Direct selling of Audio , Video Integrated solution of HCL infosystem

Introduction of HCL infosystem

HCL Infosystems (HCLI) draws it's strength from 30 years of experience in handling the ever changing IT scenario , strong customer relationships, ability to provide the cutting edge technology at best-value-for-money and on top of it, an excellent service & support infrastructure. Today, HCL is country's premier information enabling company. It offers one-stop-shop convenience to its diverse customers having an equally diverse set of requirements. Be it a large multi-location enterprise, or a small/medium enterprise, or a small office or a home, HCLI has a product range, sales & support capability to service the needs of the customer.

Last 30 years apart from knowledge & experience have also given us continuity in relationship with the customers, thereby increasing the customer confidence in us. companies strengths can be summarized as:

Ability to understand customer's business and offer right technology. Long standing relationship with customers. Pan India support & service infrastructure. Best-vale-for-money offerings.

Technology Leadership
HCL Infosystems is known to be the harbinger of technology in the country. Right from companies inception HCL have attempted to pioneer the technology introductions in the country either through HCL R&D or through partnerships with the world technology leaders.

Using HCL own R&D HCL have come up with:

Created HCL own UNIX & RDBMS capability (in 80s). developed firewalls for enterprise & personal system security. launched range of enterprise storage products.

HCL strive to understand the technology from the view of supporting it post installation as well. This is one of the key ingredients that go into HCL strategic advantage.

HCL Infosystems has to its claim several technology pioneering initiatives. Some of them are:

Country's first Desktop PC - BusyBee in 1985. Country's first branded home PC - Beanstalk in 1995. Country's first Pentium 4 based PC at sub 40k price point. Country's first Media Center PC.

Introduction of Director body

Ajai Chowdhry An engineer by training, Ajai Chowdhry is one of the six founder members of HCL and took over the reins of HCL Infosystems, the flagship company of the group, as President and CEO in 1994. He was appointed the Chairman of HCL Infosystems in November 1999. In recognition of his contribution in championing the cause of the domestic Indian IT industry, Ajai has been conferred the DATAQUEST IT Man of the Year 2007 Award amongst other awards

AJAI CHOWDHRY Chairman

Harsh Chitale joined HCL Infosystems as Chief Executive Officer in 2010 and heads the overall business strategy and operations of HCL Infosystems. He brings a HCLalth of experience as a senior business leader with rich business management experience in both Indian and global companies. Harsh is a recipient of the Directors Gold Medal at IIT Delhi, from where he completed his Electrical Engineering.

J V RAMAMURTHY President and Chief Operating Officer J V Ramamurthy is President and Chief Operating Officer, HCL Infosystems Ltd. He brings 3 decades of diverse Industry experience and leadership to the company. A technocrat and a man of broad vision, he has spearheaded companys entry into number of new verticals and partnerships.

SANDEEP KANWAR CFO & EVP Sandeep Kanwar joined HCL in 1988 and in a span of eight years progressed to the position of Chief Financial Officer at the young age of 35. He is HCLll respected amongst colleagues & customers for his financial acumen and management skills.

HARI BASKARAN EVP Hari, a BE graduate and alumni of IIM - Bangalore, has been instrumental in building up the largest retail network for digital life style products in the country. He heads the Distribution and Marketing Services and Retail business division for HCL.

GEORGE PAUL EVP George Paul, a graduate in Electronics & Telecommunications joined HCL in 1983. He heads the Marketing Function along with HCL R&D.

RAJEEV ASIJA EVP

Rajeev, an engineering graduate, joined HCL in 1983,. With two decades of industry experience, he heads the Enterprise Solutions & services of HCL.

RAJENDER KUMAR EVP Rajender Kumar joined in 1976. With over three decades of industry experience in procurement, manufacturing & channel development, he heads the Corporate Initiatives including Quest for Excellence Program.

M CHANDRASEKARAN Sr. VP M Chandrasekaran joined HCL in 1984. With over two decades of industry experience in sales, support and marketing, he heads the office automation products business for HCL.

VIVEK PUNEKAR VP HR Vivek joined HCL in 1986. An engineer by profession with over two decades of industry experience in various functions, he heads the HR function for the company. Credited with innovative HR initiatives that has made HCL among the best companies to work for.

VISION AND MISSION

A global corporation enriching lives and enabling business transformation for our customers, with leadership in chosen technologies and markets. Be the first choice for employees and partners, with commitment to sustainability.

