Implementing Document Imaging in an Accounting Environment: A Case Study and Analysis

Although many promises of information technology have been realized, the long-predicted paperless society remains largely elusive. Companies continue to struggle with burgeoning paper files, most of which are produced by the same information technology that promised to eliminate paper. Most businesses still rely heavily on the storage and retrieval of hard copies of important documents and need extensive space for these materials. Consultant Mitchell Weiss suggests that for most companies, paper storage volumes are increasing by 25 percent each year. Weiss emphasizes that the costs of managing paper storage go far beyond costs for storage alone. He notes that, while filing or retrieving a single document may cost as much as $20, the time spent locating a misfiled document may cost as much as $125.1 The management of enterprise documents therefore is critical if an organization is to use its work force efficiently and maintain its competitiveness. Miller suggests that the enterprise can be viewed as a series of linked processes and that documents serve as the information carriers making up the linkages. To the extent that such linkages are paper-based, Miller believes that these represent virtually unlimited opportunities for improving productivity.2 An important application in modern document management systems is document imaging. Avedon defines document imaging as "an automated system to store, retrieve, transmit, process and manage documents...[electronic imaging systems] preserve the visual and spatial characteristics and appearance of the original paper document, including handwritten and machine created text, graphics, photographs and engineering drawings and even fingerprints."3 The latest imaging systems also provide such management features as document sharing, multiple indexing, routing and tracking of documents. Purpose of the Study Document imaging is a fundamental change in the way an organization manages its stores of information. As Avedon puts it, "the paperwork problem is actually part of a bigger business problem. The larger problem is developing methods of increasing white-collar productivity and the quality of output. To accomplish this, the entire business process of an organization must be reviewed and usually changed." The purpose of this study is to learn more about the decision process and the satisfaction of an organization that has adopted a document imaging system. For example: What prompts a business to adopt an electronic storage and retrieval system? What events or constraints precipitated the switch? What is the best way to manage the implementation process? Do the benefits of such a system outweigh the costs of obtaining and implementing it? Methodology An effective way to answer these questions is to study an organization that recently adopted such a system. The Controller's Office at Utah State University recently implemented a document imaging system and staffers continue to find additional applications for the technology. Key personnel within the Controller 's Office were contacted to determine if they would share their experiences in implementing imaging technology. They were very cooperative and willing to allow an outside study of their new system. Accordingly, arrangements were made to first survey the participants to make them aware of the types of issues and concerns of interest to the authors and to encourage them to begin documenting their experiences. An advance questionnaire was developed that broke the evaluation into five parts: 1. The reasoning behind the decision to change to a document imaging system; 2. Working environment changes resulting from the new system; 3. The costs associated with acquiring and implementing the new system; 4. The impact of the new system on customers of the organization; and 5. An overall evaluation of the system. Since the primary purpose of the survey was to assess the feelings of the involved employees regarding the document imaging system, all survey questions were open-ended. …