Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Prior to the invention of the electronic digital computer, information
processing in the corporation had largely been handled by conventional
clerical staffs and traditional offi ce managers. There had been attempts
by aspiring “systems managers” to leverage expertise in the technical and
bureaucratic aspects of administration into a broader claim to authority
over the design of elaborate, custom information-processing systems.
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In certain cases, strong-willed executives were able to use information
technology to consolidate control over lower levels of the organizational
hierarchy. For the most part, however, the use of such technologies did
not contribute to the rise of a class of technical professionals capable of
challenging the power of traditional management.
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As more and more corporations began to integrate electronic comput-
ers into their data processing operations, however, it became increasingly
clear that this new technology threatened the stability of the established
managerial hierarchy. Early commercial computers were large, expen-
sive, and complex technologies that required a high level of technical
competence to operate effectively. Many nontechnical managers who
had adapted readily to other innovations in offi ce technology, such as
complicated fi ling systems and tabulating machinery, were intimidated
by computers—and computer specialists. Many of them granted their
computer specialists an unprecedented degree of independence and
authority. The increasing centrality of the electronic computer to the
economic, social, and politic life of industrialized nations also started to
raise profound questions about the qualifi cations of computer workers.
Who were these computer boys who were not just processing the payroll
but also radically reshaping organizations? Despite their relatively low
status in the managerial hierarchy, they seemed to exert an undue degree
of power and autonomy. What were their qualifi cations? They were
increasingly responsible for constructing systems that were increasingly
mission and safety critical. But who were these people? Were they sci-
entists, engineers, or technicians? Should they be required to be college
educated, certifi ed by the state, or members of a professional society?
The “Labor Crisis” in Programming
One of the immediate implications of this transformation and expansion
of commercial computing was a sharp increase in the demand for busi-
ness programmers. At the fi rst-ever Conference on Training Personnel
for the Computing Machine Field, held at Wayne State University in
1956, industry observers warned of an imminent shortage of the kinds