HCL enable business transformation and enrichment of lives by delivering sustainable world class technology Products, Solutions & Services in our chosen markets thereby creating superior shareholder value.

HCL shall deliver defect free products, services and solutions to meet the requirements of our external and internal customers the first time, every time.

Relationship Program
HCL provide you access to HCLs innovative technologies, marketing strategies and value added services. By working on every aspect of the ICT industry, HCL have the experience to create world class products and services to help you give the best to your customers.

Advantages of HCL

HCL's labs - Pioneers in design, development and building ICT products India's largest Hardware, System Integration, Networking Solutions & Distribution Company 3 decades of expertise in technology solutions Partners with leading global players to provide the best of solutions to end users The largest manufacturer of PCs and Laptops in India Largest direct sales, digital lifestyle product distribution and retail network Extensive service network that reach out to 4,000 towns

Benefits from a Proven Commitment from HCL Info systems At HCL Infosystems, partnerships are lifelong relationships that mutually benefit each other. HCL can help to enhance your business and reap the rewards of HCL mutual success. HCL offer differentiated technology and dedicated service support infrastructure as per the needs and requirements of your customers. HCL provide technology specializations that map to areas of significant business growth for your business and your customers.

Reliable IT Backbone In a world where the right technology infrastructure is a prerequisite, HCL offer a reliable IT backbone to HCL partners. HCL combines technical innovation with built-in reliability to keep your business running. HCL provide a one stop shop for meeting endto-end IT requirements, thus offering a smooth ICT management. Additionally, HCL offer industry leading technology, designed to deliver a price to performance advantage to help you provide increased benefits to your customers. HCL high-quality products and services give you means to work in a smarter way and be more productive and competitive.

Differentiated Product Access At HCL understand that different customers have different needs. HCL have constantly innovated to offer a range of products to cater to different requirements of the customers. HCL have pioneered the home PC market of India - HCL designed Indias first Multimedia-enabled Beanstalk Media Centre PC for home users; HCL have developed Ezeebee and Busybee PCs and ME Laptops for personal productivity. Whether gaming, enjoying music or movies or connecting to the Internet, these systems offer ease of use that transcends to greater performance and more satisfaction for the individual user be for work or home.

Unparallel Support When the situation calls for it, HCL can help you with dedicated 24X7 HCL Touch service network. You can benefit from services offered through HCL offices in 170 cities, 505 points of presence, reaching 4,000 towns. Pre- and post-sales support from HCL specialists makes identifying the best solution for each sales opportunity even more predictable. This allows for HCL shared quest for excellence and commitment to serve customers better.

Extensive Marketing Support HCL has closely seen the IT industry rise from scratch, and has actively participated in its progress. HCL have picked up valuable marketing lessons in serving the IT needs of the Indian customers. You can combine your individual strengths and reputation with the power of a global brand. HCL can help you to focus on some of the most critical marketing needs facing your business. Additionally, HCL can provide you a set of proven sales and marketing tools designed to help you generate new leads, increased demands for products and services and help you reach your business goals.

Structured for Ease and Value Each element of HCL business partnership solutions are designed to reduce the costs of deployment, support and management. So whether its for you or your customers, HCL provide complete ICT solutions - all at a great value

Alliance & Partnership To provide world-class solutions and services to all HCL customers, HCL have formed Alliances and Partnerships with leading IT companies worldwide. HCL Infosystems has alliances with global technology leaders like Intel, AMD, Microsoft, IBM, Bull, Toshiba, Nokia, Sun Microsystems, Ericsson, NVIDIA, SAP, Scansoft, SCO, EMC, Veritas, Citrix, CISCO, Oracle, CA, RedHat, Infocus, Duplo, Samsung and Novell. These alliances on one hand give us access to best technology & products as HCL enhancing understanding of the latest in technology. On the other hand they enhance HCL product portfolio, and enable us to be one stop shop for HCL customers.

Philosophy of Quality in HCL "HCL shall deliver defect-free products, services and solutions to meet the requirements of our external and internal customers, the first time, every time." To exist as a market leader in a globally competitive marketplace, organizations need to adopt and implement a continuous improvement-based quality policy. One of the key elements to HCL's success is its never-ending pursuit of superior quality in all its endeavors. HCL infosystems believes in the Total Quality Management philosophy as a means for continuous improvement, total employee participation in quality improvement and customer satisfaction. Its concept of quality addresses people, processes and products. Over the last 32 years, HCL have adapted to newer and better Quality standards that helped us effectively tie Quality with Business Goals, leading to customer and employee satisfaction.

