From: John Conover <john@email.johncon.com>
Subject: Re: IT uses
Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1993 03:42:37 -0700 (PDT)
John Conover writes:
> The previous applications offered a "how to" "cook book" approach to
> the integration of IT into the organizational decision making process.
> A good question should be addressed, at this time, as to why one would
> want to do so. To answer this question, I will offer a rather pompous
> analytical derivation, and then discuss the conclusions, relating the
> perspective to a typical organization, in (hopefully) a way that
> conceptual conclusions can be drawn as to the applicability of IT to a
> specific environment.
This is the research literature bibliography that was used in the
"IT uses" applications.
References relating to the global economy, the post industrial
revolution, and the information age.
1) "The end of History and the Last Man," Francis Fukuyama, Free
Press, (a Division of Macmillan,) New York, New York, 1992.
Mr. Fukuyama was the Deputy Director of Planning of the U.S. State
Department's Policy Planning Staff. The book was authored at the
Rand Corporation, and is an extension of the work done by Mr.
Fukuyama while at U.S. department of State. This book is very
difficult to read do to the convoluted presentation of the subject.
It is rich in the empirical and theoretical directions of the world
economy, and includes both in historical perspective. The world
economy, the third world economy, and the U.S. contemporary economy
are related in their geopolitical sense to capitalism and liberal
democracy, and a future course of events is anticipated, based on
the historical perspective. This book should be required reading
for anyone responsible for strategic planning in a global economy.
In general, to summarize the book, Mr. Fukuyama claims that the
world economy is in a state of transition, as the third world
countries enter the industrial revolution with their cheap labor
rates (Japan has done it and succeeded, Tiawan is about to do it.)
He further claims that the U.S. economy is in transition, as it
leaves the industrial revolution, and enters the post-industrial-
revolution (ie., the information age,) and joins the countries that
have already done so, Germany, etc. In this new role, the majority
of the economy would "add value to goods manufactured in other
countries," and it is the point of the book, that this can only
happen in a decentralized economy (ie., capitalism,) and liberal
democracy. He cites the failure of the USSR, and Mainland China as
examples of societies that can not break out of the industrial
revolution, and move forward into a modern techno/informational
society.
2) "Sunburst: The Ascent of Sun Microsystems," Mark Hall, John
Barry, Contemporary Books, Chicago, Ill., 1990.
This is the official history of Sun Microsystems. Of particular
interest is the reasons for Sun's success in view of global
economic agenda outlined by Mr. Fukuyama, above. This is a
non-technical book, and enjoyable reading. It should be required
for anyone responsible for strategic marketing in a global economy.
There is a presentation of the personalities involved in the
company, and the way that they cooperated to form and grow the
enterprise. Of particular interest is Sun's concept of what
computing in the present and future is all about. I include this
reference because it is the history of a proto-type company that is
exploiting situation of the post-industrial-revolution, ie., the
information age, see Fukuyama, above. (Today, manufacturing
constitutes about 10% of the GNP, services the rest, ref. U.S.
Dept. Interior.)
3) "Hard Drive," James Wallace, Jim Erickson, Wiley, New York, New York,
1992.
This book is the official history of Microsoft. Of particular
interest is how Microsoft was established to take advantage of the
information age (this was Paul Allen's dream-he had to coerce Bill
Gates at the time.) It is uncanny how consistent the success of
Microsoft is with Mr. Fukuyama work, above. This book is enjoyable
reading, and should be read by anyone responsible for strategic
and/or tactical marketing in the information age. Of particular
interest is Microsoft's concept of what computing in the present
and future is all about-tactically, it is in contradiction with Sun
Micro., above, but strategically they are the same. Ditto the last
two sentences describing the Sun Microsystems entry above.
4) "Father Son & Co.," Thomas J. Watson Jr., Bantam Books, New York,
New York, 1990.
This book is the autobiography of the man that took IBM into the
information age, from the mechanical tabulator age. A history of
IBM, and how T. J. Watson Sr., built it is presented. A history of
IBM sales/service is initiated with a detailed account of Mr. John
Henry Patterson's sales techniques at NCR. (FYI Patterson invented
the modern sales techniques used in the U.S. today-he is the
founding father of salesmanship/service.) I include this reference,
because it is the history of a company that exploited the situation
at the end of the industrial revolution of a large society, see
Fukuyama, above. (In IBM's hayday, manufacturing constituted about
50% of the GNP, services the rest.)
