Presentation and Discussion of the Results

In this section, the organizational factors that conditioned the use of the system are going to be identified. This will take into consideration the framework of analysis described above.

Structural Factors

One of the aspects that influenced positively the use of the WS was that the process and the flow of work did not change significantly following the adoption of the new system. Implementation of the system was achieved using existing procedures. There was no attempt to rethink or redesign the process. However some tasks were eliminated, for instance, the printing of the internal demand and its delivery to the AFD. With the new system, all these tasks can be performed from each employee's desk.

Furthermore, some effort was made to present the electronic forms so they looked as similar as possible to those in paper support. Although this was not a core process, nor involved a large amount of paper circulating or needing to be filed, some employees said that, as they do not need to print the internal demand anymore, the system has streamlined the amount of paper in circulation and the volume of the archiving file.

As for completion time, opinions are not unanimous. Some employees consider the time is reduced. This reduction is due to the fact that tasks can now be performed from each person's desk. People do not need to be circulating in the organization and wasting time waiting for attention. However, there are two employees that do not agree task accomplishment time has been reduced. On the contrary, they state the new process is slower and takes longer to be performed. One of these is the production director. He complains that before the new system, on some occasions he could order the material directly from the supplier; now this is not possible. Furthermore, he has shown some difficulties in using the new system, needing to be helped in the filling of the internal demand. The other employee was the person in AFD. Her complaints are related to the fact her computer did not have enough memory and blocked each time she wanted to fill in the order to the supplier. According to her, this contributes to a slower process, as she states:

"It is when I print. I am on the Internet and then I open the MSWord and fill in the order. I print and there is an error. I have too many applications opened. I have to call in technical support and then I take a long time to perform the task."

However, at the end of the case study (nine months after full use), these two people considered that the application has helped to reduce the task accomplishment time. They now see themselves as experts in the use of the system. This seems to be due to the regularity of the tasks. A task performed sporadically requires a bigger effort from the performer. An employee, required to execute sporadic tasks, not related to the core business, might need help (memory, colleagues, handbooks, etc.). This is precisely the case with these demands. The internal demands concern, for most of the employees, the necessary material to execute daily administrative tasks, which means that there is no need to order it regularly. To production, it concerns the material needed to prepare the client's documents to be microfilmed and digitalised, meaning this department may need to place orders more often, for that kind of material. To make things worse, the WS is only used in this process. This means, to make an internal demand, employees have to open the application and fill in an electronic document. But as they request material sporadically, they do not feel completely at ease in its use, which brings new problems. Each time the employee needs to order something he/she does not remember all the steps to be followed.

Another factor that contributed to stimulate the use of the application was the fact all the events were registered, not allowing the user to forget something. As one employee said:

"Sometimes I arrived there and delivered my order to the girl that works there; then I left and it was forgotten. When I called to ask the status of my order, she would look for the papers to give me an answer but this was not always possible; the order was already in the trash. These are situations that do not happen anymore."

Finally, all internal demands are standardised, i.e., the support document is the same for everybody.

Political Factors

The majority of people didn't attempt to see if they had more information available after the use of the WS. Only the person in AFD did this. I am not surprised by these results, as the process involved is of minor importance to the main activity of the enterprise. The information available now has no immediate interest for employees. Besides, as the use of the system is sporadic for the majority of people (except for the person in AFD and the production director), the information available has no direct relevance for them.

Nevertheless, there is one exception, the person in AFD who now uses the system quite often and consults the information available out of curiosity.

"I was curious; I now know how many internal demands are made."

Human Factors

As for human factors, one of the aspects that seemed to have influence in the use of the system was the literary qualification of the employees. In this enterprise, the majority of people have a degree, some in the area of engineering or in information systems. The knowledge acquired, as well as the attitudes and competencies developed during their education might have helped in the use of the application and in the acceptance of change. Though, these are precisely the employees that use the system sporadically, they do not display difficulties in its use.

However, there are two users that do not have a degree. They are the person in AFD and the production director. They showed more difficulties at the beginning. As for the production director, he states:

"I am afraid of damaging something. If I do make a mistake, I get worried; that is why I do not go further. I am afraid of doing something wrong."

These difficulties might be the consequence of some gaps in his educational background. However, they are also connected with his lack of knowledge about the use of computers in general. What he knows was learned in this enterprise, with the help of his colleagues. He knows the minimum necessary to perform daily tasks.

As for the person in AFD, her difficulties are related to technical problems with the equipment. This person also reveals, in the beginning, she didn't like using the system, perhaps because she didn't understand the flow of work very well. However, at the end of the study, she shows great enthusiasm for learning and using the system; she also shows initiative and curiosity about the added potential of the application.

Another aspect that might have had some influence is the fact the users are young. It seems to be natural that young people manifest a facility and appetite for using the new technologies.

Furthermore, the system did not interfere with the informal communication channels between colleagues. It allowed for the inclusion of social interactions when filling in the internal demands, notably when a colleague expressed doubts or difficulties.

Finally, I refer to the training necessary to teach employees to use the system. This was undertaken by the leader of the project and was carried out on site. There was a session with all the potential users, when the leader of the project showed how the system worked. At the end of the demonstration, the person in AFD volunteered to try the system to see what kind of difficulties she would have. The leader also asked the Production Director if he wanted to try but he was unwilling, in front of all of his colleagues. During the first days of use, the project leader was available to answer all doubts arising and to help to perform tasks, whenever necessary. One of the employees mentioned helping the production director with his first internal demand:

"We made the first demand together. He was going to fill in the paper version of the form. I asked if he needed anything and said, "let's use the workflow system." Everything went well. He already had his pen in his hand but I said, "let's see how the workflow works."

