In 1971 the Centre Europeen de Coordination et de Documentation en Science Sociales (The Vienna Center) invited researchers from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance to discuss the possibility of establishing a large comparative research project on the impact of automation. This meeting resulted in the successful launching of the project, “Automation and the Industrial Worker,” which involved 14 European countries as well as Japan and the United States. The project focused on the impact of transfer lines on the attitudes, job content, and working conditions of shop-floor workers.

As the study developed it became clear that many research teams were interested in the impact of other types of technology and in carrying out international comparative research on the effect of information technology on office employees. This interest led to a decision to organize two studies. The first of these, “The Computer Systems and Work Design” study, investigated the impact of computer systems in banks and especially focused on changes in the job content and job satisfaction of bank clerks. The study was carried out in five banks in Denmark, England, France, and Sweden and was published in 1979 [1].

The second international study of the impact of computer systems, “Computer Systems and Management,” is reported in the book under review. The work involved in conducting the study and generating this report took 15 years. Eventually five countries, Austria, Denmark, the United Kingdom, the United States, and West Germany, took part in collecting field data and collaborated in the analysis of the data and the writing of this book.

The book reports the main findings of a large international research project that examined the impact of computer systems on individual managers and the management structure. Eight organizations in five countries were studied in depth, but in a way that preserved data comparability on all principal variables. The organizations investigated were an airline, a bank, an electronics firm, a hospital, a mail-order house, a marketing organization, a supplier, and a wholesaler. There were two organizations each in the United States, the United Kingdom, and West Germany, and single organizations in Denmark and Austria. The research project was conducted between 1975 and 1978.

The final chapter of the book discusses the conclusions and implications of the study. In this chapter the findings are presented in summary form. The authors point to the type of changes that will nearly always accompany the introduction of a new computer system. For instance, computer systems provide a service to managers, and many factors can determine whether this service is evaluated as satisfactory. Ease-of-use and user support are two variables that are reported to influence the manager-computer interaction. Overall, positive manager-computer interaction is shown to be dependent upon flexible and powerful systems that are designed with the user in mind, are easy to use, and have well-developed user support. Failure on any of these fronts means limited use and a potentially unrealized task fit.

The authors also discuss the impact of a new computer system on a manager’s tasks and on the discretion a manager has in carrying out these tasks. Also, findings are summarized on managers’ evaluations of the changes in tasks due to computer systems. In addition, the effects of a new computer system on a manager’s leadership style, influence, and power are summarized.

Software engineers will find confirmation in the results of the research on the importance of planning and design to the impact and effectiveness of computer systems in the work of managers. In fact, the authors of the study indicate that if it is possible for researchers to trace the impact of computer systems in organizations, it should be possible to predict that impact by effective and thorough systems design. The study concludes that rather than being steamrollered by technological determinism, we need to find ways to ensure that the effects of technological development are those that are consciously chosen by the people who will be affected by them.

The middle chapters of the book provide a rigorous statistical analysis of the information gathered during the study. The book is an appropriate textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate students of computers and society who have strong computer science backgrounds. Although there are no exercises in the text, the conjectures and suggestions of the authors call out for work and effort by motivated students. In particular, the results of this report suggest the need for conducting similar research on the current and future effects of both rapidly changing technology and the introduction of computer systems into a variety of business environments. Students and researchers of computers and society will find a wealth of motivation and paradigms for work in a variety of technical science, management science, and social science disciplines. The index is extensive and usable, and there is a copious list of references to related and germinal work.