To understand the economic value of computers, one must broaden the traditional definition of both the technology and its effects. Case studies and firm-level econometric evidence suggest that: 1) organizational “investments ” have a large influence on the value of IT investments; and 2) the benefits of IT investment are often intangible and disproportionately difficult to measure. Our analysis suggests that the link between IT and increased productivity emerged well before the recent surge in the aggregate productivity statistics and that the current macroeconomic productivity revival may in part reflect the contributions of intangible capital accumulated in the past.

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The background and development of the new production philosophy are presented. The conceptual basis of the traditional and the new production philosophies, as applied in manufacturing, are examined. The traditional conceptual basis of construction is criticized, and an initial new interpretation of construction is given based on the new philosophy. Finally, the challenges of implementing the new production philosophy in construction are considered.

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This paper hopes to make a contribution on three aspects of workflow systems: we stress the fact that there is a broken symetry between the level of the specification of the procedures and the level of their enactment; we propose some ways of classifying activities and exceptions; and we propose some run-time functionalities to help users deal with exceptions.

A Review and Assessment of Research This paper reviews and assesses the emerging research literature on information technology and organizational learning. After discussing issues of meaning and measurement, we identify and assess two main streams of research: studies that apply organizational learning concepts to the process of implementing and using information technology in organizations; and studies concerned with the design of information technology applications to support organizational learning. From the former stream of research, we conclude that experience plays an important, yet indeterminate role in implementation success; learning is accomplished through both formal training and participation in practice; organizational knowledge barriers may be overcome by learning from other organizations; and that learning new technologies is a dynamic process characterized by relatively narrow windows of opportunity. From the latter stream, we conclude that conceptual designs for organizational memory information systems are a valuable contribution to artifact development; learning is enhanced through systems that support communication and discourse; and that information technologies have the potential to both enable and disable organizational learning. Currently, these two streams flow independently of each other, despite their close conceptual and practical links. We advise that future research on information technology and organizational learning proceeds in a more integrated fashion, recognizes the situated nature of organizational learning, focuses on distributed organizational memory, demonstrates the effectiveness of artifacts in practice, and looks for relevant research findings in related fields. 2

Business Process Reengineering (BPR) has been proposed as a new approach to facing the challenge of improving the quality of a business process while reducing its costs. Workgroup computing systems can be considered as the best candidates for BPR, since they aim to improve the effectiveness of the group of people collaborating within a work process. In particular workflow management systems seem to offer the best support to a reengineered business process. in this paper

The modern enterprise depends upon timely and effective flows of knowledge through its organizations for success. But knowledge is not evenly distributed through the enterprise, and a dearth of information systems is available to enable such timely and effective flows. Further, the few theoretical knowledge-flow models available have not yet been developed to a point where they can effectively inform the design of information systems and business processes to support knowledge flow in the enterprise. A survey of current practice shows that such system and process design is accomplished principally by trial and error, one of the least effective approaches known. The research described in this article builds upon and extends current theory about knowledge flow. It focuses in particular on investigating flow dynamics to inform the design of information systems and business processes to enhance the flow of knowledge through the enterprise. Leveraging the good understanding of flows in other domains, we strive to extend theory that can lead to "devices " of considerable utility in the enterprise knowledge domain. The result is a four-dimensional, dynamic model that can be used to classify and visualize a diversity of knowledge-flow patterns through the enterprise. These patterns can, in turn, be analyzed to inform the design of useful information systems and business processes. The implications of this dynamic model are explored and a number of hypotheses are generated to motivate and guide future research into the phenomenology of knowledge flow.

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Considerable uncertainty and confusion exists about what business reengineering is and when it succeeds. This paper provides a longitudinal view of CIGNA Corporation's experiences in business reengineering since 1989. CIGNA is a leading provider of insurance and related financial services throughout the United States and the world. Between 1989 and 1993, CIGNA com- pleted over 20 reengineering initiatives, saving more than $100 million. Each $1 invested in re- engineering has ultimately brought $2-3 in re- turned benefits. This article describes projects with major payoffs: operating expenses reduced by 42 percent, cycle times improved by 100 percent, customer satisfaction up by 50 percent, quality improvements of 75 percent. It also highlights how CIGNA's reengineering started smafi and how learning was used to escalate from this quick hit to reengineering larger and more complex parts of the organization. CIGNA's reengineering successes have also required a willingness to allow failure and learn from failures. Only about 50 percent of the reengineering efforts bring the type of benefits expected initially. Repeated trials are often necess;ry. CIGNA's lessons can help other firms anticipate what they will experience as they ascend the le ;mng curve of business reengineering.