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NOV 12 1987
HD28
.M414
J
ALFRED
P.
WORKING PAPER
SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
THE INFLUENCE OF COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES ON
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE: A CONCEPTUAL
MODEL FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
OSCAR HAUPTMAN
THOMAS J. ALLEN
MAY 1987
WP# 1892-87
MASSACHUSETTS
TECHNOLOGY
50 MEMORIAL DRIVE
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02139
INSTITUTE OF
THE INFLUENCE OF COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES ON
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE: A CONCEPTUAL
MODEL FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
OSCAR HAUPTMAN
THOMAS J.' ALLEN
MAY 1987
WP# 1892-87
integrate
conceptually
to
is
article
the
of
knowledge-based tasks in a
of
dimensions
related
coLunicition
is a static
The initial information of the model
simplified model.
forms
structural
organizational
and
interrelation of task dimensions,
The
terms of these dimensions.
most effective for tasks described in
the hypothesized relation
of
consists
model
the
of
dynamic version
related
communication
and
structure
organizational
between
sophisticated el ectronic mail,
as
such
technologies,
information
search and retrieval
systems computer-conferencing, and document
task
consequently,
and
communication,
enhancing
in
systems,
SI
objective
performance.
dimensions, and cl « "^fj'j
Tne metrics of the conceptual model's
communication, and to managerial
applicability to future research of
practice in the technological era are discussed.
-2-
ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION AND PERFORMANCE
determinants
The
communication
technical
of
patterns
R&D
in
organizations have been the subject of a considerable amount of study in
recent
years
(Allen,
Allen,
1984;
Tushman,
Lee,
&
1979;
Lee
&
Pelz
&
Allen,
Tushman, 1980; Katz & Allen, 1982).
A
very
Andrews,
large
technical
recent
1986b)
in
R&D
performance
study
1984)
and
corroborates
the
in
a
be
to
a
productivity
Bernard,
R&D
of
for
1964;
technical
among
determinant
significant
major computer firm
findings
these
&
communication
shows
laboratories
carried out
(Shilling
research
of
Allen,
1966;
professionals
body
project
(1986a,
and
development
software
A
teams.
Hauptman
by
of
production, as well.
These studies further demonstrate that communication patterns in such
organizations
are
structure and
the
focus
on
information
the
largely
determined
location of
physical
first
of
technology
by
these
affects
and
the
factors:
tjjo
people.
will
The
examine
relationship
organizational
present
the
between
paper will
ways
in
which
organizational
structure and technical communication.
INFLUENCE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES ON ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
One cannot discuss organizational communication at the present without at
least
speculating
about
the
impact
that
the
explosive
development
communication-related information technologies will have on them.
in
-3-
following
The
assessment
rational-economic
of
communication
digital
is probably typical of the enthusiastic perception about the benefits new
communication-related information technologies promise:
The phone also shares a problem with all speech communication:
Generally, the
information density of speech is very low.
electronic transmission of speech requires about 60,000 bits per
second.
These 60,000 bits of speech carry about the same information
as
15
characters of written
But
test...
you can transmit 15
cnaracters directly as
transmitting only 120 bits of
text
by
information, rather than. 60 000 bits of speech.
In a very
fundamental sense, speech is not an economic medium of communication
(Marill, 1980: 185).
.
.
.
the
...
It might seem that
the new technologies,
such as electronic mail or
computer-mediated conferencing, would offer many advantages in comparison
with oral communication.
Picot,
at.
list such advantages as
(1982)
al.
including work, at
effective decentralization of autonomous work groups,
home.
Hiltz
&
Turoff
(1978:
8-9)
in
detailed
their
study
case
of
a
computer-conferencing package suggest that:
Time and distance barriers are removed.
Participants can send and
receive communications whenever it is convenient for them, with the
material ... to be received or revised
again and again
1.
.
.
.
.
.
.
without
decreasing
actual
expanded
Group
size
can
be
participation by either member.
No one can be interrupted or
'shouted down'.
In addition, since it is possible to read much
faster than listen, much more total infromation can be exchanged in a
given amount of time.
2.
...
