How can offices be understood and optimized as dynamic information-processing entities? This prescriptive paper advocates for viewing offices as open systems, emphasizing the crucial role of "due process" in organizational information flow and decision-making. The central premise is that computer systems are playing an important role in mediating the ongoing activities of organizations. The study highlights the beginning of Computer systems to play important roles in mediating the ongoing activities of organizations. We expect that these roles will gradually increase in importance as computer systems take on more of the authority and responsibility for ongoing activities. This perspective anticipates the increasing integration of computer systems into organizational structures, suggesting that these systems will progressively embody the characteristics and structure of human organizations. It points to the future where systems can acquire more of the characteristics and structure of human organizations.
This article's focus on information processing within organizational structures aligns well with ACM Transactions on Information Systems, which covers research on the design, development, and evaluation of information systems. By framing offices as open systems and emphasizing the role of due process, the paper contributes to the journal's discourse on the theoretical foundations and practical applications of information systems in organizational settings.