Evolution of an organizational interface: the new business department at a largeinsurance firm

This paper describes how the work organization and computer system of the New Business Department at a large life insurance firm have interacted and evolved over time. The dynamics of interaction are explained largely in terms of the economic incentive to reduce the length of transaction-processing chains and the more political goal of extending managerial control. It is argued that examining the interaction of organizations and computer systems can contribute to a better theoretical understanding of the development of large computer systems and offer guidance to designers of user-computer interfaces. A graphical technique for depicting organizational interfaces is presented.