3. A person participates at a time and rate of his or her own choice.
You need not leap out of the bathroom to answer a ringing telephone,
or drag yourself out of a hotel bed at 7a.m. to make a meeting that
begins at 9a.m.
This
Smith,
positive
Chairman
communication
of
outlook is
shared
General Motors
technologies
as
the
by
who
some
practitioners,
refers
vehicle
for
(1985:
what
5)
he
e.g.,
to
calls
Roger
information
the
"21st
-4-
According to Smith it entails
Century Corporation".
.
.
an integrated, coordinated, decision-soaking way cf functioning
product
plans,
budgets,
programs,
comprehends
business
which
corporate volumes, and everything else that helps run the business,
it must create an integrated worldwide data base that brings all
parts of the busines together.
.
If
Hiltz
&
technologies
as
interactions,
Turoff
(197b)
and
replacing
Smith
(1985:
6)
see
the
main
application
of
complementing
face-to-face
predicts
replacement
the
information
and
of
telephone
paper-based
information and communication:
Just as automobiles of today are increasingly moving from mechanical
controls to elctronic controls, so must the businesses of today
switch from paper to an electronic flow of data.
This enthusiasm for a new set of technologies relevant to management
is still in need of rigorous,
governmental
and
interactions
could
possibly
face-to-face,
medium
imposed
via
is
by
affective
a
computer-conferencing
replace
other
telephone and mail.
inherently
the
important
several
findings
Hiltz & Turoff (1978) provide detailed protocols of
disciplined
written
components
of
Valee, & Collins, 1977;
The
Nevertheless
settings.
should be mentioned.
empirical evidence in real-life industrial
asynchronous
them more egalitarian.
medium;
human
media
and
package,
suggest
communication,
of
that
such
it
as
It also seems that the electronic text
because
it
should
interactions
of
the
cognitive
presumably
(see
for
filter
instance
structure
out
the
Johansen,
Johansen & DeGrasse, 1979).
nature
of
computer-mediated
interactions
also
make
They are less influenced by status, or the verbal
-5-
eloquence
aggressiveness
or
Both
individual.
the
of
Hiltz
and
Turoff
(1984) show that participation in discussions
(1978), and Siegel, et. al.
is more equally distributed among
participants than could be expected in
similar face-to-face groups.
The
natural
question
should
that
be
asked
effectiveness of computer-mediated communication.
al.
about
is
efficiency
and
For instance Siegel et
(1984) found that it usually took the computer-mediated groups longer
Possibly the fact that these groups exchanged fewer
to reach a solution.
remarks
than
information.
groups
groups
impaired
It should be mentioned,
were
groups.
face-to-face
as
task-oriented,
Sproull & Kiesler
addition,
In
information
though,
more
and
conveyed
through
medium
this
flow
the
task-relevant
of
the computer-mediated
that
quantitative
than
face-to-face
found
that
much
(1986)
would
have
not
been
of
the
conveyed
without it.
These
findings
limitations
are
imposed
indicative
the
by
of
potential
the
Obviously,
medium.
transmitting digital data via the computer,
the
described
benefits
and
efficiency
of
by Marill
(1980),
narrows the band in the same ratio, in this case by 500 (60,000 to 120).
Tne
60,000
bits
of
speech
are
transmitting
only
not
characters
15
of
verbal data but also vocalization - pauses, pitches and tones.
Even
the
traditional
voice
medium,
the
telephone,
more narrow-banded than face-to-face interactions.
visual
This
channel,
screening
which
can
be
includes
the
regarded
potential biased responses,
based
as
on
physical
positive
It
totally lacks the
attributes
because
individual
incomparably
is
the
person.
could
prevent
of
it
attributes
unrelated
to
-6-
the
Obviously,
task.
movements,
body
contacts,
the
medium
screens
out
facial
psycho-physiological
and
responses,
importance of these cues remains problematic (.Allen, D.
Furthermore,
can
derived
be
questions
the
what are
of
communication-related
from
To what
organizations remain unanswered.
the
potential
are
& Guy,
,
realistic
information
eye
the
but
1979).
that
benefits
technologies
to
extent these technologies have
"bottom line"',
the
tasks
organizational
some
Clearly,
show results at
to
the
expressions,
and
amenable
more
in
ways.
what
productivity
to
increase through information technologies than others, which might appear
quite similar.
has
to
clear that the exploitation of these technologies
is
It
administered with insight about communication-related issues,
be
and with great organizational astuteness in implementing them.