QUALITY AT HCL INFOSYSTEMS LTD In the early 90s, the focus was not merely on the quality of products but also the process quality systems. HCL manufacturing unit at NOIDA was certified initially to ISO 9002:1994 by Bureau Veritas Certification in 1994 and later on to ISO 9001:1994 in 1997. As of now, all HCL manufacturing units are certified by Bureau Veritas Certification as per ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001: 2004

Under HCL Quality Education System program, HCL train HCL employees on the basic concepts and tools of quality. A number of improvement projects have been undertaken by HCL employees, whereby process deficiencies and bottlenecks are identified, and Corrective Action Projects (CAPs) are undertaken. This reduces defect rates and improves cycle times in various processes, including personal quality.

HCL have received MAIT's 'Level II recognition for Business Excellence' for HCL initiatives in the Information Technology Industry, adding another commendation to HCL fold. MAIT's Level II recognition is based on the 'European Foundation for Quality

Management' (EFQM), for gaining quality leadership and business competitiveness.

HCL certifications / awards in 2003 include ISO 9001-2000 by Bureau Veritas Certification for HCL InfoStructure Services and award of First Prize by ELCINA (Electronic Component Industries Association) for Quality, 2002-03. The ELCINA award criteria considers two aspects. (1) Enablers (Leadership & Management commitment, Resource Management, Product Realization, Measurement Analysis & Improvement) and Results (Product Quality, Customer / Stake holder satisfaction , Business results).

The tryst for continuous quality improvement is never-ending in HCL Infosystems. HCL always strive to maintain high quality standards, which help us fulfill HCL mission to provide world-class information technology solutions and services, to enable HCL customers to serve their customers better.

The products of audio video integrated solution

Audio
Enterprise are going global. A given task needs skill sets that are not available at one place and in one company. Travel is expensive, time consuming and tiring. Collaboration across time zones has become a necessity. No matter what type of meeting an enterprise needs to hold, Audio Conferencing Service offers you a plethora of features supported by expert service from HCL conference managers. From having to access an instant anytime conference to working with HCL knowledgeable staff who help you conduct a global investor relations call, you can count on HCL feature rich audio conferencing solutions.

POLYCOM / LIFESIZE / RADVISION/ TANDBERG

Video
Videoconferencing uses telecommunications of audio and video to bring people at different sites together for a meeting. This can be as simple as a conversation between two people in private offices (point-to-point) or involve several sites (multi-point) with more than one person in large rooms at different sites. Besides the audio and visual transmission of meeting activities, videoconferencing can be used to share documents, computer-displayed information, and whiteboards. Simple analog videoconferences could be established as early as the invention of the television. Such videoconferencing systems usually consisted of two closed-circuit television systems connected via coax cable or radio. An example of that was the German Reich Postzentralamt (Post Office) network set up in Berlin and several other cities from 1936 to 1940.

Projectors
Video projector, a device that projects a video signal from computer, home theater system etc.

A video projector is a device that receives a video signal and projects the corresponding image on a projection screen using a lens system. All video projectors use a very bright light to project the image, and most modern ones can correct any curves, blurriness, and other inconsistencies through manual settings. Video projectors are widely used for many applications such as, conference room presentations, classroom training, home theatre and concerts. Projectors are widely used in many schools and other educational settings, connected to an interactive whiteboard to interactively teach pupils.

3D projection is any method of mapping three-dimensional points to a two-dimensional plane. As most current methods for displaying graphical data are based on planar twodimensional media, the use of this type of projection is widespread, especially in computer graphics, engineering and drafting. When the human eye looks at a scene, objects in the distance appear smaller than objects close by. Orthographic projection ignores this effect to allow the creation of to-scale drawings for construction and engineering.

Display monitors
PLAZMA /LED/LCD

LCD

A liquid crystal display (LCD) is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals (LCs). They are usually more compact, lightHCLight, portable, less expensive, more reliable, and easier on the eyes. They are available in a wider range of screen sizes than CRT and plasma displays, and since they do not use phosphors, they cannot suffer image burn-in

PLASMA

A plasma display panel (PDP) is a type of flat panel display common to large TV displays 30 inches (76 cm) or larger. They are called "plasma" displays because the technology utilizes small cells containing electrically charged ionized gases, or what are in essence chambers more commonly known as fluorescent lamps.

