Office communications: reshaping our society?

A revolution in office communications technology is about to overtake organizational administrators. This revolution has two sides: one concerned with the production of organizational intelligence and the other with its distribution. The paper suggests that new technology in the office will have a greater impact on society than is currently expected. The older computer technology (large mainframe-based systems) tended to promote ‘centralization’, whereas the new communications technology (videotex, fibre optics) promotes ‘distributed intelligence’. A study of the effect of new technology in one company is examined. Its use influenced organizational structures within the company and altered human interaction patterns. The paper suggests that society needs to rethink the very notion of an organizational system as communications technology advances.