5) "My Years with General Motors," Alfred P. Sloan, Doubleday, New York,
New York, 1963,
I include this as a reference solely because of the book's
historical importance. (See the Forward by Peter Drucker.) This
book is the recollections of the man that created the largest
corporation in the world, and how he did it. Of particular interest
is his views on management though policy and committee, his
tribulation with financial interests and control, and the board-and
how he handled them for 40 years. This book is interesting reading
to anyone trying to understand the history of American management
paradigms. Ditto the last two sentences describing IBM above.
6) "The Virtual Corporation," William H. Davidow & Michael S. Malone,
Harper Business, New York, New York, 1992.
Good book on what modern business is like in the 1990's. Probably a
good book on how the U.S. economy relates to the global economy and
what American business has to do to survive. Explores the changes
that must take place in management, organization, engineering and
the market place in the new intellectual oriented businesses.
Explores the value of Information Technology to make an intelligent
enterprise.
7) "Reengineering the Corporation," Michael Hammer & James Champy,
Harper Business, New York, New York, 1993.
Good book on customer satisfaction and how to implement it to save
operations expenses. Very critical of contemporary American
business. Claims that we are entering the 21'st century with an
organizational concept that was designed in the 19'th century. Good
documentation of successes the authors have had with the concept.
Goes into detail on what "empowerment" means, and how it is in
contradiction with the management concepts of the industrial
revolution, which the authors claim still dominates American
management.
8) "Intelligent Enterprise," James Brian Quin, Free Press, New York,
New York, 1992.
Good book on knowledge based services, and how they are supposedly
revitalizing the economy. Author supports the view that knowledge
and service based core competencies are the essence of the future.
Fair analysis of the economic benefits of this strategy and how it
can leverage market penetration and share. Analysis of Wal-Mart
Merck, Honda, Apple, Boeing, etc. Good detail on radically new
organizational structures, e.g., inverted, starburst, spiderweb,
etc. Probably a book to read.
9) "No Excuses Management," T. J. Rodgers, William Taylor, and Rick
Foreman, Currency Doubleday, New York, New York.
Good reading if you enjoy T. J. Rodgers philosophy's. Explains
novel uses of email as a tool for project management. Probably an
important book with valuable insight if you are in charge of an
organization that is stuck on high center. Probably practical
management insight.
10) "Computer Augmented Teamwork," Edited by Robert P. Bostrom,
Richard T. Watson, Susan T. Kinney, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York,
New York, 1992.
Excellent book on how to make teamwork happen over a network. Very
authoritive. Contains the Internet addresses of the "who's who" of
IT. Good on details of implementation. All contributors are from
the field of team technology. Offers descriptions of commercial
products available. Good lay descriptions of technical attributes
of group/team software.
References relating to group dynamics, management, and sociology of
the modern enterprise.
1) "Developing Products in Half the Time," Preston G. Smith, Donald G.
Reinertsen, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, New York, 1991.
Good book on how to organize and manage an engineering group to
expedite the concept-to-market cycle. Explains the benefits of
doing this, but doesn't explain why one would want to. Suggests
concurrent design methodologies in the appendix, but says that the
customer should be involved in the conceptual stage. Starting on
page 134, outlines structure alternatives-this part is worth
studying. (We have a copy with highlighted context for quick
reference.)
2) "Computer-Supported Cooperative Work: A Book of Readings," edited by
Irene Greif, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, San Mateo, Ca., 1988.
A dated book, but worth reading some sections. Primarily a
justification for the way Lotus set up its development
organization. This is probably the first book to use the term
"groupware," (page 9,) and has some implications for working
together at a distance (section 9.) Some of the sections are on
(administrative) office procedures. Section 9 addresses the social
implications of "groupware," and is rather cursory. Section 20 is
on the implications concerning organizations and management-very
well done. Section 21 is specifically addressing the organization
and its value added information technologies to the global marked
situation-probably the first time this was addressed in any tech.
pub.-required reading and is still current. Section 25 is on social
context of electronic communications-so-so, but probably worth the
time spent to read it. (We have a copy with highlighted context
for quick reference.)
3) "In the Age of the Smart Machine," Shoshana Zuboff, Basic Books, Inc.,
Publishers, New York, New York, 1984.
