InhaltsangabeIntroduction 1. Decision Making Processes 1.1 Research Methods 1.2 Records 1.3 Two Forms of Business Processes: Decision Making Versus Production Processes 1.4 Decision Making 1.5 Bureaucracy 1.6 Systems Theory and Business Processes 2. The Historical Shift from Committee to Paper Based Decision Making 2.1 Monocratic Form 2.2 Historical Forms of Oral Committee Based Government 2.3 Basic Forms of Oral Deliberation in Historical Administrations 2.4 Conceptual Orality of Writing 2.5 Differentiation of Functional Competencies 2.6 Committee Based Decision Making and Modern Bureaucratic Techniques 2.7 Classical Collaborative Decision Making Processes 2.8 Work Process Guidelines for the Central Ministries: Legacy from the Office Reform 2.9 Business Processes in Post-war German Government 3. Records 3.1 Forms and Functions of Records and Files 3.2 Organisational Backgrounds 4. Functional Requirements of Open Communication Processes in Electronic Environments 4.1 Needs of Autonomous Open Ended Processes 4.2 Needs for Stability and Functions of Archives in Electronic Environments 4.3 Archival Functions in Digital Environments Bibliography Index