Organisation and Management in the Networked Era...

1. Organisation and Management in the Networked Era... Organisation... ...Technology Environment... Post-industrial Organisational Paradigms

2. 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, extended enterprises, virtual/knowledge workers...

3. ...Evolution of Thought Industrialisation The Classical Theorists The Human Relations Movement Organisations as Systems The Contingency School The Modernists Postmodernism

4. Evolution of Thought: The Classical Theorists 1. Scientific Management School 2. Administrative Theorists 3. Bureaucratic School Focus on efficiency and control ‘One best way’ - Universalistic Employee as tool/instrument Assumed environment was stable

5. Evolution of Thought: The Human Relations Movement The Hawthorne Studies Group interaction & social climate important to job performance.

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. Evolution of Thought: Postmodern Organisation Paradigm Postmodern world increased rate of change global competitiveness information / electronic revolution unstable & unpredictable environment

10. Evolution of Thought: Postmodern Organisation Paradigm The postmodern organisation reflects the needs of a changing world: moderate size flexible, decentralised structures info/knowledge as primary form of capital employee empowerment servant leadership

11. The ‘Learning Organisation’ Old Paradigm New Paradigm Vertical Org. Learning Org.* Forces on orgs Markets Local, domestic Global Workforce Homogeneous Diverse Technology Mechanical Electronic Values Stability, efficiency Change, flexibility Mgt Competencies Focus Profits & Custs, emps Leadership Autocratic Distributed, empower Approach to work Individualistic Team Relationships Competitive, conflict Collaboration *Senge 1990

12. 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

13. Inter-relatedness Of The ‘OD’ Dimensions SIZE TECHNOLOGY CULTURE STRUCTURE ENVIRONMENT GOALS & STRATEGIES

14. 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

15. 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 imperative The Tavistock Institute: socio-technical systems theory

16. Evolution of Technology Mass Customisation Customised Unit CIM* Product Flexibility Mass Continuous Standardised Batch Size Small Large

17. Information Technology Evolution Strategic Weapon EIS/AIT Top Management Level Resource MIS / DSS IS Evolution Efficiency TPS First Line System Complexity High Low

18. AIT Implications for Organisations.... Management & OD Implications……. Decision-making: broader, faster, well-informed Connectivity - the ‘extended enterprise’ Time and place not as constraining Flatter org. structure More control over degree of centralisation Improved co-ordination/communication Organisational responsiveness

19. ….AIT Implications for Organisations Cultural Implications: Empowerment / co. brainpower / learning Increased access to information - openness Relationships may be more informal Higher skill levels Collaboration tools facilitate team culture Job satisfaction

20. 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)

21. 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)

22. Challenges? For post-industrial, extended, network, virtual...enterprises Identity, place, trust... Unifying vision Leadership Rewards, recognition & development Change & stability - need for process & ‘space’

23. 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)