Moving to the Paperless Office in the Electric Utility Industry

WESTERN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

RES 600-Graduate Research Methods

MOVING TO THE PAPERLESS OFFICE

IN THE ELECTRIC UTILITY INDUSTRY

A Proposal For An Applied Research Project

Submitted To:

Dr. Robert Olding and Faculty

For Consideration Leading to Candidacy for the Degree of

MASTERS OF SCIENCE IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS

SUBMITTED BY: STEVEN A. LOPEZ

PHOENIX, ARIZONA

OCTOBER 30, 1997 Edited for the Internet December 1, 2000

ii WESTERN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

A Proposal For An Applied Research Project

MOVING TO THE PAPERLESS OFFICE

IN THE ELECTRIC UTILITY INDUSTRY

Submitted by: Steven A. Lopez

Submitted to: Dr. Robert Olding and Faculty

Department of: Information Systems

ii MOVING TO THE PAPERLESS OFFICE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Like most contemporary business organizations, electric utilities are preparing for a future of intense competition. This transition to a more competitive business environment is placing an increased emphasis on cost reduction and productivity improvement. Based on industry data and past experiences there is evidence that indicates that effective use of information technology (IT) can substantially assist in these efforts. In parallel with the electric utility industry’s transition to the competitive marketplace, the information technology industry is going through a period of rapid expansion, development and implementation. These issues are proposed to be studied as the question of, “Will moving to a paperless office environment reduce cost and increase productivity?, is addressed.

This research proposal includes plans for a descriptive analysis of the information technology (IT) industry to identify trends, methods and implementation of successful information technology systems. Addition descriptive analysis of a selected medium size electric utility engineering and operations office based organization will be done to determine the circumstances and conditions that exist in contemporary business offices and require consideration prior to transition to a paperless office environment.

This study will identify a realistic vision of cost reduction and improved productivity utilizing IT. It will develop an understanding of the available IT in the marketplace and the potential barriers to effective use. This will be done from the perspective of the organization being studied but many of the concepts may be appropriate to other organizations with similar information flow, work processes, personnel, and work products.

RETURN TO TOC iv MOVING TO THE PAPERLESS OFFICE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...... iii

LIST OF FIGURES...... v

SECTION

I...... PROBLEM STATEMENT 6

II. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES...... 8

III. REVIEW OF LITERATURE...... 10

IV...... IMPORTANCE/BENEFITS 17

V. RESEARCH DESIGN

A. Overview...... 19

B. Data...... 19

C. Deliverables...... 20

D. Project Plan...... 22

VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY...... 24

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure V-1:MSISE Proposed Applied Research Project Schedule………………………….. Page 23

RETURN TO TOC

v MOVING TO THE PAPERLESS OFFICE 6

SECTION I: PROBLEM STATEMENT

Since the introduction of the personal computer (PC) in the late 70’s and early 80’s many claims have been made about the potential cost savings and productivity gains that would result from the vision of the paperless office that the PC would make possible. Although large investments have been made in the area of office technology it appears that most business offices are no where near a paperless office environment. In fact paper usage appears to have increased in most offices. If this trend continues the office cost associated with paper processing, filing, storage and retrieval will continue to increase and will restrain potential productivity gains that could otherwise be realized from the investment in office information technology (IT).

The initial management question for a business office should not be; How do we move to the paperless office environment? But rather; “Will moving to the paperless office environment reduce overall cost and increase productivity?” This management question has to be addressed in light of the existing technology and the expected future changes in IT capability. In addition the particular business needs of the office and the related industries and customers that it services and interfaces with as well as the nature of the work and the education level and appropriate training resources of the office personnel and the related business activities need to be considered. MOVING TO THE PAPERLESS OFFICE 7

The substantial investment in office technology needs to be continuously evaluated to assure that maximum benefits are being realized. Additional investment in information technology

(IT) needs to be carefully evaluated based on the existing organization, workflow, activities and personnel to ensure that it meets the business and resource needs of the organization. This optimization of existing and future office IT becomes essential to success in today’s rapidly developing competitive electric utility environment and will continue to be a potential resource for keeping pace with competitors if not development of a competitive advantage.

The problem being considered here is limited to an investigation of the potential benefits of moving to a paperless utility engineering and operation office environment for support of power generation facilities. Consideration will be given to the human performance, behavioral, training, and political aspects that may affect the timing of a transition to a paperless office environment.