Several
business
et.
recent
papers
organizations,
al.
telephone
in
their
media
found
(1982)
communication
to
and
superior
be
stimulation and
privacy
address
are
electronic
highly
detailed
that
to
the
(with
the
managers
indirect,
dependability
rates
formality.
study
than
implementation
For
instance,
of
how
perceive
TELETEX
is
the
in
Picot
various
face-to-face
asynchronous
exception of mail,
On the other hand,
better
relevant.
field
well for privacy).
and
mail
channels
and
for
which rated quite
perceived highest on
face-to-face
for
comfort
and
On the task-oriented dimensions TELETEX is perceived superior
than face-to-face in terms of promptness and accuracy,
but is definitely
worse on complexity of transmitted information, and confidence about the
is a trade name of an European public domain electronic
similar to QUICKCOM and DIALCOM.
-'-TELETEX
mail,
-7-
reaching
information
about
perceived
restructuring
in
authors
The
destination.
its
utilization:
channel
data
provide
also
TELETEX
does
not
seem to be a very strong competitor of face-to-face communication (only 5
mail and telephone rate only somewhat
better with
12 percent and 18 percent potential replacement by teletext.
Because it
replacement);
percent
measured
perceptual,
issue of actual
subjective data,
study
this
still
open
leaves
the
restructuring of communication when computer-based media
are introduced.
There are several studies which come close to addressing the central
implementation,
issues of use,
clarify
the
study
Steinfield's
information technologies.
to
benefits that could be expected from
and
typology of
effectively via electronic
(1984,
communication tasks
mail.
He
found
that
is
an
could
be
performed
distinction
clear
a
effort
1985)
between
social and task usages, and to what extent each sub-task was susceptible
to mediation by electronic mail.
(1982)
His results support the Picot,
et.
al.
warning about over estimating the impact of communication-related
technologies
on complex
tasks.
He
found
"resolve
negotiations/bargaining",
such
that
as
tasks
conflicts/disagreements",
"carry
on
"discuss
confidential matters", had never been carried out via the computer by at
least 50 percent of the respondents.
Culnan (1985) addressed
of
the
medium as a
the
determinant
narrow issue
of
its
significantly
information
for
only
the
other
with
accessibility,
variables,
knowledge
but
not
of
with
perceived accessibility
Her
use.
physical access to a system is a necessary,
Controlling
of
but
results
that
insufficient condition.
system
the
suggest
usage
command
terminal
correlated
language,
accessibility,
and
or
-8-
Her results validate and update what
overall reliability of the system.
Gerstberger
Allen (1968) found about the importance of accessibility as
&
a determinant of source utilization.
Another
critical
concerns
question
communication-related information technologies.
extent
to
whicn
the
existing
bulletin
computer-conferencing,
mail,
technological
capabilities
specific
the
is
It
as
document
and
boards,
still unclear the
such
options
of
electronic
search
and
retrieval systems differ from each other in accomplishing organizational
Probably an equally important question revolves around the
objectives.
for which
task types
issue
is
match
to
information
they
taxonomies
communication
media.
Steinfield
support
for
a
&
might
Fulk
related
tasks
of
continue
et
to
addressing
(1986)
hypothesis
that
advantages.
task
The
communication
and
Using Watzlawick,
technologies.
"analogue"
comparative
provide
elude
the
this
issue
related
definitions,
(1967)
al.
central
computer-based
found
analyzability
limited
be
should
associated with use of elctronic mail, while job pressure and geographic
dispersion
spurred more
frequent
use
of
this
medium.
In
this
context,
studies by McKenney and collaborators (McKenney, 1986; McKenney, Doherty,
&
Sviokla,
for
1986)
managerial
suggest that electronic mail systems could be effective
communication
contact (McKenney, et al.
when
only
supplemented
by
face
to
face
1986: 22):
,
The combination of EM [Electronic Mail] and FTF [Face-to-Face
eliminated the anonimity and lack of non-verbal cues that could
reduce social inhibitions and create social-psychological problems
.
.
