A case study of office workstation use

HD28 .M414

Dewey

-^f^r

A CASE STUDY of

OFFICE WORKSTATION

USE

Christine

V,

Bullen

John

L.

Bennett

Eric D.

Carlson

March

1982

CISR

WP #84 Sloan WP No. 1285-82

Center

for

Information

Systems

Research

MassachusettsInstitute ofTechnology

SloanSchoolofManagement 77MassachusettsAvenue

A CASE STUDY

of

OFFICE

WORKSTATION

USE

Christine

V,

Bullen

John

L.

Bennett

Eric D.

Carlson

March

1982

CISR

WP //84 Sloan WP No. 1285-82

Q

C.V. Bullen, J.L. Bennett, E.D.

Carlson

1982 Center for

Information

Systems

Research

Sloan School of

Management

M.I.T.LIBRARIES

JUL

2 9

1982

A

CASE

STUDY OF

OFFICE

WORKSTATION

USE

Christine V. Bullen

CenterforInformationSystems Research MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology Cambridge, Massachusetts

02139

JohnL. Bennett EricD. Carlson

IBM

Research Laboratory SanJose, California

95193

ABSTRACT:

Thispaperdescribes the useof theOffice AnalysisMethodology tostudy a specific office environmentin ordertodetermine requirementsforanadvanced office

workstation.

The

researchsiteenvironment wasuniqueinprovidingan opportunityto

observe a naturalgrowth patternin theuse ofadvanced technology. Specific workstation requirements wereidentified andare beingimplemented. Interestingobservations are

reportedin thefollowingareas: categories of secretarialwork, use ofexisting workstations, influence of a

community

of users, accessto sharedservices, andimpactsonproductivityand organizational behavior.

I.

MOTIVATION

AND STATEMENT

OF

PROBLEM

In theSpring of 1981 the

IBM

SanJoseResearch Laboratory (SJRL) wasfaced with an operational problem.

A

varietyof typewritersand terminalequipment,installed inoffices

throughouttheLaboratory, had beenacquiredover aperiodoftimeforuse byadministrative

andsecretarialworkers.

As

partofplanning foran expansionof physicalfacilities, a

committeebegan investigating

how

theequipment wasactually usedin orderto

make

intelligentrecommendations about what

new

equipmentshould be providedforthe

administrativesupport staff in the future.

At thesame time, a

Computer

Sciencegroup withinthe Laboratorywas developingan

advancedoffice workstation. It

became

clearthat a studyof the

work

patternsof the

administrative support staffin thisparticularLaboratory couldbehelpfulin understanding

the generalrequirementsfor an advancedworkstation.

After reviewing publishedmethodologies andinviting proposalsfrom academicgroups

involved withofficesystemsresearch, the decisionwas

made

towork jointly withthe

MIT

CenterforInformationSystems Research (CISR) andthat fundingforthe studywould be

sharedbyadministrative andresearchgroupsatSJRL.

CISR

wasinthe processof

conducting researchinto the nature ofoffice

work

usingtheOffice AnalysisMethodology

(QAM)

developedat

MIT

[ 1].

The

CISR

researchisdesignedtoexploreoffice automation

issues inseveralorganizations including samplesfrommanufacturing, high technology,and

service industries.

As

Zisman [2] observes,

much

of the previouswork directed towardoffice automation

CISR

studies,conducted aspartof the

CISR

researchonoffice automation,encompassthe

totalrangeofprocedures carriedoutby office workersatalllevels

-

secretarial totop

management.

The

studiesseekto identify, through interviews duringsite visits,procedures

thathave ahigh impactonthe missionof officeswithinorganizations.

Once

the procedures

areoutlined andrelated to the mission ofan organization, then those high impact procedures

andtasks that wouldbenefitmost from computer-basedtechnologycan beidentified.

We

present herethe results ofone part of the

CISR

studyconductedatthe SJRL. This

partfocused onexisting secretarial tasksperformedusing existingworkstations (Section II).

The

results (Section III) wereusedto develop requirementsfor officeworkstations for the

SJRL

(Section IV). Althoughthe resultspresented herearefrom a singlecasestudy,they

doindicate thevalue ofusing asystematicmethodologysuch as

OAM

tostudyoffice work.

From

our studyof office environmentssimilar tothat foundat theSJRL,

we

beUeve thatthe

requirements applygenerally (Section V) tooffice workstations inhighlyautomatedoffices.

II.

METHOD

Objectives

Two

objectiveswere chosenfor the firstphaseofthe specific studyat theSJRL: A. Surveythe tasks currentlyperformed bythe secretarial staffin theSJRL.

B. Understand thecurrent useof the existingworkstations andthe role thatthey play in

supportof these secretarial tasks.

The

objectives of the studywere focusedinitiallyinorder toanswertheshorterrange

operational question ofworkstation requirements andselection.

The

interviewswere directed

towardunderstandingthe existingproceduresandthe possible effects arisingfromthe

While

we

didlookforprocedures andtaskswhichcould benefitfromadditional

automatedaids, thatwasnota mainfocus.

The

difficultissuesofmeasuringproductivityand

predictingtheimpactofchangeon theorganizationwere notcentralinconsideringwhat

equipmentwould be needed tosupportexistingwork. However,inthecourse ofthe

interviews, factorsimpacting productivity andorganizationalbehaviorwereobserved.

The

Office AnalysisMethodology

The

Office AnalysisMethodology

(OAM)

wasusedtoguide andstructure the study.

OAM

focuseson 1) understanding

how

eachofficeoperates withintheorganization with respectto the overallorganizational mission,andon 2) understanding

how

thatmission is

accomplished. This focus involvesconductinga "functional" analysisofthe office's

operation,expressedinbusinessterms.

