Common User Access was part of IBM SAA.
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_User_Access
IBM Papers: http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/sj/313/ibmsj3103C.pdf [Common User Access - A consistent and usable human-computer interface for the SAA environments] (PDF]
This is the user interface paradigm illustrated by OSF/Motif?, MicrosoftWindows, and IBM OS/2.
You can simulate this in GnuEmacs with a package at: http://www.northbound-train.com/emacs/cua-lite.el