This study is not intended to develop a comprehensive strategy to convert to a paperless office, but rather; to investigate if the pursuit of this transition to a paperless office environment has the potential for additional cost effectiveness. Direct and indirect costs and benefits will be identified, investigated and quantified as much as possible. The objective of the study of this problem is to provide management information about the barriers and advantages of transition to a paperless office environment. The purpose is to assist in the decision making process of developing a strategy to better manage the existing and future office and company human and information technology resources.

RETURN TO TOC MOVING TO THE PAPERLESS OFFICE 8

SECTION II: RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The primary objective of this proposed research is to determine if a transition to a paperless office environment has the potential to reduce overall cost and increase productivity in electric utility engineering and operations offices. In order to achieve this objective it will be necessary to study the available technology, the needs of the organization, and identify opportunities for overall cost reduction and productivity improvements. These areas of study need to be reviewed with effective office information management and work processes in mind.

An understanding of the available information technology starts with identification of the existing information technology installed and being utilized by the organization and its work processes. In addition an overall understanding of the general information technology state of the art helps to bench mark the organization’s use and future prospects. It is also important to access where this technology is likely to be in the near future.

An understanding of the informational needs of the organization is essential to assessing the potential impact of office information technology on organizational effectiveness. These impacts need to be assessed in the context of the organizations required information flow, work processes, personnel, and work products. In addition it is important to develop an overall understanding of the education level, training, and interaction practices of the organization’s various personnel and work groups. MOVING TO THE PAPERLESS OFFICE 9

The identification of opportunities for overall cost reduction and productivity improvements of moving to a paperless office environment is built on the understanding of the available technology and organizational needs described above. This understanding is primarily directed on three relational cases of organizational effort and the associated application of information technology:

(1) Current organizational activities that utilize information technology.

(2) Potential improvements in the organizational utilization of information technology in

activities and work products.

(3) Additional organizational activities and products that could effectively utilize

information technology.

These three relational cases can be considered to envelop the spectrum of the related research questions that could provide the insight necessary to determine if a transition to a paperless office environment has the potential for additional cost reductions and productivity improvements in the organization under consideration.

The objectives of this research include the identification and quantification if appropriate of the advantages and barriers of transition to a paperless office environment. These objectives can provide the insight into what appears to be the direction of office information technology even if the concept of the fully paperless office environment proves impractical in the foreseeable future.

SECTION III: REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Much has been written and published about the paperless office and the impact of information technology. Much of this published data are projections, case studies and opinion about what has been done, what is being done and what is likely possible in the future. A review of a sampling of this literature reveals the multitude of perspectives, approaches and forecast of the impact of information technology on the office of the past, present and future. One of the apparent difficulties is developing common acceptable measuring methods to objectively measure the impact of information technology on office costs and productivity. This suggests the complexity of the issues but does not diminish the need to assess and move foreword in the areas of cost reduction and productivity improvements utilizing information technology when deemed appropriate. It is apparent that due to these complexities the decisions about the effective application of information technology to a specific organization are related to the circumstances and dynamics of that organization and its related activities.

The sampled secondary data identified, reviewed and listed in this proposals bibliography

(Section VI) fall into three primary categories. (1) Case Histories, (2) Alternatives, (3) Projections.

Although, this cross-section of selected data is by no means exhaustive and only begins to explore the available literature, it has the potential to be fairly representative of the spectrum of available information and perspectives. This postulated based on the diversity of the opinion, which ranges from “the paperless office is a myth” 9 to the “paperless office may actually be within reach” 18; the relative vintage of these articles, within the last couple of years; and the qualifications of the authors, eminent in the field of information technology and related business management disciplines. In addition this data reflects case histories, surveys, and research in a variety of MOVING TO THE PAPERLESS OFFICE 11 industries including; medical, legal, insurance, journalism, investment and information technology.

However, it is apparent that additional literature review will be productive and necessary over the course of this research due to the rapidly changing nature of the related information technology and to locate and review some of the more difficult to obtain primary research that may apply to various aspects of this research.

Although the sampled literature listed in this proposal’s bibliography reflects a diversity of opinion, perspective and application a common thread throughout the literature and late twentieth century life, as we prepare for the millennium, is that information technology will have an increasing impact on our lives and activities. This being the case, the decisions and methods utilized to determine the appropriate level of the application information technology become the issue. This includes at what rate, implementation level, and for what activities the application of additional information technology is appropriate.

