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Working for a magazine like INC. can easily lead you to believe that the use of computers by managers is a reality, not merely a promise of what is to come. Our subscriber research, for example, suggests that more than half of our readers now own or use at least one personal computer. And frequent conversations with readers confirm that small computers already occupy a central place in the planning and management of growth in the "typical" INC. company.

Taking our admitted bias into account, it is still surprising to be confronted with points of view such as those expressed in a recent opinion column in The Wall Street Journal, which suggested that "Real Managers Don't Use Computer Terminals." The author, a consultant, argued in part that "If you are a manager, keep your hands off those keys and printouts. If you need information that a computer can supply, let someone with the time and talent filter it for you. . . please don't impose those tools between yourself and actually managing people and enterprises." And he goes on to argue that "top managers must learn to cultivate ignorance. The higher you go, the less you should really know about what is actually going on."

On one level, statements like these can be dismissed lightly. I'm reminded of the nineteenth-century Englishman who observed that there would be little use for the newly invented telephone in Great Britain because there was no shortage of messengers. Today you can fret about computers in business and you can curse their shortcomings, but pretending that they will have no impact on the way you work is simply foolish.

More seriously, however, comments like these point out legitimate reservations many people in both small and large companies have about the computer as a part of their business lives. Playing with computers, particularly personal computers, can become a fixation for a manager. The process of manipulating data can become more fascinating than the product, and that is something to avoid. It is also true that computers won't tell you how to manage people, still the most challenging task. And computers are not a replacement for intuition and educated guesswork.

But current data about actual performance and the impact of potential decisions is critical to effective management, especially in smaller companies. The ability to see for yourself how your decisions, and your people, are faring in the marketplace -- without the fuzziness imposed by layers of interpretation by others -- is a tool to be prized, not shunned. This month's cover story by senior writer Robert Mamis, exploring the benefits for managers of the two most prominent "integrated software" programs, is compelling reading, for it suggests that the greatest benefit of these programs is not the technology itself, impressive as that is. Rather, it is the potential of such programs to unlock management creativity that is important, the ability to relieve ourselves of the kind of tedious pencil and calculator work that has made "planning" a dirty word for most of us.

"Real managers" do indeed use computer terminals and should, if they want to spend more time managing and less time trying to figure out whom to believe. Personal computers and software programs such as those described beginning on page 103 give small companies a chance to compete on equal terms with the largest corporations in planning their futures. Given the climate of uncertainty and fast-paced change that surrounds us today, the help this new technology ofers has never been more needed.