Groupware: if you build it, they may not come

Author

Wallace, Margaret

Author_Institution

AT&T Libr. & Inf. Services, Bernardsville, NJ, USA

Volume

40

Issue

1

fYear

1997

fDate

3/1/1997 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

48

Lastpage

53

Abstract

Groupware software promises to increase productivity by providing users with a common interface from which they may access a variety of software programs that they may then work with in a variety of ways. While groupware technology can perform the many tasks it is designed to do, it is more difficult for people to become comfortable and productive with new technological tools. This is especially true for groupware because it is more than a just new tool: groupware fundamentally changes the way an organization works and communicates. The corporate culture must either be ready for groupware or adapt itself to address the cultural premises of groupware (shared effort, cooperation, collaboration) that the software is designed to enhance. The commentary describes the experience of one organization as it struggled to re-engineer itself using groupware

Keywords

DP management; business communication; business data processing; groupware; human resource management; integrated software; management of change; office automation; planning; professional communication; systems analysis; systems re-engineering; collaboration; common user interface; communication; cooperation; corporate culture; groupware software; productivity; re-engineering; shared effort; software programs; Collaboration; Collaborative software; Collaborative work; Companies; Cultural differences; Global communication; Packaging; Planning; Productivity; Software design;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Professional Communication, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0361-1434

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/47.557519

Filename

557519