“Here’s the main policy manual we’ve put together over the years for system users,” says...

“Here’s the main policy manual we’ve put together over the years for system users,” says Al Bookbinder, as he blows the dust off the manual and hands it to you. Al is a document keeper for the systems department of Prechter and Gumbel, a large manufacturer of health and beauty aids. “Everything any user of any part of the system needs to know is in what I call the Blue Book. I mean it’s chockablock with policies. It’s so big, I’m the only one with a complete copy. It costs too much to reproduce it.” You thank Al and take the manual with you. When you read through it, you are astonished at what it contains. Most pages begin with a message such as: “This page supersedes page 23.1 in manual Vol. II. Discard previous inserts; do not use.”

a. List your observations about the frequency of use of the Blue Book.

b. How user friendly are the updates in the manual? Write a sentence explaining your answer.

c. Write a paragraph commenting on the wisdom of having all-important policies for all systems users in one book.

d. Suggest a solution that incorporates the use of online policy manuals for some users.