Guy Robertson an instructor in Information Technology at Vancouver’s Langara College, in British Columbia, Canada reports that Holden Yap; Richmonds Savings Credit Union in

Richmond, British Columbia, Manager of Technology Development and Re-engineering; although

RSCU has made much progress at reducing paper Yap is realistic about paper’s use, “It’s counter- productive to move too quickly (to a paperless office), and paper is still handy in certain situations…” Robertson indicates that “In fact, most senior managers he has interviewed are unable to say when their operations will be paperless.” 18 The implication is that information technology is eventually going to result in less and less paper. If this is the case it is only beginning to be realized in some areas. Robert Farish, editor of Computer Business Russia, in an article published in The St Petersburg Times, indicated, “ Today, our office is not even close to approaching a paperless state. In fact, our paper consumption keeps increasing.” 8 Farish and many MOVING TO THE PAPERLESS OFFICE 12 others including Robertson believe that paper usage will continue to increase and that information technology will contribute to this increase.

Despite these reports there are numerous case histories of companies reducing their paper consumption, reducing costs and making productivity improvements through the use of appropriate information technology strategies and methods. Selina Mitchell, in an 1996 article prepared for the

Australian Consolidated Press, reports that, “Electronic mail can reduce the use of paper in information transfer, and there has been an associated move toward s digital record storage” 14

Mitchell uses the US as an example indicating that all public companies have been ordered to file their annual reports electronically. Bruce Normal of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s

Energy Analysis Program has presented various case studies of office paper efficiency which were primarily “…undertaken to reduce the amount of solid waste produced, though when other costs

(benefits) were taken into account, these were significantly larger than the disposal costs avoided.”

17 A number of these cases involved use of innovative work process information technology solutions beyond copier duplexing including those at Adobe Systems, Inc and Target stores. Rivka

Tadjer in an article for CommunicationsWeek identified a number of companies and organizations that utilize Web-enabled document management systems including; the Austin-based Texas Public

Utility Commission, Amgen Corp, K-Mart, Ontario-based Bell Canada, Louisville, Miss.-based

Taylor Machine Works, Inc.; to manage enormous amounts of data, enhance corporate communications and conduct electronic commerce that has the potential to reduce cost and increase productivity. 21

This literature review would suggest that the trends are in place to continue to move business activities and the related office work in the direction of reducing paper and increasing productivity. Kimberly Beer, production editor for NPR Online, reported on the trend of increased MOVING TO THE PAPERLESS OFFICE 13 use of information technology and efforts to reduce paperwork in the legal profession based on a

1996 NPR survey. 1 Ian Cheong investigated and provided a presentation on the state of the paperless office in the Australian medical practices which indicated that Australia was lagging other commonwealth nations in the application of information technology in general practices and is missing an opportunity to improve its productivity and reduce costs. 2 Mark Dorn, President of

Dorn Technology Group, a information technology consultant, provides a Web-based report that was presented to the RIMS National Conference, April 97, identifying the importance an available information technology for the success of Risk Management prior to the year 2000.7 Author

Gringrande, a partner in Imerge consulting, another information technology consultant, has developed a Web-based training site for Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) concepts and development techniques. 9

Alternatives to the paperless office present some form of less-papered office based on information technology and maybe a stop gap or step in the development toward the fully integrated electronic workstation. These solutions focus on the behavior, technology, and procedures to remove paper files. One of these alternatives presented and being worked on by the

Rank Xerox Research Center, in Great Britain, is the a desk supported computer-based information system that works with paper documents in a manner normally possible only with electronic documents on workstation screens. 15 Other alternatives are presented by Cheryl Currid, president of Currid & Co., a technology consulting firm in Houston, they are based on use of document- management software that make the electronic version the master file and use paper only as a disposable interim copy. These alternatives include Hewlett-Packard’s methods to scan and print on demand or the use of a form of computing called “group information management” which includes sharing files online. 3 MOVING TO THE PAPERLESS OFFICE 14

Most of the literature reviewed agrees that the challenges that lie ahead in the implementation of increasing levels of office information technology and moving to a paperless office environment are not primarily technical; although, technology will continue to offer newer, cheaper and more effective solutions. There in lies one of the challenges to effectively manage this rapidly changing technology. Ralph H. Sprague, Jr. ; professor of Decision Science, University of

Hawaii and a member of the Xerox Executive Advisory Forum, Presented an investigation on

Electronic Document Management (EDM)20. Dr. Sprague believes EDM promises to deliver major productivity and performance gains. He argues that the information systems (IS) department has the opportunity to provide a leadership role in coordinating the efforts of the user departments and document support departments to develop the infrastructure and applications to support EDM. Dr.

