THE MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION PROCESSING.
Abstract
The measurement of economic activity and value naturally rests on the availability of reasonably precise and generally available definitions of the types of tasks to be undertaken, and standards by which their performance can be compared. The greatest difficulty in managing information processing at present is simply that such definitions and standards either do not exist or are not generally accepted. Those delineations of information processing tasks that are common to the literature have evolved in response to the needs of diverse disciplines--such as accounting, computer programming, control engineering, etc.--under dissimilar conditions, and have not been related in any meaningful way. The present paper is in four parts. The first part presents some inherent difficulties in resolving these different viewpoints toward the end of developing measures and standards for management in the field of information processing. The second part considers the notion of 'real time' as an example of a terminological problem, and the difficulties that are apparent in using the term as a means of classifying systems. The third part suggests an alternate way of describing the relation of information processing tasks to a dynamic environment. The fourth part summarizes the point of view of the paper. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 15, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0619019
Entities
People
- George F. Weinwurm
Organizations
- System Development Corporation