The

procedures beingperformed andtheirpurposes

are identified so that analysts,programmers,andofficeworkerscancommunicateeffectively

aboutrequirements.

OAM

definesseveral levels of abstractionas aconceptual frameworkforgathering

data.

The

MISSION

ofanofficesupportgroup (e.g.,the secretarial staff) isdescribedin

terms ofpurpose andgoal (e.g.,supportthe technical staffbypreparingdocuments, handling

phones, andmanagingofficework).

A

FUNCTION

(e.g.,

document

preparation) isthe

aggregate ofall theproceduresthat

INITIATE,

MANAGE,

and

TERMINATE

the useof officeresourcestoachievea business goal (e.g.,keying,proof reading, printing forreview,

andrevisingtext).

A RESOURCE

isan entity(e.g.,adocument, a

word

processor) thatis

managed

tomeeta businessgoal.

A

PROCEDURE

(e.g.,an outline of thesequence for

printinga photo-composeddraft)prescribes the tasksneededtocomplete an activity.

A

specific

OBJECT

or set of objects.

An

OBJECT

(e.g., atyped page, aninstruction book)is a tangible entity thatisa

component

of aresource orthatprovides informationaboutthe

0AM

offers potential benefitsbyavoidingthefollowingpitfalls oftenencounteredin the useofconventional requirementsanalysis:

- _{suboptimizing present procedures}as a result of afocus ondiscrete proceduresandtasks

taken out of context;

- preserving archaicproceduresasaresultofa concentrationon mechanizinga discrete

processwithout gaininganunderstanding ofthe biggerpicture.

Inaddition

OAM

provides the opportunitytoidentifywhichactivities arevaluable in

accomplishingthe mission, asopposed toidentifyingonlythe easilyobservable, visible,

structuredtasks. Throughthisapproach,

OAM

canhelpto define productivityandisolate

meaningfulmeasures thatapply tosemi-structuredtasks foundinthe office, the

work

asitis

actuallycarriedout[3] .

The

OAM

isintendedto bequite comprehensive. Itcanbe usedfor descriptive studies

(how work

isdone

now

in a office) oritcan beusedfor prescriptive studies

(how

new

procedurescan beusedto bettercarryout thefunctionofan organization). Itincludeswhat

to doina study,

recommends

interviewprocedures, andoutlinesanalystqualitiesneeded. It

suggests concentration ontheusual paththroughaprocess followedbyanalysis ofexceptions

and

how

theyarehandled.

The

best availabledescriptionof

OAM

isgivenby Sirbuet al. [1].

We

canonlygive

CONVENTIONAL

OAM

look forprocesses structured enough tobecompletely automatable

focusonrequirementsof

functionswithintheorganization (notonoperational details)

concernwithspecific

procedures instead of

functions

look fora singlesystem approach

little attentionto

behavioral andmanagerial aspectsofsystemdesign

focus onthe needfor(low

level) changeandthe

technologywhich canbe appliedtothisend

oriented aroundfunctions andresourceswhich are

then supportedinprocedures

functionscan be supported bya variety ofprocedures,

alternativesystem approaches

concernfordecision-making

role of office staffat all levels

concernwith organizational needs of clientgroup atall levels

how much

secretarial timeis

spent typing

how many

formsare filledout per unitoftime

how many

hourseachby

how

many

people doesit taketo

complete a procedure;

how

often per

week

is it

repeated;

how many

proceduresarein

process atany onetime

how many

resourcesarein process

ina unitof timetocarry out a business function

Figure 1.

The

Office AnalysisMethodologypermitsa focusonfunctionsandprocedures important to the mission ofthe organization. Thiscontrasts withaconventional approach focusedonthe supporting technology.

conventional requirementsanalysisand

OAM.

Figure 1 isnot meantto beacomprehensive comparison; itonlyhighlights

some

keydifferences.

We

beganour preparationfor thestudyat SanJosebyadaptingan interviewoutline

previously developedfor useaspart of the

CISR

studyat othersites. Figure 2is a

summary

ofthe interviewoutline.

The

Case StudySite

The

IBM

SanJoseResearch Laboratory (SJRL) is organizedinto fourmajorresearch

areas,calledFunctions,^ each ofwhichisheaded bya Functional

Manager

who

reports to theDirectorofthe Laboratory:

Computer

Science, PhysicalScience, Storage Systems,and

AppliedScience. Allcentralized administrativetasks arecombinedat aFunctionallevel in

Administrative andTechnical Services (A&TS).

The

totalpopulation

-

researchandsupport

personnel

-

isabout600 people.

Within eachresearchFunctionthere are twoto threedepartmentsrangingin sizefrom

23 to45 people.

The

peopleon theresearchstaff,calledResearchStaff

Members

(RSMs),

aregrouped byresearchspecialtywithinthe departmentsandare assignedto specific

projects. Whilethe researchstaffisrelatively stable,shiftingbetween departments and

projectsisquite

common.

In addition, a

number

of visitingscientists, postdoctoralfellows,

^TheUseof theterm

FUNCTION

isnotidentical totheuseof theterm in

OAM.

However, bothuses relate to a focusonactivitiesneededtoachieve missionresults.

INTERVIEW OUTLINE

I.

MISSION/FUNCTION

Statement/organization chart

II.

RESOURCES

A. People (who,

how

many,

management

levels) B. Otherresources

m.

MAJOR

TASKS/PROCEDURES

A. Phases (initiating, managing,terminating)

B. Inputs/Outputs

C. Sources,destinations, links

D. Exceptions (achecklistofexception causeswas provided)

E. Objects (achecklistofsimpleobjects wasprovided)

F. Databases (a checklist ofsamplemanual and electronic

data bases

was

provided) G. Quantitative measures

1.

