siting of facilities; and (3) function, i.e., position of an activity or responsibility within the organization. This reso- lution of centralization helps to clarify some of the apparent ambiguities in studies of computerization.

Decentralization of functions, arising for example as a by-product of distributed computing, is often confused with decentralization of control. The same goes for decentralization of physical facilities. As noted earlier, technical systems can be designed to act as proxies for managers, and the ability to monitor subordinates at a distance-measured hierarchically or physically-makes it possible to decentralize functions and siting without giving up control.

6.4 Ethics and Computer Crime

6.4.1 Significance of Computer Crime

The American Bar Association (ABA), on the basis of its own study of the nature and occurrence of computer-related crime, concluded “that computer crime is today a large and significant problem with enormous potential for becoming even larger and more significant” (American Bar Association, 1984, p. 40). As part of its study, the ABA distributed a survey questionnaire to 1000 private organizations and public agencies throughout the United States. These included large corporations, major federal departments and agencies, state attorneys general, and some district attorneys. The results reported by the ABA are based on the re- sponses of the 283 survey respondents.

More than 25% of the survey respondents reported known and verifi- able losses from computer crime. The total annual losses reportedly in- curred by this group were between $145 million and $730 million. This means that the average loss was between $2 million and just over $10 million, Reliable extrapolations to the United States as a whole are impossible, but the ABA’s sample clearly reveals major financial losses from computer crime.

In addition to the risk of financial losses, public and private computer- using organizations are vulnerable to a variety of injuries from criminal


acts involving the computer as object or instrument. This is especially significant for sensitive, private databases (e.g., medical records) and public agency files such as intelligence and social welfare record systems.

6.4.2 The Impact of Organization and Management on Ethics

The ABA found that 77% of the perpetrators of computer crimes reported in their survey were organizational insiders. Coupled with other findings about perpetrators (discussed below), this strongly suggests that something is amiss within the organizations apparently victimized by computer crime. That something is the failure to maintain organizational environments in which ethical conduct can flourish.

Crozier (1964) has observed a vicious cycle in the organization of work. It goes something like this: management perceives a need to tighten work discipline to achieve higher productivity, improve quality control, etc. ; workers respond by taking less interest and pride in their work; management perceives workers’ reactions as a signal to tighten discipline even more; and around it goes. Such vicious cycles are probably not rare, but in the present climate of the search for excellence, with its emphasis on sensitivity to “human resources” (Peters and Waterman, 1983; Reich, 1983; Schein, 1979; Telesca, 1984), a vicious cycle in the blatant form described would be taken as a sign of bad management. However, if the cycle occurs over a relatively long period, it is likely to escape notice. This is the more common form of what Crozier observed.

Excessive management control is not conducive to ethical conduct in an organization since it weakens the social foundations of such conduct. The making of ethical judgments is a skill that needs to be kept in good working order through practice, just like any other skill. Ethical behavior is more than being able to recite the rules of a code; values are not acquired once for all in a person’s life-they must be rehearsed, re- learned, and reinforced continually through participation in a community. Tight management control, effected through fragmentation of work and employee surveillance, reduces opportunities for practicing ethical skills.

If employees are not trusted by management, they will become untrust- worthy. There is an apt analogy with child rearing: a child’s willingness to accept responsibility is ultimately commensurate with the parent’s willingness to delegate responsibility to the child. Moreover, formal supervision of employees, like law enforcement in cities, works best when disaffection is at a minimum. No social order-corporation, city, nation-can long endure if a large proportion of its people reject its claim to legiti- macy. Under such conditions obedience can only be assured through the exercise of naked power.

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6.4.3 Ethical Space

Mowshowitz (1978) introduced the concept of ethical space to study the effects of technology on ethical judgment. Ethical space refers to the arena in which individuals make ethical decisions and may be analyzed in terms of autonomy, opportunity, and rectitude. Autonomy signifies relative freedom to initiate action; opportunity means occasions for exercis- ing ethical judgment in situations with real consequences for real actors; rectitude refers to ethical performance, i.e., the degree to which an individual acts in accordance with generally accepted ethical norms and pre- cepts. These primary features of ethical space depend on a number of secondary characteristics including prerogatives, scope, internal influence, external influence, access to information and resources, responsi- bilities, allegiances, accountability, ethos, and personal morality.