LED TV

An LED-backlight LCD television is an LCD television, flat panel display that uses LED backlighting instead of the Cold cathode (CCFL) used in traditional LCD televisions. It is not a true LED display but is called "LED TV" by some manufacturers.. The use of LED backlighting has a dramatic impact, resulting in a thinner panel, less power consumption and better heat dissipation, and a brighter display with better contrast levels.

SAMSUNG /LG / HITACHI / TOSHIBA/ PANASONIC

INTERACTIVE WHITE BOARD

Interactive white board is a large interactive display that connects to a computer and projector. A projector projects the computer's desktop onto the board's surface where users control the computer using a pen, finger, stylus, or other device. The board is typically mounted to a wall or floor stand.

The touch point location can then be determined electronically and registered as a mouse event. For example, when a finger is pressed on the surface, it is registered as the equivalent of the left mouse click. Again, such a board requires no special instruments. This leads to the claim of resistive systems manufacturers that such a whiteboard is easy and natural to use. It is, however, heavily dependent on the construction of the board itself

BRAUN , DALITE

Visualizing Solutions

These products offer the best Sharing experience for a Object or Document through the Electronic means.

WOLFVISION AUSTRIA, AVER

Room schedulers

Seeing is believing especially when everyone in your organization can see and access room schedules and book rooms on the spot with touch-screen, real-time interactive room scheduling via LCD panels. Meeting Room Manager makes it easy for clients and staff to easily find meetings and makes scheduling conflicts and wasted time searching for the right room a thing of the past. Need to change a location? Just touch the screen, and everyone's on the same page. Even better, your choice of 6-inch to 60-inch plasma screens just upped your office's cool factor.

control systems

A control system is a device or set of devices to manage, command, direct or regulate the behavior of other devices or system

Concept of selling
Selling is offering to exchange something of value for something else. The something of value being offered may be tangible or intangible. The something else, usually money, is most often seen by the seller as being of equal or greater value than that being offered for sale. Another person or organization expressing an interest in acquiring the offered thing of value is referred to as a potential buyer, prospective customer or prospect. Buying and selling are understood to be two sides of the same "coin" or transaction. Both seller and buyer engage is in a process of negotiation to consummate the exchange of values. The exchange, or selling, process has implied rules and identifiable stages. It is implied that the selling process will proceed fairly and ethically so that the parties end up nearly equally rewarded. The stages of selling, and buying, involve getting acquainted, assessing each partys need for the others item of value, and determining if the values to be exchanged are equivalent or nearly so, or, in buyer's terms, "worth the price.

From a management viewpoint it is thought of as a part of marketing, although the skills required are different. Sales often forms a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing separate specialist operatives known as salespersons (singular: salesperson). Selling is considered by many to be a sort of persuading "art". Contrary to popular belief, the methodological approach of selling refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, by which a salesman relates his or her offering of a product or service in return enabling the buyer to achieve their goal in an economic way. While the sales process refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, the definition of the selling is somewhat ambiguous due to the close nature of advertising, promotion, public relations, and direct marketing.

Selling types

A number of specific selling strategies come under the umbrella of sales or selling, including the following:

Cold calling Consultative selling Direct selling Guaranteed sale Needs-based selling Persuasive selling Hard Selling Heart Selling Price based selling Relationship Selling Target account selling Solution selling

Direct selling is the marketing and selling of products directly to consumers away from a fixed retail location. Peddling is the oldest form of direct selling. Modern direct selling includes sales made through the party plan, one-on-one demonstrations, and other personal contact arrangements as well as internet sales.[2] A textbook definition is: "The direct personal presentation, demonstration, and sale of products and services to consumers, usually in their homes or at their jobs.

SPANCO - Effective monitoring of the prospect to customer conversion process The selling process is a crucial factor for any business. Yet often, sales management is based on individual goodwill. Of course, goodwill is essential to achieving an objective, but it is not enough on its own. It has to be combined with the necessary factors for success, motivation, incentives, training, etc. not forgetting the methodology.

In HCL company, like elsewhere, the sales process can be broken down into stages. Each of these stages is associated with a series of actions to be undertaken. By clearly identifying the stages in the sales process, you will be able to see the state of your portfolio of leads, so that at any moment, the salesperson (and their line management) can identify where and how to intervene in order to turn a lead into a customer.

