ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a three-phase study of two firms, namely a business house and a manufacturing company. Phase one was to be an attitude survey of all clerks in departments likely to be affected by the computer, together with unstructured interviews with key persons, analysis of documentary sources and observations of departmental organisation and work flow before the change-over took place. Phase two would be a study of the mechanisms of change, what happened and what problems were encountered during the period between the computer's arrival and the eventual transfer of work. Phase three would be a second attitude survey and a re-examination of departmental organisation and work flow. At the beginning of 1960, the chapter shows that a bank was proposing to install a computer to take over routine branch accountancy. The computer arrived but was found unsuitable for the firm's requirements.
