Implementation of information technology in office settings: review of relevant literature

Abstract

The primary aim of this literature review is to survey previous studies of the implementation of innovations in organizations in order to see what light they may shed on the introduction of computerized procedures into office settings. Specifically, such an undertaking should suggest hypotheses about classes of variables that are likely to affect short- and long-run outcomes of the implementation of information technology in work contexts, and should provide a framework for examining that process. For this purpose office information technology is regarded as comprising multifunction computer systems that perform some of the information handling tasks of the work unit in interaction with their users; they encompass a number of autonomous parts whose tasks can be executed in parallel. This definition distinguishes the systems thought to typify the 'office of the future' from closely related technologies that are single-function and/or noninteractive (e.g., voice message systems, typewriters with memories, computerized payroll processing, and other already widely diffused technologies).