The concept of ethical space provides a framework for analyzing unethical behavior in organizations. In particular, it can help to understand and perhaps remove the root causes of computer-related crime. Office environments themselves may be criminogcnic in the sense that employees may be operating in a diminished ethical space.

6.4.4 Computer Crime: Action in Diminished Ethical Space

In a series of interviews with individuals who had been convicted of criminal acts involving computers, Parker (1975) constructed a profile of the typical “computer abuse perpetrator.” The most striking features of the profile are ( I ) that the offenders were not professional criminals, (2) their offenses involved small deviations from accepted practices, and (3) “they were accepted as reliable, honest, bright, highly motivated in their work and most desirable people for a manager to hire” (Parker, 1975, p. 8). This profile clearly does not describe pathological behavior. Criminal acts that deviate only slightly from accepted practices suggest a warped organizational ethos rather than morally dcfective individuals. I t also appears that their organizations failed to win the allegiance of these offenders. This is apparent from what Parker terms the “Robin Hood Syndrome”: several offenders asserted that harming individuals is im- moral but injuring organizations is permissible.

Parker’s observations suggest that the computer abuse perpetrators acted in a diminished ethical space. Insufficient opportunity to exercise consequential ethical judgment reduced their ability to make moral discriminations. This group of young, highly skilled individuals worked in organizations that sanctioned practices only marginally different l’rom criminal acts. The organiLations failed to win their allcgiance, and failed t o provide an environment in which moral rectitude could be cultivated through the practice ol‘ making ethical judgments. (Mowshowitz, 1978, p. 680)

SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF OFFICE AUTOMATION

6.5 Virtual Organization

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6.5.1 The Concept

The distinction between logical and physical locations in virtual memory has an analog in social organization. That analog is the distinction between logical needs or resources and actual needs or resources. For example, a car maker has a set of logical requirements for the component parts of a car; the actual components can be supplied in a variety of ways from many different places. Supposing the manufacturer has production facilities for part X in several locations, then one can imagine that at any given moment the supplier of part X will be noted in a table of correspon- dences between logical needs and the actual resources used to satisfy them.

The analogy is extremely useful in thinking about the impact of information technology on organizations because computer networks provide the means for managing on the basis of virtual organization. This organizing principle allows for distributing functions, facilities, and people without compromising management control. Thus it becomes possible to reap comparative economic advantages-such as locating a plant where labor costs are low-without fear of compromising the integrity of the overall operation (Mowshowitz, 1983, 1984).

Global businesses are currently the best examples of virtual organization because of their ability to maximize return on capital and to minimize production costs by shifting capital, facilities, and personnel around the world. Of course, multinational and transnational firms antedate the computer; and communication and transportation systems, especially the telephone and the jet aircraft, have played a very significant role in the expansion of global business. But the mature global firm depends on computer networks for electronic funds transfer and for the communication and data handling needed to coordinate inputs, production processes, and distribution of final products.

6.5.2 Virtual Organization of the Office: Computer-Based Manipulation of Abstract Needs and Resources

The concept of virtual organization-call it virtuality-offers unique insight into the evolution of office automation. Technology-induced changes in the office are driven by the irresistible-if not fully con- scious-impulse to treat the components of an organization as logical abstractions that can be manipulated at will to produce a given result. This should not be confused with Giuliano’s (1982) use of the term “virtual office” to mean an office with no fixed location. Virtuality is a way of

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accounting for the disposition of social resources. It posits two basic features of organization: (1) sets of logical categories and actual components and (2) time-dependent mappings giving instantaneous descriptions of the correspondence between logical categories and actual components. Virtuality can be applied to the distribution of activities over time (i.e., sequences of production events in a factory or office in a single location) or over space (i.e., an integrated production system with geographically dispersed facilities).

This model suggests that the automated office will treat people, so- called human resources, in the same way it treats all other resources, namely, as abstract, manipulable units in a system of production. The rate of change will be governed by considerations of cost, including resistance to change and adverse reactions to surveillance and other management strategies designed to compensate for the fragmentation of work. Virtual organization is supremely efficient organization; its values are those of capital. In the long and turbulent journey into the peopleless organization, intense competition in the global marketplace will keep virtual organization of the office on track.

