Research Design and Methodology Paperless Office
Chapter 3: Research Design and Methodology
This chapter identifies the methodology and research methods and techniques utilized throughout this research thesis. It identifies the literature research techniques and resources utilized and the basis for their validity. In addition utilization of secondary survey resources are investigated and the applicability and basis for utilization is explained. The methodology for a primary survey instrument and the sampling design selected is developed. Also research limitations of these methods and techniques are identified and explained.
Much of the methodology and research design information presented in this chapter is based on work published in three primary information system scholarly journals; Management Information Systems Quarterly (MISQ), Journal of Management Information Systems (JMIS), and The Journal of Computer Information Systems (JCIS). These Journals have been found to present current and leading authoritative sources of academic research in information systems, knowledge management, and the associated management and organizational disciplines. In addition the text, “Business Research Methods” by Cooper and Emery was used extensively as a resource throughout the entire research effort (Cooper & Emery, 1995).
Research Methodology
This research is primarily descriptive in nature. The objectives included learning as much as possible about the who, what, when, where, and how of moving to the paperless office (Cooper & Emery, 1995: p 121). This objective is to support addressing the Management Question; “Can developing a paperless office environment be an effective strategy to provide a competitive advantage?”
The research methodology utilized is basically interpretive and utilizes various case and field studies. This assumes that knowledge can be based on related social mechanisms like shared experience, accepted meanings, documents, tools and other artifacts (Klein & Myers, 1999). It also assumes that Information Technology (IT) has the potential to be an enabling mechanism to add value to organizations and achieve business goals (Chan, 2000; Sircar, Turnbow, & Bordoloi, 2000; Cline & Guynes, 2001). However, it can be shown that despite the vast proven potential of IT there are numerous instances that IT projects have had to be abandoned or failed to successfully meet intended goals (Jay, 1999; Oz & Sosik, 2000; Schmit, Lyytinen, Keil, & Cule, 2001).
Although extensive research, case studies, and experience has demonstrated the potential that IT has at improving organizational performance, review of this work indicates the tendency to define the problem as one of management of information systems. This problem definition becomes one of developing an understanding of the critical factors that can predetermine the likelihood of IT success of a particular project in an organization (Hitt & Brynjolfsson, 1996; Shao & Winston, 2000). Although, investigation of these factors is well beyond the scope of this research it becomes an important consideration when attempting to assess the successful direction of current and future effective implementations of IT in an organization or industry. To this end this research utilizes not only available secondary industry information and survey data but also designs and implements a specific survey developed to collect primary data for this research. This data was intended for comparison to available industry and IT case studies and research data to help address the related research question, “Will moving to a paperless office environment reduce cost, increase productivity, and improve customer service?”
Research Design
The research design utilized can be outlined in three overall phases. The initial proposal phase includes the initial identification of the related management, research and investigative questions. It also includes the initial design of this descriptive study. The results of this phase are primarily documented in Chapters 1 and 2, and the first couple of sections of Chapter 3 of this thesis.
The implementation phase follows, which involves separate analysis of the information technology, electric utility industry, and the organization. This phase includes study of the currently available technology in the marketplace, currently implemented or planned technology in the organizations being studied, and a critical analysis to compare the industry and the organizational use of information technology. This implementation phase includes three primary sources of data collection; literature review, industry surveys, and thesis survey. The results of this phase are documented in the remaining sections of Chapter 3 and portions of Chapter 4 of this thesis.
The final phase is the reporting of the results. This phase includes completion of of this analysis that explores the considerations for the best possible match of available technology and the organization to reduce cost and improve productivity as well as the critical parameters and conditions that lead to a higher likelihood of IT implementation success. The results of this phase are included in Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 of this thesis.
This study is primarily descriptive due to the complexities of the issues, the custom nature of the evaluation, and the necessary flexibility to achieve the objectives and answer the related management and research questions. This thesis is more-or-less presented in a historical context to help understand the evolution, trends, and future direction of the researched information technology as it relates to the electric utility industry. Extensive literature review and survey information is utilized to develop an understanding of the related technology and industry issues. Also surveys and additional interviews were utilized to support an understanding of these issues. Qualitative cost comparisons are considered based on available industry and organization data when deemed appropriate and practical to characterize potential cost reductions. Methods of measurement of productivity gains are investigated further to determine if this data can be credibly and practically quantified.
The industry data is primarily collected from identification and review of secondary data sources supplemented by interviews and attendance of industry seminars where deemed appropriate based on these reviews. Some of the industry data comes from active involvement with technology steering committees, electric utility industry professional activities, professional organizations and studies related to the Masters of Science in Information Systems Engineering program at Western International University.
The organizational data is primarily collected from surveys and interviews with selected key personnel and a cross-section of organizational employees in information technology, document management and selected user groups. Some of this information and understanding also is obtained from non-proprietary organizational documents including procedures, inter-departmental interface agreements, project and strategic plans. Not all these sources are presented in this thesis due to confidentiality and potential proprietary issues.
Literature Review
An extensive literature review was performed in the areas of information technology, electric utility industry, and management of technology. This literature review included applicable industry surveys, related research, and applicable case studies. While this literature review was quite extensive it was by no means exhaustive. However, sources were selected based on their authoritative standing, applicability, and the ability to be validated. This validation included corroboration with other diverse sources when deemed necessary. The primary sources utilized are listed in the reference section and include Master’s of Science in Information System Engineering course text books, academic and trade journals, other industry and trade periodicals, selected doctoral theses, and consultant and EDMS vendor websites and publications. Library media centers, online libraries, and the Internet were searched and used as the main information repositories.
The results of this literature review are presented throughout this thesis as appropriate. The literature presented here represents the selected published opinions and perceptions relating to the potential to successfully implement the paperless office. In addition some perspective on the potential impact of information technology and limitations is also discussed.
