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The impact of computerisation on clerical work in the finance sector : case studies of two large life assurance companies in the Western Cape, 1955-1985

The association of microelectronics and the office and its consequences specifically for life assurance companies is the central focus of this thesis. The original intention was to survey the impact of computerisation on clerical work in the Finance Sector, focusing specifically on banks, building s...

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Main Author: Hartman, Nadia
Other Authors: Maree, Johann
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Sociology 2015
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access_status_str Open Access
author Hartman, Nadia
author2 Maree, Johann
author_browse Hartman, Nadia
Maree, Johann
author_facet Maree, Johann
Hartman, Nadia
author_sort Hartman, Nadia
collection Thesis
description The association of microelectronics and the office and its consequences specifically for life assurance companies is the central focus of this thesis. The original intention was to survey the impact of computerisation on clerical work in the Finance Sector, focusing specifically on banks, building societies and life assurance companies. The Finance Sector was chosen because it is the largest employer of clerical workers after the civil service and was also the most advanced user of computers in commerce. A survey of the literature on computerisation and clerical work revealed that a comparison of job categories prior to and following computerisation was necessary if the full impact of the technology was to be assessed. However, after several months of research it became evident that a comparison of job categories in the pre- and post-computer eras in all parts of the Finance Sector - banks, building societies and assurance companies - would make for an impossibly long exercise in the thesis if all were researched comparably. It was decided to concentrate on two very large life assurance companies in South Africa who were among the first to computerise in the country. Comparability was enhanced by the fact that both company headquarters were in Cape Town and therefore accessible for in-depth and repeated interviewing. This together with the fact that the companies were among the largest employers of clerical labour in the Western Cape made the choice natural and inevitable.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:33:10.259Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2015
publishDateRange 2015
publishDateSort 2015
publisher Department of Sociology
publisherStr Department of Sociology
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/15842 The impact of computerisation on clerical work in the finance sector : case studies of two large life assurance companies in the Western Cape, 1955-1985 Hartman, Nadia Maree, Johann Industrial Sociology The association of microelectronics and the office and its consequences specifically for life assurance companies is the central focus of this thesis. The original intention was to survey the impact of computerisation on clerical work in the Finance Sector, focusing specifically on banks, building societies and life assurance companies. The Finance Sector was chosen because it is the largest employer of clerical workers after the civil service and was also the most advanced user of computers in commerce. A survey of the literature on computerisation and clerical work revealed that a comparison of job categories prior to and following computerisation was necessary if the full impact of the technology was to be assessed. However, after several months of research it became evident that a comparison of job categories in the pre- and post-computer eras in all parts of the Finance Sector - banks, building societies and assurance companies - would make for an impossibly long exercise in the thesis if all were researched comparably. It was decided to concentrate on two very large life assurance companies in South Africa who were among the first to computerise in the country. Comparability was enhanced by the fact that both company headquarters were in Cape Town and therefore accessible for in-depth and repeated interviewing. This together with the fact that the companies were among the largest employers of clerical labour in the Western Cape made the choice natural and inevitable. 2015-12-20T15:32:11Z 2015-12-20T15:32:11Z 1986 Master Thesis Masters MSocSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15842 eng application/pdf Department of Sociology Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Industrial Sociology
Hartman, Nadia
The impact of computerisation on clerical work in the finance sector : case studies of two large life assurance companies in the Western Cape, 1955-1985
thesis_degree_str Master's
title The impact of computerisation on clerical work in the finance sector : case studies of two large life assurance companies in the Western Cape, 1955-1985
title_full The impact of computerisation on clerical work in the finance sector : case studies of two large life assurance companies in the Western Cape, 1955-1985
title_fullStr The impact of computerisation on clerical work in the finance sector : case studies of two large life assurance companies in the Western Cape, 1955-1985
title_full_unstemmed The impact of computerisation on clerical work in the finance sector : case studies of two large life assurance companies in the Western Cape, 1955-1985
title_short The impact of computerisation on clerical work in the finance sector : case studies of two large life assurance companies in the Western Cape, 1955-1985
title_sort impact of computerisation on clerical work in the finance sector case studies of two large life assurance companies in the western cape 1955 1985
topic Industrial Sociology
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15842
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