Number

of objects inprocessatanytime

2.

Time

toaccomplish atask

3.

Time

toaccomplish aprocedure (setof tasks) 4. Frequencyof repetition

5.

Number

ofobjectsprocessed perunittime

6. Timing constraintson completionofa task 7. Frequencyofexceptions

8.

Number

of people involvedineachstep of aprocedure

9. Sizeofdatabases H. OfficeLayout/Environment

1. Equipment (what,whatusedfor,likes anddislikes) 2. Comfort,style

3. Training

4. Special needs

Figure 2.

The

outlinestructured thePhase 1 interviewssuch thatthe information gathered

onclericalprocedures could be understoodinthe context ofthe officeandorganization

and

summer

interns reportat functional, departmental,or project levelswhile temporarilyat

theSJRL.

Inthisphaseofthe study,

we

confined interviewstothe secretarial staffworkingat the

Functionand Departmentallevels.

We

also included thosesecretariesworkinginthe Administrative ProcessingCentergivingsupportto

A&TS

professionals.

The

SJRL

provided anintriguingresearchsite. Whileitiscomparable toour other

research sitesinits basicorganizationaldesignandits administrativefunctions,itisuniquein

thefollowing ways. First,the

SJRL

isstaffedbytechnology-oriented, highlyskilled

professionals

who

create anenvironmentwhich isreceptive tointroductionof

new

technology. Thiswould be expectedin any group workingon advanced technology products.

However, the innovativeattitudesof the

RSMs

encourage experimentation with

new

technology evenin theirroutineoffice activities -draftingpapers,preparingpresentations,

andsendingmessagestocolleagues. In addition,sophisticatedtechnologyisavailable foruse

by administrativepeopleina settingwithoutmandateorformal pressure toemployit. This,

combinedwiththe supportive accesstoinformationfrom

RSMs,

results in an unusual

situation forstudying naturalgrowthpatternsintheuseofadvancedtechnology. Thus,

we

couldobserveactualpatternsofusein atechnologicallysophisticatedenvirormientas

As

outlinedabove,

we

usedthe

OAM

frameworktoconstructaone hourinterview.

The

categoriesofthose interviewed andtherange of people nominally servedby each

secretaryin thecategoryare as follows.

Number

ofpeople Servedbyeach

Secretary (Range)

10

corporatenetworklinkingcomputersin most

IBM

Laboratories worldwide.

The

secretaries in thesample were usingavarietyofsoftware availableonthesystem, including a full-screen

editor, a documentformattingandprintingfacility, amessage system, anda

number

of

locally-developedmacroprograms.

III.

RESULTS

FROM

THE

INfTERVIEWS

TypesofTasks

Inour study

we

focusedonresourcesandobjectsthatresulted inpapercopyorthat

wentthrough akeyboarddata-entry phase.

We

did not addressphonehandlingas atask

(excepttonoteapproximatepercentagesoftimespent), although

we

didconsidertypedlists

assupport formakingphonecalls.

The

secretarial

work

at

SJRL

can be dividedinto thetwocategories

shown

in Figure 3.

The

"others" initiating secretarialworkare professionals,managers, andvisitorsservingon

the staff.

The

categoryof "workinitiatedbyothers" is theonethat generally

comes

tomind

when

people describe whatthe "typical" (actually stereotypical) secretary does.

The work

is

text-oriented

-

thatis,the initiatorprovides text (handwritten,dictated, rough-typed),and

the secretary's roleisto providetextoutputintypewritten orprintedform. Completion

requireslittlecontactwith other resources (documentsorpeople).

The

tasks requireafixed

formatwhichis

made

standard throughpolicy, tradition,orequipmentconstraints.

The

outputsare typically a filespecificallydesignedtobe revisable(becausethefinal task result

issubject toinitiatornegotiation)andtext-on-paperforinitiatorreview. Examples are

notices,letters, and

memos

(relatively short)andactivityreports (relatively long). In the

11

CATEGORIZATION OF

SECRETARIAL

WORK

1

.

Work

initiatedb;;^ "others" secretaryis

a. told explicitlywhattodo

(given rawtext andasampleletterspecifyingthe format)

b. given

some

discretion (foil format)

2.

Work

initiated b^the secretariesin responseto: a. beingtold ina generalsensetoachieve a result

(produceanequipmentinventorylist)

b. beingtoldtheyareresponsibleforaresult

(makinglabels usedto forwardmailtoformer visitors)

c. observing aneed and takingresponsibility formeetingit

(monitoringdepartmentexpenditures)

Figure 3.

Use

of the

OAM

led to insightonprocess-initiation asakeydiscriminatorof the

typeof

work

done bya secretary.

the levelsofself-initiated

work

reflectincreased taking ofresponsibility andcreativity.

Althoughthiscategory involvedkeyboarddataentry, thedata entryisnotan end initself.

Completion generally requirescontactwithothers,and thesecretary hasflexibility in

selectingtheformat inwhichthe resultsarepresented.

The

outputs are typicallyfilesused

bythesecretary incarryingout officeprocedures. Examplesare maillogsand reminderfiles.

There seem tobea series ofprerequisites forappearance ofsecretarial

work

inthe

"self-initiated" category. First, powerfultools(or a light

work

load) must

make

itpossible

12

theuse of toolsinimaginativeways. Third,theprofessionalsserved mustacknowledgethe

valueof the resultinginnovation.

HiltzandTuroff[4] describe thecategory of"workinitiatedbyothers" well

when

theyobservethat secretaries "act asintermediariesbetweenthe originators andthe recipients

oftext."

They

comment

onthe fact that

word

processors are typicallyaimedforone

specializedaspect ofwhatthesecretaryactuallydoes.

Thereareother non-text kinds ofwork in the "initiatedbyothers" category(e.g.,

placing telephonecalls).

