ply to so much of the organization that one has to question everything before accepting the status quo (Morton, 1991:11)." Information Systems and Organizational StructureInvestment in computers has increased steadily and dramatically since at least the 1960’s. There have been over a twentyfold increase in IT investments between 1971 and the 90’s.Computers, a category of equipment that was largely insignificant three decades ago is now very important. Today, a book-sized 2.5KG (4 pound) $1200 " notebook PC" packs the computing power of a million dollar mainframe computer of the 1960s. The downsizing and price-reductions of computing technology has enabled even the smallest of organizations to afford a computer or two. IT changes the structure of organizations by facilitating certain information flows as well as by turning knowledge that used to be specific into general knowledge. Intra-organizational networks and workgroup computing facilities reduce the information costs of teamwork and hence make it a more efficient solution to the organizational design problem. Client-server computing technology lowers cross-functional (as well as geographic) barriers. The importance of information is reflected in its ability, through the appropriate technology, to corrupt departmental boundaries. IT (when applied properly) streamlines the types of information that used to be the “raison d’tre” of middle management, and turns it into general knowledge that can be readily transmitted to, and processed by, people other than those who originally gathered the data. A reduction in the number of management layers and the thinning out of middle management ranks is the predictable result. Power is shifting from line managers to those who control the information technology, such as the technicians in the DP departments or knowledgeable users Similar considerations apply to enterprises that cross firm boundaries. With the incre...
