(2 of 2)
Others stoutly maintain that operating a computer distracts them from more important duties. They argue that their time is better spent analyzing problems, making decisions and meeting personally with associates. Says Paul Stotts, a vice president at Dallas' Republic National Bank: "When you deal with people in our organization at the executive level, they are delegating computer work to subordinates and do not need a computer right there in their office." Having built careers on intangibles like personality and leadership, executives may fear that a computer, with its unshakable command of facts and figures, will erode their authority, say some psychologists. Or they fear that "upper-management" use of computers will "intimidate" co-workers who are less technologically adept.
Still, many computer manufacturers are betting on bonanza sales of more "executive work stations." Some allow users to read their morning mail, send and receive memos and collect telephone messages—all on their display screens. More advanced models, which can sell for $8,500, store and play back human speech—an incoming call, a secretary's message. Others have a "help" button that executives can push when they run into a problem. A few makers are trying to figure out ways to make computers easier to use, including calling up desired information with the press of just one or two keys.
In order to cure computer phobia among their executives, some companies are going to elaborate lengths. Boston's First National Bank has established a walk-in "personal computer center" for its managers. They can get individual instruction or, if they want, take a computer home for the weekend to practice with it in seclusion. "To have an executive fumbling around with the keyboard to find the right letter is just embarrassing for him," says John Martin, first vice president. "We have found that if they can go some place private, a little knowledge and interest will conquer their fears." Maybe. But Ted Theodores, 46, director of business and product planning for Polaroid Corp., Cambridge, Mass., who needed several months of practice to master his personal computer, is one of those who believe that it may be too late for his generation of executives to make full use of the new technology. Says he: "The kids are the ones who have all this knowledge at their fingertips. When they get into management positions, they'll bring their computers with them. That's when it will really happen." —By Alexander L. Taylor III. Reported by Robert T. Grieves/New York and Marc Levinson/Atlanta