Political determinants of system design and content

Computerized information systems seemingly offer technical solutions to corporate organization and adjustment problems. This idea of the system as the solution has certainly become the focus of information industry rhetoric and sales propaganda. Industry advertising promotes ideas such as (1) the advantages of instant communication in the relative success of any business, or (2) the threat posed by the volume of information produced by a company and unorganized by a particular micro-system. The questions missing from the rhetoric and propaganda are what problems require solutions and what do those problems have to do with the capabilities of computerized information systems. The information industry has transformed these questions in a rather interesting way: they have been handed over to their sales and marketing divisions.