“We’re proud of our building here in Tennessee. In fact, we used the architectural firm...

“We’re proud of our building here in Tennessee. In fact, we used the architectural firm of I. M. Paid to carry the same theme, blending into the local landscape while still reaching out to our clients throughout all the branches. We get lots of people coming through just to admire the building once they catch on to where it is exactly. In fact, by Tennessee standards, we get so many sightseers that it might as well be the pyramids! Well, you can see for yourself as you go through. The East Atrium is my favorite place: plenty of light, a huge skylight overhead. Yet it has always fascinated me that the building and its furnishings might tell a story quite different from the one its occupants tell.

“Sometimes employees complain that the offices all look the same. The public rooms are spectacular, though. Even the canteen is inviting. Most people can’t say that about their cafeterias at work. You’ll notice that we all personalize our offices, anyway. So even if the offices were of the ’cookie cutter’ kind, their occupants’ personalities seem to take over as soon as they have been here a while. What have you seen? Was there anything that surprised you so far?”

Use STROBE to compare and contrast Evans’s and Ketcham’s offices. What sort of conclusion about each person’s use of information technology can you draw from your observations? How compatible do Evans and Ketcham seem in terms of the systems they use? What other clues to their storage, use, and sharing of information can you discover based on your observations of their offices?