6.6 Summary

In this section we examined the impact of office automation on organization and management control. There is an extensive literature on this subject, so we began by reviewing it. Much of the discussion of computers and organization centers on decision making. A major question is whether or not information technology fosters centralized decision making. Al- though most researchers would hedge their answers, it is nonetheless a good question because it has forced clarification of various aspects of organization. For example, one needs to distinguish between centralization of decision authority, functions, and facilities. Moreover, centralization of decision making can mean that one or a few individuals make all the decisions; or it can mean that decisions are made by an extended group on the basis of clearly specified rules and procedures.

The evidence from empirical studies strongly suggests that in one way or another computers do promote centralized decision making. Some- times they do this by eliminating intermediaries in the chain of information flow; in other cases computers simply reinforce existing central control; in yet other instances, centralization results from the specialization of tasks and the standardization and formalization of procedures. There is very little evidence showing the use of computers to decentralize control.

From information technology and organization we turned to ethics and the issue of computer crime. The structure of an organization and especially its management have a decisive influence on the arena in which


organizational participants act. Ethical judgment, like any other skill, takes practice to be kept well honed. Practice in this case requires a decision-making environment that provides opportunities to exercise judgment. This calls for some measure of autonomy, a condition not supported by tight management control. There appears to be a strong connection between certain organizational settings and unethical behavior such as computer crime.

The last part of the section deals with an idea inspired by the concept of virtual memory. Virtual organization provides a way of conceptualizing the influence of information technology on management, control, and the organization of production. The key to this idea is the integration of (abstractly conceived) activity, distributed in time or space. As office activities become more abstract, they become more susceptible to manipulation as logical categories of needs and resources, i.e., to being organized virtually.

7. Conclusion: Automation and the Future of Work

7.1 Recapitulation

Our aim in this article has been to present a systematic and reasonably comprehensive treatment of social issues in office automation. After introducing a working definition, we examined the motives underlying the deployment of office automation. Relatively low productivity and high labor costs in the office have prompted managers to think about automating office functions. By substituting computer-based systems for some manual operations and restructuring others with the aid of computers, it is hoped that productivity will rise and costs will decrease. Applications in the clerical area are already quite extensive, but progress is slow in the professional and managerial realm.

In Section 3 , we presented an inventory of information technology in today’s office, and characterized what is now conceived to be the office of the future. Office automation appears to be headed in the direction of an integrated system of workstations that supports communication and information processing functions. The workstations will presumably serve as gateways to a variety of software and database management services, and as local and global media of communication.

Having characterized the instruments of office automation, we turned, in Section 4, to its social implications, starting with employment. Levels of employment, skill requirements, and career patterns are all being affected by office automation. Productivity increases will almost certainly lead to reductions in office employment, and it does not appear that the

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reductions will be offset by the creation of new jobs. Automation changes usually lower skill requirements for clerical jobs; thc record for managerial and professional jobs is mixed because they have not yet been signifi- cantly affected by automation. Career paths are altered by the excision of intermediate steps in career ladders.

In Section 5 we examined another aspect of employment, namely, the work environment. Under this heading we discussed the impact of office automation on the quality of work life, patterns of communication and interaction, telecommuting, health and safety, and organized labor. Office automation is stimulating further rationalization of clerical work, transforming it in large offices into production systems resembling factory work. Rationalization also affects managerial and professional work but to a lesser extent. lncreasingly , communication and interaction in the office are being mediated by computers. A major consequence is the abstractification of work, i.e., manipulation of symbols several levels removed from the realm of direct human experience. Telecommuting has appeal for both employees and managers, since it allows flexible work arrangements and hclps to reduce office overhead. The down side is vul- ncrability for part-time and contract employees. Health and safety concerns center on stress-related problems experienced by Video Display ‘Terminal operators. Finally, relatively few American clerical workers are organized and their position is weak. The principal bargaining issues are wages, benefits, and health and safety conditions. Long-term considerations, such as participation in decisions affecting deployment of new technology, are not yet major negotiating points.

