Organisation and Management in the

Networked Era...

Organisation......Technology

Environment...

Post-industrial Organisational Paradigms

Organisation and Management in the Networked Era…..

What is an organisation? ...goal-directed….deliberately structured… social entity

What is management? ....attaining organisational goals effectively and efficiently through planning, organising, leading and controlling organisation resources

What do we mean by ‘Networked Era’?…ICT-enabled, connectivity, info-symmetry, extendedenterprises, virtual/knowledge workers...

...Evolution of Thought

IndustrialisationThe Classical TheoristsThe Human Relations MovementOrganisations as SystemsThe Contingency SchoolThe ModernistsPostmodernism

Evolution of Thought: The Classical Theorists

Focus on efficiency and control‘One best way’ - UniversalisticEmployee as tool/instrumentAssumed environment was

stable

1. Scientific Management School2. Administrative Theorists3. Bureaucratic School

Evolution of Thought: The Human Relations Movement

The Hawthorne Studies

Group interaction & social climate important to job performance.

Evolution of Thought: Organisations as Systems

Open Systems - Organisations, like organisms, are open to their environment and must interact with it to survive

Inter-relatedness - subsystems

Closed systems are unsustainable

Evolution of Thought: Contingency School

Theorists and managers must understand environment/context to prescribe appropriate structure/management technique.

Success contingent on more than one factor; no universal solution.

Focus on structure, environment, technology and size.

Evolution of Thought: Modern Perspectives

Institutional Imitation - Orgs/managers tend to imitate past practices and practices of successful organisations.

Cultural Perspectives - concerned with the WHOLE organisation rather then individual parts.

Evolution of Thought: Postmodern Organisation

Paradigm

Postmodern world increased rate of change global competitivenessinformation / electronic revolutionunstable & unpredictable environment

Evolution of Thought: Postmodern Organisation

Paradigm

The postmodern organisation reflects the needs of a changing world:

moderate sizeflexible, decentralised structuresinfo/knowledge as primary form of

capitalemployee empowermentservant leadership

The ‘Learning Organisation’

Old Paradigm New ParadigmVertical Org. Learning Org.*

Forces on orgsMarkets Local, domestic GlobalWorkforce Homogeneous DiverseTechnology Mechanical ElectronicValues Stability, efficiency Change, flexibility

Mgt CompetenciesFocus Profits & Custs, empsLeadership Autocratic Distributed, empowerApproach to work Individualistic TeamRelationships Competitive, conflict Collaboration

*Senge 1990

Images of Organisations

Organisations as machines (Morgan 1997) - Weber observed the parallels between mechanisation of industry and proliferation of bureaucracies

Organisations as organisms (Morgan 1997) - need to adapt to environment to survive

GOALS&

STRATEGIES

CULTURE

SIZE

TECHNOLOGY

ENVIRONMENT

STRUCTURE

Inter-relatedness Of The ‘OD’ Dimensions

Organisation & Environment

Systems & Contingency theories

Burns & Stalker (1961) - stable environments suited mechanistic structures; unstable env. suited organic structures

Lawrence & Lorsch (1967) - link between uncertainty, differentiation & integration

Interaction between Technology and Organisation

Joan Woodward’s studies (1950’s): Successful firms - complementary structures & technologies.

Charles Perrow’s studies on analyzability & variety & the appropriate structures for different types of technology

The technological imperativeThe Tavistock Institute: socio-technical

systems theory

Evolution of Technology

ProductFlexibility

Customised

Standardised

BatchSize

Small Large

Unit

Mass

Continuous

CIM*

MassCustomisation

Information Technology Evolution

SystemComplexity

ManagementLevel

Top

FirstLine

Low High

EfficiencyTPS

ResourceMIS / DSS

StrategicWeaponEIS/AIT

ISEvolution

AIT Implications for Organisations....

Management & OD Implications…….

Decision-making: broader, faster, well-informed

Connectivity - the ‘extended enterprise’Time and place not as constrainingFlatter org. structureMore control over degree of centralisationImproved co-ordination/communicationOrganisational responsiveness

….AIT Implications for Organisations

Cultural Implications:

Empowerment / co. brainpower / learning

Increased access to information - openness

Relationships may be more informalHigher skill levelsCollaboration tools facilitate team

cultureJob satisfaction

Fact or fashion?

“These days, it’s fashionable to claim that organisations are becoming flatter. Because of spreading information technologies and the shrinking number of middle managers, information is supposedly flowing both vertically and horizontally, becoming more pervasive and democratic…I’m not persuaded. I see layers added to organisations as often as I see them removed. I don’t see many low-level workers having intimate electronic chats with CEOs…

At best, the relationship between organisational change and information/technology change is a fluid one, with shifts on one side rippling to the other, back and forth over time, creating incremental improvements.”

(Davenport 1997, Information Ecology, p. 180)

Structures of the Future?Art Imitates Life...

Adhocracy (Mintzberg 1988)Doughnut Organisation (Handy 1994) Hyperarchy (Evans and Wurster 1997)Network organisation (Sproull 1991, Champy & Nitin 1996, Kelly 1998)Adaptive network/dynamic network (Daft 2000)Virtual Organisation (Grenier & Metes 1995)Hypertext Organisation (Nonaka & Takeuchi 1995)Digital Enterprise (Woolner 1998) Object-oriented organisation (Evans and Wurster 2000)

Challenges?

For post-industrial, extended, network, virtual...enterprises

Identity, place, trust...Unifying visionLeadershipRewards, recognition & developmentChange & stability - need for process & ‘space’

Organisations as mirrors?

New Management for a New Era?

“Each economic age has its optimal form - a structure most aligned with the means of wealth creation, dominant technologies and social context.”

(Woolner in Tapscott 1998, Kelly 1998)