TECHNOLOGY AND SPAN OF CONTROL: WOODWARD REVISITED

This study of production operations in 95 New Jersey manufacturing firms explains the widely replicated curvilinear relationship between first line supervisory span of control and Woodward's technological complexity scale. Revisiting Woodward led to the initial proposition that the relationship was a by-product of the differing degree of task variability among the major types of production operations. A subsequent literature review of administrative requirements suggested the importance of size, complexity and automaticity on supervisory span of control. Our data indicate that variations in the span of control of production operations classified according to Woodward's scale are attributable to the underlying effects of size and task complexity. Technology, whether operationalized as Woodward's production types or automaticity of machinery explained little variation in the span of control of first line supervisors.     

ON THE STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF SOME SMALL, UK-BASED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FIRMS*

The paper reports on the discovery of some small but successful information technology firms. These firms, which are geographically and structurally highly mobile, were found in a recent survey of information technology firms in the north-west of England. Detailed investigation of the firms as case studies, revealed that they have many distinctive and interesting properties. Eleven distinguishing characteristics in addition to small size are identified; among them being lack of hierarchy, pervious boundaries, and extreme mobility including growth by replication. In the discussion, some differences in the organization of the firms are identified, it being argued that although all the firms lack hierarchy and tend to adopt very extreme forms of matrix organization, they do this to a greater degree the less they are dependent on technology for the creation of their products, and/or on the extent to which they retain proprietary products in their range. the paper concludes with a consideration of other work on new technology firms and argues that these findings are not unique. However, it is also argued that small firm researchers have not been very creative in their use of the available frameworks to account for the existence of the firms analysed in this paper, or to understand that it is the contingencies they face which allow them to be highly mobile and adaptable.     

THE ROLE OF MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: THE INDISSOLUBLE NATURE OF SOCIO-POLITICAL AND TECHNICAL SKILLS*

This paper explores the role of management consultants in the development of information technology (IT) in organizations. Contending that the process of IT systems development is characterized by the exercise of power, the central theme of the argument concerns the indissoluble nature of the technical and socio-political skills inherent in IT consultancy practice. IT consultancy practice is not just socio-political when winning a contract - the sales pitch - and technical when developing an IT system. Rather, socio-political skills centred on the mobilization of discursive and symbolic resources are an inherent part of the construction of such systems.     

STATE TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMS AND INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE IN THE UNITED STATES*

Because of the growth of new technology based economic development policies at the state level in recent years, this research project provides an assessment of the experiences of users of one such program: the technology research center in microelectronics. A survey of a large number of companies gave us results that should be of interest to decision makers in universities, private industry as well as the public sector. Access to students as future employees was seen as a major reason why companies get involved with universities, more so than research enhancement per se. A univerisity's inability to protect what companies see as confidential research is seen as a major disincentive to further university-industry relationships, while most companies did not see federal or state tax incentives as encouraging collaboration. Among companies who had direct experience with state-funded technology center programs, most reacted positively to their experiences. Such collaboration was seen to stimulate related research within many participating companies, while also leading to improvements in the quality of products and production methods. While the majority of companies thought that states should continue to fund technology development programs, particularly at universities, neither universities nor government were seen as important sources of technical knowledge by many companies. A lack of information about state programs was seen among many companies that responded to the survey.     

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND ITS SPATIAL IMPACT ON SINGAPORE

An efficient infrastructural support has been a key component to attract international investment supporting the export-oriented growth strategy of Singapore in the last thirty years. The current emphasis on information technology reflects not only a deepening process but also the necessity to enhance the productivity, hence the competitive edge of Singapore in the global market economy. Various computerization programs, including those for the civil service, have been implemented with success. It is expected, however, that the spatial impact contributed by the intensive use of information technology would be considerable. In light of recent rising asset inflation and operating costs, it is likely that the labor force could be driven more swiftly towards the services, leading to a premature deindustrialization, unless measures undertaken to counter the process are effective.     

THE EFFECTS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING

Information technology (IT) may be defined as computer-based technology for the storage, accessing, processing and communication of information. Many writers have suggested that the use of IT should improve strategic decisions and have developed a number of propositions about the effects of IT on strategic decision making. However, no study has yet addressed the specific effects of IT on major phases of this process. Using Mintzberg, Raisinghani and Theoret's (1976, ‘The structure of unstructured decision processes’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 21, 2, 246–75) strategic decision-making model, this study assessed the effects of IT on the major phases of the process through an intensive examination of eight decisions in four companies. the results of the study provide new information on the specific ways IT improves decision-making efficiency and effectiveness at each stage of the strategic decision process.     

BASES OF INTERORGANIZATION CO-OPERATION: PROPENSITY, POWER, PERSISTENCE*

Co-operation may enable organizations to attain ends that they cannot achieve alone. However, the co-operating partners must have an unusual mix of (1) propensity, (2) power, and (3) persistence. Joint ventures are used in this article to elucidate these critical elements in the relationship.     

DIVISIONALIZATION,DECENTRALIZATION AND PERFORMANCE OF LARGE UNITED KINGDOM COMPANIES 1

Questionnaire survey data from 144 large U.K. firms are used to describe and discuss the nature of organization design in major companies. It was found that the majority of firms were multidivisional. However a considerable variation in internal operating procedures was found which emphasized that many multidivisional companies do not behave in the way that the strategy/structure literature predicts. Empirical testing of the relation between structure and financial performance also emphasizes that divisionalization is not necessarily the key to a superior profit performance. Rather it would appear that organizational procedures need to be reconsidered in the light of recent divisional structures established in many companies. It is argued that a powerful divisional head office may weaken overall performance and that instead greater attention should be paid to the opportunity to decentralize operating decisions to the individual business units within each division.     

THE DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF INTERREGIONAL INPUT-OUTPUT MODELS FOR INDONESIA UNDER CONDITIONS OF LIMITED INFORMATION*

Spatial development planning in developing economies has created the need for analytical frameworks that are capable of providing assessment of alternative strategies. This paper reports on the methods used to construct a set of interregional input-output tables for a five-region division of Indonesia under conditions of limited information for 1980 and 1985. The tables were constructed as a prelude to the development of a comparable set of interregional social accounts and the eventual construction of an interregional computable general equilibrium model. The structure of the Indonesian economy is explored and described; the fine structure is revealed through an examination of the fields of influence of some of the analytically important coefficients. Finally, a brief examination of the use of the model in an export promotion strategy is reported. The dominant positions of Sumatera and Java are revealed as is the concomitant difficulties attendant upon development strategies that attempt to encourage growth in other regions.     

STRATEGY, STRUCTURE AND CULTURE: CADBURY, DIVISIONALIZATION AND MERGER IN THE 1960S*

This case study re-examines the history of Cadbury, the British-based chocolate confectionery manufacturer, to give an insight into the relationship between strategies of diversification, adoption of a multidivisional structure, and culture in relation to labour management. During the 1960s Cadbury undertook diversification, divisionalization and merger, all of which were affected by, and had an effect upon the Cadbury culture developed at the Bournville factory in Birmingham, England. Contemporaneous documentary evidence, especially the Cadbury board minutes, are used to question the prevalent view, mostly based on retrospective interviews with managers, that cultural change was the outcome of intended management strategies. Instead it is argued that the dilution of the Cadbury culture was the unintended consequence of diversification and divisionalization rather than a conscious abandonment on the part of a new generation of Cadbury directors or the influence of Schweppes after the merger with Cadbury.