SPANCO stands for:

Suspect Definition of the target Prospect Identification of the lead Approach - Analysis Evaluation and qualification of requirements, identification of the solution Negotiation Negotiation process Closing Finalization of the order Order Ongoing Account follow-up (up and cross-selling, etc.) Order management and sales monitoring

Although the SPANCO method offers visibility for each lead and progress at the various phases of the sales process, it also provides you with an ongoing vision of the rate of sales activity in your company. SPANCO enables you to display sales figures with KPI's (Key Performance Indicator as well as to generate, manage and convert leads into customers. Areas of difficulty which may arise in terms of the various phases will be clearly highlighted, so that corrective action will be all the more effective and thus improve the performance of your sales department.

SPIN SPIN Selling, a great model, was the brainchild of Neil Rackham who authored a book of the same name in 1988. SPIN Selling is based on extensive research by Rackham and his company, Huthwaite. They examined large, complicated sales scenarios. The original survey showed that in successful sales calls it's the buyer who does most of the talking, which means that the salespeople are asking questions. Asking questions means that the salesperson is building Rapport with the buyer, building sales rapport with the buyer allows the buyer to feel more comfortable talking.

SPIN Selling proposes there are four types of questions, thus SPIN stands for :

Situation ( questions ) Problem ( questions ) Implication ( questions ) Need-payoff ( questions )

Situation Questions deal with the facts about the buyers existing situation.

Problem Questions ask about the buyer's pain and focus the buyer on this pain while clarifying the problem, before asking implication questions. . These give Implied Needs.

Implication Questions discuss the effects of the problem, before talking about solutions, and develop the seriousness of the problem to increase the buyer's motivation to change.

Need-Payoff Questions get the buyer to tell you about their Explicit Needs and the benefits your solutions offers, rather than forcing you to explain the benefits to the buyer. Getting the buyer to state the benefits has greater impact while sounding a lot less pushy. What these questions do is probe for explicit needs.

The research uncovered the following facts : The first students trained in the "SPIN" model showed an average of 17% improvement in sales results.

People do not buy from salespeople because they understand their products but because they felt the salesperson understood their problems.

Top salespeople tended to introduce solutions, products or services very late in the discussion. They held back and discussed the effects of the problem before talking about solutions. Problem Questions require planning. SPIN Selling suggests working backwards from the problems your products solves for a buyer to generate these questions. In Huthwaite's work with Xerox Corporation, they proved that in the absence of followup coaching and reinforcement, 87% of the skills change brought about by even the best sales training is lost. So, it would be wise to invest in sales coaching. It is better to uncover several problems before asking implication questions. It can be dangerous to focus on one problem as it invites the buyer to raise another area where you solution does not fare so well. (Don't put all your eggs in the one basket) Implication Questions are the most powerful sales questions and the skill in using them doesn't automatically improve with experience.

There are no perfect solutions in a complex sale. There is no evidence to establish a link between open questions and sales success. People buy when the pain of the problem is greater than the cost of the solution. Opening benefit statements work in smaller sales but much less so than in bigger sales. SPIN Selling strategy would contend that the purpose of the opening is to gain the buyers agreement to ask questions (this is establishing sales rapport) , to establish a buyercentered purpose (most important) and communicate who you are and why you are there. Top sellers reach their goals by consistently planning and conducting calls that move the sale forward in steps. "SPIN Selling" rationale suggests that you start by brainstorming to identify the widest variety of Advances that would move you towards a sale. Really skilled sellers then select those ingenious small actions that the buyer is likely to agree to. They also generate alternative actions to propose as needed for the actual sales visit. "SPIN Selling" suggests you develop a questioning mindset stating it's "more important to understand than to persuade". This is similar to the 5th habit from "The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People" (by Steven Covey) which says "Seek first to understand then to be understood". There are safe and dangerous areas ( and times ) to use various question types. ( Once again, the effect of bad timing can be dramatically reduced if you have good sales rapport with your prospect.

As HCL adopted the SPANKO method of selling the AVIS system. 1st HCL used to check the market . Then HCL used to select the customers . HCL identified the customers . Then HCL used to give them call regarding the product . by giving the idea what the product is HCL used to take appointments of them . After getting the appointment I used to go to the corporate office of the company to meet IT head. And I used to show him the presentation of AVIS . After showing him the product I used to ansHCLr his queries . To finalized the deal HCL used to take three appointments . 1st with IT head , 2nd with admin head and 3rd with facility head . After talking with all three heads HCL used to sit for negotiations with my seniors . And HCL used to promise them for sales after service . This is how HCL used to use SPANKO method to sell HCL product.

