Four Interviews

E1. Anna’s interview with Dot was quite friendly and very informative. Dot gave a great overview of the history of their campus’ PC network and why it needed replacing. Dot seemed to have had an abundance of knowledge starting from the beginning of the PCs which helped Anna out a great deal. In comparison to the interview, below are the contrasting highlights to the STROBE concept.

Based on Anna’s written observation of Dot’s office and clothing, and using STROBE to analyze Dot as a decision maker revealed that: (1) the location of her office and the lighting and colors depicts Dot as an executive who is easily accessible and possesses an “open door” policy atmosphere; increases the interaction frequency and informal messages; large windows with a beautiful view gives a warm, contemporary and cozy feel, that would make any visitor or employee quite comfortable to approach; the overall environment demonstrates that Dot would be one to gather information informally, (2) the center placement of the desk and a chair across the desk from Dot and another at the side of her desk demonstrates that Dot encourages participation and equal exchanges from visitors, (3) the location of her stationary equipment, two large bookcases both containing a variety of books, demonstrates that Dot is one that likes to store information personally, (4) the decorations that are present in Dot’s office display the importance of family and her love of country living (not sure if this has any relevance of the STROBE concept or not), (5) the presence of props such as computers, pens, printer, calculator, etc., demonstrates that Dot processes data professionally and personally, (6) Dot’s subscriptions to Computerworld and the Journal of Management Systems depicts her as an executive who is engaged and manages technology systems. The present issue demonstrates that she stays up-to-date information relating to technology, and (7) Dot’s clothing depicted her as conservative and authoritative, which makes her a credible decision maker.

E-2. In Mike Crowe’s interview, he appears to be into character. I mean, he is a maintenance expert with PCs and has very little help in managing PCs on the campus. He has no maintenance records, no warranty information, etc. The clutter in his work space demonstrates his dire need of organization and a new system as he described in his interview. Mike appears to be a hard worker and is doing everything