Will office automation provide the Theory Z organization?

Abstract

Theory ‘Z’ is a management philosophy which has some promise for Western business. Office automation may also provide a number of benefits. It is likely that office automation may enable firms to implement Theory Z and other alternative organizational styles relatively more easily than typical evolution. This paper explores aspects of Theory Z which are consistent with and easily implemented in typical office automation systems. The example of computer programming applications is used throughout to illustrate the difference between Theory Z and non-Theory-Z organizations. Office automation is seen as one aspect of an organizational development scheme including organizational study, career structure analysis, a redesign of performance evaluation and an analysis of the role of information in work design.