THE INFLUENCE OF STRUCTURE ON COMMUNICATION IN R&D: A CONCEPTUAL MODEL
Communication playes
a
central
role
in
achieving two goals
critical to the performance of an R&D organization:
that are
-9-
The activities of
1.
the
be coordinated in order
specialties must
various disciplines and
to accomplish
multi-disciplinary
the work of
tasks.
Tasks must be provided with state-of-the-art
2.
information in the
technologies they draw upon.
A
trade-off
organizational
between
forms
these
goal
professionals
output
goal,
current
grouped
are
or
technical
spawned
has
the
specialties,,
i.e.
into
coordination
of
know-how
technological
project
activities
will
be
built
is
functional
a
second
the
R&D
When
.
toward
working
teams
various
organization
it will rncnt effectively accomplish
organization,
maintaining
of
When
structures.
and
around specific disciplines
(or matrix)
goals
two
common
a
accomplished
more
effectively.
The
reasons
organization,
for
by
thsi
grouping
are
straightforward.
very
together
who
people
share
functional
The
a
common
base
on
knowledge enables them to keep one another informed of new developments
in
that
together
area
of
knowledge.
The
people who are working on
project
a
set
of
organization,
related
by
problems,
grouping
enables
those people to better coordinate their efforts on that set of problems.
Allen (1984, 1986) has shown that there are three factors that determine
which of the two organizational forms will be preferred in any instance.
The following conceptual model is based on the informational needs of
typical R&D tasks,
to accomplish them.
and shows
how project and functional structures help
The model is closely linked with the organizational
-10-
information processing tradition
Tushman &
(e.g.,
Nadler,
Daft
1978;
&
Macintosh, 1981), and its more recent articulation in studies of advanced
technologies
information
implications
basis.
defines an
It
following
the
development,
design
structural
for
rate
the
Steinfield,
in
on
task
the
departmental
a
vary
which new knowledge
at
processing,
is
based
on
rate
of
their
some
generated;
is
refining,
oil
or
with
functional
or
in
1985).
level,
Structure Space" and
technologies
first,
such as metal
technologies,
on
"Organizational
premises:
and in
processing
information
addresses
model
The
review
literature
(see
presently
are
more mature and stable, others, e.g., bio-engineering, or the development
of
superconducting materials
more
are
dynamic.
rate
The
change
of
of
technological know-how, defined as the first derivative of knowledge with
time,
dK/dt,
Space;
the
effective
greater
serves
higher
the
transfer
of
need
the
accomplish
for
value
of
of
dK/dt,
state-of-the-art
Perrow's
there
(1967)
the
is
1983),
Organizational
for
Consequently,
the
the
is
functional
similarity
some
Structure
need
stronger
technology.
typology of
(see also Whitey, Daft, & Cooper,
the
oriented
specialty
the
Although
this.
dimension and
coordinate
one
as
to
structure
between
this
"non-routiness"
technological
or to Tushman & Nadler's
(1978)
these constructs lack the specific meaning of
environmental uncertainty,
this dimension for technical activities on the task level.
The
second
requirement
for
dimension
of
organizational
the
decision
space
coordination,
of
is
to
the
together
the
related
bringing
expertise of different professionals toward a single output goal.
the
interdependence
comprises.
The
among
higher
sub-systems
this
and
components
interdependence
^ ss ^»
co-influence of these sub-tasks in the joint effort,
which
an(*
It
the
the
is
task
mutual
the stronger is the
-11-
demand
upon
Iushman
across
dimension cuts
coordination
for
team
task
the
Nadler's
&
intra-
(1978)
On the other hand,
on Thompson's
rather than a
based to some extent
is
it
inter-unit
and
task interdependence by looking at it as a task attribute,
structural relationship.
This
activities.
its
of
typology of task interdependence, and its articula-
(1967)
tion by Van de Ven, & Delbecq (1974), and Van de Ven, et. al. (1976).
The
related
third
dimension
the
to
need
the
of
Organizational
acquisition
for
If the task
duration of the task.