A book that is still important. Shoshana is an Associate Professor
at Harvard, with credentials in sociology and business. A truly
excellent, (and boring) book describing the pitfalls of the
application of technology through history, and projects, from the
historical prospective, what information technology is going to do
to society. Particularly interesting on the sociological
implications of the industrial revolution on organizations.
Probably the first book to mention that there is something
following the industrial revolution, (the "post-industrial
revolution," fancy that, ie., the information revolution.) Should
be required reading for anyone with decision responsibilities in
the information age-strictly non-technical. Shoshana was a
consultant to S-MOS until 1989. (We had a copy with highlighted
context for quick reference-lost at S-MOS.)
4) "Intellectual Teamwork: Social and Technological Foundations of
Cooperative Work," Edited by Jolene Galegher, Rober E. Kraut, Carmen
Egido, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, New Jersey, 1990.
Good book on social processes, group dynamics, and organizational
dynamics in the information age. Non-technical, addressing the
social sciences-excellent empirical studies and bibliography.
Suggests ways to measure the effectiveness of information and
inter-computing. (We had a copy with highlighted context for quick
reference-lost at S-MOS.)
5) "5th Generation Management: Integrating Enterprises through Human
Networking," Charles M. Savage, Digital Press, 1990.
Tom Peters considers this to be the "Book of the Year." Good book
on what's wrong with management. Kind of a "hippie" book, (ie.,
"down with everything.") Truly excellent on the evolution of the
steep hierarchies in the industrial revolution (chapter 8,) and why
they don't (and in his opinion, will never) work. This is basically
a good book, (and is required reading for all of my staff.) My
problem is it is a very negative book, that harps on what's wrong,
and then harps on the way things should be (probably with some
validity)-but does not address how to get there. Gives an example
of a corporation that has spent much resources on an MIS system
that is inadequate for the corporation's needs. Outright calls the
organization an MIS state, run by an information czar. (We have a
copy with highlighted context for quick reference.)
6) "Enterprise Networking: Working Together Apart," Ray Grenier,
George Metes, Digital Press, 1992.
Truly excellent. Required reading for all of my staff. A very
practical book, that is well written and informative on the social,
organizational and technical aspects of competing in a global
economy. Explains why one would want to do it that way, what would
happen if you don't, and the way to invoke change to get there.
Based on the quarter century of experience of Douglas C. Englebart
in doing it. (FYI, Doug, who is a consultant to S-MOS, is credited
with the invention of 1) the mouse, 2) the personal computer-the
MAC and PC are copies that the courts have said cannot be patented
because of previous work done by Doug, 3) windows-ditto, 4) pull
down menus-ditto, 5) hypertext-ditto.) Good section (chapter 14) on
benchmarking the organization. Good section (chapter 13) on the
effect of information technology on quality. Very big on capability
environments, and their application to the global competitive
situation. The chapter on implementation, (referencing Englebart
himself, and the various engineering groups he has had
responsibility for,) is truly a masterpiece of simplicity. There
are 8 copies of this book floating around S-MOS, I would like them
back someday-this book is the Bible of concurrent engineering,
distributed information networks, inter-computing, and simultaneous
distributed work-the thing that ties marketing, sales, engineering,
etc. together into a coherent organization. (We have a copy with
highlighted context for quick reference.)
7) "Home Work," Phillip E. Mahfood, Probus Publishing Co., Chicago,
Illinois, 1992.
A book that interested us in using tele-computing from home to form
a distributed company. (Rumor has it that because of the
environmental issues, California will be going to a 3 or 4 day work
week within the next 5 years, 2 years in L.A.-we were curious as to
how to manage the situation, and if tele-computing was applicable.)
Of interest is the so-so success of tele-computing in Europe (they
are ahead of us these developments.) Of particular interest is the
European "Work-O-Tels" that address the same issues, but avoid the
pit falls of the implementations that we are experimenting with.
Excellent on the legal implications of tele- computing, and its
global implications. Particularly good on who, and why (and who
not) to select to work from home. (We have a copy with highlighted
context for quick reference.)
8) "Leadership and the Computer," Mary E. Boone, Prima Publishing,
Rocklin, Ca., 1991.
Good book on managing by information, and how to exercise
leadership in the information age. Many case studies involving
sophisticated information systems, and simple ones. Many interviews
with CEO's from the fortune 500 list. Not necessarily a "how to"
book, but does outline the way others have done it. Good reading
for upper level management in a modern company.