In Section 6, we analyzed automation’s effect on organization and management control. In a review of the literature on computers and organizations, we focused on the centralization-decentralization controversy. Our view is that the issue is meaningful and that the empirical evidence points to the computer as an instrument of centralized decision making. After delving into the role played by information technology in management control, we established a connection with ethical behavior and looked at the causes of computer crime. We concluded the section with a discussion of virtual organization, a concept intended to unify the treatment of information technology’s role in organizations.

7.2 Office of the Future in Light of Factory of the Past

7.2.1 Evolution of Office Automation

The inspiration for office automation is the factory. First among motives for introducing computer-based systems is the desire to increase the


productivity of office personnel and reduce support costs. The history of factory production shows quite emphatically that productivity increases can be achieved by substituting capital for labor, and this is the intent of office automation. Pick an article on office automation at random and you are sure to find disdainful notice of the low capital-labor ratio in the office as compared to the factory. The nearly universal expectation, based largely on the factory experience, is that expenditures on computer-based systems such as word processors, file managers, computer conferencing packages, etc. will reap substantial productivity increases and cost savings.

As well as inspiration, the factory serves as blueprint for office automation. Work in the office is being reorganized to facilitate the introduction of machine operations. This has three classical consequences: (1) the reduction of complex tasks into sequences of simpler components that can be performed by machines with minimal human intervention, (2) the monopolization of knowledge of work processes by management, and (3) the substitution of cheap labor for expensive labor.

Task reduction and the arrogation of labor-process knowledge by management are just beginning. The transformation of secretarial work, stimulated by word processing, is the most notable example. Labor substitution is exemplified by the replacement of typographers by VDT operators in the printing industry.

The appropriateness of the factory model for the office has been ques- tioned from several points of view. Office workers who fear deskilling and continued erosion of the control they can exercise over their own work are less than enthusiastic about automation. Others-including some computer specialists, students of organization, and managers-question the desirability of trying to rationalize “high-level” problem solving and decision making. According to one line of argument, computer systems are good for handling routine business but not flexible enough to deal with the unexpected. For example, a computerized inventory control system is apt to perform admirably under relatively stable market conditions. But if there is a sudden, unexpected shift in product demand, some human intervention is likely to be needed to alter ordering policy.

A related argument centers on the possibility that human creativity in management might be compromised by excessive dependence on automated decision support systems. Whatever intrinsic merit this reasoning may have, it is reminiscent of much wishful thinking about the impossibil- ity of automating particular jobs. The shadow of automation is spreading relentlessly over the nonprogrammed region of Simon’s decision-making continuum, making such arguments sound hollower every day.

Whether appropriate or not, office automation has the logic of history

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on its side. Competitive pressures in the marketplace, the drive to reduce costs and increase profits, and the lure of new technology all conspire to promote automation. Most important of all, the drive to increase profits through automation is backed by capital-the owners and managers of business enterprises-and this force is far stronger than labor, should it ever come to a showdown.

7.2.2 The Divorce of Wealth and Jobs

But there is not likely to be a showdown. Capital has learned enough from the history of industrialization to manage conflict more effectively this time around. Moreover, the local interests of management and labor are not necessarily opposed, let alone irreconcilable. In particular organizations, office workers may want to assist management in applying technology to increase productivity and reduce office operating costs. Such cooperation will provide workers with some, however minimal, control over the shape of automation and give managemcnt the benefit of workers’ direct experience of operations.

Despite inevitable conflict between labor and management over compensation, health and safety problems, and work rules, the major side- effect of office automation will be unemployment. As explained earlier, there is no longer any haven in the modern economy for automation’s refugees. Our genius for increasing productivity surpasses our very im- pressive ability to create new jobs. Technological advances will of course bring new and as yet unforeseen economic activity that will, in turn, generate new jobs. But the rate of productivity increase will almost certainly outstrip the rate of increase in labor requirements, unless there is a fundamental change in our attitude toward the production of wealth.

Automation has made wealth creation independent ofjob creation. This means that we can no longer depend on increased economic activity to solve our unemployment problems. New goods and services, increased volumes of existing goods and services, and the infrastructure needed to support all this additional production may increase our net wealth but will not generate enough jobs to keep the unemployment rate from rising.