(T)
also
is
—
information
technical
of
Space
Structure
the
comparatively short, a person
is
working in even a rapidly advancing technology is unlikely to lose tcuch
On the
with its state-of-the-art.
carry
long assignment
in a
of
being isolated from peers in the specialty or discipline
several years,
will
other hand,
the
dangers
of
reinforced on the group level
by
the
This
obsolescence.
professional
effects of
Not
the
notion
Invented
is
Here
Syndrome (Katz & Allen, 1982).
The
resulting
dimensions
(Figure
representation
assessment
The
1).
are
the
of
Structure
Organizational
simple
three
prescriptions
conceptually,
variables
Space
emerging
combines
from
although
could
the
prove
to
the
three
graphic
this
quantitative
elusive.
be
Qualitatively though the prescriptions to management of an R&D laboratory
are:
1.
For
rapidly
advancing
technologies,
ceteris
paribus
,
prefer
functional structures to project teams;
2.
If
the
scale
of
the
task
is
such
that
the
assigned
personnel
-13-
will be expected to spend a long period of time on the task,
paribus
ceteris
prefer functional structures;
,
FinaLly, if the sub-tasks of the joint effort seem to be highly
3
interdependent,
paribus
ce teris
influencing
each
other
the
an
in
intricate
way,
prefer the project structure, which will accomplish
,
effective coordination of these sub-tasks-
proposing
After
which
most
team,
the
effectively
question is
information
boards,
—
such
Re-phrasing
this,
the
influence
electronic
in
Structure
this
information
might
way
what
on
by
computer
mail,
scientific
and
Organizational
the
of
be
as
computer-conferencing,
communication
relevant
will
what
technologies,
technologies?
division
facilitate
organizational
for
rules
general
these
Space
the
into
structure,
the
task
model
of
bulletin-
retrieval
prescribed
"Function"
and
"Project" be altered under the influence of new information technologies?
Although,
for
a
as
we
meaningful
information
emphasized before,
answer
technologies
as
are
to
whether
powerful
still
there is
or
enough
not
to
insufficient data
communication-related
change
individual
and
organizational behavior and performance, we can hypothesize that some of
the
functions
which
are
at
the
present
assigned
to
organizational
structure might be assumed by these technologies?
ALTERNATIVES FOR MEETING COMMUNICATION NEEDS
In the first two columns of Table I, we show two of
communication
needs
with
their
organizational
solutions.
the fundamental
In
the
third
-14-
column
are
solutions
alternative
possible
drawing
information
en
technologies.
The first possible impact derives from the fact that some information
technologies could prove effective in meeting the need
within a project team.
a
for coordination
This type of information system would accomplish
goal currently provided by the "Project" structure, obviating the need
for
direct,
members.
face-to-face,
Information
synchronous
technologies
forums
can
be
further
now
have
useful in attaining this same goal.
forms of electronic mail
contact
been
among
project
developed,
which
are
For example, there are sophisticated
in which forums are organized by topic.
organized
team
hierarchically
into
These
subtopics
or
sub-subtopics, each of which can be a subsystem, element or component of
Table
I
Communication Need and Organizational and Technological Solutions
Need
Organizational
Solution
Information Technology
Solution
Coordination of
subsystem or subelement work on
a project
Project organization
-Hierarchically organized
bulletin boards for project
status reporting and
configuration control
Knowledge transfer
Functional or
departmental
organization
-Document search and
retrieval systems
-Expert system-based
selective dissemination
of information
-Bulletin-boards or forums
for information search
-15-
a
Status reports are maintained in these forums
project (Stevens, 1981).
and.
regularly
managing
organizational
structures
be
used
become
might
queries
for
Consequently,
subsystems.
among
interfaces
also
can
They
updated.
feasible
and
functional
even
effective
and
for
for
highly interdependent technical tasks.
As
the
second
hypothesis
one
could
in
improvements
that
argue
information technologies will make it easier for technical professionals
to
maintain up-to-date technological know-how.
technological
first
The
analog that one thinks of for this type of organization is the document
These have been around for many years and
search and retrieval system.
provide direct access
numbered
3800
to
documentation files which by
(Cuadra Associates,
Although
1984).
the
end
of
1984
proven at
they have
best moderately successful for some disciplines or specialties,
some can
now be augmented by selective dissemination services based on articifial
These can learn a user's need and determine which journal
intelligence.
articles
documents
or
unfortunately
suffer
will
from
be
the
of
same
interest.
fatal
information, but it must still be read.
of
All
flaw.
these
of
They
can
systems
provide
the
And there is a substantial body
research to show that for the average engineers that is a very high
barrier (Allen, 1984).