Call process for direct selling HCL used to gather data by visiting the new corporate offices . HCL used to get data by checking the company corporate office information . HCL used shortlist from those companies who can spend more than 10 to 15 lakhs for conference rooms , board rooms and CEO rooms . then I used to call those corporate companies to get an appointment . while a call I used to ask for IT manager , admin manager and facility manager name and their contact number or email id of those people . some of the company reception not used to give there contact number or mail id . after getting this information I used to talk with the respective person to get an appointment . so the respective person used to give me date and time for meeting . after calling the corporate offices of company I used to get out of my office around 12 o clock to get new data of companies . after getting the data for HCL info I used to meet my automation team in evening to give them the daily report . after meeting in the evening the team leader used have a talk with us about days work . what all I could achieve and what all problems I used to face . before getting back home HCL all used to decide the next days schedule .

Appointment To finalized the order I had to After getting an appointment on phone I used to go to the respective company to meet the manager . There I had to present the PowerPoint in front of the manager of IT . After finishing the appointment the manager used to ask me his queries about the product . so after talking to him i

Research on automation division Computer technology has recently been applied to the automation of office tasks and procedures. Much of the technology is aimed not at improving the efficiency of current office procedures, but at altering the nature of office work altogether. The development of automated office systems raises a number of issues for the organization. How will this technology be received by organization members? How will it affect the definition of traditional office work? What will be its impact on individuals, work groups, and the structure of the organization? This paper presents a descriptive model and propositions concerning the potential impacts of office automation on the organization and it stresses the need, when implementing automated office systems, to take a broad perspective of their potential positive and negative effects on the organization. The need for further research examining the potential effects of office automation is emphasized.

Some Research Propositions the descriptive model suggests numerous propositions regarding impacts of mature automated office systems on the organization. In this section some specific research propositions are discussed. Where research in other disciplines can be applied, the implications for predicting the impacts of automated office systems are discussed. The propositions are stated in very general terms; the goal is to suggest important issues that need to be investigated further. The underlying premise is that behavioral and organizational implications of these systems are not well understood. Research that examines the propositions presented here will greatly enhance HCL understanding of those critical factors that will help automated office systems improve organizational productivity and effectiveness. The discussion of the research propositions also emphasizes that potential effects are often complex, with both positive and negative connotations. Where possible, the discussion includes some speculation on design strategies that encourage positive organizational changes and minimize negative impact

Effects of Office Automation on the Nature of Work

It has already been pointed out that office automation is expected to increase organizational productivity through office work rather than increased efficiency of current office functions. Several potential changes in the nature of work are proposed. Proposition 1: Automated office systems, especially text processing functions, can improve the quality of written documents produced. A number of specific office activities can be "streamlined" through automation even without a major reorganization of office functions. Activities associated with the preparation of correspondence--addressing, copying, formatting, distributing, etc. can be handled more efficiently, especially if word processing is integrated into a communications network. The resultant output should also be attractive physically. In addition, the number of media transformations required to compose and distribute correspondence will be reduced Media transformations occur between speaking and writing, handwriting and typing, computer file and hard copy, etc. Since errors can be introduced at each transformation, the fewer the media transformations, the more accurate the final product. Automated office systems should therefore improve the appearance and accuracy of output

The quality of work produced should improve even where time savings cannot be demonstrated. Word processing should permit text to be easily corrected and modified, making it possible to improve document quality within given time constraints.

Proposition 2: Automated office systems, especially processing functions, can permit increased specialization of skills to support administrative and clerical tasks

increased specialization. The effect of this specialization is highly dependent on the management philosophy underlying the organization of the new systems. On the one hand, the acquisition of word processing skills may be represented as skill enhancement and enrichment of current clerical work. The role of "information specialist" may emerge. Moreover, the decentralized "one-on one" clerical work force may be replaced by an administrative hierarchy that permits acquisition of new skills and increased opportunities for advancement. A more negative picture is drawn by the political view of increased specialization. The potential exists for automation to permit an increased division of labor and increased "de-skilling" or reutilization of office tasks. In this view the " .office of the future is a recreation of the factory of the past" . The authors, as stated earlier, feel that a management philosophy stressing careful design will prevent these negative outcomes. The potential effects of specialization on individual stress, status, and job satisfaction are discussed in later propositions.

