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Impact of Technology on Organization Design - Emerging Trends In Corporate Structure
Management Concepts & Organisational Behaviour - Emerging Trends In Corporate Structure
Impact of Technology on Organization Design - Emerging Trends In Corporate Structure
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As we have said, technology has internal as well as external dimensions.
Impact
of Technology on Organization Design
As we have said, technology has internal as well as external dimensions. There is a tendency to associate technology only with factories and machines, but in terms of organization design, its meaning is much broader. Technology encompasses all the tools, equipment, processes, actions, materials, and knowledge required to convert an organization’s inputs into outputs that can be distributed as useful goods or services. This definition makes it possible for such diverse activities as teaching students, dry cleaning clothes and assembling automobiles all to be considered technologies. In this sense, technology is an internal dimension; it is the way the organization goes about doing the work it exists to do. A Professor can teach a course with three hundred students in one class; another course might be restricted to thirty-five students. The former would probably require the lecture format, or technology, whereas the thirty-five student class could be taught via several technologies, including the case method, lectures, and group projects. Similarly, a dry cleaner can choose among several ways to provide dry cleaning services. In either example, the “technology” whereby the work is done may vary. And different technologies affect the degree of specialization or standardization necessary, the type of coordination mechanism needed the levels at which decisions should be made and the optimal size of organizational units.
As we have said, technology has internal as well as external dimensions. There is a tendency to associate technology only with factories and machines, but in terms of organization design, its meaning is much broader. Technology encompasses all the tools, equipment, processes, actions, materials, and knowledge required to convert an organization’s inputs into outputs that can be distributed as useful goods or services. This definition makes it possible for such diverse activities as teaching students, dry cleaning clothes and assembling automobiles all to be considered technologies. In this sense, technology is an internal dimension; it is the way the organization goes about doing the work it exists to do. A Professor can teach a course with three hundred students in one class; another course might be restricted to thirty-five students. The former would probably require the lecture format, or technology, whereas the thirty-five student class could be taught via several technologies, including the case method, lectures, and group projects. Similarly, a dry cleaner can choose among several ways to provide dry cleaning services. In either example, the “technology” whereby the work is done may vary. And different technologies affect the degree of specialization or standardization necessary, the type of coordination mechanism needed the levels at which decisions should be made and the optimal size of organizational units.
Tags : Management Concepts & Organisational Behaviour - Emerging Trends In Corporate Structure
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