Knowledge is best transferred to engineers through personal contact.
The connection to literature and documentation is best accomplished with
the
aid
Cohen,
of
1969;
intermediaries
Allen,
1984).
known
as
More
technological
recent
gatekeepers
developments
in
(Allen
&
information
technology may very well aid in the process of connecting an engineer to
an appropriate gatekeeper.
This
is
another adaptation of
the
computer
-16-
Some
companies,
bulletin
boards
board.
bulletin
development
of
the
should
things
ways
research (George,
are
that
organized
around
Anyone can send questions, or answers, or even dicta
technical subjects.
describing
forums
or
the
encouraged
have
example,
for
shows that
1987)
be
these
of
one
to
Recent
forums.
individuals associated
there are key
with these forums who are usually experts on the particular subject and
who
supply
entered.
words,
other
In
proportion
high
very
the
forum
serves
people to the appropriate gatekeeper.
transferring knowledge
in certain
answers
the
of
as
queries
to
mechanism
a
are
that
connect
to
This can be very effective way of
fields.
At
present,
this
seems
more
effective for software developers than for hardware designers.
COMBINING STRUCTURE WITH TECHNOLOGY
The development of the new technologies affords an opportunity to use
them to augment organizational structure.
matrix
form
exclusive.
project
project
the
An
individual
team or kept
connection
coordination
benefits
knowledge transfer.
easier
at
the
cost
are
If
and
functional
structures
can
either
directly
be
functional department with
a
project.
the
to
in
Despite their linking in
If
gained
integrated
at
the
into
cost
left in a department,
of
difficulty
in
the
of
mutually
remain
integrated
a
the
into
a
possible matrix
project
team,
greater difficulty
the
in
knowledge transfer is made
coordination.
What
can
now
potentially be done is to use either the project or functional structure
and augment
that
with the appropriate
information
technology
to
reduce
its innerent cost.
In other words,
when using project organization,
individuals can be
-17-
connected to their knowledge bases by means of computer forums organized
They thereby gain both the advantage
around their technical specialties.
of coordinating their work,
and despite
the
organizational and
physical
separation from colleagues in their specialties, the advantage of keeping
abreast of the state-of-the-art electronically.
accomplished
departments,
functional
using
When
for
configuration control
the
team members
to
he
and
subsystem
dispersed
among
status
work
of
hierarchically organized computer
using
by
coordination
be
bulletin
boards
This
allows
reporting.
functional
can
thereby
departments,
and coordinating their joint
maintaining contact with their specialties,
effort electronically.
On
the
basis
of
these
arguments
hypothesized
the
effect
of
information technologies on the Organizational Structure Space will be to
move the dividing line between the project and functional regions in each
of the three planes, changing slope and position as shown in Figures 2.
of
In the dK/dt
—T
which
determine
will
structures.
forums
and
plane we there are two opposing forces,
the
boundary
The more capable are
retrieval
systems)
the
the
project organization can be used.
between
functional
the resultant
project
and
knowledge-enhancing systems
larger will
be
Conversely,
the
region
the
more
in
(i.e.,
which
capable are
the
coordinating systems (e.g., hierarchical bulletin-boards) the larger will
be
the
other
area
hand,
in
which functional
because
the
two
organization
variables
can
dealing
be
with
employed.
know-how
On
the
transfer
(change in knowledge aand task duration) are not differentially affected
by
technological
treatment,
we don't
expect
significant
changes
in
the
Legend
dK /dt -Rate of change of
knowledge
T -Task duration
l
ss
-Task interdepen-
dence
F -Functional structure
recommended
P -Project structure
recommended
E-Mail -Electronic
Mail
STRS -Science &
Technology
Retrieval Systems
B-Board -Bulletin
Boards
CC ComputerConferencing
-
Figure 2. Influence of Information
Technologies on Organizational Structure
-19-
slope of the function-project separating line in this plane.
