One set of contract documents fills ten single-drawer filing cabinets.

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Insiders used to complain that Mr O'Neill was much too concerned with micro-managing the department: he was allegedly much pre-occupied with filing cabinets and did not focus enough on policy.

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Once a contract has been negotiated and approved, a paper copy is typically signed and archived either in filing cabinets or in off-site storage.

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The documents are a mixture of the every day - traffic tickets, personnel records - and the potentially critical, including filing cabinets marked "Murders" and "Disappeared".

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Every hour, they note, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. collects 50 million filing cabinets' worth of information from its dealings with customers.

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True to form, the designers made it work- finding that certain elements of the office were kicked to the curb (filing cabinets, plaques on walls, gigantic desks) and others were reintroduced and heavily used to create a modern and engaging atmosphere (glass walls that slide open and shut, wireless technology capabilities, virtual fishbowls).

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