Microcomputer penetration into the corporate environment and its managerial implications
Yael Han, Dan Levin · R and D Management · 1986
Abstract The authors state that the main need in the microcomputer field is not hardware or applications software but policies for linking microcomputers to company databases and information stores, referred to as communication capability. The paper presents a conceptual framework for the structure and degree of connectivity among the company microcomputer‐based information systems. The management problem is to find the right trade‐offs between the advantages to the individual having an autonomous dedicated microcomputer against the disadvantages to the organization of duplicated effort and data, and a fragmented information system. To find the optimum trade‐off the management has to take into account five major issues; the desirable degree of compatibility of hardware and software; hidden and obvious costs; impact on the user; change with time; and organizational issues. The authors analyse two sets of variables, those affecting the system and those affecting the individual, and identify about eight sub‐variables each of which should be taken into account when deciding the desirable level of performance of the total system. They reject a global multi‐criterion decision‐making approach and propose instead the division of the system into three levels each having its own criteria of performance and each its own degree of mutual connectivity. These are respectively, site‐wide applications (maximum connectivity), special applications uniting a sub‐set of individuals, and personal applications exclusively oriented on a single person. The paper concludes with guidelines for future study, mainly to clarify the issues, and a sketch of a prescriptive framework for organizational policy.