In
dK/dt
the
—I
operate in opposite directions.
also
are
there
plane,
In this
case,
which
forces
two
will
since one has more effect
in dealing with subsystem interdependence, and the ether with changes in
result
in
rotation
a
technological
to
treatment,
the
project-function
the
which the functional structure
retrieval
and
systems
is
and
dividing
recommended.
impact
The
probably
of
document
arourd
organized
forums
computer
of
will
line
increasing the set of tasks for
shift more toward the dK/dt coordinate,
search
of
Because the coordination requirements of the task may be more
boundary.
amenable
will
they
knowledge,
specialties is expected to be somewhat less discernable for the reasons
cited earlier.
Even though documents can be located and retrieved,
still
read.
must
effective
be
for
Forums,
at
software developers,
this
but
they will work in other specialties.
dividing
line
coordinate,
structure
increasing
in
this
somewhat
is
increasing
recommended.
functional
the
will
plane
the
it
As a
shift
of
set
Consequently
area,
interdependence and slow advancement
remains
will
to
result,
tasks
to
from
the
On
other
the
I
shift,
of
tasks
the
project
the
significant
for
be
seen how well
for which
more
occur
shown
location of
the
knowledge.
of
be
slightly
only
the
been
have
point,
they
low
hanc,
the increase in the project area will be smaller and mostly for tasks of
rapidly changing technologies and high
interdependence.
in the set of tasks in the two structure areas will
The
net
change
be a function of the
power, effectiveness, and usability of the two information technologies.
This
can
be
seen
diagrammatically
in
Figure
3.
This
figure
illustrates the tradeoff which exists between coordination and knowledge
coordination
Advances in Information
Technology between ti and
the frontier to a
different curve.
t2 shift
knowledge
transfer
3. The Tradeoff Between Coordination and
Knowledge Transfer in Project Management
Figure
-21-
the
better coordination
Moving along one of the curves,
transfer.
sacrifice of
some
knowledge-transfer,
and
vice
requires
Improvements
versa.
in the technology of communication cause a shift to a new curve.
curve
does
Depending
have
not
whether
on
assume
to
improvement"
the
shape
same
the
principally
is
predecessor.
its
as
The new
area
the
in
of
coordination or of knowledge transfer will cause a tilt of the curve in
one direction or the other.
the advances
In
the
an assumption
figure,
is
made
that
technology will affect coordination more than knowledge
in
transfer.
This added
information
Systems
flexibility in
technologies
(FMS),
on the
tar.k
resembles
needs,
oriented
variety,
does
not
have
the
impact
traditional matching
attributes (Hayes & Wheelwright,
product
through communication-related
design
to
1984,
towards
209,
between
product
achievement
traded
and
process
With the use of FMS,
216).
effective
necessarily
be
Flexible Manufacturing
of
against
off
large batch manufacturing of standardized products.
customer
of
efficient,
This new information
technology related capability makes feasible production systems which are
both effective and efficient
which will
comparable
be
able
to
—a
clear analogy to R&D project
structures
achieve higher levels of efficiency in
requirements
for
innovativenss,
knowledge
tasks
transfer,
of
and
flexibility.
PRACTICAL AND THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH
Managers can use the model described in Figures
1
through 3 not only
to determine the preferred organizational form for a given situation,
but
also the choice of technology to effectively complement that choice.
If
-22-
a
decision is made to group individuals organizationally into a project
then that team should be provided with technology that will enable
team,
them
stay
to
forums
of
organization
using
answers
seeking
for
the
their
in
retrieval systems and
should be given access to
use
developments
with
toucn
in
widely
form
project
acquainted with the
be
would
be
An
questions.
technical
to
They
specialties.
advised
well
to
encourage the informal development of such forums.
the
If
"matrixing"
decision
is
them
a
to
retain
to
joint
technology will certainly ease
bulletin-boards
can
be
used
people
effort,
keep
to
provision
the
manager's
project
the
functional
in
all
team
of
job.
members
departments,
coordinating
Hierarchical
informed
developments in those parts of the task that are of concern to them,
of
or
that would have an effect on their work.
Theoretically,
the proposed conceptual model is one of many that are
It will mainly apply at the
useful in studying organizational behavior.
task
departmental
and
organizational
utilizing
domain.
this
organizational
level,
model
task.
