ABSTRACT
In a minority of cases—some 11 percent of the all computing applications reported in 1985—such steps are actively promoted by outsiders to the organization, such as computer vendors or consultants. In addition, this computerized quotation formats a standard contract either for a lease or for a sale, thus further simplifying the paper work involved in getting from the sale and salesman to the customer's decision to buy. Before the job jacket application was a computer program, it was a physical dossier, an actual jacket of notes and specifications on work orders. Not all applications involving standardized activities fall exclusively into just one of the four functional categories. No systematic empirical evidence has been reported showing that such sequences actually occur in any sizeable number of organizations. The portrait emerging from this analysis is rather different. Instead of being holistic or comprehensive, computing adoption as documented here consists of highly-targeted, ad hoc measures.
