Information Technology Puts Power In Control Systems

It’s time to turn another page in the chronicle of the computer revolution. Imaginative companies are creatively applying the speed and flexibility of low-cost data processing and communications systems to the control function, and the results have been astounding. Managers once stymied by the languorous flow of information from the work force or from customers can now grab data from the most remote corners of their companies in an instant. Key facts—from the slowing inventory turnover of an offshore plant to the sudden burst of sales in a distant territory—that were previously filtered out or obscured can now be presented in whatever form makes decision making easiest. The new computer systems permit companies to speed up changes in corporate policies by getting revised financial plans or new incentive programs to the work force rapidly. And managers can test those changes ahead of time by quickly running and comparing a dozen “what ifs.”