Francisco J. Mata; executive director at the Earth Council headquartered in San Jose, Cosa Rica; and Dr. William L. Fuerst; associate professor of MIS, Texas A&M University; and Pro. Jay B.

Barney; professor of Management, Ohio State University; identified managerial IT skills as the related IT resources that could maintain a companies sustained competitive advantage. 12

Some of the biggest challenges to the implementation of office technology can be behavioral, cultural, environmental and political. People are used to working with paper and resist change. Kimberly Beer has indicated that “…Overcoming employee-resistance with effective training and support is the only way to assure a new systems success.” 1 Steven Mikes, author of,

“Are You Ready for Cross-Platform Development?”, 13 relates his experience with the pseudo- technical and even political factors to consider before being able to successfully implement cross- platform solutions.

The question of IT value and appropriate measures are far from commonly accepted. The debate over IT valve is confused over appropriate hypothesis and acceptable objective measuring MOVING TO THE PAPERLESS OFFICE 15 methods. Lorin M. Hitt, doctoral candidate in Information Technology at MIT , and Prof. Erik

Brynjolfsson, associate professor of Information Technology at MIT, proposed three different methods of measuring the valve of information technology. 10 Their study focuses on the fact that while productivity, consumer value, and business profitability are related, they are ultimately separate questions. There findings indicate that IT has increased productivity and created substantial valve for customers. However, they found no evidence that these benefits result in significant business profitability. This appears consistent with the findings of Dr. Francisco J. Mata and his colleagues that found that of the four resource-based view IT attributes; Access to capital, proprietary technology, technical IT skills, and management IT skills, only management IT skills has the ability to maintain sustained competitive advantage. 12 The use of technology alone could at best provide a temporary competitive advantage while the competition and market react to these circumstances. Other methods which are less theoretical and less susceptible to modeling assumptions and over-estimation are the methods of evaluating value by utilizing measurement and itemized cost analysis similar to the methods utilized by Mr. Bruce Norman in his evaluation of

Paper Efficiency cost. 16 These methods although more straight forward are susceptible to under- estimation due to the potential of overlooking some items and required resources and the difficulty quantifying the other benefits associated with paper reduction, like environmental impact and office effectiveness.

The organization that is proposed for this study is a moderate size electric utility group of roughly 5500 employees. These employees serve the electrical needs of roughly 750,000 customers in Central and Southwestern Arizona. The owned electrical generating capacity is about

4,100 megawatts with an additional 2000 megawatts electrical being managed for other ownership.

The organizations computing infrastructure has converted from a mainframe base to a distributed MOVING TO THE PAPERLESS OFFICE 16 server base network over the last four years with some networked mainframe application still being supported but planned for replacement in the next couple of years. The current number of paper copies being made monthly is reported to be on the order of 2.1 million which is only a portion of the total cost associated with managing the paper that could be easily accounted. In addition there are the cost of retrieval, distribution, filing and storage. This preliminary data was collected from informal interviews with a number of the utilities mangers responsible for revenue generation, document management and information technology.

Although literature from many related and diverse perspectives were reviewed during the course of this proposal there are many related issues to be considered in this research to determine if a transition to a paperless office environment has the potential to reduce overall cost and increase productivity in the above described electric utility engineering and operations offices. This literature review provides a good starting point to identify many of the key elements and plan the research necessary to explore this issue. Additional exploration and literature review will be necessary to monitor the change of the technology, the development of the organization, and evaluate progress and preliminary results during the course of this study.

SECTION IV: IMPORTANCE/BENEFITS

The principle benefits of this research study are threefold. First, this study will identify a realistic vision of cost reduction and productivity improvements utilizing available information technology. This will be derived from the study of the organization’s needs, resources and processes. Second, this study will develop an understanding of the available information technology in the market place. This will be based on a current review of the available information technology, applications, and related experience. Thirdly, this study will identify potential barriers to effective use of information technology. It is important to recognize and identify those barriers based on past implementations and studies that maybe applicable to the organization. Identification and study of these barriers will better enable organization planning so they can be more adequately anticipated and addressed.

The timing of this study is advantageous. This is a time of rapid development and implementation of information technology within business organizations. During this time of rapid development there is an opportunity to study these leading technologies and organizations to benefit from the developmental experiences of the information technology industry. This is also a time of transition in the electric utility industry. The industry is moving from a highly regulated business environment, were profits are more secure, to a competitive business environment, where survival is dependent on performance. This is making cost effectiveness and productivity improvement two of the critical success indicators of the future of electric utility organizations.

