ORGANIZATIONAL TECHNOLOGY Chapter 11 ORGANIZATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

TECHNOLOGY –DEFINITIONS Technology - the means by which relevant material, technical, procedural, informational, cognitive and social resources are deployed to achieve desired outcomes Core technology - the means employed in the transformation activities that lead to the main outputs of the organization (or unit) Material technology - the tangible aspects of technology that can be seen, touched or heard Social technology - the social and behaviour shaping devices of structure, control, co-ordination, motivation and reward systems

TECHNOLOGY –DEFINITIONS Winner (1977) identifies three general applications of technology: Apparatus - the physical apparatus or materials that are necessary for the achievement of tasks Technique - the purposive aspects of human activity through the application of skills, methods, procedures or routines as a means of achieving objectives Organization - refers to social arrangements or frameworks including factories, bureaucracies and teams established to achieve particular goals

Open systems model of an organization Figure 11.1

Taxonomies of systems Figure 11.2

Industrialization and technological change Blumer (1990) distinguishes between industrialization and technological change: Non-industrial technological change - some technological developments that have no impact on the level of industrialization Industrialization as one form of technological development - Industrialization brings with it many changes other than those based on technology Transplanted industrialization - technology does not automatically evolves as part of the process of industrialization Causal relationships – there is a complex chain of events involved in the relationship between technology and society Ambiguity - technological development contains a higher level of ambiguity in terms of its interrelationship with social change than does the concept of industrialization

Perspectives on technology Woodward and production technology Unit or small batch Large batch or mass Continuous process Table 11.1

Perrow’s framework of departmental technology Figure 11.3

Assessing the degree of task routine/nonroutine Figure 11.4

Thompson – resource and technology matching Task interdependence - the way in which tasks differentiated through the division of labour are operationally related to each other Mediating technology - this form of operational technology mediates what would otherwise be independent activities or needs Long-linked technology - the sequential processes most obviously found in assembly line factory operations Intensive technology - describes processes where different units interact constantly with each other during the transformation process Technical core - the central transformation processes that need to work efficiently and unperturbed by sudden changes and uncertainties Boundary spanning units - buffer the operating (technical) core from environmental uncertainty

The Aston studies In terms of technology these studies utilized three categories: Operations – reflected the nature of the transformation process, the techniques used Materials - the nature and characteristics of the things that were being processed. Knowledge - the skill and ability required to undertake the tasks necessary to achieve the objectives

Technology - Other contributions Burns and Stalker (1961) - mechanistic and organic (or organismic) structures partly reflect the technology found in the organization Lawrence and Lorsch (1967) - considered technology as an environmental contingency factor

Assumptions about technology: Neutrality Impact Modernism De-skilling Structure Efficiency

TECHNOLOGY – SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION Canonical practice - the formal, espoused and prescriptive description of how tasks should be done and how technology should be deployed Noncanonical practice - the often improvised approaches that are iteratively developed in actual ongoing work and shared and collectively improved among the interacting members of a working community Communities of practice - ongoing groups of people that interact and actively share information while engaging in an activity they are individually and collectively committed to

The politics of technology Competition Interaction Control or influence Labour process debate Rationality (or otherwise) in decision making Benefits to managers Tighter control over work processes Pace of work Skill levels required Design of work

Technology and alienation Alienation - Thompson (1989): Work performed under conditions in which the worker is estranged from his or her own activity in the act of production, through the sale of labour power and the subordination of skills and knowledge to the capitalist, or other external social forces Blauner (1964): Powerlessness Meaninglessness Isolation Self-estrangement Burnout - emotional exhaustion, lower concern about other people, and diminished personal accomplishment

The Impact of Technology Central to service technology is the direct inclusion of consumers in the value generation process - an external element into processes that have often been seen by managers as largely under their control Manufacturing, mass-customization based on: AMT FMS CAD CAM CIM

Information and communication technology Zuboff suggests that ICT can be distinguished in different stages - automation, information and transformation Konsynski & Sviokla argue that the failure by management to obtain the full value from ICT is a consequence of outdated paradigms of organizational functioning - new paradigm sees decision making being based on an appropriate allocation between humans and technical systems Competency traps – when managers delay investment in new technologies too long Informational society - is characterized by the knowledge generation and exchange through interactions between and among networks of individuals as well as economic, social, political and cultural institutions