The problem of unemployment will intensify with the advance of virtual organization in the global arena. While automation makes it possible to reduce labor requirements, virtual organization allows for shifting production facilities to exploit comparative economic advantages, such as cheap labor, proximity to resources, low-cost capital, and favorable socio-political conditions. Automation and virtual organization constitute the double-whammy of technological progress. Both integrated office sys-


tems and the global computer communications facilities indispensable to virtual organization are based on advances in information technology.

To link unemployment with technological advance is not to oppose new technology, nor is it to cast aspersions on economic growth. On the contrary, technology and growth are desirable. Without them per capita wealth would eventually decline. This linkage must be emphasized to establish a basis for a long-term solution to the problem of unemployment. We must come to terms with a new economic reality in which unemployment is the norm, and we must create social mechanisms to cope with this new reality.

7.3 Automation and the Role of Work in Human Affairs

7.3.1 Historical Sketch

As well as being an economic necessity, work performs vital social functions in civilized communities. These social functions have varied from one historical period to another. Their role in contemporary society was cast many centuries ago and is now undergoing fundamental change. The next stage of evolution has yet to reveal itself, but some clues as to the direction of change may be gleaned from those social functions of work that are fast disappearing.

Since habits of action and thought formed over centuries are so difficult to examine with any detachment, historical perspective is indispensable to the analysis of work. In classical antiquity work was beneath the dig- nity of a free man. Most work was performed by slaves in Athens of the fifth century B.C. The population of this ancient city-state is estimated to have consisted of 25,000 free males (citizens) and 100,000 slaves. Most of the artisans, policemen, craftsmen, teachers, and miners were slaves (de Grazia, 1962).

In the radical restructuring of society that accompanied the collapse of classical civilization and the emergence of the medieval world, the social role of work underwent profound changes. To the medieval mind work was a burden imposed by God to be borne with humility by man. This served an economic system based on land tenure in which there was little or no opportunity to market surplus production and, therefore, little or no incentive to accumulate surplus. Work was thus a virtue only in connection with man’s relationship to God.

With the expansion of trade and commerce and the gradual development of a market-oriented economy in the early modern period, the familiar work ethic began to take root. According to Max Weber, the religious

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individualism of the Reformation sanctioned the self-sacrifice needed to justify dedication to work and to the accumulation of capital (Weber, 1958). Here we are speaking of the legitimation of a social change, rather than its causes, so we pass over the coercive elements of industrialization. As long as the home remained the principal workplace, this sanction was reinforced in practice by participation in activities directed toward family goals. The work ethic is essentially the internalization of the norms of this shared experience.

As the modern workplace shifted away from the home and labor itself became a commodity, new forms of social discipline replaced the web of family obligations of cottage industry. What emerged as the dominant form of social discipline was, of course, the factory. The quasi-military organization of work in the factory has succeeded in sustaining the work ethic to this day. One of the great ironies of contemporary life is the anxiety expressed by public officials, managers, and others about the health of the work ethic. Precisely because of its vigor we are singularly ill prepared for the future with automation.

7.3.2 Distributing Income in the Workless Society

Automation is making work superfluous. We can hide from this dread fact for a while, but eventually it will overtake us. The effects of a world without work will naturally differ for workers and employers, for rich and poor, for the educated and the uneducated. But all will experience deep dislocations in the accustomed order of things. The plight of the black family-the result of “permanent joblessness and the devaluation of working-class black men” (Norton, 1985)-could become the plight of the American family. As a society we are challenged to find new ways to distribute the wealth we produce and to fill the void created by the collapse of work.

Work is not the only mechanism society has found for distributing wealth (Leontieff, 1982). Income for the rich comes largely from investments, rents, and royalties rather than employment. For many others, such as the elderly, the poor, and the infirm, a substantial portion of income derives from special government programs. These programs take a portion of society’s collective income in the form of taxes levied on individuals and corporations and redistribute that income to special groups.

