Developing and Implementing a Web-Based Performance Support System for High-Discretion Jobs: Lessons Learned.

In the context of performance support systems (PSS), jobs fall into two main types. Some have stable, routine responsibilities, involve repetition, and can be said to have low discretion. Other jobs have less routine, and tasks are partly determined by dynamically changing business demands. Where work demands cannot be foreseen, employees normally exercise autonomy in decision-making, and such jobs may be said to have highdiscretion. This article discusses lessons learned from implementing PSS for highdiscretion highdiscretion jobs. It is argued that the highdiscretion employee is an autonomous agent who knows his or her job better than anyone else and has developed specific ways of accomplishing work. For any PSS to be useful to such an individual, it cannot over-simplify reality nor can it dictate solutions. However, if it provides useful support for the complex, changing environment of the modern autonomous professional, it will be used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]