The

extent towhich asecretary caninfluencetheprocessused to

complete suchtasksdependsonthe precisionwithwhichthe "order" isgiven.

The

initiator

may

fullydescribe thetask (e.g., specify the exactformat) or

may

leave that to the discretion

of the secretary.

An

instancewherethe secretaryadds valueto theoutputisinthedesignof

overheadprojector foils. Inthiscategory,there are two breakdowns: thosetaskswherethe

value-added isinform only,andthose where both form andcontentareinfluencedbythe

secretary. Figure4 summarizes

some

examples ineachUst.

Tasksinitiatedbysecretaries, inordertobetter accompUsha job,involve a flexible

format. Examplesincludeequipment inventory, personalcalendars,andbudgets.

The

self-initiated

work

describedin Figure 5includes use of tools requiring the secretary todo

considerable "thinking"; that is,the secretarymust add value inorder toachievetheresult.

Again,

many

more "non-keyboard" taskscouldbe foundinthiscategory

when

observinga

secretary at work (e.g., telephonecalls, settingupmeetings,planningoffice moves,furniture

and equipment acquisition). Figure 5 lists

some

examplesofself-initiatedtasks requiring

13

FORM

FORM

&

CONTENT

typing aletter technicaltyping (formulas,equations, specialcharacters) foil layout activityreports progress reports proposals performanceplans research orders

memos

announcingameeting

applicanthandling

speakerannouncements

shaping notesinto

sentences andparagraphs

budgets

space planning,moves, andtelephone assignments

new

staff, visiting

pro-fessionals,

summer

interns; orientation andrecords

equipmentinventory

Figure 4. Tasksinitiated byothersbutwhichgiveevidenceof secretarial "valueadded" and,

in

some

cases, creativity.

FORM AND CONTENT

mail log

distributionlists forreportsand

memos

equipmentinventory

employee

home

addresses and phone numbers

mailforwardinglistsandlabels

reminderfile basedondate

financialmonitoring totrackbudgetexpenses

Figure 5. Tasksinitiated bysecretaries inorderto supporttheir

own

work, to

accommodate

14

A

majorresultofourinterviewsistheobservationof

how

timeisallocatedbetween

categoriesof work.

The

secretaries toFunctionManagers spendlessthan50%*^oftheir

time doing structuredtextentryinitiatedbyothers. Secretaries toDepartment Managers

spendfrom

50%

to

90%

of their timedoing suchwork, dependingonthe styleofthe

Department andthestyle ofthe individual secretary.

The

remainingsecretariesspend

75%

to

95%

of theirtime onthiscategoryof tasks.

It isclearthat

much

ofthe secretarialworkloadconsists oftasks initiatedbythe

secretary.

The

conventional stereotypeisthat secretariesonlycarryout highly structured

tasks at the directionof the persons supported. Contrary tothe stereotypethat "secretaries

donot

make

decisionsofanysignificance on

how

tospendtheirtime,"

we

foundthat secretariestoFunctionManagers typicallyspend

more

that half theirtimeworkingon

self-initiatedtasks,and Departmentsecretariesspend anywherefrom

10%

to

50%

of their

timeinsuch activities.

The

Natureofthe

Documents

Intheprevious discussionoftypesof tasks, the variety ofdocumentsatthe

SJRL

was

also illustrated. Figures 3,4 and 5 all listspecificexamplesofthedocumentsidentifiedin

the course ofthe study. Because documentpreparation, storage, retrieval,andprintingare

majorofficeworkstation tasks,

we

usedthe

OAM

"objects" conceptto investigate

how

documents enterinto the

SJRL

secretarialwork flow.

We

categorizeddocuments on the

^he

time estimateswerecollectedintheinterviewsandreflectthe judgmentofthose interviewed.

The

figureswerenotindependentlyvalidated. However, the results are consistent withinthehierarchy ofsecretaries,suggesting thatthese approximationsare

15

basisof frequencyasseen bythe secretary. Figure 6shows thisclassificationwith another

sampleofdocuments, preprintedforms, listedineachfrequency category.

The

study

identifiedover 50different (in terms of format)documents, aboutequally divided

among

the

three categories.

Document

preparation canbeeither self-initiatedor initiatedbyothers, but

itislowonthe scaleof value-added. However, document preparation

may

be a task

associated with a

much more

significantprocedure (e.g.,planningforandordering

new

office

equipment) that

may

be importanttothe mission ofanoffice.

The Use

of ExistingWorkstations

Each

secretaryhadaccess tothe display terminalthatwas connected to the host

computerand tothecommunicatingtypewriter terminal withprinter and magneticcard

storage.

We

wereinterested inthe secretarialpreferencesfor choice of useandthecriteria

enteringinto the decision.

We

expected thatthese preferences wouldillustratecharacteristics of

work

styleor features

deemed

usefulbythe secretaries. Figure 7 showsthe results.

To

explorethis further,

we

asked the secretarialstafffor theiropinions aboutwhat

theyliked

when

usingthe display terminal. Thesecharacteristics arelisted inFigure 8. Note

thatthese are reallyopinionsaboutthe display terminalandthe servicesaccessedvia these

terminals. Insummary, assumingthe hostsystemwasdeliveringnormalservice, the display

terminal

was

always preferred except

when

therewere "printing" constraints(e.g.,a special

letterhead

was

required, the task consistedofaddressinga single envelope, orthe text was

personaland confidential).

These opinionsreflect two issues

-

productivityenhancement and "expectations" for

16

A SAMPLE OF

DOCUMENTS

AND

THEIR

FREQUENCY

OF

USE

HighActivity

Medium

Activity LessFrequent

travelexpense authorization purchase order checkrequest pettycash timecard travelplan ManuscriptProcessing Center

work

order

invention disclosure

presentation clearance

requestforpublication

foreigntravel approval

personnel data

anorderformanuals

work

authorization order award patentdisclosure verificationof foreign seminar attendance

Figure 6.