The extent to which income is redistributed by public agencies vanes from country to country. Europe has a stronger commitment to the principles of social democracy than the United States has, but even in the United States transfer payments constitute a substantial fraction of the


gross national product. Moreover, the rhetoric of economic expansion on both sides of the Atlantic attests to the continued belief in the need to increase national income to provide the funds to go on making transfer payments.

The problem for the future is not simply a matter of fine-tuning the redistributive mechanisms already in place. Existing programs were designed for a society in which participation in productive activity was the norm. The idea of “transfer payments” was formulated under conditions of nearly full employment. Moreover, the ethos of social welfare programs presupposes that recipients are worthy of aid either because they will eventually rejoin the ranks of productive citizens or because they have already contributed their fair share to the productive system. Recur- ring criticism of programs whose aim is to aid those who fail both of these tests shows our deep belief in work as the arbiter of public largesse.

In the United States there is a feeling verging on paranoia that many recipients of welfare obtain their benefits fraudulently. This has led recently to various computerized detection schemes such as the matching of welfare agency files with bank records to catch recipients who fail to qualify for the benefits they are receiving.

7.3.3 Income Distribution and the Virtual Organization of Global Business

The grudging acceptance of income distribution based on economic need or humanitarian impulse plainly indicates the difficulties we face in making the transition to a workless society. These difficulties are being compounded by changes in the relationship between the public and private sectors. Global business is both parent and child of the virtual enterprise, a form of organization that destabilizes labor markets. As virtual management takes hold, more and more communities will suffer the shock of losing their economic base because labor or capital is cheaper somewhere else and managers are primed to think virtually. The uncer- tainties inherent in this situation exacerbate the problems of unemployment because government is losing control and will probably continue to apply the nostrums of the past.

These problems will remain insoluble so long as global business is in- clined to play the virtual game in the belief that there will always be islands of stability in which management can operate and sufficient markets to keep business profitable. There is some evidence that global enterprises recognize the inherent instability in such an attitude. Multinationals and other large companies have for some time invested heavily in training, educational, and health-related programs. But these programs are

398 ABBE MOWSHOWITZ

just for employees. The masses without corporate protectors have increasingly to fend for themselves. Since the nation state cannot cope with the problems of unemployment, global business must eventually fill the breach: there are no other significant centers of power. The critical question now is what kind of intervention will induce global business to accept responsibility for the workless society sooner rather than later.

7.3.4 Substitutes for the Social Functions of Work

Even with a serviceable mechanism for sharing the fruits of production, it will still be necessary to replace the job as the central activity of life. Perhaps the problem seems greater than it is because we extrapolate from today’s conditions in which gainful employment is the norm. However, it may turn out that direct involvement in production for society’s needs is important in itself. In any case, a major adjustment will be required.

The adjustment is more than finding leisure pursuits to fill time. Several fundamental social functions are rooted in work. Personal identity derives in large measure from the work one does. Identification with work plays an important role in mediating interactions with others and one’s job is a major component of social status. We are perceived and treated by others largely in terms of what we do for a living. Could these functions be performed by stamp collecting, traveling, reading, listening to music, go- ing to movies, hiking, running, or any of the host of activities that currently fill our leisure time? Since we are entering uncharted terrain, we can only guess at an answer. Past experience shows that social cohesion is based on shared values and common purposes. For most of human history these shared values and common purposes have been found in the social processes of production. Whatever takes the place of work in the automated world of the future will have to be perceived as vital to human social existence (Buber, 1950). Quite possibly some subset of our current leisure activities could be transformed to play such a role.

The connection between a new computer-based system for the office and the problems discussed here may seem tenuous or remote. Indeed, work will not disappear for quite a while. But as automation makes further inroads into the office, service workers will increasingly contribute to the unemployment lists that used to be limited in the main to displaced factory workers. From such an inexorable trend to the workless world is not a big jump.

The crumbling of two of the pillars of civilized society-the principal mechanism for distributing income and the social nexus of personality- signals the emergence of a strange new world. Now is the time, while the


motive to increase productivity through automation is most intense, to plan for that world so we will not be overwhelmed or crippled by it.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am grateful to David Bellin for helpful comments on a draft of this article. Discussions with William Benzon in the formative stages helped me to clarify some of the arguments.

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