Technological Factors

As mentioned above, this system follows the approach of Action Technology based on the language/action perspective. This means, to finish the process, the client must record the demand has been satisfied, on the system. The performance of this step has already brought out some problems. The applicants receive the material demanded and this seems to represent to them the end of the process. They do not see any advantage in having to return to the system, open the page and record receipt. However, the application requires, after receiving in person the material ordered, the applicant must record receipt. Usually, the employees forget to do so and the internal demands remain unsatisfied, as far as the system is concerned.

"I think that the application does not need so many steps. Action Technology obliges us to go through these steps because of their approach. Someone has drawn my attention, again and again, to the internal demand. I did half of it but I should have gone back to validate. I usually forget and so the demand remains there; employee XXX cannot work on it because I haven't validated it."

Some employees also reported the application really conditions the process design.

"The flow could have fewer steps. We don't use the system daily; if we had other applications, I believe that things could become easier. As I always have Outlook open, I could also have Action and could see if I had tasks to perform. At the moment, I only open Action to fill in internal demands."

The technologies already existing in the organisation also appear to hinder the full use of the WS. The adoption of an application, installed with technology that does not support, or does not profit from it, constitutes an obstacle to its use.

"It takes me a lot of time. I take almost an hour to do an order to the supplier. I think that is because of our system. It is always breaking down. I need to call in the technical support quite a lot."

But the fact the system breaks down didn't prevent this employee from enjoying the application. As she says:

"I like the application. I like it but the breakdowns trouble me. I have to call in the technical support and then it takes me a long time to perform my tasks."

None of the other employees showed dissatisfaction with the new system. This situation is not strange as it is only the employee of AFD that needs to have MS Word, Internet and Metro opened at the same time.

Finally, I would like to report that some of the characteristics of the new system pleased the users, since some redundant tasks were eliminated, tasks were performed from each employee's desk, there was better control of the process and all the events were registered. Nevertheless, these characteristics do not concern this application in particular but all WS.

Cultural Factors

As far as these factors are concerned, this is an enterprise that appears to be up-to-date in technological terms, namely in microfilming and electronic document management. This company has already lived through some periods of change and innovation, as a result of the research and development carried out. The adoption of a new system cannot be considered as a novelty. Employees are encouraged to regularly attend new courses of training.

The top managers describe the organizational culture as being "young, aggressive and technological." They have never considered the use of the system as compulsory. They state that they do not use the system.

Table 1 summarises the organizational factors described above. They are presented as constrainers, which mean the ones that influenced negatively, and enablers, which mean the ones with a positive influence on the use of the system.

Table 1: Summary of the Organizational Factors that Enabled or Constrained the Use of the WS

Organizational Factors		Enablers	Constrainers
Structural Factors	Process	Some employees consider that the process is faster now. Elimination of redundant tasks. Reduction of paper volume (reduction in file volume). Better management of each employee's time. Forms are explicit.	Person in AFD and Prod. Dir. consider that process is slower now (new tasks and problems with the equipment).
	Tasks	Tasks can be performed from each employee's desk. AFD and Prod. Dir. - tasks are done regularly contributing to a routine of work.
	Coordination and Control	All movements are registered. Process is clearer as well as responsibility. Forms are standardised.
Political Factors	Information	AFD - tried to see what kind of information she had available after the use of the new system.
Human Factors	Literary Qualifications	The majority of the employees have a degree.	AFD and Prod. Dir. does not have a degree.
	Knowledge about Computers	Good knowledge about computers (business and educational background of the employees).	AFD and Prod. Dir. does not have good knowledge about computers. Their knowledge was acquired in the daily routine of work.
	Age	Average age of 28 years old.
	Training	All the employees have regular training. The project leader did train to use the system in the enterprise.
	Personality	Employees are curious and have a will to learn and to overcome difficulties.	Prod Dir. admits being afraid of touching the application.
	Informal Communication	The new system seems not to have influenced the informal relationships
	Social Interactions	The difficulties of some employees were overcome by collaboration.
Technological Factors	Existing Equipment		AFD - at the beginning the equipment blocks constantly. It has insufficient memory.
	Application Characteristics	Application is easy to use; it allows the registration of events, the control of the internal demands and the elimination of tasks redundancy. Tasks can be performed without employee's displacement.	Need to record receipt at the end of the process.
Cultural Factors	Symbols	Enterprise is updated in technological terms. They have already lived through other organizational changes and Information Systems adoption.	Top managers do not use the system. Its use is not compulsory.

As we can see, this is a small enterprise, specialised in the area of microfilming and digitalisation of documents. Its mission is to offer solutions of document management and optical archiving. Employees are young and have high academic qualifications. They have also lived through some changes and developed an EDMS, internally. I can say this is a technological organisation, which manifests itself in the solutions offered, in the training of employees, in its departments and even in the architecture of the building and existing equipment. Its market is also technological; in order to maintain and increase its market share, they need to develop new solutions. The organisation, including the employees, is imbued with a spirit of innovation and change, which reflects in the daily routine and in the development of new projects.