Documents

arefrequently completed bythe secretaryin orderto support thestaff.

17

CRITERIA

FOR

USE

OF

DISPLAY

TERMINAL

AND

TYPEWRITER TERMINAL

90%

preferreduseof display terminalatalltimesunless: -_{observedslow response timedueto heavyhostusage} -neededspecialletterheadonshort notice

-observedhost service wastemporarily unavailable

100%

preferred typewriter terminalfor: -fillingout forms

-short,one-time jobs (envelopes,local, occasional

memo)

Confidential or sensitive text

-

14%

preferred usingtypewriter terminal startto finish -

48%

preferred input of textonthe display terminal,

printingon thetypewriter terminal (host-connected)

-

38%

did notdothiskind of

work

Figure 7.

The

secretarial staff

made

a choiceinuse of thedisplayterminalandthe typewriterterminal.

CHARACTERISTICS

OF

WORK

WELL-SUPPORTED AT

THE

DISPLAY

TERMINAL

• Easeofmanipulationand correctionoftext

• Establishstandard formatforselves andforsharingwith others

•

Communication

features -Messages

-Sendingtextfilesto nearbyoffices, toother

locationsover anetwork, to

RSM's

workingat

home

• Special printing features

-Fonts containingspecialcharacters, highlighting -Graphics

-Photo-printers providing

book

text quality

• Accessto special features

programmed

onthehost (seeFigure 10)

Figure 8.

The

secretarial staffmentioneda

number

ofthings theylikedaboutdisplay

18

manipulatedand changed onthe displayterminalwasamajoraid in supportingtheirability

to "getthe

work

outthedoor".

The

message andtexttransmissionfeaturessaved timeand

footsteps.

They

also provided supportcommunications

among

secretaries andstaffwhich

were never beforepossible

when

RSMs

were workingat

home

orat other

IBM

locations.

The

"expectations" issueisan interestingone.

As

soonas secretariesbegan

experimenting withsophisticated printingoptionsfor bothreports andfoils,the researchstaff

came

toexpectthehighquality as amatterof course.

As

a resultoftheirextensive use ofthe displayterminalandhost-basedfeatured,the

secretaries also

made

a

number

of observationsof things theywould liketo seechanged.

A

firstandforemostconcern wasthe lackof formaltraining.

They

recalled theirfirstdays

usingthe systemwith

some

senseofaccomplishment, but theydidnotthinkitwasan

efficient

way

to learn.

They

alsowere frustrated; they suspectedthe systemcontaineda

number

of additional features that theywould find valuable,but theyhad noeasy

way

to

confirmthis.

The

observationsaresummarizedin Figure9.

The Community

ofUsers

The

research staff

(RSMs)

inthe

SJRL

make

extensive use of the

VM/CMS

system

andthe displayterminalsforadministrative as well as technical support.

The

RSMs

inthe

Computer

Science Function,in particular,have an understandingof

how

theunderlying

systemisorganized, have aprofessionalinterestinadding

new

capability to the system,and

havea personalinterestin seeingthis

new

function used. These combine to act as a

19

CHARACTERISTICS

OF

WORK

WITH THE

DISPLAY

TERMINAL

THAT

THE

SECRETARIES

WOULD

LIKE

CHANGED

Lackoforganizedtraining

-found themselvesre-creating formatsthatthey

laterdiscovered alreadyexisted

- noformal

way

to learn reliably of

new

features -poor documentation ofhostprograms

-learning curve longer than necessary

Host unavailability,slow response time

Printerproblems

-located severalhundredfeet fromthe secretarial

work

area

-notsafe tosendpersonalandconfidentialtext to a "semi-public" output area

-schedulefor loadingspecial letterheadpaperstock toorestrictive

-printers relatively close towork areadid nothave

subscriptand superscript capability

Difficulttoproof-readsuccessfully the text displayed onthe verticaldisplayscreen.

Terminal physicallycumbersome; too

much

areaonthe desk

top, too "massive", tooheavyto

move

conveniently

Figure 9.

The

secretarial staffdiscoveredin practice a

number

of thingsthey did notlike

20

Forexample, individual staff

members

willdevelopa

new

way

tousethecomputer

(e.g. a

SHIP

macro

command

fortransferringfilesbetweenlocalusersandovera network).

They

willtellor

show

colleagues

how

the

new

command

makes

theirjobeasier.

Some

colleagueswilltypicallydiscoveradditional things thatcouldbe done andwilladdthe

functiontothesystem. Sincestaff

members

are accustomed todoing

much

of their

own

secretarial

work

(due toprovisionof tools tosupportthis'^),severalwilldiscoverways that

theycanusethesystem for officeactivities. Staffmembers, inthecourse of enlisting

secretarialsupportfora task,explain

how

to use thesystemto get that particularjob done.

A

secretary, typicallyreceptivetoa

new

idea,will

make some

noteson

how

tousethat feature.

Then

at lunch, orin thecourse ofanexchangewith anothersecretary,thetechnique

willbepassedon.

The

readinessto accept innovation,coupled withaneasilyusedmessage

system,leads tothe.spread of such information over theinformalnetwork.

Notethat this process can operatetwo ways. Ideasthat seemat firstto be good,

may

upon wideruse, be discovered tohave flaws. Forexample, a

RECEIVE

macro

command

allowedincomingfilestooverwrite userfilesthathappened tohave thesame name.

The

word

soonspreadto "watchout", and

many

beganusinga similarbut accident-proof

RD

(for "read") macro

command

instead. Thus, the

SJRL

environmenttends toseparatethe

unworkable fromtheworkable.