9) "Connections," Lee Sproull, Sara Kiesler, MIT press, Cambridge,
Massachusetts, 1991.
Good book on the sociological implications of inter-computing, and
how to avoid the pit falls (required reading for my staff.) Details
of electronic group dynamics (chapter 4) is very good. That
technology (such as inter-computing) always come as a two edged
sword, with good and bad aspects is well presented in chapter 1.
Particularly well written chapter on control and influence (chapter
6.) Explanation of why one would want more than just efficiency is
also well presented (chapter 2.) Implementational details and
strategy is particularly weak. (We have a copy with highlighted
context for quick reference.)
10) "The Corporation of the 1990's," Edited by Michael S. Scott
Morton, Oxford University Press, New York, New York, 1991.
Excellent book on using electronic media for collaborative
research. Author is Dean of the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Excellent book on history and uses of IT. Excellent on the
organizational changes that must accompany the integration of IT
into the contemporary organization. Well researched. Easy to read.
(We have a copy with highlighted context for quick reference.)
11) "Paradigm Shift," Don Tapscott, Art Caston, McGraw Hill, New York,
New York, 1993.
Another good book on IT. Good for the non-technical. Well
researched with good details of the various studies of integrating
IT into an organization. Discusses the work-group concept and how
technology can be applied to increase productivity and how IT can
be used to "integrate the organization." Good book for the
un-initiated on terminology and concepts of IT.
12) "The TeamNet Factor," Jessica Lipnack & Jeffrey Stamps, Oliver
Publications, Essix Junction, VT., 1993.
Good book on establishing teams that are networked together across
functional organizations. Good on implementation. Studies are
cited from Europe and U.S., both large and small companies.
Probably should be required reading for modern managers that have
to manage through networked technology.
13) "A Model for Distributed Campus Computing," George A. Champine,
Digital Press, 1991.
I reference this book, because it is the conceptual model of the
"Internet." (FYI the "Internet" is one of the technological marvels
of the 20th century-it is a high speed network that links over 2
million computers, and an estimated 28 million people, together
with a high speed WAN-10 meg/sec.-and extends from Europe, through
the Americas, and to the Pac. Rim. Computer resources are shared
across the network. It is funded by mandate from the U.S. Congress,
and administered by the NSF, after being developed by DARPA.) It is
also the model for our networks at S-MOS. This book is required
reading for the Systems Engineering staff at S-MOS. Of particular
interest is the authentication procedures used, as defined in the
project, Athena. This book is rather academic in nature, and
probably of no interest to anyone in management.
I include this book because of its historical perspective. It
re-publishes many of the original works of Vanavar Bush. (Fredric
Terman was one of Vanavar Bush's students at MIT-Bush had the
notion that industry and academia should team up, and pressed the
issue with Terman. Terman is the "Founder" of Silicon Valley.)
The book's historical value is that it was Bush that first
proposed (in the mid 1940's) that a computer could be used to
manipulate a full text database system. The proposed system was
called Memex, which evolved into the Hypertext system that is
available on the Apple/MAC. It is an important historical
perspective.
15) "Engineering Information Management Systems," John Stark, Van
Nostrand Reinhold, New York, New York, 1992.
Excellent book on the technical details of specifying a concurrent
engineering support database. The issues addressed are not, by any
means, trivial. Book was written in Switzerland, where most of the
commercial software that addresses concurrent engineering is
written. Good reading if you are designing a engineering MIS
system. (We have a copy with highlighted context for quick
reference.)
Detail references relating the theoretical aspects of the above
listings.
1) "Games and Decisions," R. Duncan Luce, Howard Raiffa, John Wiley and
Sons, New York, New York, 1957.
The classic (it is back in print, by the way,) on game theory, and
optimization techniques as used in the social sciences, by the two
Rand Corporation theorist that worked under Von Neumann when
developing the science. The book is a critical survey, on where and
when such techniques can be applied effectively. It is not a book
of Zealotry, and outlines (liberally) the limitations of the
science. It specifically states that game theory may be of little
use to the military strategist, but may become important as a tool
for the social sciences. It analyzes democracy and tyranny, (and
BTW the axiomatization of committee decisions is intriguing.) The
book is well written, and the accompanying description of the
rather pompous mathematics is easily read by the non-technical
person. The math is involved. Complete grasp of the Linear
Algebras, mathematical programming, and the calculus is mandatory.
