MIS effects on managers ' task scope and satisfaction

The impact of computers on organizations has long been a topic of special interest to management and organization theorists. Opinions vary widely on the nature and importance of information technology's influence on the structure and process of organizations. For every ounce of technical optimism created by computer scientists, a pound of social pessimism is generated by behavioral scientists suspicious of technological impacts. Over the past 20 years much dialogue has raged in emotional and speculative tones without substantial progress made in our understanding of the issue. The armchair theorists who project less human organizational life because of the computer have generally operated without the benefit of research findings. The purpose of this paper is to shed some empirical light on one hotly debated issue: the impact of management information systems on managers' tasks and their evaluation of computer-induced changes in tasks. Speculative arguments differ in their predictions of task impacts. Leavitt and Whisler7 forecasted the removal of meaningful content from middle managers' work and the resultant alienation of managers from their jobs. They suggested that need fulfillment would only be found off the job, and drew an analogy between middle management and blue collar workers, whose jobs have been affected by mechanization to the point of removing craft elements. A counter argument by Anshen 1 forecasted enhancement of the manager's job because of the computer. He contended that the machine would relieve the manager of tedious routine and make more time available for creativity and unstructured problem-solving. The result would be greater job satisfaction, not alienation. In either of these contrasting arguments, the motivational assumptions are not hard to trace. Both positions depend implicitly on the same model of Man as first offered by humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow. 9 This model posits that man is motivated by a hierarchy of needs. Basic physiological. safety, and social needs motivate behavior initially, and when they are satisfied the higher-order or ego needs motivate behavior. Needs for achievement, recognition, growth, and self-actualization are said to be important