'^Investigation of staff

member work

ispart ofPhase 2 of thisstudyandisnotdocumented

21

Shared Services

A

varietyofservicesavailable onthe hostcomputerareaccessedbythe secretaries

throughthe terminal. Figure 10shows examplesof these services.

The

secretariesconsiderthe computer-based message systemto bea significantaidin

theirwork.

They

usethe faciUty toexchangebrief notes, toseek helponspecialproblemsin

system use,and toexchangetechniques bysending specialformatstooneanother. There

appears tobea significant useofthis inpreference touse ofthe telephone. Whilethe

telephone is aninstrumentfor directand immediate conversation (oncetheconnectionis

made), the staffisaware of the disruptivenature of aphone call.

By

using themessage

system,the exchangecanbe

managed

by the recipientona

"when

convenient" basis,

whereas conventionaloffice etiquetterequires that aringingphone beanswered.

Computer

messages can bedulynoted withoutinterrupting theflow of the

work

in progress.

Messagesonthe currentsystemare usedintwo modes. In a directmode, the

name

of

the recipientandthe content of a shortmessage (100characters)are specified

simultaneously.

The

message canbe delivered only

when

both partiesaresynchronously

online. Thisisuseful for briefnoteswhere the immediacyofexchangeisimportant.

No

record of these messagesiskept onthe system.

A

second

mode

allows amessageto be stored for laterreadingifthe recipient isnot currently usingthe system. Ifthe recipient is

online, thena "notice" appears interspersed withwhatever

work

is in progress. Thisstates

the source but notthe contentof themessage.

The

secretarycanaccess thecommunication

22

COMPUTER-BASED

SUPPORT

FOR ROUTINE

ACTIVITIES

Looking up numbersin anonline telephonedirectory

Checkingthe spelling ofwordsintextdocuments

Calculation(handcalculatorfunctiononline)

Clockusedinconnection with areminderfile

Send andreceive "softcopy" documents and messages

Figure 10. These activitieswould normallybecarriedoutmanually.

The

secretarial staff typically prefers touse thecomputer-basedroutines.

IV.

INTERPRETATION

OF

THE

RESULTS

Requirementsfor Office Workstations

The

primary objective forthispartofthe

CISR/OAM

studyatthe

SJRL

wasto help determine therequirementsforadministrativeworkstations.

As

previously mentioned, all

secretaries inthe studyhad "dual" workstations (displayterminaland communicating,

magnetic-cardtypewriters). This "dual workstation" configuration wasexpensive and

consumed

considerablespace (about 15 cubicfeet, requiringanentire desk top surfacearea).

In addition,

much

of theequipment wasreachingtheendofitsuseful lifetime, and

many

terminalshadnoiseandqualityproblems. Thus, the

SJRL

administrative

management

was

interested inreplacingtheseworkstations.

The

management, and

many

secretaries,were

awareof

CRT

word

processorsand wereinterestedin their possibihties foruse attheSJRL.

The

resultsofthe firstpartof the

CISR/OAM

study described herewereusedto

make

recommendationsonoffice workstationsfor the

SJRL

andtoguide researchonoffice

23

workstations.

As we

summarize the requirements derivedfrom the study,

we

willinterpret

thestudyresults whichled toeach requirement (Figure 11).

Two

ofthe studyresultsstrongly indicated thatanoffice workstation should conveniently attachtothe host

(VM/CMS)

system.

The

attachment should be highspeed

(atleastequalto the 1.2megabitrate of the display terminals), should involvea simple

hardwareand softwareprotocol, should provideemulation of the display terminal, andshould

permitfiletransferbetweenhost system applicationsandthe workstation. First,thestudy

indicated ahighutilizationof, anddependencyof secretariesupon, hostsystem services(e.g.,

messages, databases, editors).

Any

workstation whichdoes not provide accessto these serviceswouldreduce productivityandincur substantial resistance.

To

assuretransferof established

work

patterns,access to thehost systemshould provide thesame userinterface

and functionality asthe display terminals,at least as asubset. Second,the study indicated

theimportanceofthe

community

of users.

As

observed,this

community

providestraining,

help,and

new

applications. If theworkstation does not provide accesstothe sharedservices,

the valueofthis

community

ofuserswillbelost.

Adequatehost attachment wouldallow anofficeworkstation toprovide the functions

of the existing display terminals,butthe workstationalsoneeds toprovidethe functionality

of thetypewriter workstations. In particular, the study indicatedthatthetypewriter

workstationsare usedfor printing,storage ofclassified,short orpersonaldocuments,and for

preparation ofdocuments that are shortordifficultto prepare withthe displayterminal (e.g.,

forms). Supportfor

document

preparationwould have toinclude "typewriter emulation" for

24

RESULTS

RELATED REQUIREMENT

la.

Dependency

onhost services, b.

Community

of users.

2. Magneticcard typewriter usedfor shortdocuments, backup, andprinting.

3. Dual workstationsused

atthe

same

time.

4.

Wide

varietyofdocuments.

5. Screen,availability, printer, andtraining

problems.

1. Hostattachment with terminal emulationandfile transfer.

2a. Typewriter emulation,

b. Highquality printer.

3. Multi-tasking withsimple,

quick usersupportfor

switchingbetween local

andhost-attachedmodes.

4. Support forwidevariety offormats with prototype templates.

5. Largerscreen; local processing, storage; and

training programs.

Figure 1 1.

The

results from thestudyindicate specificrequirementsforanadministrative

workstation.

workstationisthatitcanbe usedina standalonemode.

Many

of the secretariesnotedthis

advantage

when

askediftheycouldgiveuptheirtypewriter workstation. In addition, several

secretaries notedthatthe

word

processors whichtheyhadseendid not providethis

typewritercapability.