This study has the potential to raise the knowledge level of key organizational personnel responsible for related information technology decisions.

These benefits can be realized as part of the research progress as the principle researcher MOVING TO THE PAPERLESS OFFICE 18 continues to involve these key organizational information technology decision makers in this process.

SECTION V: RESEARCH DESIGN

A. OVERVIEW

This proposed research project design is outlined in three phases. The initial proposal phase. This phase includes the initial identification of the related management, research and investigative questions. It also includes the initial design of this proposed descriptive study. The implementation phase is next which involves separate analysis of the information technology industry and the organization. This phase will include study of the current technology being utilized and implemented in the organization being studied and a critical analysis to compare the industry and the organizational use of information technology. The final phase is the reporting of the results. This phase involves completion and final reporting of the results of this analysis that explores the best match of available technology and the organization to reduce cost and improve productivity.

This study is primarily descriptive due to the complexities of the issues, the custom nature of the evaluation and the necessary flexibility to achieve the objectives. Additional and comprehensive literature review and survey information will be necessary to properly understand the industry issues. Survey and additional interviews will be utilized to understand the organizational issues. Cost comparison will be made based on available industry and organization data when deemed appropriate to characterize potential cost reductions. Methods of measurement of productivity gains will be investigated further to determine if this data can be credibly quantified.

B. DATA MOVING TO THE PAPERLESS OFFICE 20

The industry data will principally involve identification and review of secondary data sources supplemented by interviews where deemed appropriate based on these reviews. Some of the industry data will come from active involvement with technology steering committees, electric utility industry professional activities, professional organizations and involvement with the Masters of Science in Information Systems Engineering program at Western International University.

The organizational data will primarily come from surveys and interviews with key organizational employees in the information technology, document management and selected user groups departments and local area network (LAN) administrators. Some of this data may also be obtained from non-proprietary organizational documents including procedures, inter-departmental interface agreements, project and strategic plans.

Quantitative data comparison is planned in the area of resource costs to project potential savings. An effort will be made to identify and utilize a quantitative method to evaluate potential productivity gains but available methods maybe subject to conservative assumptions that may underestimate the savings. Comparison of industry and organizational data will be done to address the primary question of whether a transition to a paperless office environment has the potential to reduce overall cost and increase productivity in the electric utility engineering and operations offices of the organization under study.

C. DELIVERABLES

The deliverables of this research project include this proposal, the survey instruments utilized, relevant interview notes, a draft technology industry assessment report, a draft organizational assessment report, a draft thesis, a final thesis and the final presentation. In addition during the course of this evaluation a number of white papers and presentations are expected that MOVING TO THE PAPERLESS OFFICE 21 will summarize interim findings, key issues, and concepts. These white papers and presentations will provide a means to communicate ideas, report progress and receive feedback. The final thesis will include the compilation of this work including the final critical assessment of the organization with recommendations for the appropriate level of transition to a paperless office environment which has the maximum potential to reduce overall cost and increase productivity in the electric utility engineering and operations offices of the organization under study.

D. PROJECT PLAN

Figure V-1 summaries the project plan. This plan is divided up into three phases in accordance with the direction of the Western International University, Applied Thesis Graduate

Research: Program Handbook. 22 Phases one through three are projected to correspond to the expected progress in the Masters of Science in Information Systems Engineering Program.

Identified interim deliverables are shown and projected on the timeline schedule with estimated start, duration, and completion. This schedule is laid-out in a gantt chart style similar to that presented by David Cooper and C. William Emery in their Business Research Methods reference text.5 The project plan completion is projected to extend to the end of 1999 and is integrated and corresponds to the expected completion of the Masters of Science in Information Systems

Engineering by the principle researcher of this study.

Figure V-1:MSISE Proposed Applied Research Project Schedule

RES600PS.XLS

SECTION VI: BIBLIOGRAPHY (many of links, no longer current in 2000)

1. Beer, Kimberly. “Entering the Electronic Evolution.” NPR Online. August 1996. 11 pages. Online. Internet. 9/17/97. Available: http://www.paralegals.org/textOnly/Reporter/August96/entering.html

2. Cheong, Ian. “The State of the Paperless Office.” Presentation to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. August 7-9, 1997. 53 slides. Online. Internet. 9/17/97. Available: http://www.racgp.aone.net.au/papers/paperless_office/index.html

3. Churrid, Cheryl. “The Less-Papered Office.” Information Week. March 31, 1997, Issue 624. 3 pages. Online. Internet. 9/16/97. Available: http://www.techweb/se/directlink.cgi?IWK19970331S0059

