Office Automation

Table of Contents

1. Analyzing An Office - presented by Sheralyn Mann

2. Methodologies of Office Automation - presented by Rod Brassard
   • Designing Office Systems
   • Goals of Office Information Systems (OIS) Methodologies
   • Approaches to OIS Conceptual Design
   • Aspects of OIS
   • Categories of Office Conceptual Models
   • Office Analysis Methodology (OAM)

3. Other Office Automation Links

4. References

A methodology to assess needs in individual offices must include these three parts:

• Needs Assessment Methodology
• Procedural Design Methodology
• Procedural Implementation Methodology

Procedural tools are those in which there is a predetermined flow of work involving many steps. The flow may be the same every time, or may include a more complex logic flow. With non-procedural tools, one can specify a set of functions to be supported but cannot say what functions will be used or in what order. The use of decision support systems, database management systems, electronic spreadsheet systems, the telephone, and word processing tools generally fall into this category. Offices can be grouped into two types:

• Type 1 offices or departments handle the firms routine information processing. (For example, accounting, payroll, and billing departments) procedures are central in these departments, and the automation of procedures is critical to improved performance.

• Type 2 offices or departments handle the firms non-routine information processing. (For example, corporate planning departments, marketing departments, and engineering departments). There are comparatively few set procedures in these departments, and support of these procedures is not central to improved functional performance. Work should be supported with non-procedural tools, such as e-mail, decision- support systems, and access to departmental and corporate databases.

1. The first goal of an OIS methodology is to obtain an accurate description of the office. A complete and formal description of all aspects of the office work is not feasible. But, the model used in a methodology should describe as many aspects of the office as possible in an clear and concise way. This description will be useful to the system designer, as well as the potential users of the new system by enabling them to validate the system and suggest possible modifications.

2. A second goal is to locate the functions that are only loosely related to the goals of the company. This is done to separate these functions into two groups: The first group includes functions that are not related to actual office work, but are still necessary for social and organizational reasons; The second group of functions are those that need to be re-examined. These functions may be obsolete and are only being done out of habit. They should be corrected before the implementation of the new system.

3. The final goal of a conceptual model it that it act as a guide in providing technical solutions, and provide criteria to follow in evaluating possible solutions and in choosing tools for design.

• A technical view examines office work in great detail, by looking at the operations that are performed and measuring them, usually in terms of execution time. The goal of this type of approach is to identify the best methods to perform the work. Productivity is measured mainly in terms of throughputs, instead of considering global office performance.

• In an organizational view, the global organizational structure of the office is analyzed and business goals are examined. The (hierarcichal) organizational structure of the company is reflected in this type of office model.

• A socio-technical view considers the office in terms of tasks to be performed by each unit of the enterprise. Each unit has some type of control on the work, and has resources and memory on which to base present and future decisions. A set of rules is used to perform controls and to take into consideration goals and constraints in the execution of the tasks.

• Office data: The conceptual models on which OIS design is based must be able to consider all office elements. The data used in conventional Information systems, such as character, string, and numeric data, are not enough. Other types of data, consisting of unstructured data contained in messages, mail, and oral communications must also be supported.
• Time factor: There must be support for scheduling activities, calendar functions, and control operations.
• Office activities: OIS must be flexible. Office tasks can be performed in several ways, and instructions for the completion of a task can differ.
• Interconnection of elements: Office activities can be very complex. There are a large number of elements in each office which are related through several connections. In general, the elements of office work are distributed amoung several office workers, thus communication among workers and with the external world is an important function.
• Office evolution: Activities can change over time, and ways of processing information grow and change.
• Usage characteristics: OIS are highly interactive, and the interface with the users should be adequate to the type of work to be performed.
• Filtering: Filtering of large amounts of data is required to provide workers with specific information, related to thier task.
• Reminding: In traditional offices, the arrangement of papers, books, and notes have the function of reminding workers of activities to be performed and their different priorities. Information is hidden from the user in an automated office, so the system must provide the function of reminding, and possibly the scheduling of activities.
• Integration of functions: A number of functions are performed in an office. These functions such as communication, data processing, information manipulation and retrieval, and task management may be integrated together and used by the same worker in fast sequence (or interleaved together). The system must provide easy transitions between functions.
• Impact of technology Methodologies should be as independent as possible of implementation details. This is done so that the impact of technology does not effect the office methodology.