As shown

inFigure 6, the secretarialpersonnel

work

witha wide varietyofdocuments.

Many

of these areprepared, stored,printed,and retrievedusingthe existingworkstations. Thus, any

new

workstationmust support thesetasks anddocuments(e.g., letters,

memos,

25

attachmentmust beintegrated withthe localsupportfor thesedocumentsso that adocument

thatispreparedat theworkstation canbeprocessed by theappropriate host appUcations.

Forexample,itshouldbepossible to formatandprintdocumentsprepared ata local

workstation withexistinghostapplications. Itshouldalso bepossible to store in host data

basestheformswhicharefilled-in at aworkstation, andit shouldbe possible tousethe

storedcontentas data inputsto existingaccountingapplications.

A

workstationthatcould supportmore of thecurrentdocumentsthan theexistingworkstationswould bea definite

productivity aid,particularly ifthatsupport included prototype forms(partiallyfilled-in)

serving astemplates.

Finally, the problemswiththe existingworkstationsthat the secretarieslistedindicate

requirements for a

new

workstation. Largerscreens, smallerpackaging, localprocessingand

storage, high-qualityprinter,andtraining programs would beconsidered advantages.

The

studyresultsthus indicatedboth anopportunityand a set ofrequirements foran

administrative workstation. Based onthis setofrequirementsand areviewof existing

workstations,

we

were unabletoidentify anexistingproductthat

met

the requirements.

Thoserequirementsthatseemedthe mostdifficulttomeetwere:

1. Adequatehost systemattachment.

Most

existingworkstations donot providehigh

speed (e.g., 1 megabitor more)connection,full-screen displayterminalemulation, orfile

transfer tohost applicationprograms (e.g.,editors).

2. Multi-taskingwithsimple, fasttask switch. Inthose fewworkstationsthatdo

provide multi-tasking, theusermust takeseveralactions (e.g., gothroughseveralmenus, load

diskettes)in ordertoswitch tasks.

The

exceptionsare those workstationsthatpermit

26

3. Typewriter emulation. Itwassurprising thatonlyinafew

CRT

word

processors can auser insertpaper (e.g., anenvelope) in the printerandtypedirectlyontothepaper

withoutcreatinga workstationfile. In addition, on mostworkstations it appearsdifficultto

support preprintedforms becauseof thecomplicated formatsofthese forms.

Based onthe requirementsidentifiedin thisstudy, the administrative

management

decided nottoreplace the existingworkstations at thistime. In addition,a projectin the

Computer

ScienceDepartmenthas beguntodevelop extensionstothe

IBM

Displaywriterin

orderto provideaworkstationthatmeetsthe requirements.

A

Comparison With Other ResearchSitesIn

The

CISR

Study

A

discussion of theenvironmentat the

SJRL

anditseffect onthe natural growthinthe

use ofadvancedtechnologyis appropriatehere. Thereappearstobe a secretarial

self-selectionprocess inpractice. Firstofall, secretarialapplicants at

IBM

arenot surprised

to beworkingwithcomputers. Oftenthose interviewedhad been urgedtoapplybyfriends

who

knew

theircapabilitiesand

who

knew

the

demands

ofthejob (heavyworkload, tight

deadlines,littleformaltrainingoraid). Forthose

who

arewiUingto seekaid,the

RSMs

can be asourceofsupportive assistance.

The

SJRL

work environmenthasled to acadreof secretaries

who

expect tolearn

new

thingsandare willing to thinkcreatively.

Atanother high-technologylocationsurveyed by CISR,a similarlyconducive

environmentwas expected. However, there weresignificantdifferences. Theretheload

was lighter(onesecretary servedoneortwopeople), and the secretariesappeared tobeless

27

professionalsappeared notas willing to lend assistance

when

secretariesencountered

problems.

A

small consulting firmwas observedatathirdstudysite. Here theprofessionaland

the secretaryformed asupportive team,workingin close relationship. While the

professionalswere highlyqualified for their jobs, theydidnot havetechnical trainingin the

details of the computersystem.

The

secretaries typically

worked

outasystemproblem in

collaborationwiththe professional. Ifthe solution

was

notreadilydiscovered, the

professionalcalledthe service organization,gleaned whatinformationwasavailable, andthen

returnedto the terminalto

work

withthe secretary. Actuallythe professionalswere nomore

qualified inoperation ofthe systemthan the secretaries,but theyweretypicallymore

aggressive in seekinginformationfromthe vendor.

Ata fourthlocation neither the professional staffnorthe secretarialstaffwasfamiliar

withintricaciesofsystem operation.

As

a result,the systeminstalledthere wasused only

lightly andnot veryimaginatively.

At

all these locationsitappears thatorganizations areevolvingthrough office

technologystages in thesame

way

that they

move

through informationsystem technology

stages asdescribedbyGibson and Nolan[5].

Many

factorscombine,including

company

tradition, environment, industrysector, growth, andavailable technology. Theseall influence

where on thecurve a

company

presentlyfalls. Zisman [2] discussesthisconceptspecifically

with respectto officeautomation. Rockartand Flannery [6] describe it in theareaofend

28

We

cansee thepatternat our researchsites.

SJRL

isinthe secondstage ("contagion" or "expansion").

The

othersites arestillin thefirststage ("initiation"), andtheyarenot

yetexperiencingtheenthusiasmthatgoes along withmovinginto the secondstage.

V.

DISCUSSION

Althoughthe observationsand listofworkstation requirementswhich

came

out ofthis

studyarenot necessarily surprising,they are important.