Conceptual grasps of set theory, and the principles of
axiomatization is required for an in-depth study of the book. The
book starts with the classics, zero-sum games, the prisoner's
dilemma, etc., and concludes with the multiple player non-zero-sum
games, and the axiomatization of group decisions, etc. Many of the
axiomatization principles used were commissioned (to the Rand
Corporation,) from the Dept. of State, and the DOD, in the 1950's
and 1960's.
2) "Mathematical Methods of Operations Research," Thomas L. Saaty, Dover
Publications, New York, New York, 1959.
This book, also a classic, (also back in print,) is almost a
companion book to Luce (above.) It is a numerical methods book on
the implementation of the algorithms outlined in Luce, with some
additional work on queueing theory. A book for the serious person
involved in operations research-it would take a determined person
to wade through the pomposity of the mathematics involved.
3) "Introduction to Minimax," V.F. Demyanov and V.N. Malozernov, Keter
Publishing House, Jerusalem Ltd., 1974.
I mention this classic reference because it lays the ground work
for the book by Luce, et. al. It is an extension of Von Neumann's
original work with the economist Morgenstern in the late 1930's
which axiomatized the economic principles as we understand them
today (or don't, depending on your point of view.) This book has
made many good engineers out of not so determined mathematicians.
It was a for runner to Rene Thom's catastrophe theory, (out of
Institut desHautes Etudes Scientiques, near Paris, France,) which
is highly regarded as new way of analyzing things economic., etc.
4) "Mathematical Programming and Games," Edward L. Kaplan, John Wiley
and Sons, 1982.
A more recent book on the above theoretical topics, that has a
great explanation of the economic dual in linear programming.
Duality is the relationship between optimal production and marginal
values of the things that go into the optimal production, and this
books spends a lot of time on this important issue, the above
references are inadequate (at least in my humble and inconsequential
opinion.)
5) "Introduction to Operations Research," Frederick S. Hillier, Gerald
J. Lieberman, McGraw-Hill, New York, New York, 1990.
This is the text to the course at Stanford University, and comes
complete with a disk of programs so that one can play with the
science. (Stanford is very big on OR, as a matter of fact, it was
invented there in the late 1940's under contract to the DOD, by
George Dantzig, who is still on staff.) I reference this book not
because of its technical value, but because it is more modern than
those listed above, and it is a fairly complete compendium on the
the science. It is, however, not very rigorous.
6) "Searching for Certainty," John L. Casti, William Morrow, New York,
New York, 1990.
A truly great book. It is probably a fair appraisal of the
capability of mathematical science to predict things-and why
mathematics works at all. Casti is an ex-patriot of the Rand
Corporation, and following technology to Europe, was one of the
first staff members of the International Institute of Applied
Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Vienna, Austria. He is now on the
faculty of the Technical University of Vienna. This book is not
only readable, but also entertaining-it is a must for any
scientific zealot to put 20th century science into perspective. It
is easy reading and interesting, presenting current scientific
thought in the historic perspective of science's successes and
failures in the last half of this century. In a previous book,
"Alternate Realities," (John Wiley and Sons, New York, New York,
1989,) he teaches (this is a text book by the way, and more
technical than his current book) the correct way to axiomatize
(ie., model) the systems listed above in this section. It turns
out, that this is a non-trivial exercise, and accounts for many of
the failures (of things like the theory of chaos, etc.) A must for
anyone modeling organizations, etc.
7) "Information-Theoretic Incompleteness," G. J. Chaitin, World Scientific,
New Jersey, 1992.
Probably one of the most important books of the 20'th century. The
implications of this work are still not generally understood. It is
easy to read, and the author spends a significant part of the book
explaining the issues to a lay audience. The formal sections are
not for the un-initiated, by any means.
8) "Fuzzy Sets, Uncertainty, and Information," George J. Klir and Tina
A. Folger, Printice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1988.
Excellent book on the application of information theory. The author
is quite distinguished in the field, and the text is interesting.
Again, like 7) and 6) above, the limits of science (at least as we
understand them today) are investigated. If you want to explore
what information theory is "all about," this is an excellent
choice. Very practical, and well written.
--
John Conover, john@email.johncon.com, http://www.johncon.com/