The
operational
the
unit
of
analysis
and
for
a
not
the
strategic
hypothetical
professionals
study
performing
an
Although the model was defined with R&D tasks
in
should
be
a
group
of
mind, it will apply to any organizational tasks based on a changing field
of knowledge,
in nature;
economic
analysis,
or expertise.
This expertise does not have to be technical
marketing or financial tasks,
knowledge
and
from
will
benefit
better
from
based on consumer behavior and
coordination-innovation
understanding
of
what
oriented
communication-related
information technologies can do for their effectiveness and efficiency.
-23-
defining
Thus
question
will
how
be
domain
general
the
operationalize
to
proposed
the
of
empirical
for
it
model,
Although the suggested model does not preclude qualitative,
and case investigation,
dimensions.
model's
final objective should
the
This
will
not
research.
ethnographic
quantification of
be
there
but
easy,
be
next
the
certainly
are
possibilities.
In basic scientific fields,
dK/dt can be estimated by measuring the
There are
half life of citations to journal articles (Ke3sler, undated).
other possible measures
(Fusfeld,
that might
1970)
technology.
such as
technical progress
slope of
the
curves
and
more appropriate for applied science,
be
These should be investigated in greater depth.
Subsystem
interdependence
can
be
estimated
by
managers.
project
Harris (1987) has shown that valid estimates can be made and that project
performance
has
interdependence.
field
(e.g.,
very
a
subsystem
to
Harris's research reinforces previous research in this
Thompson,
interdependencies and
Van
1967;
the
resulting
de
Ven,
et.
problems
interface
al.,
1976)
seriously
that
affect
the need for solutions to the problem of
It also emphasizes
performance.
relationship
inverse
strong
coordinating work in highly interdependent projects.
But
Figure
this
1.
only
addresses
understanding
our
of
the
static
model
of
Research is also needed on the dynamics of the process which
results
irom
We need
to
the
introduction
of
know much more about
over by the technology.
information/communication
the actual
functions that can be
Before that can be done,
far more about the nature of the work itself.
technology.
taken
however, we must learn
Much of this was done many
-24-
years ago for routine,
even
the
to
functions
point
(Bright,
of
mostly menial
analyzing
feasibility
work
Recent
1958).
(Taylor,
tasks
automation
of
Fayol,
for
collar,"
"white
on
1911;
1949)
specific
non-routine
tasks (see examples in Fleishman & Quaintance, 1986) approaches the early
work in degree of specificity,
but much more
remains to be done
in
this
area in articulating task dimensions, and related research instruments.
Recent
(Hiltz
1978;
studies
communication-reiated
of
Turoff,
1982;
Rice,
Steinfeld,
1984)
have
&
technologies and
to
some
1980;
Rice
certainly
degree,
their
&
information
Case,
improved
effects
on
Picot
et.
al.
knowledge
of
these
nature
of
work.
1981;
our
technologies
the
,
,
Still, the MIS epistemology of technological dimensions and attributes is
incomplete, and is mainly task related.
Context-free typologies of these
technologies should be quite useful for better matching of
and in this case
—white
technologies
collar tasks.
Table II
Communication Need and Organizational and Technological Solutions (Future)
Need
Organizational
Solution
Information Technology
Solution
Coordination of
subsystem or subelements of work
Project
organization
-Hierarchically organized bulletin
boards or forums for status
reporting and configuration control
Knowledge transfer
Functional or
departmental
organization
-Document search and retrieval systems
-Expert system-based selective
dissemination of information
-Bulletin-boards or forums
for information search
Stimulation of
creativity
Interaction
enhancing
techniques
-Computer mediated brainstorming
-Unstructured bulletin boards
-Computer/video conferencing systems
-25-
Finally,
even
new questions.
offer
As a case
— creativity
To
be
of
this
article
new capabilites
in point,
to
additional
advances
organizations,
and
in
raise
how would the third determinant of R&D
achieved through organizational and
technological
And bow the proposed model should be modified to include
means (Table II)?
creativity?
writing
the
technologies
information
performance
at
summarize
we
would
like
to
emphasize
only
that
rigorous
empirical research will show the usefulness of theorizing, and the suggested
theory is no exception to this rule.
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I8I3M07
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