Proposition 3: Automated office systems, especially communications functions, can alter the physical and temporal boundaries of work.

automated office systems has already been discussed. Since physical proximity is not required for many communications and since responses can be asynchronous, the opportunity exists to increase the flexibility of work hours and work location. For instance, if employees were permitted to work part-time at home, there would be potential savings for the organization in terms of office space. Individuals could enjoy increased flexibility and savings in commute time and costs. Several companies are; now experimenting with "remote work" options, motivated by the need to attract and retain qualified personnel .Particularly in densely populated urban areas, allowing flexibility in work hours and work location can help to attract qualified individuals who cannot or will not tolerate a long commute to work nine-to-five. Such options provide significant opportunities for the elderly, the severely handicapped, and those with other personal or

family responsibilities that constrain their freedom of movement and limit their current work options.

Effects of Office Automation on Individuals Where the first three propositions focused on the nature of work itself, the propositions in this section are concerned with how automated office systems, influenced by changes in the nature of work, affect individuals' attitudes toward their work. Proposition 4: Automated office systems can affect the role identification and stress of office workers, especially secretarial and clerical workers. A recent report cites numerous studies of office workers showing that stress is a major problem in this work group. In particular, the report concludes that machine pacing of work, monotonous, repetitive work, and service work (responsibility for people rather than "things") are major sources of stress. Turner and Karasek identify four characteristics of task environments that affect operator performance and physical health for tasks requiring computer interaction: operator autonomy over control of the work, uncertainty about the system, changed task interdependencies, and overall workload. These characteristics have been identified as stress-related in white-collar jobs Factors of the task environment specific to automated office systems might be the increased speed of communications with superiors and increased workload through having a greater number of principals to serve per secretary. As discussed under Proposition 3, the degree to which stress-related conditions are enhanced is highly dependent on the organization of the work activities to be supported by automated tools. Turner and Karasek present a number of suggestions for design of systems to decrease stress and improve performance, many of which pertain directly to office automation. It is expected that there will be little or no increase in role overload or stress for professionals or managers as a result of automated office systems. For managerial workers, one can expect greater time pressures to respond to electronic memoranda that previously would have been typed and transmitted by mail. However, to the extent that electronic mail replaces phone messages, the manager has the opportunity to think and respond to a message without having to react immediately on the telephone. Thus, the advantage of the greater transmission speed combined with the ability to defer

reading as well as answering messages should result in greater control over daily interaction when electronic systems substitute for some face-to-face communications.

Proposition 5: Changes in the physical and temporal nature of work supported by automated office systems can affect the worker's feelings of identity with organizational goals and criteria for promotability, especially for professional and managerial workers.

The majority of tasks performed by professionals in an organization are project-oriented with relatively long-term deadlines. Many professional functions are supported by computer and communications technology. This proposition is based on the premise that given the nature of their work, many professionals can work in relative isolation from the organizational environment for at least some period of time. While it may be very attractive to a professional to work at home several days a week in relative "peace and quiet," for instance, it is conceivable that such work patterns could discourage organizational commitment and encourage professional autonomy. Such a shift could be very dysfunctional to the organization overall and may also be dysfunctional to individuals; lack of visibility, for instance, may negatively affect their chances of promotion Effects of Office Automation on Organizational Communications Proposition 7: Automated office systems, especially communications functions, can lead to improved efficiency of communication for all office employees. It is expected that use of communications functions, primarily electronic mail, will increase the efficiency of communication through the substitution of electronic memos for telephone communications and written memos. Electronic messages are fast and accurate; they require fewer media transformations than written memos.

One effect of electronic mail substituting for telephone communications is reduced "shadow functions", the unpredictable, time-consuming, but "unproductive" activities associated with a telephone call such as a busy signal, the called party being out of the office, or a bad connection. Another mechanism for improving the efficiency of managerial time is "message queuing" . A telephone call often interrupts something else that a manager is doing, causing "wait" and "recycle" time before the original activity is resumed. Electronic mail messages, unlike telephone calls, can be "queued" until the recipient finds the appropriate time to handle them.