Much has been written and published about the paperless office and the impact of information technology during the past 20 plus years. Much of this published work involves projections, case studies and opinion about what has been done, what is being done, and what is likely possible in the future. A review of a sampling of this literature reveals the multitude of perspectives, approaches, and forecast of the impact of information technology on the office of the past, present and future. One of the apparent difficulties is developing common acceptable measuring methods to objectively assess the impact of information technology on organizational costs and productivity. This suggests the complexity of the issues but does not diminish the need to assess and move foreword in the areas of cost reduction and productivity improvements utilizing information technology when deemed appropriate. It is apparent that due to these complexities the decisions about the effective application of information technology to a specific organization are related to the circumstances and dynamics of that organization and its related activities.
The references presented in this section are those that relate to the recognized potential of moving to the paperless office. They only represent a snapshot of the available information. Although, this cross-section of selected data is by no means exhaustive and only begins to explore the available literature, it has the potential to be fairly representative of the mainstream spectrum of available information and perspectives. This is postulated based on the diversity of the opinion, which includes perspectives that the paperless office remains a myth (Barber, 2000; Hellyer & Felice 2000) to a less-papered office environment may actually be within reach (Bernstein 2000; Haverson 2001). The relative vintage and sources of these articles, the publication source, and the qualifications of the authors suggest that the state of the paperless office for some, may be no closer today then when it was proposed some 20 something years ago (Liu & Stork, 2000). Yet there are notable exceptions to this predominate view (Matthews, 2000; PR Newsline, 2001; Ward, 2001). These exceptions appear to be rather limited to some transactional type activities and seemed to not as yet been recognized as substantial developments in the move to the paperless office.
Although the sampled literature identified in this thesis reference list reflects a diversity of opinion, perspective and application, there is a common thread throughout the literature. This thread was part of the late twentieth century also continues to be a part of life in the early twenty-first century life. It is that fact that information technology will continue to have an increasing impact on our lives and activities (Gates 1995). This being the case, the decisions and methods utilized to determine the appropriate application of information technology becomes the issue. This includes at what rate, implementation level, and for what activities the application of additional information technology is appropriate.
Even as early as 1996 it was beginning to be realized that the paperless office was going be more difficult to achieve then originally envisioned. Guy Robertson; an instructor in Information Technology at Vancouver’s Langara College, in British Columbia, Canada; had reported that technology managers were realizing that “It’s counter-productive to move too quickly (to a paperless office), and paper is still handy in certain situations.” Robertson indicates that “In fact, most senior managers he has interviewed are unable to say when their operations will be paperless.” (Robertson, 1996). The implication is that information technology is eventually going to result in less and less paper. If this is the case it has only begun to be realized in only some areas. Cheryl Currid, president of a technology consulting firm in Houston, indicates, “Despite valiant efforts from technology makers and efficiency watchers, the completely paperless office remains a dream. Time, habits, technology, and a spirit to move haven’t moved most of us to change” (Cheryl, 1997). In fact, it appears that in many areas paper consumption maybe increasing. (Liu & Stork, 2000; Hellyer & Felice, 2000; IMA, 2000). However, there is an apparent perception emerging in some areas that technology is beginning to reduce paper work (PR Newswire, 1999).
Despite these comments there are numerous reports of companies reducing their paper consumption, reducing costs and making productivity improvements through the use of appropriate information technology strategies, methods, and implementations (Sprague, 1995; Frenandez, 1999. Berstein, 2000). A number of these reports involved use of innovative work process information solutions. In an article that appeared in a number of publications, Rivka Tadjer, a technology correspondent and editor, identified a number of companies and organizations that were utilizing Web-enabled document management systems back in 1996. These system were being utilized by; the Austin-based Texas Public Utility Commission, Amgen Corp, K-Mart, Ontario-based Bell Canada, Louisville, Miss.-based Taylor Machine Works, Inc.; to manage enormous amounts of data, enhance corporate communications and conduct electronic commerce that has the potential to reduce cost and increase productivity (Tadjer, 1996).
Alternatives to the paperless office have been presented as some form of less-papered office based on information technology and maybe a step in the development toward fully integrated electronic information systems. These solutions have focused on the behavior, technology, and procedures to remove paper files. One of these alternatives presented and being worked on as early as 1992 by the Rank Xerox Research Center, in Great Britain, is the a desk supported computer-based information system that works with paper documents in a manner normally possible only with electronic documents on workstation screens (Newman & Wellner, 1992). Other alternatives have been presented by Cheryl Currid, they are based on use of document-management software that make the electronic version the master file and use paper only as a disposable interim copy. These alternatives include Hewlett-Packard’s methods to scan and print on demand or the use of a form of computing called “group information management” which includes sharing files online (Currid, 1997).
Currently, the promising technology applications continue to be reported by the wire services and trade periodicals either as part of a news releases or editorials. In January 2001 it was reported by the PR newswire that the Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation (NMFF) was piloting a total web based image health information system. In addition the University of Florida Jacksonville Physicians (UFJPI) was tailoring a similar flexible architecture to meet the needs for about 423 physicians and other health professionals (PR Newswire, 2001).
This literature would suggest that the trends are in place to continue to move business activities and the related office work in the direction of reducing paper and increasing productivity. Kimberly Beer, production editor for National Paralegal Reporter (NPR Online), reported on the trend of increased use of information technology and efforts to reduce paperwork in the legal profession based on a 1996 NPR survey. (Beer, 1996). This effort is pretty much still underway in many fields (Kreger, 1999; Day, 1999, Bernstein, 2000; PR Newswire, 2000). By 2005, federal agencies are suppose to stop using paper. Government records are suppose to be created, used, and preserved electronically (Matthews, 2000).