Current Practices in Field Force Automation: Decision Support and Information Management for the Field Force

In the past, field operations have mostly been a stepchild of information and communication technology (ICT) enabled organizational overhaul and process re-design. Recently, increased technological (mobile wirelessly connected) capability, economic necessity, and new external factors (such as the higher frequency of large-scale emergencies, for example, of the magnitude of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the US) have raised interest in and commitment to on-site information management and to a drastically improved in-situ decision making capacity of field operations. Field force automation (FFA) techniques and process changes have been introduced in field operations of organizations in both the private and public sectors. This study seeks to establish a baseline of current FFA practices in both sectors. Among other areas, we explore, what the work-related and organizational specifics of field operations are, also with respect to ICTs, how process completion and efficiency are measured, and how effective FFA is with regard to information management. FFA, it appears is still in its infancy, and the full extent of potential efficiency and productivity gains might need more time to emerge.