The

resultsof the studywere the

majorinputs into the decisiontocontinue usingthe currentworkstationsandintothe

enhancements tobe

made

to the

IBM

Displaywriter. In addition, thestudy provideda

number

of useful insightsonadministrativefunctionsandthe potential for officeautomation

at the SJRL.

We

conclude withadiscussion of theseinsights.

We

wereable to identify missions, functions,procedures, andtasksin offices through useof

OAM.

The

results includedclasses of

work

considered bothtypical andlesstypicalin the secretarialworld.

The

SJRL

environmentprovidedagoodopportunitytoobserve a natural growth patternintheuse ofadvanced technology. Thisgave usanopportunity to

"see the future", to get aglimpse ofthe potential for officeautomation.

Our

observationof

the workstationfeatureswhichareusedinperforming advancedofficeproceduresgives us

confidence that ourlistofworkstation requirements isresponsive tofuture secretarialneeds.

A

number

of interestingorganizationalandbehavioral implicationsofoffice automation

wereidentified. Perhapsthemost significantisthe importanceof a

community

of users.

Anotherinterestingobservationisin theareaofuserresistance. Atthe

SJRL

we

didnotsee areluctanceto use

new

technology. Obviouslythe high-technologyenvironmenthas a

29

self-selectionprocess plays arole. There appearto beat leasttwoadditional factorswhich

contributedto lowresistance. First,the heavy

work

load resultingfrom the ratio ofsupport

stafftoprofessional staffcreates a situationwheresecretariesare highlymotivatedto

enhancetheir

own

abilityto get the

work

done. It isclear toall ofthematthe

SJRL

that

withoutthe aidsupplied through thehostsystem, they wouldbe hopelessly inundated with

work. In addition, becausethe professionalstaff

makes

useof the computer-basedtools

themselves,the early "roughdraft" versions ofpaperwork areseldom directlytypedinto the

systembythe secretaries.

The

fact that virtuallyeveryoneat

SJRL

hasaterminal andthat

many

RSMs

dotheir

own

textentryraisesthe issueof professionalstaffresistance topersonal useofkeyboards. Althoughthisissue was notdirectlyinvestigatedin this study,

some

observations were

made

as a resultofthe interviews.

The

professional staffisenthusiastic andpositive aboutthe

computersupportfor selfentryofdocumentsdirectlyonthe system. In atleast

some

of the

instanceswhereresistance

was

indicated, itseemed tobebasedon a sensitivityorinsecurity

related tothejobingeneral, not tothecomputertechnology. Thisisan unusualandno

doubtcontroversial observation. Ideasanalogoustothishavebeen putforthbyTurkic[7]

asshereported the perceptionsofdata processing professionals

when

they describedtheir

own

relationshipwithcomputers.

As

we

statedearlier,

we

did notfocuson productivity measures. However,secretaries

statedtheyhave foundthe timetoorganizetasksandcreate proceduresforsmoothing work

flowwhich they could noteventhink about before. This has beenstimulated bothby time

saved throughcomputer supportand byaccessto the toolspowerfulenoughtocreate these

30

triggeredbya clock,andfinancialmonitoringandanalysissystems. Anotherstated

advantageof theexisting officeautomationtoolswasthe abilityofthe secretaries totakeon

new

tasks,

many

ofwhichare self-initiated. Hereitis notacaseofdoing "more"of the

currenttasksor of doingthem "faster", butrather the presenceof entirely

new

functions.

The

mostsignificant exampleisthe messagesystem.

The

secretarieslearnedtousethe

message systemto informeach other

when

theywouldbe temporarily

away

fromtheirdesks

or toarrangeforonesecretary todotasks (e.g., pickupprinteddocuments) onbehalf of

several secretaries.

The

resultsofan

OAM

study generally includemoredetail onproceduresand their relationships to the missionof the organization. Suchdetail canbeusedtosuggestpotential

or desirable organizationalimpactswhich can beexpected fromofficeautomation.

Our

initialuseof the

OAM

was

forgatheringinformation related tothe objectives outlined in

SectionII;thus,

we

did notgointo detailonissues surrounding organizational impacts.

However,

some

observationsin this areadid result fromthe interviews. First,the useof

terminalsby professionals toinputtheirdraftdocumentsisanimpactofthistechnology

whichclearlyaffectsprofessionalwork. Secondly, theabilityof the secretary totakeon

more self-initiatedtasksinsupport of the officemissionaffectsthenature of secretarial

work. Finally,theabilityofanyonetosendelectronicmessagesto anyone, unfetteredby

traditionaloffice etiquette,creates the potential for a significant simplificationofoffice

31

REFERENCES

1.

M.

Sirbu,S. Schoichet, J. Kunin and

M. Hammer,

"OAM:

An

_{Office Analysis}

Methodology," Laboratoryfor

Computer

Science,

OAM-

16, October 1980.

2.

M.

Zisman, "OfficeAutomation: Revolution or Evolution?" Sloan

Management

Review, Spring 1978,pp. 1-16.

3. E.

Wynn

andL. Suchman, "Procedures and Problemsin theOffice Environment,"

XEROX,

Advanced

Systems Department,Palo Alto, April 1979, 18 pages.

4. S. Hiltz and

M.

Turoff,

"The

Evolution ofUser Behaviorina Computerized

ConferencingSystem," Communicationsofthe

ACM,

Vol. 24,No. 11,

November

1981, pp. 739-51.

5. C. F. Gibson andR. L.Nolan,

"Managing

the FourStages of

EDP

Growth," Harvard BusinessReview,January-February 1974, pp. 76-85.

6. J. F. Rockart and L. S.Flannery, "The

Management

of

End

UserComputing,"

Proceedings of theSecondInternationalConference

on

InformationSystems,

December

7-9, 1981,Cambridge, Massachusetts, pp. 351-63.

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HD28.M414 no.l285- 82

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