Automated office systems, especially

Proposition 8: Automated office systems, especially communications functions, can lead to a decrease in the amount of face-to-face contact between a manager and secretary, between colleagues, and between superiors and subordinates. It is relatively clear that a communications function such as electronic mail can provide a direct substitute for some forms of face-to-face communication. What is less obvious is the effect of removing verbal or face-to-face contact on the quality of a communication. At least one study has shown that the average time required to solve structured logic problems requiring direct communication was less with voice communication than with any other mode (handwriting, typewriter, video) or combination of modes without voice. There was no significant difference between full face-to-face communication and audio-only. On the other hand, studies of the mechanics of interaction in problem-solving have consistently failed to show a significant difference in the quality of the solution with variations in communication mode

Proposition 9: Automated office systems, especially communications functions, can lead to an increase in the total volume of communications by organization members. It is expected that while the total volume of communications may increase because of the ease of transmiring

messages, automated office systems will alter the mode and circumstances under which this communication takes place. At least two studies have shown a net increase in volume of communications as a result of automated office systems. Another study showed an increase in the volume of communications among researchers in dispersed locations as a result of the use of computerized conferencing.

Proposition 10: Automated office systems, especially communications functions, can affect the total volume of communications between departments. Although the amount of interdepartmental communications depends on the structure of the organization, interdepartmental relations, and the nature of task activities, the existence of an electronic mail system or similar communications functions should facilitate communications among departments. However, during the interim period before all organizational units utilize the system or if some units resist using it, there may be decreased efficiency of operations related to that unit due to lack of complete information.

Effects of Office Automation on Management Processes Proposition 11: Automated office systems, especially communications functions and personal applications, can affect managers" perceptions of the degree of rationality, flexibility, and free space of their work. Argyris has predicted that information systems and operations research tend to increase the rationality of the manager's job. Automated office systems have the capability to contribute to increased rationality. Following the arguments of Argyris, automated office systems could result in fewer private information systems and less individual discretion in accepting information. Also, one would expect less intentional withholding of information because of the ease of communications. Messages can be transmitted accurately through many individuals and many levels, resulting in less filtering and less distortion

of information received by higher management levels. This effect could be personally threatening or disadvantageous for subordinates in situations where they fred it desirable to distort or block upward communications .The number of options open to managers for coping with excessive rationality in the organization or for defending themselves against perceived threats from others could be reduced Automated office systems can be utilized to help increase the span of control of managers. Increasing efficiency of communications and other office functions should resuR in greater free time for a manager. Although it can be argued that a manager can make use of that time to make "higher quality decisions," this benefit is diffuser to quantify. On the other hand, increasing the number of subordinates reporting to a manager has the distinct advantage of being quantifiable in terms of a reduction in the total number of managers required. Because of this advantage, some companies have cited increasing span of control as a direct goal of implementation of their automated office systems .If a reorganization occurs parallel to the implementation of automated office systems, the increased load on the manager can provide an incentive to utilize the new technology to improve efficiency.

Effects of Office Automation on Interpersonal Relations

Automated office systems, especially communications functions and personal applications, can reduce the quantity and quality of social interaction and social reinforcement in the office It is clear from the preceding discussion that automated office systems have the potential to reduce facetoface interaction through the direct substitution of electronic communication and the indirect effect of alterations

in the physical location of work. Social needs play an important part in the motivation of individual workers .however, it is not clearly understood whether that motivation derives from peer group support, especially for professionals, or is purely social. One reason that satellite work centers are favored over, for instance, more extreme remote work options such as Work at home is because of the social interaction provided.

Automated office systems, especially communications functions, can affect the number of "'sociometric "'1 links within an organization, the volume of communications among existing links, and the volume of communications upward in the hierarchy.

The availability of a fast and simple communications link should increase the amount of communications flowing along existing paths. This impact can be positive if the communications are satisfactory. If conflict exists or if inappropriate messages are sent, the impact of systems on communications and sociometric patterns could be negative. Another danger is that the increase in upward communication can cause information overload at higher management levels and lack of ability to differentiate significant information. New communications links and sociometric patterns should result from the increased ease of communications. Because communications are easier and faster, the addition of individuals to sociometric groups should be facilitated.

Conclusion Automated office systems can provide a powerful mechanism for increasing productivity and improving the quality of work life by changing the fundamental nature of organizational information processing. The propositions discussed here are meant to provide a starting point for research on the impact of automated office

systems. Research should help provide more precise and adequate recommendations for the design of automated office systems so that these systems can be implemented successfully and contribute to improvements in organizational effectiveness.