• Data-based models group data into forms, which are similar to paper forms in the traditional office. Types of data and the operations of data are the basic elements of these conceptual models. Office activities are then seen as a series of operations on data. The main purpose of data-based models is to represent the office from the viewpoint of objects manipulated by office workers, in a way similar to traditional offices, where work was primarily based on documents.

• Process-based models analyze and describe office work by looking at different activities performed concurrently by the users and the system. The OAM methodology is based on a process-based conceptual model. The goal of process-based models is that of representing office activities in a coordinated way. The approach is founded on an integrated vision of all the activities performed in an office, rather that operations performed by single users as in a data-based model.

• Agent-based models are based on the viewpoint of the functions performed by active elements of the office environment, which are the agents. This type of model describes the office by associating a set of functions to the different agents. The description of the office is not only dependent on data and processes, but also the set of office workers and their organizational structure. Its goal is that of examining office workers roles, the delegation of roles in the office, and so on; while data and activities are considered only in relation to their executors.

• Mixed models explicitly assume more than one type of element as the basis for system specification, and go on to define the relationships among these elements. One example of a mixed model classifies office elements into three sub-models. One sub-model specifying the data related to the office, the second specifying the operations and activities in the office, and the third sub-model specifying both the normal evolution of office work, and the possible structural modifications of office tasks. When compared to the other models, the mixed model provides a more complete specification of different types of the fundamental elements in the office.

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  Office Analysis Methodology (OAM)

  This methodology is based on the analysis of the activities performed in the organization. It focuses on the first two phases of OIS design: The Requirements Analysis phase, and Requirements Specifications phase.

  The goal of OAM is to understand office work in terms of functions, activities, flows, tasks, and so on. The office analysis process investigates why functions are performed, what they do, and how they are implemented. The methodology is directed to the analysis of semi-structured problems at a managerial level in order to identify the business goals of the organization.

  Office functions are examined top-down; the office manager and planner are interviewed first, and then office activities are examined in greater detail, following the office hierarchy. In contrast, the integration of the office system with the organization and the other systems is performed bottom-up. The results of the requirements analysis phase are specified in a high-level and problem-oriented language called Office Specification Language (OSL). This description is implementation independant, emphasizing office functions rather than specific operational tasks.

  Here is the general schema of OAM:

  1. Meet with the office manager
     • Organizational context and reporting relationships
     • Functions and resources of the office
     • DIdentification of conceptual objects and procedures
     • Identification of key personnel
  2. Produce initial procedure descriptions
     • Conceptual objects
     • Core procedure steps and major alternate control paths
     • Inputs and outputs
     • Databases
     • Environment and special equipment
  3. Develop and analyze a draft description
     • Examine for inconsistency and incompleteness
     • Construct list of exception possibilities
  4. Iterate the interview process
     • Circulate draft descriptiogn
     • Resolve conflicts and ambiguities
     • Investigate exception-handling procedures
     • Watch for ad hoc decision making
  5. Review the analysis with the manager
     • Validate intentions behind each procedure
     • Clarify what happens at interfaces with other offices
     • General exception handling
  6. Finalize the office description

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  Other Office Automation Links

  About the Office Automation Systems

  Interpersonal Computing and Technology:Vol2,No3

  Collaborative Information Retrieval: Gopher from MOO

  Automation Can Help To Avoid Malpractice

  Technology Management: Three Keys To Success

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  References

  Teger, S.L. (1983). Factors impacting the evolution of office automation. Proceedings of the IEEE. pp. 503-511.
  
  Panko, R.R. (1984). 38 offices: analysing needs in individual offices. ACM Transactions on Office Information Systems. pp. 226-234.
  
  Bracchi, G. & Pernici, B. (1984). Design requirements of office systems. ACM Transactions on Office Information Systems. pp. 151-170.
  
  Mumford E. (1986). The Office Of the Future. Computer Bulletin
  
  Christie B., Gardiner M. (1986). Office Systems. Information Technology and People. pp. 85-102. F. Blackler & D. Osborne.
  
  Hirscheim, R.A. (1986). Understanding the Office: A Social-Analytical Perspective. ACM Transactions On Office Information Systems. pp. 331-344.
  

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  Rodney Brassard
  Last modified April 9, 1995