Paper Documents: Implications of Changing Media for Business Process Redesign

Office settings in the 21st Century will undoubtedly take on a different character from what we see today. The development of computer and telecommunications equipment over the past four decades allows almost unlimited options for organizations in creating new working arrangements. The predominant use of paper as the media for recording, storing and transmitting information is now giving way to new electronic forms. Not only is information technology providing faster access to, and easier routing of documents, it is enabling new approaches, such as workflow mapping, task sequence optimization and flexible worker scheduling. These innovations are likely to dramatically change the nature of work. Yet, current trends are paradoxical — the paper industry reports record use of its parchment as managers and workers wonder they improve work in a new electronic world.