4. Churrid, Cheryl. “Trying to Create the Paperless Office?” Good Luck. Windows Magazine. March 01, 1996, Issue 703. 3 pages. Online. Internet. 9/16/97. Available: http://www.techweb/se/directlink.cgi?WIN19960301S0041

5. Cooper, Donald R., and C. William Emory. Business Research Methods. Fifth Edition. Chicago: Irwin/McGraw-Hill. 1995

6. Deloitte & Touche. “Are You Managing Your Information Successfully?” Oracle Open World Technology This Century. 1996. 2 pages. Online. Internet. 9/17/97. Available: http://www.deloitte-touch-consulting, co. uk/survey2.html

7. Dorn, Mark. “Paperless Risk Management Office.” Presentation to RIMS National Conference. April 1997. 76 slides. Online. Internet. 9/18/97. Available: http://dorn.com/paperless/index.htm

8. Farish, Robert. “Drowning in clutter in a ‘Paperless’ Office.” The St Petersburg Times. March 9- 16, 1997. 2 pages. Online. Internet. 9/17/97. Available: http://www.spb.su:8080/times/243-244/tech-comment.html

9. Gringrande, Authur. “Constituents of the New EDMS Paradigm.” Imerge Consulting’s Website Presentation. 1996. 60 slides. Online. Internet. 9/17/97. Available: http://www.imergeconsult.com/training/richf/sld001.htm

10. Hitt, Lorin M., and Erik Brynjolfsson. “Productivity, Business Profitability, and Consumer Surplus: Three Different Measures of Information Technology Value.” MIS Quarterly Volume 20, Number 2 (June 1996): p121-142.

11. International Data Group, Inc. “Never Another Paper Cut.” Oracle Open World Technology This Century. 1996. 2 pages. Online. Internet. 9/17/97. Available: http://www.computerworld.com/links/970421paperlinks.html

12. Matta, Francisco J., William L. Fuerst, Jay B. Barney. “Information Technology and Sustained Competitive Advantage: A Resource-Based Analysis.” MIS Quarterly Volume 19, Number 4 MOVING TO THE PAPERLESS OFFICE 24

(December 1995): p487-505.

13. Mikes, Steven. “Are You Ready For Cross-Platform Development.” Cross Platform Solutions Volume 1, Number 1 (August 1995). 30 pages. Online. Internet. 9/5/97. Available: http://www.unx.com/DD/solution

14. Mitchell, Selina. “Whatever Happened to the Paperless Office”. Australian Consolidated Press Workshop. 01/08/96. 6 pages. Online. Internet. 9/17/97. Available: http://apcmag.com/workshop/217e_ice.htm

15. Newman, William and Pierre Wellner. “A Disk Supported Computer-Based Interaction With Paper Documents.” Research: CMS: Rank Xerox Research Center. 1996. 34 pages. Online. Internet. 9/17/97. Available: http://www.xerox.fr/research/cms/directint_23.html

16. Nordman, Bruce. “Paper Efficiency: What It Is…And How To Achieve It.” Research: Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory. 23 pages. Online. Internet 9/17/97. Available: http://www.earthisland.org/ei/paper/efficiency.html

17. Nordman, Bruce. “Untitled.” Case Studies of Office Paper Efficiency. 5 pages. Online. Internet 9/17/97. Available: http://eande.lbl.gov/EAP/BEA/B_Nordman/case.html

18. Robertson, Guy. “Paperless Future: Part Fact, Part Fantasy.” Provenance The Web Magazine. ISSN 1203-8954-Vol. 1. No. 3. July 1996. 4 pages. Online. Internet 9/17/97. Available: http://www.netpac.com/provenance/vol1/no3/features/nopaper.htm

19. Rogers, Adams, and Jim Motavalli. “A Paperless Future?” E/The Environmental Magazine. May- June 1996. 3 pages. Online. Internet. 9/17/97. Available: http://www.emagazine.com/feat1sb1.html

20. Sprague, Ralph, Jr. “Electronic Document Management: Opportunities for Information Systems Managers.” MIS Quarterly Volume 19, Number 1 (March 1995): p29-49.

21. Tadjer, Rivka. “Screening Out Paper.” Communications Week. November 18, 1996. Issue 638. 9 pages. Online. Internet. 9/16/97. Available: http://www.techweb/se/directlink.cgi?CWK19961118S0082

22. Western International University. Applied Thesis Graduate Research: Program Handbook. 1997.

RETURN TO TOC