Managers and Office Automation- a Framework for Understanding Use

A fairly widespread notion persists concerning office automation (OA) having a revolutionary impact on the work of managers. The new age will provide instant access to information, insightful consideration of numerous options, convincing graphics, and less time wasted in travel and administrative trivia. But how much of this ideal can be true? Given organizational and technological constraints, how much of it can be made true? How can practical consequences of OA be recognized and achieved? The answer to this question requires an appreciation of four issues: (a) the present status of OA use among managers; lb) practical expectations from OA, the nature of managerial work; (c) factors which limit managers' use of OA; and (d) the equilibrium between variables which promote and inhibit the use of OA.